Jeremy, I wouldn’t disagree with the premise that human sin justifies the wrath of God. But I would question on biblical grounds the next stage in the argument - that the judgment of God on human sin must take the form of ‘extreme, unmitigated punishment’, if by that you mean (you seem to hesitate at this point) unending conscious torment after death. The universal judgment on humankind as a consequence of Adam’s sin was death. Paul reiterates the point: the wages of sin is death - not suffering in hell. If we weren’t fundamentally sinful, we would still be living without suffering and shame in the presence of God. Jesus died for our sins, and that’s all he did - he did not (contrary to some Word of Faith teaching) suffer punishment in hell for our sins.

But I would argue that in the Bible you see the judgment of God manifested in two other respects. You see, especially in the Gospels, judgment on the covenant people because they have sinned as a nation - immorality, injustice, idolatry. And you see, especially in Paul, judgment on the enemies of Israel because the prospect of judgment on Israel is always accompanied by the assurance that God will in the end overthrow the destroyer and persecutor of his people. These judgments are generally described in extreme, apocalyptic terms because they entailed immense suffering and political and social upheaval (we certainly should not play down the literal horrors of the war against Rome), but they are historical in character, not metaphysical. The outcome is still not endless torment but destruction. The choice that we are offered is between life and death, between life and destruction. Isn’t that sufficient motivation to talk to people about Jesus?