We will all have our day in court. The Bible says that all people are destined to die and after that we will face judgement (Hebrews 9:27). Once we come to terms with that reality, it is incumbent upon us to get our affairs in order so that we can approach that day free of apprehension, solidly grounded in our faith in Jesus Christ.
While people remain in rebellion against God they are enemies of God, yet when they repent, their adversary becomes their advocate. In Matthew 5:25, Jesus advises, “Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison.”
This advice is profound considering the judgement we all must face at our appointed date with destiny. We currently have a brief window in time to repent and surrender our lives to Christ. Accepting His gift of grace constitutes “settling matters on the way.” Today is the day of salvation! Christ’s sacrifice on the cross is full payment for our sins, therefore when we accept His offer of grace, we will receive a full pardon on our day before the judge of all humanity.
Paul informs us in Acts 17:30-31, “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now He commands all people to repent. For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising Him from the dead.” That man is Jesus of Nazareth.
TWO ASPECTS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
Jesus will judge the world (2 Timothy 4:1). And Paul tells us He will judge the world with justice. This means that He will be a righteous judge. In a courtroom, righteousness means acquitting the innocent and punishing the guilty. In covenants, it means honoring promises.
Tension arises between these two aspects of righteousness in God’s courtroom, of which true believers are the benefactors. On one hand, He will punish the guilty and on the other hand, He will forgive the guilty who are under the New Covenant. The Bible tells us that God is just (Deuteronomy 32:4).
God revealed His righteous nature to Moses in Exodus 34:6-7, “And He passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, ‘The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet He does not leave the guilty unpunished; He punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.”
The Bible says that all have sinned and have fallen short (Romans 3:23). Those apart from Christ will receive the just penalty for their sins. Those choosing to be united with Christ are also judged, however, Jesus has taken responsibility for their sins. In their case, the guilty are forgiven because Christ’s sacrifice constitutes full payment and propitiation for their sins, which stands eternally before the throne of God because of Jesus’ priesthood.
UNITED WITH CHRIST
True believers are united with Christ as His betrothed bride and upon the marriage of the Lamb will be one with Him. This explains why Paul can say in Romans 8:1. “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Additionally, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20). And finally, in Ephesians 5:31-32, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one flesh. This is a profound mystery – but I am talking about Christ and the church.”
We receive unity with Christ because of the incarnation of Jesus, His resurrection and permanent union with human nature, allowing union between God and humanity. Furthermore, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit aligns our will with God’s will and produces the fruit of the spirit as the result of our repentance.
As the head of the church (Colossians 1:18), Jesus has authority over us and takes responsibility for our actions, similar to an employer being vicariously liable for the actions of its employees while at work. As our eternal advocate and High Priest, Jesus is ever present before the seat of judgement. When true believers stand before the Judge, our Savior Jesus, presents them as “His” and presents the settlement of their debt as “paid in full.
Luke 22:37 records Jesus identifying Himself as being counted as guilty for sin. “It is written: ‘And He was numbered with the transgressors’; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in Me. Yes, what is written about Me is reaching its fulfillment.” “Paul stated in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”
In Mark 10:45, Jesus puts it this way, “For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” Jesus paid our debt and we are free just like Barabbas (Luke 23:25). Jesus took His place and He took our place on the cross. Furthermore, Jesus could legally pay our debt because He did not deserve death.
Moreover, His sacrifice is propitiation, which means that Jesus received God’s wrath instead of His true followers. Jesus applied Isaiah’s words to Himself, “It was the Lord’s will to crush Him and cause Him to suffer, and though the Lord makes His life a guilt offering, He will see His offspring and prolong His days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in His hand.”
Jesus is the only one qualified to pay the penalty of all sin because He is the only one without sin. As our sovereign head (of the church) He took responsibility for the sins of the church (the true church). So even though Jesus was innocent of all charges, God was just in punishing Him. Jesus may have been wrongfully accused but He was not wrongfully punished.
SIN IS IDOLATRY
Sin is idolatry because people place their sins above God (Exodus 20:3). Idolatry can be any created thing. In the garden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil became an idol that Adam and Eve chose over God. The serpent’s lie about the tree fostered the notion that even though God had provided everything the couple could ever need, their Creator was holding something back. Idolatry leaves one disconnected from God and blind to sin (Psalm 115:3-8).
Worship is defined as ascribing worth to something. Martin Luther taught that whatever your heart clings to and relies upon is your God and that trust and faith make God and idol. In Hebrew, worship means to bow down. In Greek it is equivalent to a kiss, as in kissing the hand of the king. In both cases, it signifies submission.
Exodus 3 states, “You shall have no other gods before Me.” and Exodus 20:4-5 follows up by saying, “You shall not make yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God…”
Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters…. You cannot serve both God and Money.” (Matthew 6:24). Our materialistic society has become enslaved to money and idolizes the wealthy. “Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” (1 Timothy 6:9-10a).
While idolatry disconnects one from God, repentance brings about unity with Him. Our forgiveness in Christ effectively crushes the serpent’s head by revealing the serpent’s lie about God. God held nothing back when He gave His one and only Son as payment for sin. In doing so, He destroyed the root of idolatry and saves us from it.
The writer of Hebrews states, “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” By not withholding His own blood, Jesus achieved once and for all what humans could not (Romans 8:3). Through Christ, we are justified and declared righteous (Romans 4:25). Galatians 2:16-21 teaches that a person is not justified by the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, and in Galatians 3:13 we are taught, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us,”.
In the fifth chapter of Revelation, we are told that no one in heaven or on earth was found that was worthy of breaking the seals and opening the scroll except the Lion of Judah, the Root of David, the Lamb that was slain. Jesus is the only one capable of paying for our sins. He alone is the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6).
If Jesus Christ was simply a man or an angel, He could never have ransomed the multitude of believers recorded in Revelation 7:9 and Revelation 19:6-8, that no one could count. He did this though one act. One sacrifice. And He alone is worthy of this sacred service, since He is God. Psalm 49:7-9 declares, “No man can redeem the life of another or give a ransom for him – the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough – that he should live on forever and not see decay.”
On that Day, when we stand before the judgement seat of God and our sin is exposed, we won’t be able to offer any plausible defense. Our actions, our words and even our thoughts will testify against us so as to argue for a verdict of “guilty as charged.” However, the courtroom drama will cease when the only one qualified to advocate in our defense rises before the court to submit that our debt has been “paid in full.” Thank you Jesus!!!
