APOSTLES’ CREED: Comfort in God’s Judgment
In last week’s message on the Apostles’ Creed, we looked at how Jesus ascended into heaven, where he has all authority and power, advocates for us, and is holding a place for us. The next sentence of the creed looks to the future: “From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.”
JESUS WILL COME BACK.
Immediately after Jesus ascending into heaven, the disciples were still looking into the sky, when two angels appeared: “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11)
What is the purpose of Jesus’ return? Jesus said in Matthew 25, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats… “Then [the unrighteous] will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
JESUS WILL COME TO JUDGE.
How do you feel about the final judgment?
***On the outskirts of a small town, there was a big, old pecan tree just inside the cemetery fence. One day, two boys picked up a bucketful of pecans and sat down behind some bushes to divide the nuts. “One for you, one for me, one for you, one for me…” said one of the boys. As they divided the nuts, several dropped and rolled toward the fence.
Another boy came riding along on his bicycle. As he passed, he heard voices from inside the cemetery, and he stopped to listen. Sure enough, he heard, “One for you, one for me…”
The boy was spooked. He jumped on his bike, and rode off. Just around the bend, he met an old man with a cane. “Come with me quick,” said the boy, “You won’t believe what is going on. Satan and the Lord are down at the cemetery dividing up souls.”
The old man reluctantly hobbled along, finally arriving with the boy at the edge of the cemetery. He too heard, “One for you, one for me…” He whispered, “You’ve been telling me the truth, boy. Let’s see if we can see the Lord.” They went right up to the fence, trying to see, when they heard, “One for you, one for me. That’s all we have here. Now let’s go get those nuts by the fence and we’ll be done.”
They say the old man beat the boy back to town.** (source unknown)
Some people fear the final judgment, and some are offended by the idea that God will judge. If we belong to Jesus Christ, our faith that Jesus will judge all people should be a source of great COMFORT. Why is that?
Because Jesus Christ will come to judge, THERE IS JUSTICE IN THE WORLD.
***We were in high school chemistry class, when word came that students from a neighboring high school were doing a “victory lap” through the oval drive. They had won the state championship in boys’ basketball, and they were driving past the building, honking car horns and making a racket.
At the head of the procession was the son of the local Chevy dealer, driving a brand new Corvette. He stopped at the edge of the street, revved the engine, and popped the clutch. The transmission dropped to the pavement, with the car had to be towed away. There is justice! **
The desire for justice is universal. Even children say: “It’s not right!” or “They shouldn’t be able to get away with that.” When a person at work gets credit for what other people do, or a scam artist cheats a vulnerable person, we want justice. When a baseball player makes millions by taking illegal drugs, or a billionaire pays no taxes, we want justice.
Yet justice is often delayed. We used to say, “Cheaters never prosper,” but the truth is that sometimes they do. People with power or wealth escape accountability, while they abuse others, in business, politics, or the social structure of the local middle school.
But God sees what is going on. James 5:1-6 says, “Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you…You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.”
The final judgment gives hope to people who are trying to do what is right, but are not being justly rewarded. 2 Peter 2:9, “The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.” Justice will prevail when Christ returns to judge.
When we talk about God’s judgment, some people are likely to accuse us of being judgmental or vindictive. They might quote Jesus, who said, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged.” They are correct in saying that it is not our job to judge; that is for God alone. Paul said in Romans 14:10, “Why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.”
The certainty of God’s justice frees us from judging others. It allows us not to be vindictive, and not to make people pay for their offences. Paul says in Romans 12:19, “Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord.” We can leave judgment to God.
Because of the coming judgment, we can be assured that there is justice in the world.
Because Jesus Christ will come to judge, THERE IS ACCOUNTABILITY.
Some people want justice, but they don’t want God to judge—not really. Maybe God should just tell people to play nice, to be fair, or to do the right thing, and if they don’t, just shake his head like a gentle Grandpa. At most, people think God should be like a parent who gives a time out or a tongue-lashing, or a principal who requires a few hours of community service.
Some people want to believe that what people do on earth doesn’t really matter in the end. Some have bought into a defective idea of grace and salvation, in which a person who walks an aisle or prays a prayer gets a free ride to heaven. They believe that no matter what they do, God will just forgive and forget.
Others believe that everyone will get a chance to accept Christ and go to heaven after they die, or even that God will find a way to take them to heaven despite their rejection of him on earth. Although it might sound good to wipe the slate clean at the end of life, the result is to empty life of its meaning. If all that matters for eternity happens after death, why should anyone care about life?
The Bible teaches something quite different: Life matters. Words matter. In Matthew 12:36, Jesus said, “I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.” Actions matter too: Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:10, “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”
Accountability gives meaning to all that we do in the kingdom of God. Paul said to slaves in Colossians 3:23-25, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism.”
The Apostle Paul spoke personally to Timothy about how the coming judgment gave meaning to both of their lives: “In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction…I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:1-2, 8)
Because of the coming judgment, what we do with our lives has significance.
