Jesus Drains the Cup

"For the people of God, we see an entirely different outcome. Each time God is angry with his people, something happens so that they do not bear its full weight. Sacrifices are offered as atonement. Moses prays, intercedes, and asks that the people be spared. Aaron offers incense before God and stands between God's people and God's plague. Those two aspects of grace--intercession and atonement--appear throughout Scripture to absorb the explosive impact of human sin meeting a righteous and just God.Ultimately Christ comes, satisfying God's wrath in a way that all the sacrifices and weak human intercessors could not. Jesus drains the cup of God's wrath against his people once for all so that there isn't even a drop left for his people. God will not stay angry forever. For those who hate and curse him, he pours out anger as punishment. When it is concluded, he declares, 'It is done' though it takes and eternity for them to absorb it. Jesus also uttered, 'It is finished' when he exhausted God's wrath on behalf of his people. One way or another, the Father's anger finishes. Either people exhaust it themselves or a substitute does."Caught Off Guard: Encounters With The Unexpected God p. 48