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Musings on Faith #13 Judgement of the Lost | |
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We talked last week about the forgiveness of sins for the believer. But there is another side to the coin, which many Christians these days tend to gloss over, but which needs to be recognized and understood. It is one of those "hard sayings", so-called. After the wonderful promise of John 3:16-17, John went on to say, in the same Chapter, "Whoever believes in the Son [Jesus Christ] has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him (John 3:36, NIV)". The word "wrath" may be read as judgement. This doesn't mean that God does not love the lost. To the contrary, we all know that He sent His only Son to die on the cross as a sacrifice for all. Greater love there cannot be. God loves the lost, for we all are born in sin, and therefore lost until we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. If God did not love all of humankind, all would be lost, with no hope of redemption. Therefore, God loves the lost. It is not God's rejection of man that leads to judgement, but man's rejection of God's grace through rejection of the Son. The writer of Hebrews says "Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgement, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people, and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting |
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for him (9:27-28, NIV)". Turning the coin over again, we realize that, just as Christ will come again to claim those who are His own (in other words, those who have accepted the free gift of salvation through grace, made possible by the death of Jesus on the cross), those who are not His own (in other words, those who have rejected His Son) will not be among those whom He calls home to be with Him throughout all eternity, but will be judged by the very standards we who believe would be judged, but for our acceptance of His free gift of grace. Verse 26 of this same Chapter says that Christ died "once for all". This means everyone, again confirming God's love for all humankind. His desire for all is that they come to a saving knowledge of His Son as their personal Savior. Throughout the New Testament this truth is re-confirmed. God would not have anyone suffer the judgement of the lost. He rejects no one, but those who reject His only begotten Son reject the salvation that is theirs through Him. None of us deserves, by our own questionable merit, this matchless grace. Those who receive Him are no better than those who reject Him, but the difference, throughout eternity, is the difference in Heaven and Hell. Hard, but true! Yours in Christ, Tom Woodard |
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