When we sin it’s as if we have charged up to heaven, called God to come forth and then hurled at him the filthiness that our sin is. And then, God appeared on the battlements of heaven in full majestic regalia, and called up his siege engines and catapults with smoldering weapons of hell-fire (as it appeared to you), and then they started firing one after another, and you backed off and cowered down (the noise was earth-shaking) and waited to be destroyed, except nothing happened. You looked up and saw that God was firing his weapons off to the side at an unobtrusive hill. You could make out an execution in progress. So, you snuck over to see as heaven’s lightnings and thundering sounded in your ears. One of the victims cast his eyes upon you and you ventured to ask, “what are you doing here?” He replied, “This is for you, I’m taking your place.”
Punishment
God’s Two Judgments
Calvin points out the differences in the judgment of God.
“One judgment we call, for the sake of teaching, that of vengeance, the other, of chastisement.
Now, by the judgment of vengeance, God should be understood as taking vengeance upon his enemies; so that he exercises his wrath against them, he confounds them, he scatters them, he brings them to nought. Therefore, let us consider this to be God’s vengeance, properly speaking: when punishment is joined with his indignation.
In the judgment of chastisement he is not so harsh as to be angry, nor does he take vengeance so as to blast with destruction. Consequently, it is not, properly speaking, punishment or vengeance, but correction and admonition.
The one is the act of a judge; the other, the act of a father.”
(Inst. 3.4.31)
