He Gets Us: "Inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God"
A closer look at 2 Thessalonians 1:8.
8 In flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. - 2 Thessalonians 1:8 (ESV)
He Gets Us
The title of today’s post is sort of tongue in cheek, but it is true.
It’s a play on the “He Gets Us” Super Bowl commercials, which in case you have not seen are linked below:
My wife and I did not watch much of this particular Super Bowl and I did not see the commercials when they aired. (In fact, I’m not certain that both of these actually did, but I found them on YouTube.) But I did hear the commotion it caused and a few days after the game, I happened to be reading through 2 Thessalonians and saw the passage below:
6 Since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels 8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10 when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. - 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10 (ESV)
It might be hard to believe, but this passage is talking about Jesus.
It is talking about the Jesus who loves us and about the Jesus who gets us.
Of course, these things are very true. He does love us and He does get us.
It is also very true that it is very easy to get to know Jesus, to come into a relationship with Him. The Bible even tells us that this can be described as a childlike process. (Mark 10:14-15)
But things are a little more complicated than perhaps the commercials portray.
The Bible never tells us that our sin is pleasing to God or that God will have to take us as we are, and if He does not like that He can lump it. The Bible never tells that God will find us and leave us where we are and the way we are. In fact, it says the opposite.
At their worst, these commercials imply that. These commercials seem to be aimed at those who do not know Jesus, but with a message intended for those who do. And it is not just a message of taking the gospel to meet people where they are (which we are commanded to do), but seems to be a message of “go to them and get used to what they are doing.”
Americans are hurting and in many ways our country is broken. The images in these videos- some of which look like they were generated with artificial intelligence - show this hurt and brokenness to us. The images portray many of the social, economic, political and religious issues that we are facing and it is very true that difference occurs and that changes happen when the vitriol stops and when the foot-washing type activities start to happen. The old saying that people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care is actually true in many cases. If we want people to know about Jesus, then our focus must be on the person that needs Christ. This is the spirit of Paul’s comment in 1 Corinthians 9:22:
22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. - 1 Corinthians 9:22 (ESV)
But Paul’s comments do not mean that he would become an adulterer to save those unfaithful in their marriages. Or become obese to save those who are overweight. Or become a homosexual to save homosexuals.
As mentioned above, these commercials seem intended to an audience that might not know Jesus, but the message seems intended toward those who do. Not all of this message is bad. Those who might seem to have a better position in the world - police officers on the beat, the popular kids at school, the cowboy vs. the native American, etc. - are called to be the hands and feet of Christ wherever we might be. We are called to love with the love of Jesus no matter what the situation might be. That’s the example Jesus set by washing the feet of the disciples. He did the lowest, most unthinkable job given His rank and position. And that is also what He demonstrated to us and for us by going to the cross to die for our sins.
But these demonstrations of love and serving that we are called to do, may not look like world expects them to look. They may look look like the police officer getting up and leaving his family every morning, to go protect and serve his community, not knowing if he will return home that night. This love and service looks like post-abortive mothers who have been forgiven and set free from their horrible acts in the past going and serving other women who are still racked with the guilt and shame of their own right to choose.
This love and service looks like the those who go and do the hard work that keeps this country alive and moving so that others can enjoy the privileges of protesting all of the things on their list that they don’t like.
But this love and service does not have to include loving and enjoying evil political movements to break our country. And it does not mean sacrificing the future of our children and grandchildren to finance anarchy and violence.
And loving and serving does not mean we should condone or participate in rubbing feet in a tub of water with someone of the same sex.
At first glance, the image above seems to portray racial reconciliation between two old men. Perhaps it is a reference to times gone by when racial unrest and division was a very real thing. But the reality is that this image is not about reconciliation, but is instead fixated on sexual perversion.
And that brings me back to today’s verse, 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10:
6 Since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels 8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10 when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. - 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10 (ESV)
This verse is not an excuse to condemn sinners. This article is not being written to shame or embarrass people struggling with certain sins. But it is being brought up to remind us that sin is a big deal. When He first came to us, Jesus us gave us this wonderful news:
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” - John 3:16-17 (ESV)
The first time Jesus came to us, He came to save us. That visit was about finding a way for us to be reconciled to Him. That trip was not to bring condemnation to the world, but to bring a way for people to be saved.
The next visit won’t be so pleasant.
As the Apostle Paul writes in 2 Thessalonians 1, Jesus will return “with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.” He goes on to say that “they will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.”
My first thought when I read this is not about someone somewhere practicing or promoting sexual perversion. My first thought is about me and my sin and about how I have failed and fallen short of the mark of the Most High God. My first thought is about myself escaping the vengeance to be afflicted and the eternal separation from God. My first thought is to make sure that I am in good standing with God.
And it is at this moment when I can say, along with Paul, “thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
We are all sinners and we are all born condemned and in need of a Savior. We are all born needing Jesus. And it is God’s desire that all would come to repentance as Peter reminds us:
9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. - 2 Peter 3:9 (ESV)
But not all will.
No sin will be overlooked. Sin will either be paid for by Jesus Christ on the cross or it will be punished eternally in hell by the unbeliever who committed it. Because of this, we do not do anyone any good by overlooking sin, or by condoning it. We are called to go everywhere to make disciples and the people where we go may not look like us or act like us. That does not negate the call to go. And the people we meet may not be acting in a way that pleases the Lord. But that does not negate the call to disciples. And making disciples means teaching others to follow a certain way - the way of Christ - not not succumbing to practices of the culture.
The hope is that this article won’t come across as judgmental or condescending. We are all struggling with something and Jesus is the answer to that something. Since He is the answer, we should not dilute the hope He provides.