Friday, April 12, 2013
Happy Judgment Day!
This Sunday, I will be stepping back into our series on "What's Next?" You know, what happens after we die. Many Christians have only a vague idea of what comes next, but the Bible gives us a pretty clear picture. We've talked about life, death and resurrection. Now, we need to see what comes after that - JUDGMENT. I know, right? It sounds so...bad. (Did you hear the creepy organ music when you read that?) And it looks even worse in all-caps. The writer of Hebrews just says it the way that it is, and the way that it will be...
"...people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment..."
The only reason that this sounds really bad for all of us is that we haven't read this truth in context. Let's try it again...
24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. 25 Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. 26 Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. (Hebrews 9:24-28, NIV)
The reason that we fear the judgment is because we tend to be sinful people. And sinful people having to stand before a holy God is a picture that should instill fear in our hearts. BUT... (Remember that this word is strategically positioned to tell us a greater truth. And it occurs twice in this passage!) This is the Good News for all of us destined to die and face judgment! I like the way Eugene Peterson paraphrases it in The Message...
26b But instead he sacrificed himself once and for all...the final solution of sin.
27-28Everyone
has to die once, then face the consequences. Christ’s death was also a
one-time event, but it was a sacrifice that took care of sins forever.
And so, when he next appears, the outcome for those eager to greet him
is, precisely, salvation.
This is the greater truth that changes our view of the judgment that is to come for each of us. Notice that the writer of Hebrews is less concerned with death and judgment than he is with salvation. In fact, the truth in verse 27 is almost conveyed flippantly because it is overshadowed by the greater truth of Christ's once-and-for-all sacrifice for our sins. Jesus bore God's judgment for our sin! And in the words of the old hymn-writer...
When from my dying bed
My ransomed soul shall rise,
“Jesus died my soul to save,”
Shall rend the vaulted skies.
My ransomed soul shall rise,
“Jesus died my soul to save,”
Shall rend the vaulted skies.
Refrain:
Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow
And when before the throne
I stand in Him complete,
"Jesus died my soul to save"
"Jesus died my soul to save"
my lips shall still repeat
Refrain:
Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow
(Jesus Paid It All, Elvina M. Hall, 1865)
I'm not trying to diminish the gravity of that moment when we will all stand before God in judgment. (I believe that there will be tears and some anguish - even for believers. See 1 Corinthians 3:12-15 for more info!) But our hope is secure because of what Christ has done for us! If we have placed our trust in Christ's sacrifice for sin, we don't have anything to fear and it WILL BE a happy Judgment Day.
Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died--more
than that, who
was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is
also interceding for us. (Romans 8:34, NIV)
Labels: death, Hebrews 9:24-28, judgment
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