Saturday, July 21, 2012
Jesus is our judge
Jesus is our judge. He is the sole authority to Whom we
will answer, and our sins are crimes we have committed against Him. (Acts 10:42; 2 Timothy 4:8)
The world hates this notion, and continually rebels against it. They say that we only answer to ourselves, or that Jesus doesn't exist, in the vain hope that their lawlessness will go unpunished. Most people will acknowledge there is some sort of God, distant and perhaps disinterested. But Jesus is the name at which they cringe.That is because He convicts of sin and will judge it.
"There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy." (James 4:12).
If you really think about all the language of the bible, you realize just how much of it is "legal" language. This is because sin, also known as lawlessness, is a crime. (1 John 3:4). Crimes must be judged.
Many people say that the bible is a "love letter from God." In a way, it is. Others say that Jesus is our Friend, our Comforter, our Father, and all these are true too. However, when I came to Jesus for salvation, I came through a deep knowing of how pervasive and ugly sin is. By contrast, I understand His holiness. I appeal to Him as my Judge. Though Jesus is all things that are Good, and I enjoy my relationship with Him as Father and Friend, I relate to Him mostly as my Judge.
Far from it being a cold, distant relationship, I enjoy the order of His courts, the regularity and perfection of His dispensing of Justice, past, present and future. I am the kind of person who has always lived for justice, order, and for moral good, and in Jesus I finally found my home in that and it comforts me like a blankie and a teddy bear.
When we tune our ear, the Christian use of legal language is pervasive, all of it from the bible. I bet we say these things without really envisioning them being used actively in His court in a legal context, by God, Jesus, satan, But, let's.
By the way, I deliberately chose verses mostly from the New Testament to show that there is one God, not two. The bible does not show us an 'OT God of wrath' and a 'NT Jesus of love.' They are one and the same. He is wrathful in the first place because He hates sin.
Accuser
"And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God." (Revelation 12:10)
Advocate
"My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.' " (1 John 2:1)
Confess
"because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9)
Convicted
"I got convicted of that activity when I heard the preacher's sermon."
"It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, 15to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” (Jude 1:14-15).
Court
There is a heavenly court, you know! It is much more perfect to be judged by God than by man.
"But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself." (1 Corinthians 4:3)
Judge
"I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:" (2 Timothy 4:1)
Lawlessness
"I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification." (Romans 6:19).
Pardon
He pardons us of our crimes!
"Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people" (Hebrews 2:17)
Penalty
"and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error." (Romans 1:27)
Testimony
During the Tribulation, the Two Witnesses testify to and of Jesus constantly for three and a half years.
"And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them,' (Revelation 11:7)
Verdict
"The decision is announced by messengers ['Watchers' in ESV], the holy ones declare the verdict, so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of men.'" (Daniel 4:17).
I sure would like to know who these mysterious Watchers are mentioned three times in Daniel 4:13, 17, 23 but nowhere else. They seem to be a class of angel, because they are holy, and angel, because they are messengers. The term is introduced by Nebuchadnezzar who describes how he saw "a watcher, a holy one come down (singular verb) from heaven." They seem to me to be both Bailiff keeping watch over proceedings, and Jury Foreman announcing the verdict. But I don't know for sure. The bible is cloaked on the subject, only alluding to but not explaining these Watchers.
Witness
Paul is ordained as a witness for Jesus.
"for you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard" (Acts 22:15)
This little missive is intended to remind us of
the fact that God is HOLY HOLY HOLY. Everything stems from that. Sin, its
effects, its lawlessness, our pardon, His justice...is all about dealing with
sin in the face of a Holy God. Oh, yes, Jesus will judge. Are you
ready?
All a person needs to do is be penitent, that means, to be sorry for your sins. You must ask the Judge (who is Jesus) to pardon you. His death on the cross satisfied the justice required from God as the blood sacrifice to satisfy the penalty. God's wrath is therefore satisfied in all people who come to Him through Jesus. You will be pardoned and washed clean of your crimes. The Judge will say "You are free to go."
Failure to repent before your own death means that you die having committed many crimes. Those must still be dealt with. Just because you're dead doesn't mean your crimes go away. They are in fact still boomeranging around the Universe, tainting everything. On the day of Judgment, Jesus will stand you before Himself and you will answer for those crimes in His court. The penalty for them is eternity in hell (jail) with no hope of parole. All judgments are final. But all His mercies are eternal!
