John had previously written about what judgment was going to look like. This devotional reading compares what John wrote in the gospel of John to what he wrote in Revelation.
Nuggets
- The Day of the Lord is about judgment — with Jesus being the Judge.
- John shows both sides of the coin – who will get eternal life and who won’t.
- At some point in our future, judgment will be over; and eternity will have started.
I had to chuckle when I got to this portion of the drafts folder. We were going to compare what John wrote with what John wrote.
But then I switched my perspective. We are going to compare what John wrote with what Jesus said.
Let's Put It into Context
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Devotions in the The Day of the Lord series
Judgment and Honor
“For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment” (Jn. 5: 22-29 ESV).
The Day of the Lord is about judgment — with Jesus being the Judge.
In Revelation, John does not identify who is sitting on the great white throne. He just said that someone was seated on it. That Person would be the Judge.
We know from what Jesus said that the Judge would be the Son.
Since God has delegated the act of judging to Jesus, does that mean He is ambivalent to it? Oh heavens, no!
Donne explained why that is. He wrote, “Judgment is so essential to God that it is co-eternal with Him.”
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Doesn’t this contradict the Psalm of Asaph? “God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment” (Ps. 82: 1 ESV).
In my mind, it doesn’t. God is the Maker of the Law. Maybe I am reading this too much in light of today’s customs, but enforcement of laws is not the job of the law makers.
The laws are enforced by law enforcement, and offenders are brought before the judicial branch for determination of innocence or guilt and sentencing if found guilty.
Donne talked about something may be against the law in one place but not in another or in one time period but not another. God’s laws, however, are universal and eternal.
God’s laws are not mankind’s laws. He has identified things as sin that worldview people question. But their opinions do not matter to God. He is the ultimate One Who determines the laws by which we all will be judged.
God has given us specific instructions as to what we are to do. “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good” (Rom. 12: 9 ESV).
I was thinking about honoring the Son as honoring the Father when I was reading my devotion. When we think of the Trinity, we think it means they are equal. I don’t think that is the case.
Yes, the Father and Son share in the same attributes: omnipresence, omniscience, holiness, love, etc. They are of one nature.
Yes, They do things together. Together They created the universe. Together They designed and accomplished the Plan of Salvation – before the foundation of the world, redemption, and resurrection.
But God had to give Jesus the authority. Jesus didn’t have it on His own.
“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me’” (Mt. 28: 18 ESV). No, it doesn’t say specifically that God gave Him the authority, but Who else would?
Jesus said that all He did was God’s Will, not His own. “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me” (Jn. 5: 30 ESV).
Jesus did nothing on His own.
Remember, Jesus was the Faithful Witness to God. And from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood” (Rev. 1: 5 ESV).
Instead, in the Old Testament when we read Lord, we think Jesus. We cut out the “vengeance is mine, said the Lord” God and replace Him with the “He didn’t come to condemn” Jesus.
It isn’t going to work that way. That honors neither Jesus nor God.
Burn made a great observation. He wrote,
“God was not [honored] in Judaism, witness its lapses into idolatry and its ultimate formalism; nor by Mohammedanism, witness its cruelty and licentiousness; nor in heathenism, where He is not known at all; nor by Deism, as proved by its development into agnosticism and atheism. Only in Christendom is God [honored], because Christ is [honored].”
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In our conversations, we can use “Praise the Lord” like it is a comma, but that doesn’t mean anything if we don’t genuinely have Jesus as our Savior and Redeemer.
Our salvation experience has to be real. We have to submit our will to God’s. We have to do things His way.
Eternal Life for Sheep and Goats
John shows both sides of the coin – who will get eternal life and who won’t.
In Jesus’ words, it is the positive way – you have eternal life. In John’s description, it is the positive way – anyone’s name not found in the book of life. But we’re going to talk about John’s way in the next section.
That is what the judgment is going to be about – finding out if we are sheep or goats.
The end – judgment – depends on what happens in the beginning – hearing God’s Word. But it is more than just hearing.
We have to let God’s Word come in through our ears until it reaches our hearts.
It has to be more than head knowledge. It has to be heart knowledge. It has to be heart commitment.
We are to believe in the Son and the Father Who sent Him. “And Jesus cried out and said, ‘Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me’” (Jn. 12: 44 ESV).
When we gain salvation, we gain eternal life. It means we are no longer condemned.
