Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Are You Ready for the Final Exam?
OK. It may seem like overkill on this subject, but when you're preparing to preach on a difficult subject, a lot of things end up on the cutting room floor. By the way, one of the great challenges of modern preaching is to get great Truths to fit inside of that barely tolerable 45-minute window I call a sermon. I say "modern" preaching because there was a time (not that long ago) that preachers averaged over an hour to communicate God's Word. Anything less was quaintly termed "sermonettes." (If you're used to the 20-30 minute message, I'm probably not your preacher of choice. And yes, I know all about series and I usually preach within them. AND I know that the mind can only retain what the seat can endure - which explains why we have comfy padded seats in our sanctuary.) Anyways, back to my reason for writing this blog...
I've been thinking a lot about what the
Bible says comes next for us after death, and the Judgment Day is a major event
on God's itinerary for us. This had me thinking
about when I was in college. Every professor gave us a syllabus for his or her
course. The syllabus gave us an outline and summary of the course. It
told us what the professor expected of us as students – attendance, term paper
requirements, and the dates of mid-term and final exams.
God has given us a
syllabus. It is called the Bible. In it, we discover God’s plan,
all that He wants to teach us, and what is expected of us – attendance
requirements, the practicum (where we apply what we’ve learned), and the
certainty of pop quizzes, tests, and a very final exam.
In college, I was a
procrastinator. I put off thinking about tests or term papers until I
absolutely had to. (Which might explain my less than stellar grades.)
Look, being all preoccupied with tests would have spoiled all the fun I was
having in college! I was away from home. I was the captain of my ship and
I couldn’t be bothered by petty professors who tried to make my life miserable
with more lame school work! But no matter how much I attempted to put it
off, or ignore it, those exams still came with an alarming sense of urgency
and...well, panic.
I believe that
many Christians would rather not think about the final exam when we stand
before God. That just cramps our style, doesn’t it? It makes us
uncomfortable because any serious consideration of our personal judgment would
probably make us pause and evaluate our lives. We might have to take life
more seriously and be more conscious of wasting our time on things that really
don’t matter in light of eternity. But here's what the syllabus says:
10...For we will all stand
before the judgment seat of God.
11 For it is written, “As I
live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall give
praise to God.”
12 So then each one
of us will give an account of himself to God.
(Romans 14:10b-12,
NASB)
It is not wise to ignore the
inevitable or to put off facing the facts. (Apply this to almost any other area
of your life and isn't that an absolute understatement?!!?) In this
case, we will all be judged – both believer and unbeliever alike. The
Bible describes two separate judgments and according to scripture, they are a
serious certainty.
For we must all appear before the judgment
seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done
in the body, whether good or evil. (2 Corinthians 5:10, ESV)
But the degree to which we are upset by
this topic is based on how ready we are for the final exam. Think about
it: When you waited till the last minute to get ready for your history test,
you were in full-blown panic mode. But when you had studied, and prepared
well in advance, there was some anxiety perhaps, but there was also a
confidence that you had prepared – you had done your part to get ready.
What’s amazing to me, as a
pastor, is how many people (both believers and nonbelievers) want me to talk
about end-time events, but don’t want to hear about the Judgment. Our
Final Exam IS a pretty significant end-time event. And we had better be
ready for it.
Labels: final exam, judgment, preaching
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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