ATTRIBUTES—-
SAVIOR & JUDGE
WHO IS GOD? SAVIOR & JUDGE
There are two myths (among many!) in our culture that are corrected in 2 Corinthians 5. The first is that God is only described as the judge of humanity in the Old Testament. The second is that Jesus Christ is a happy-go-lucky, “I don’t care about sin” kind of guy—almost like a smiling cartoon hippie.
Both of these myths are false representations. God is a judge, and His Son, Jesus Christ, will eventually judge the world in two main categories. First, Jesus will judge each person for how he or she has responded to His gifts of forgiveness and salvation—with acceptance or rejection. Second—and believers in Christ often forget this—Jesus will judge how we have lived after being saved. This second kind of judgment is intended not to see if we have earned salvation (which is impossible) but to determine whether each of us has used the life God has given us to love Him and others and share Christ with the world.
Paul leaves us with this important line in 2 Corinthians 5:9-10: “So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him. For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.” God has never ceased being a judge, and what we do does matter because we will each give an account before Jesus Christ one day for how we have lived.
WHO AM I? UNDER JUDGEMENT
Each one of us is accountable for how we will respond to Jesus as the ultimate judge. There are two questions we will need to face.
First, did we reject or accept Him as Lord and Savior? This is the judgment of salvation we will all be held to. Christ came into the world to save it, not to condemn it (see John 3:17), but we are each responsible for how we respond to His offer of salvation. Our acceptance or rejection of His saving gift will be the starting point of the account we each must give for our lives.
Second, if we accepted His gift, how did we live after we received new life in Christ Jesus? Did we live to serve Him? Or did we use grace as a license to sin? Did we “make the most of every opportunity in these evil days” (Ephesians 5:16), striving to let others know about Him?
Our lives matter to the judge. He wants us to live in the right way—the way He originally created us to—and have fruitful lives. But whatever we do, we must give an account to Him. For Christians, our lives are truly not our own, but in Christ, we can walk in the good works He created us to do and “do the good things he planned for us long ago” (Ephesians 2:10).
WHAT DO I DO? OBEY & PLEASE THE JUDGE
How would you answer God right now if He asked you, “Why shouldn’t you be punished in hell and held accountable for all the sin you have committed against Me and others?”
There is only one answer that will satisfy the judge’s question: Because I believe in Christ as my Lord and Savior, and I trust Him to be the righteousness that washes away all the debt of my sin. This is the Good News: Christ provides rescue from the consequences of our sin if we accept Him. Pleasing the judge and being saved from our sin starts nowhere else but with genuine belief that Jesus Christ is our needed and confessed Savior.
For those of us who can confidently answer the question above and know we are forgiven of our sin, then the next question is “How are you using your life, body, relationships, time, money, gifts, and years?”
We are called to obey the Lord Jesus Christ and to serve Him, live for Him, represent Him, share Him, and grow in Him. The fact is that we are now free from the power and judgment of sin so that we can live for Christ and His glory and not our own. We have been given new life, so let’s use it wisely until we go to Him or He comes back. Jesus said, “If you give up your life for me, you will find it” (Matthew 10:39). Walk with Christ in a way that is both reverent and free in all that you do. Fix your eyes on the ultimate judge—your coming Savior—and joyfully share all the good that Christ has done through your life. He wants to reward and receive us with joy!