The world hates this notion, and continually rebels against it. They say that we only answer to ourselves, or that Jesus doesn't exist, in the vain hope that their lawlessness will go unpunished. Most people will acknowledge there is some sort of God, distant and perhaps disinterested. But Jesus is the name at which they cringe.That is because He convicts of sin and will judge it.
"There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy." (James 4:12).
If you really think about all the language of the bible, you realize just how much of it is "legal" language. This is because sin, also known as lawlessness, is a crime. (1 John 3:4). Crimes must be judged.
Many people say that the bible is a "love letter from God." In a way, it is. Others say that Jesus is our Friend, our Comforter, our Father, and all these are true too. However, when I came to Jesus for salvation, I came through a deep knowing of how pervasive and ugly sin is. By contrast, I understand His holiness. I appeal to Him as my Judge. Though Jesus is all things that are Good, and I enjoy my relationship with Him as Father and Friend, I relate to Him mostly as my Judge.
Far from it being a cold, distant relationship, I enjoy the order of His courts, the regularity and perfection of His dispensing of Justice, past, present and future. I am the kind of person who has always lived for justice, order, and for moral good, and in Jesus I finally found my home in that and it comforts me like a blankie and a teddy bear.
When we tune our ear, the Christian use of legal language is pervasive, all of it from the bible. I bet we say these things without really envisioning them being used actively in His court in a legal context, by God, Jesus, satan, But, let's.
By the way, I deliberately chose verses mostly from the New Testament to show that there is one God, not two. The bible does not show us an 'OT God of wrath' and a 'NT Jesus of love.' They are one and the same. He is wrathful in the first place because He hates sin.
Accuser
"And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God." (Revelation 12:10)
Advocate
"My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.' " (1 John 2:1)
Confess
"because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9)
Convicted
"I got convicted of that activity when I heard the preacher's sermon."
"It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, 15to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” (Jude 1:14-15).
Court
There is a heavenly court, you know! It is much more perfect to be judged by God than by man.
"But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself." (1 Corinthians 4:3)
Judge
"I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:" (2 Timothy 4:1)
Lawlessness
"I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification." (Romans 6:19).
Pardon
He pardons us of our crimes!
"Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people" (Hebrews 2:17)
Penalty
"and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error." (Romans 1:27)
Testimony
During the Tribulation, the Two Witnesses testify to and of Jesus constantly for three and a half years.
"And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them,' (Revelation 11:7)
Verdict
"The decision is announced by messengers ['Watchers' in ESV], the holy ones declare the verdict, so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of men.'" (Daniel 4:17).
I sure would like to know who these mysterious Watchers are mentioned three times in Daniel 4:13, 17, 23 but nowhere else. They seem to be a class of angel, because they are holy, and angel, because they are messengers. The term is introduced by Nebuchadnezzar who describes how he saw "a watcher, a holy one come down (singular verb) from heaven." They seem to me to be both Bailiff keeping watch over proceedings, and Jury Foreman announcing the verdict. But I don't know for sure. The bible is cloaked on the subject, only alluding to but not explaining these Watchers.
Witness
Paul is ordained as a witness for Jesus.
"for you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard" (Acts 22:15)
 |
| The Two Witnesses testify to the
power and holiness of God.Rev 11:1-14. (Gérard Jollain, engraving 1670) |
All a person needs to do is be penitent, that means, to be sorry for your sins. You must ask the Judge (who is Jesus) to pardon you. His death on the cross satisfied the justice required from God as the blood sacrifice to satisfy the penalty. God's wrath is therefore satisfied in all people who come to Him through Jesus. You will be pardoned and washed clean of your crimes. The Judge will say "You are free to go."
Failure to repent before your own death means that you die having committed many crimes. Those must still be dealt with. Just because you're dead doesn't mean your crimes go away. They are in fact still boomeranging around the Universe, tainting everything. On the day of Judgment, Jesus will stand you before Himself and you will answer for those crimes in His court. The penalty for them is eternity in hell (jail) with no hope of parole. All judgments are final. But all His mercies are eternal!
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