Every
once in a while we hear those pitiful stories of dumb criminals getting caught
in the act of breaking the law. Earlier this year, the Associated Press ran a story about one man’s ill-fated attempt to
rob a Family Dollar store:
“Authorities
say a man's plans to break into a Houston store fell through, after he crashed
through the ceiling and landed in front of police. Houston police say the man
climbed a tree and onto the roof of a Family Dollar store early Sunday morning,
January 25, 2015, then managed to break a hole in the roof and enter the
building. But after making his way into the store, the man fell through the
ceiling just as a police officer arrived in response to a call about a
potential burglary. The man was ordered by the officer to stay on the ground
and promptly arrested. Authorities believe the man was trying to steal
cigarettes.”[1]
That
story reminded me of the inevitable judgment of God and how, like that burglar
who was caught trying to escape, that one day everyone who has rejected Christ
will have to stand before Him. There is no escaping the judgment of God because
justice is one His attributes. Hebrews 9:27 says, “It is appointed for men to
die once, but after this the judgment.”
What
kind of judge would let murderers, rapists and thieves go free after the
prosecution had presented a slam-dunk case complete with fingerprints, surveillance
video and eyewitness testimony? We would want to throw that judge in slammer as
well for dereliction of duty. How then can an unimaginably holy God let sinners
go free when they have rejected His Son and broken His laws? He can’t, for if
God did not judge then He would not be a God worthy of worship because that
would mean He tolerates evil.
The
Bible has given mankind fair warning about the upcoming judgment:
The place of the judgment according to Rev. 20:11
is somewhere between heaven and earth where there is a “great white throne.”
The
person of the judgment is none other
than Jesus Christ. Paul remarks in Acts 17:31 that God, “has appointed a day on
which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained.
He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.” Moreover,
Jesus declared in John 5:22, “For the Father judges no one, but has committed
all judgment to the Son.” No one is better qualified to stand in judgment,
since Jesus not only lived a sinless life, but did all that was possible to
offer salvation.
The
people of the judgment are all those
who have rejected Christ as Savior. Rev. 20:12-13 says, “And I saw the dead,
small and great, standing before God . . . The sea gave up the dead who were in
it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were
judged, each one according to his works.” Princes and paupers, atheists and Buddhists,
mechanics and malefactors, scientists and statesman will all stand before the
living God to give an account for their lives.
The
purpose of the judgment is to declare
the sinner’s guilt before God and execute a sentence of eternal separation from
God in hell. Revelation 20:12 says, “Books were opened. And another book was
opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their
works, by the things which were written in the books.” Imagine a record of
every detail of your life—every thought, words and deed—being brought out in
the open. There will be no jury, no appeals and no special pleading. God will
have all the evidence needed so that no excuse can be made.
For
those of you who have trouble with this doctrine let me remind you that this is
actually what justice demands. Erwin Lutzer writes, “We all agree that heaven
is a comforting doctrine. What is often overlooked is that hell is comforting
too. Our newspapers are filled with stories of rape, child abuse, genocide and
a myriad of injustices. Every court case ever tried on earth will be reopened;
every action and motive will be meticulously inspected and the exact
retribution will be meted out. In the presence of an all-knowing God there will
be no unsolved murders, no unknown child abductor, no hidden brides or
crimes. No one is getting away with
anything.”[2]
The
truth is that hell is our default destination and if we don’t do anything
that’s where we will end up. Jesus reminds us in John 3:17-18, “For God did not
send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world
might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but
whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in
the name of the only Son of God.”
Fortunately,
the good news of the Gospel is that God has done everything possible to make a
way for us to be in heaven. He sent his Son to die on the Cross. He wrote a
book telling us how to be saved. He gave the Holy Spirit to prick your heart and
enlighten you to the truth. The choice is yours to meet Jesus today as your
Savior or later as your Judge. -DM
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