“Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of the heaven.” This is a very heavy verse. It is a serious somber, sobering verse. I mean, this verse talking about the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah and the judgment of God that came down on those cities.”
– Genesis 19:24
It’s very clear, it’s the judgment of God. The Bible says, “The Lord rained down sulfur and fire.” Then it says again, “From the Lord out of heaven,” like three times. The Lord did this, it came from the Lord out of heaven. This is a picture of God’s judgment, God’s wrath being poured out. It just shouts, Genesis 19:24 shouts that the wrath of God is real, it’s real. This is not a game. When we talk about hell, when we see that in scripture, this is real. This is not a figment of our imagination but a real place. It is a reality for people who have sinned against God.
God’s wrath cannot be taken lightly, but the good news of the gospel is that His mercy is afforded to those who trust in Christ.
Genesis 19:24 Reminds Us Why We Need God’s Mercy
You say, “Well, that’s all of us.” Yes, it’s all of us, which is why we need his mercy. Every one of us needs the mercy of God. His wrath is real and … This is the beauty, and we see this in Sodom and Gomorrah, we see this all over scripture. His mercy is available for all who will turn and trust in God. I don’t assume that everybody listening to this podcast is a Christian, is a follower of Christ, and I just want to encourage any, every person who is listening to this right now, you and I, we are all sinners before a holy God, and we warrant his judgment, and his judgment is coming.
His judgment is coming. We are all one day going to face him as judge. We’re going to stand before God as judge. It could be today for any one of us and I just want to encourage you, judgment is coming, so go to God for mercy. Turn from sin and yourself and trust in him. Ask God to save you from your sin. Ask God to save you from the judgment you deserve.
God Was Merciful Through Jesus’ Death on the Cross
He will, that’s the beauty of his mercy. He will, he will save you. Ask him to save you from your sin through what Jesus did on the cross. That’s what he did. He took the judgment we deserve upon himself, that’s why Jesus died on the cross. I just want to encourage you, if you have not put your trust in Jesus to do that now, like today, right now even call out for God to save you from your sin, forgive you of your sins, save you from the judgment you deserve through belief in Jesus and his death on the cross, his resurrection from the grave, for your salvation.
I just invite you to pray that, even right now, just to say, “God, I need you to save me from my sin. God, I need you to save me from your judgment, the judgment I deserve. I’m a guilty sinner before you and I believe that Jesus died on a cross in my place to pay the price for my sin. I trust in him to save me from the judgment I deserve. I trust in him as my Lord, I want to turn from my sin today, and trust in Jesus to save me from all my sin. God, save me.”
This Verse Displays the Goodness of God
When you pray that, to know that his mercy is indeed available. God, we praise you for your mercy, we praise you for your mercy that saves us from the wrath we deserve. We pray that you would help us to make your mercy known today to somebody else. Help us to share the gospel, the good news of your grave with somebody else, that they might be saved from your wrath. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
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David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
