John 5:27 Jesus is our Judge; Why would a loving God allow us to be judged?
Purity of God
Deuteronomy 32: 3-4 – “I will proclaim the name of the LORD. Oh, praise the greatness of our God! He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.”
Exodus 33:20 – “But He (God) said, “You cannot see my face, for no man can see me and live!”
John 5:27 - 30 - “and he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man. Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out-those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgement is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.”
Nobody likes to be judged. The idea of God judging us is offensive to many people. They will ask, “How can a loving God allow judgment?” Or “How can a loving God allow anyone to suffer?” Some people work so hard to be good, they can’t imagine that God would judge them. But what if it’s not just about us? Maybe there is more to it; perhaps we don’t understand everything that God is. We have a God who is so pure, so holy, and so perfect that our sin can’t even exist in his presence. It’s hard to grasp. The sheer power of his glory obliterates every imperfection he comes in contact with. God does not judge us because he is mean and hateful. It is his perfection and goodness that leaves him no choice. It’s not what he wants for us, and he has a solution.
2 Peter 3:9 –“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
There was a commercial on television, when I was a child, for a wonderful product called OxiClean. This amazing product could eliminate dirt in seconds. I remember a very excited announcer with a dirty sock that had been rolled in dirt and mud so much that you could barely tell it was supposed to be white. He would put it in a bucket of water, swoosh it around until the water was grey and the sock was grey and it was clear that this was an impossible laundry dilemma. Ah, but we should not fear, Oxiclean was here! Just a splash of this miracle cure and the sock was as clean as new, sparkling white and blemish free. This stuff could dissolve dirt like magic. I was fascinated.
God is like Oxiclean on steroids. The dirt of our imperfections and sin cannot exist in the presence of his purity. We would be destroyed. It would cost us our lives to be near him. This is where God’s love comes in. He wants to have a relationship with us; he wants us to be able to be near to him. So he provides us with protection, a substitute to take on our sin and die in our place. His solution is Jesus. Jesus was a perfect sacrifice; able to take on our sin and the punishment of death for us. Accepting his sacrifice is like taking that dirty sock of ourselves and putting it in a Ziploc bag so the super Oxiclean holiness of God can’t destroy us. The ultimate judgment of spiritual death is eternal separation from God. This is as much an act of mercy as it is a punishment for anyone who hasn’t asked to have their sins forgiven and accepted the protection of Christ’s sacrifice.
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We will be held accountable for our actions
2 Corinthians 5:10 – “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what id due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”
God is also a just God and whether we spend our eternity in God’s presence or away from it; we are still accountable for our actions. I am not saying that we can earn our way into God’s kingdom. That is based on our decision to accept or reject what Jesus did on the cross. But our actions will be judged and what a better judge than someone who actually walked on the earth as one of us. Jesus understands what it is like to be in our shoes and has so much compassion and love for us that he has already paid our penalty. He knows everything good and bad about us and understands the motivations for all of our actions and still he loves us. This gives him the ability to not only be just and fair but merciful and compassionate as well.
That is how a loving God can judge.