Because Jesus Christ will come to judge, THERE IS GRACE.
When the judgment comes for us, who will be the Judge? Will he be a harsh and unforgiving despot, anxious to send people to hell? Will he be cold and uncaring, lacking in compassion and grace? Will he be a stranger, who doesn’t know anything about us?
The creed says that Jesus “ascended into heaven. From there HE will come to judge the living and the dead.” Our judge will be Jesus Christ, who loved us enough to die for us.
Of course, the Father and the Son are not separated, and the Father is also involved in judgment. If you think about it, we know God as our Father through Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit in us. Our Father is the Judge, our Savior is the Judge, and the Spirit of God is our witness that we are God’s children. It puts a different slant on the final judgment for Christians.
Yet just because the Judge is our friend, it does not mean that we are home free. One well-meaning baseball commentator described grace as the umpire calling you safe, when you should be called out. That can’t work for God! If God were not just in his judgment, the moral foundation of heaven and earth would be destroyed, and evil would run rampant.
God’s dilemma is described by Paul in Romans 3:26, as God must be “just and the one who justifies…” How can he do that?
Some people would like God to be selective in the sins he counts. They might have a list of “really bad sins”—usually other people’s sins! The Apostle Paul has a list of sins like that, in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” Yet God is just as concerned about more subtle sins, which are just as destructive and evil: self-centeredness, negative attitudes, jealousy, even wasted potential and lack of gratitude. Sin is sin, and James points out that “whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” (James 2:10)
Some people think that God should give a pass to people who are better than average, like teachers who grade on a curve. Maybe half of the people in the world should go to heaven, or the best 90%. There has to be a cutoff somewhere—sort of like pass/fail. The problem with grading on a curve is that the standard is inevitably too low. Suppose God would take the top 10%--those with only a tiny mean streak, a little selfishness, a smidgen of pride, and partial rebelliousness. Would heaven still be a perfect place? As Romans 3:23 points out, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…”
God’s justice cannot let sin go unpunished, but his love does not allow him to give people what they deserve. That is his dilemma, and the solution to the dilemma is an unimaginable work of grace, spelled out in Romans 3:21-26, “But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known…This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness…he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.”
If God is to judge with justice and accountability, sin must have consequences. The consequences are astounding, as the perfect and infinitely valuable Son of God died for the sins of all people. If God is to judge with grace, there must be a way for people to be judged, not according to their sins and failures, but according to the perfect righteousness of Jesus, as he lived on the earth. In the mystery of God’s grace, all who accept Christ are judged according to his righteousness.
How that works is a mystery, which is graphically illustrated in Revelation 20:11-15, “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.” Revelation 21:27 goes on to say, “Nothing impure will ever enter [the new Jerusalem], nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”
Does God keep two sets of books? No, they are different kinds of books. “The books” contain every thought, every word, every deed of every person who ever lived. They tell a story of people who clearly fall short of the glory of God. “The books” show that I deserve punishment for rebellion, sin, and missing God’s best. They clearly indicate that I am hopeless case, too flawed for the perfection of heaven. Since God’s justice demands that no unclean person can enter heaven, the books are no help at all. But the “Lamb’s book of life” tells a story of a different kind of justice. It is a story of God’s righteous judgment, and it involves the Lamb of God.
Who is the Lamb? In the Old Testament, the Passover lamb was killed, and its blood spattered on the doorpost, to spare God’s people from death. Later, other lambs were sacrificed, symbolizing God’s plan to satisfy his justice, by offering a lamb in place of a sinner.
When John the Baptist saw Jesus, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” 1 Peter 1:18-19 identifies Jesus as the fulfillment of the lamb dying for sin, saying, “You know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”
When the time for judgment comes, every one of your thoughts, words and deeds will be revealed. Nothing will be missed; there will be accountability. But one more thing will also be revealed: Your name, written in the Lamb’s book of life, if you have trusted in Jesus for salvation. That book of life represents the God’s justice, as the Son of God took accountability for your sin. Justice will be satisfied, and grace, as God welcomes you into his presence forever.
We must choose in this life what kind of justice we will have at the final judgment.
If we accept the justice of the Lamb of God who died for us, our names are in his “book of life.” If we do not accept the offer of the Lamb of God to satisfy God’s justice, the just Judge will have to condemn us.
That is sobering, because we probably know people whose names are not in Lamb’s book of life. That breaks God’s heart, for God did not create people to go to hell, and it is not necessary for anyone to perish! It should break our hearts as well, and motivate us to show and tell of a better justice.
We say in the creed that Jesus ascended into heaven, and “from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
That is a source of great comfort: There is justice, our lives do have meaning, and by the grace of God we will be justified at the final judgment.
Our faith also gives urgency to how we live. We must accept the righteousness of Christ, not just in words or empty faith, but desiring to serve him as our Lord. We must be witnesses to the grace of God, so that others may also stand in the day of judgment.
The Apostle Paul summarizes it for us in 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2, “We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God…We urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain…I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.”
