The Apostle’s Creed
Together: I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth;
And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from there he shall come to judge the living and the dead;
I believe in the Holy Spirit; the holy *catholic church, the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.
"come to judge the living and the dead"
You cannot separate Jesus’ return from judgment. Jesus is coming back to restore, renew, reign, complete what he began 2000 years ago. But before that he is going to wage war, conquer, judge and destroy.
I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. ... Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron scepter." He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. (Rev.19:11-16)
The Jesus of Revelation is what the Jesus of the manger was born to become. -- conqueror and judge Ruling with an iron scepter; the armies of heaven following after; bringing on war.
Many say that they can’t conceive of a God who would ever judge or punish anyone -- that would be unloving. But think of the alternative: A God who lets everyone get away with everything. Imagine a God who shrugged his shoulder or turned a blind eye to murder, abuse, rape, and exploitation of young girls; to crimes committed by Hitler, Stalin or Sadam Hussein. Would THAT be a "loving" God; a "good" God?
What about all the things done to you personally? You yourself have experienced betrayal, unjust criticism, ridicule; you have been taken advantage of. Perhaps you have been the victim of a crime, or bullying or abuse of some kind. Doesn’t your own heart cry out for justice? What if there was a God who paid everything back? Everything taken from you restored. Every wrong done against you made right.
Justice is about making things right.
“But with righteousness He will judge the poor, and decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth, and He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.” - Isaiah 11:4
-This is the expression of Isaiah’s hope, that one day God will set things right.
We love stories that end with justice -- the bad guy or people getting what they deserve, and the good guys living happily ever after. The Bible ends this way as well.
If Jesus would never return, and there would be no judgment, then there would never be "closure" or a happy ending.
“Sing for joy before the Lord, because He is coming. For He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and His peoples in faithfulness.” (Ps.96:13)
Christian: Does the thought of Jesus coming and coming to judge fill you with joy? It should! Imagine: Every wrong made right; everything broken made whole; all evil judged, condemned and banished forever.
No wonder: "Come, Lord Jesus!" (Rev.22:20) -- this needs to be our prayer as well. Not only for our sakes, but also for the sakes of those who are suffering; especially Christians.
Picture this! A cold, dark prison cell in the northern interior of China.
The cell is only 20’ by 20’ and occupied by 40 prisoners. One of these prisoners is a Chinese underground church pastor in his mid-40s, sentenced to a three-year prison term for preaching the Gospel of Christ. At 5:30 a.m., after being allowed four hours of sleep, a swift blow awakens him to his back from the boot of a communist prison guard. Pastor Stephen is allowed to have one of the two bowls of soup that will be his food for the day including the one small steamed roll he is given each day; he will consume perhaps 500 calories.
Now all 40 prisoners are taken to a room and put in two lines facing each other and forced to kneel. In front of each prisoner is placed a box containing unassembled Christmas lights. The guard viciously barks out the command and Pastor Stephen quickly grabs the empty strings of lights and begins to assemble them. He takes the tiny individual light bulbs and threads the two small metal wires extending from the glass through the plastic holder and bends them into place. Before long, his fingers are raw and bleeding. Then he puts the bulb into the fitting on the string of lights and clamps it into place with his teeth, as prisoners are not allowed tools. His quota for the day - 5000 bulbs. Work will continue for 16 to 20 hours or all night if necessary. If the guards are unsatisfied with the speed or quality of the work, he will be beaten mercilessly. Such is a normal workday for this humble servant of God. (Taken from The Lights of Christmas)
Sometimes I believe that because my life is fairly easy and problem-free, lots of food, warmth, comfort, peace, I become convinced that the world is a pretty good place. Why pray this prayer? -- But: not for most!!
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"Okay I guess I wouldn’t want a God who wasn’t just." But hold on, there are other implications of God being just. It also means that he will mete out justice TO us for crimes we have committed against others.
Jesus himself taught and warned people that one day every person will stand before God and have to give an account for his or her life. What are you going to do to prepare for that? Many think that they don’t have to do anything. "We saunter up to God to claim his patronage and friendship", says theologian John Stott, "it does not occur to us that he might send us away."
Matt.24:51: He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
What will we be judged on?
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it... 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. Rev.20:11-12
“On the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.”- Romans 2:16 -- things no one else aware of; in our hearts and thoughts
“Wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts.” - I Corinthians 4:5
All the symbolic language surrounding Jesus’ return can be summed up in one word: judgment. It all declares that life has woven into its very fabric a factor of accountability. -- Daniel Hans
One day there will be an accounting of everything that we have done: How we spent our time; our money; how we treated others; how well we loved our spouses, children, neighbor; how we responded to the needs of the poor and oppressed; our thoughts, our motives, our attitudes, words; how well we kept our promises
APPLICATION
"Be ready!" PREPARE FOR THE RETURN OF JESUS (Matt.24:45ff)
In other words live in light of the reality of His coming, for His coming to make a difference in the way we are living.
Are you ready for the end of the world? What would happen if Jesus came back today? Great day?
How would you explain unresolved conflict, unused gifts, how you use your time, what you spend your money on, good intentions that simply remain good intentions? Would he be pleased with your evangelistic zeal, the way you use your gifts, opportunities, money?
Are you living as if Jesus is never coming back? -- living according to the passions of the flesh rather than in step with the Spirit; chasing after and living for ambition, success, wealth, pleasure, safety, comfort rather than the Kingdom of God?
--Where life is about you, rather than Christ?
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Something has to be done about the wrongs committed by us. Either we pay for them or someone else does.
Author Rebecca Pippert tells this story of when she was once in a courtroom and heard a person being sentenced for a crime. "On the one hand, a crime had been committed, and the person had to pay," she writes. "Just as the judge was giving the sentence, a middle-aged man suddenly broke into racking sobs. He was clearly the father of the person on trial...this was somebody’s child grown up, a child still adored and treasured by a father. Even the judge paused, but he had his job to do and resumed sentencing. The judge’s job is to sentence. The parent’s heart is to stand in for the child."
Christianity offers a God who is both judge and parent; just and merciful. Jesus was born a "saviour". He came into the world in order to stand in the place of the guilty. On the cross he received and endured the punishment we deserved.
We benefit from his sacrifice, and escape the future judgment by admitting to God that you deserve punishment and to be sent away, but ask God to forgive and receive you for Christ’s sake.
"Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives ... in reverent fear." (1Pet.1:17)
"reverent fear" -- in awe, with joy, that our judge is also Father -- who delights in US, gave His Son for us; is sending His Son again FOR us
When Eisenhower was president of the United States, he once visited Denver. His attention was called to a letter in the local newspaper saying that a six-year-old boy dying with cancer expressed a wish to see the president.
One Sunday morning a black limousine pulled up in front of the boy’s house. Ike stepped out of his car and knocked on the front door. The father, Donald Haley, opened the door wearing faded jeans, an old shirt, and a day’s old beard. Standing behind him was the boy. Ike said, "Paul, I understand you want to see me. Glad to see you." Then he took the boy to the limousine to show it to him, shook hands, and left. The family and neighbors talked about the President’s visit for a long time before the father always remembered it with regret because of the way he was dressed. He lamented, "What a way to meet the President of the United States." -- Wrinkled Wrappings, John R. Brokhoff
How do you need to be responding? What will repentance look like for you? How have you been burying talents? In what ways is God calling you to invest what he has given you towards His Kingdom work? How do you need to be trusting him?
Lord’s Supper -- prayer, repentance, re-dedication; see the price that was paid; receive His grace -- our food and drink! "We proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes."
