My apologies for this late dev. This morning I was with the family of Bill Spence who passed away at the wonderful age of 101. Please keep the family in your prayers.
7. He ascends to return as Judge...
| When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32 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. (Matthew25:31-32) |
We like to talk about God's love.
But love without justice is not really true love.
It is blind love (ignores the sin, failure and brokenness) and we're always at risk that the sin that is "swept under the carpet" becomes a lump that love trips over.
Love without justice can also become favouritism because love without justice means that I am as loved as you are even though I am hurting you in a terrible way. If your cause is not picked up by love then maybe I am loved more than you.
So God's love includes justice - it balances the scales. It rights the wrongs.
The other side of love is justice.
There are two ways for justice to be satisfied:
Either I must pay for my crimes or someone else must.
BUT the other side of justice is love.
And so Jesus offered Himself as the consequence-bearer.
The final judgement is where every human being will face their sin and guilt and will either carry the weightc of the consequences of their brokenness or they will have trusted Christ to do so.
Must people think about judgement with some negativity.
I welcome the idea of judgement.
When I watch the news, hear the reports and read the papers I am alarmed, distressed and traumatised by the child-rape, the abuse, the war, the martyring that goes on in the world. I am shaken to my core at the horror of heartache and pain that people go through at the hands of others.
If love just overlooked this I wouldn't feel safe.
I am comforted that sin will be confronted and that it will be paid for. I am sad beyond description that some people will reject the payment that Jesus made on their behalf when He died a sinners' death on the cross, but I am comforted by judgement and it makes me trust Him more - especially since He chooses to judge even though it meant severe consequences for Jesus.
(This brings us to the end of the series on Ascension - Some of you will recognise this as material I originally wrote for the series on the Apostle's Creed - I hope it has been helpful to revisit...)
