Our Lutheran founding father spoke of the wrath of God as a great reality about which they had not merely read in books, but the withering blasts of which they had felt in their own hearts. Likewise the grace of God was to them not a mere titulus, but a boon which had come to them like the dawn of a bright morning after a night of harrowing gloom and destructive storms. God's wrath will one day end.
While we wait, God shows his wrath by taking his hands off those who do not believe. And in their unbelief they go farther and farther down the road to perdition (cf. Romans 1:18-32). But God's hands-off approach is not entirely wrathful. For he is also waiting patiently so that some will repent and not perish (2 Peter 3:9). This is his greatest desire. This is his will: our eternal salvation and perfect joy. And until the end of all time there is hope. But that time will one day come to an end. His wrath will end. And his own will enjoy heavenly bliss forever.
