Judgment Is Sure to Come

“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”  Hebrews 9:27

The usual way that one looks at this verse is with fear and dread and rightly so for those whose sins have not been forgiven, for those who do not personally know the advocate and mediator, Jesus Christ.  When Christ came the first time, He came as Savior, bearing our sins and paying the penalty for our sins.  The sins of believers were judged at the cross, thereby bringing acquittal to all those who have received Christ as Lord and Savior.  We will appear before Christ to give an account of what we have done in our earthly life to honor Him and further the gospel.  Our works will determine our reward, not our salvation.

On the other hand, for the unbeliever and all those who reject Christ, His second coming will bring judgment which will be swift and appropriate.  Isaiah 63:2-4 foretells of Christ as He avenges His people for the suffering and persecution they endured because of the enemy, Satan.  We have a picture here of Jesus, wearing His royal robes that are red like one who has been treading a winepress.  But the winepress is full of the enemies of Christ, and He tramples them like grapes in His anger and fury.  The red robes are not stained with wine, but with the blood of His foes.  Jesus says that the time has come for Him to avenge His people, to rescue them from those who oppress and persecute them.  He then states, “For the day of vengeance is in Mine heart, and the year of My redeemed is come.”  This paints a vivid picture of the day of reckoning for all those who have mocked God and persecuted His people.

There are multitudes of folks who do not believe that God will one day pour out His wrath upon a sinful, ungodly world, but my question is how can anyone is his or her right mind see all the wickedness in this world and not know that judgment must come eventually?  It becomes very frustrating as we see so much evil in the world, “spiritual wickedness in high places” and not only in places of authority, but in every city, town, and rural area.  We wonder how long it will be before evil is judged.  While we are to pray for those in leadership positions and for all people that they would acknowledge their sin and turn to the Lord, be assured that if they continue in their pride and ungodly ways, God’s justice will be served.  As frightening as it is to stand before an earthly judge, I can’t imagine the fear that will come over one who has no advocate to appear before him or her to the righteous Judge of all the earth.  At that point, it will be too late to “Lawyer up”.