What does eternal life even mean?
Van Doren gave us a clue. He said it was freedom from the guilt and pollution of sin and
possession of the good things from God – love, purity, blessedness.
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This should bring us great joy.
This should include joy of self-sacrifice. That is our mission. “… come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Lk. 9: 23 ESV).
Why is that so hard to do? Harris told us why. He wrote, “Man had forgotten the great truth, that self-sacrifice for duty and for love is the very joy of the soul’s true life. But God revealed it in Jesus.”
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If eternal life is about addressing the well-being of the soul and has started now, then that means after the Day of the Lord, it will be more. No more sin. No more physical limitations.
We will be free in God’s presence.
Eternal Life Forever
At some point in our future, judgment will be over; and eternity will have started.
Everyone will go through judgment. The living, the dead – believers, non-believers – all will be judged by the Judge on the great white throne.
We’ve talked before that it will be us in new, glorified bodies. Our personality and memories will be intact.
Beith is correct. He wrote judgment will “… Not [be] the voice as heard through pastors, etc. The season for hearing, that for conversion, sanctification, comfort, etc., is over.”
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We will have to get the condition of our souls set before the Day of the Lord.
Donne reminded us that this isn’t a miracle. True, we may not understand everything, but it isn’t a highly improbable event.
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How can that be? It is built on faith. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb. 11: 1).
Making the Connections #1
No, God’s idea of the Day of the Lord and eternity is not what the worldview people have in mind.
Talbot said that means that we have to be careful how much stock we put in worldly traditions and scientific knowledge. He said that all explanations can be found in God.
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We can’t forget that God is the Creator. He is also a silent Judge.
How is that? It is His laws and commandments on which we will be judged.
God doesn’t have to say a word. He already has.
Making the Connections #2
Donne made an interesting comment. He wrote, “But take this rule, God hath given Christ this commission as Man, but Christ had not been capable of it had He not been God too. The ability is in Him eternally, but the power of actual execution was given Him as Man.
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- Jesus judges us through His human 100%.
- He can only do that because He is also 100% God, which means He has always had the ability.
- This works because He is both.
Would we feel comfortable being judged by Someone Who has never even been around sin?
Aren’t we glad that our Judge is Someone Who was tempted by sin but didn’t give in to it?
Melvill said that this was the reason that Jesus made the perfect Judge. With both these natures present in Him, He has been given the job as Mediator.
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- “But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. (Heb. 8: 6 ESV).
- “Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant” (Heb. 9: 15 ESV).”
Making the Connections #3
Melvill sees the scene perfectly in my book. We aren’t going to be standing there arguing back with Jesus for the verdict He has delivered. He wrote, “His presence itself will condemn, and they will call to the rocks, etc., to hide them from not the thunderbolts of avenging Deity, but from the face of Him who became man for their salvation.”
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Jesus’ presence alone will be enough to condemn. Calling to the rocks refers back to Revelation 6.
- “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil” (Jn. 3: 18-19 ESV).
- “Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (Rev. 6: 15-17 ESV).
Making the Connections #4
We see death as one thing — physical death. In truth, that is only one type of death.
Smith helped us understand. He wrote, “The body dies, everlasting death is threatened, spiritual death is inflicted.”
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We think “… thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20: 14 ESV) means everlasting death. But it doesn’t.
Everyone will live on. Otherwise, Jesus’ parable about Lazarus and the rich guy would be a lie.
Yes, that was a story, but it was said to prove a point. The point wouldn’t be proven if it wasn’t real.
It is the spiritual death that we should worry about.
How Do We Apply This?
- Be grateful that God carries out His actions with man through Jesus.
- Be prepared for judgement: ABCD, obey Him, and look for His coming.
- Acknowledge Jesus as the One perfect Son of God.
- Recognize the sacrifice that Jesus made to redeem us.
- Let Jesus rule in our hearts by obeying Him and discipling others.
- Do all things to honor the Father and the Son.
- Regularly attend worship services.
- Worship God in our homes.
- Pray regularly.
- Study God’s Word and take heed of it.
- Be content to not understand everything that is coming but keep faith that God is working to totally restore our relationships with Him.
- Make sure we are seeking an inward transformation, not just an outward religion.
- Remember all God has done for us.
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Father God. We want our souls to be spiritually in the condition You want them to be. Sanctify us so that we continue to grow as needed. Amen.
What do you think?
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