Tuesday's Touch

...from Pastor Ed ...February 09, 2010

The Final Judgment

[God] now commands all men everywhere to repent: because he has appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he has ordained; whereof he has given assurance unto all men, in that he has raised him from the dead. Acts 17:30-31

For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment unto the Son: that all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. John 5:22-23

We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Romans 14:10:12

I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. Matt 12:36

And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. …And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Rev 20:12-13; 15

How unfortunate it is that so little is heard in the churches today about the final judgment, when the scriptures warn us so often about that appointed day, and the perils of losing sight of it. We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ to give account of ourselves to God. Perhaps we have trivialized the judgment for believers by teaching that there will be a separate ‘evaluation’ of believers that will amount to little more than the handing out of trinkets to reward the faithful. (How sad that our ‘faithfulness’ to the Lord should be reduced to the quest for crowns of gold and mega-mansions.) Such a distinction for believers is not found in scripture. In every description of the day judgment we find wheat and tares, sheep and goats, good fish and bad fish, those written the Lamb’s Book of Life and those not.¹ In that day the hidden things of the heart will be revealed. Every thought, word and action of every moral being that has existed since creation will be accounted for.² Before Christ every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.³

Now, there is an enormous distinction between the believer and the lost in regard to judgment, but it is not a distinction of events. The true Christian has already passed from death to life.⁴ There is no condemnation.⁵ All of our sin has been laid upon Christ, and He has borne our judgment.⁶

My sin, O the bliss of this glorious thought,

My sin, not in part but the whole,

Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more;

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

So, there is no fear of condemnation.⁷ To be absent from the body is to be immediately with the Lord.⁸ So why, then, must the Christian appear before the Lord in the judgment?

The first thing we must realize is that the final judgment has nothing to do with determining the eternal destiny of anyone. That has already been decided in Christ. There is no need for God to ‘hold court’ to find out who’s been naughty or nice. The one grand sweeping purpose of that final day is the consummate glorifying of God before all of His creation. He will be justified⁹ (shown to be just) before every creature as all of His holy attributes are gloriously displayed. Every moment and molecule of history will be clearly manifested to have been under the reigns of His sovereign pleasure - fire and hail, snow and vapor, stormy wind fulfilling His word!¹⁰ As the blackness of the thoughts and intents of every heart are projected before Him, the extent of His longsuffering, mercy and benevolence to a wicked race will finally be acknowledged by all, to the praise of His glory. The magnitude of amazing grace and the infinite cost of our redemption in Christ will be, for the first time, apprehended by all. His justice will be fully satisfied as man and angel will be brought before His fiery throne.^{Isaiah 33:14; Dan
7:9-10; Heb 12:29} It is the righteous Creator’s time to settle all accounts with His creation. Philosophers, kings and rulers who have perverted truth and made a mockery of justice will answer on that day. The employer who cheated or mistreated his workers will answer on that day. The employee who refused to acknowledge those in authority or who were thieves of time and material will answer on that day. The unscrupulous business man, the upstanding moralist, the rapist, murderer and the fornicator, the perpetuator of lies, the drug pusher and the porn peddler, the housewife, father, farmer, mechanic, teacher, engineer, the lawyer and the politician – all will settle accounts on that day, as all things in the history of creation are finally set right before Almighty God.

Though under no condemnation as a child of God, having been perfected in the holiness of Christ, my greatest desire will be to have every second of the history of my existence rectified before God, to the praise of His glory. To those who die without the washing of regeneration,¹¹ a mountain of abject terror will arise before them, as the enormity their sin is seen in the light of the consuming glory of the infinitely holy Savior.

In that day all shall have their just reward. For the lost, the degree to which they have manifested their own depravity and have rejected light will inherently result in the degree of their terror, shame and agony in the presence of holy consuming fire. What they have become they shall be forever,¹² as even that which they seemed to have (because of common grace) is taken away.¹³ For the blood-washed child of God, the degree to which he has manifested the glory of Christ in his life, has born the Spirit’s fruit, and has faithfully served in love, to that degree will be his joy as he casts his crowns at the nail-scarred feet, and acknowledges that of Him, and through Him, and unto Him are all things.¹⁴ To bring Him glory on that day will be reward beyond comprehension.

O professed believer! Prepare for that day. Make your calling and election sure. Settle all known accounts now with God and man. Pray that there will be much less in your remaining days to rectify, and much more with which to glorify God on that day. To the unbeliever, how shall you escape if you neglect so great a salvation?¹⁵ You will have no excuse on that day. You have existed as a living miracle in the midst of a creation of miracles, yet you have not have not desired to glorify your Creator. His light has been shining upon you since the day you were born, yet you have remained blind.¹⁶ Flee to the crucified and risen Savior, whose blood, alone, can wash you as white as snow,¹⁷ and whose Spirit can give you sight.¹⁸ Then you will have need to fear judgment, but will yearn for that day when your God and Savior will at last receive all of the honor and glory due unto His name.

Almighty God,

Lord, hasten the day when all things will be rectified before You, and unto You alone will be the power and the glory and the majesty forever.

Amen

Tuesday's Touch #55

References: 1. Mat 13:30; 47-48; 25:32-33; Rev 20:15 2. Mat 12:36; Rom 2:16; 1 Cor 4:5 3. Phil 2:10-11 4. John 5:25 5. Rom 8:1 6. Isaiah 53:5-6; 1Peter 2:24 7. 1John 4:17-19 8. 2 Cor 5:8 9. Ps 51:14 10. Ps 148:8 11. Titus 3:5-6 12. Rev 22:11 13. Matt 25:29-30; Lk 8:18 14.Rom 11:36 15. Heb 2:3 16. John1:5, 9 17. Ps 51:7 18. Luke 4:18

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