In effect, the Bible tells us in 2nd Corinthians 5:1 that in this “earthly tent” we live, we are only renting it for a time as we pass through this life. I heard it shared this way, you can purchase a flash drive or CD and it might weigh only .3 of ounce. You can load it with 5 million bytes of data and it will still weigh .3 ounces. The software has no mass, only its embodiment, but it can pass through the air. We know from Einstein’s Theory of Relativity that time is a relative physical property. Time is related to mass, an acceleration of gravity. If you have no mass, you have no time. We know that God created time, that He is outside of and not subject to the commodity of time, and that He created time ostensibly for redemptive purposes.
Scientists will tell us that 99% of the human body is comprised of six main elements: oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, etc. But that is not the real you. The real you….is like the software. The real you is eternal whether you are saved or unsaved. In that regard, the Resurrection and judgment is not good news to the non-believer. As a follower of Jesus Christ, we will personally be subject to four different judgments, but we are not to view them as a negative.
FOUR JUDGMENTS
FIRST, as a believer, our first step is to accept the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross. It is here that we see initially the judgment of our sins on the Cross. In acknowledging before God that we are sinners and that Jesus the Son of God died for us to pay the penalty of our sins, and that by His resurrection alone we too are promised resurrection. At the cross, Jesus bore the judgment of our sins.
“And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.” (John 9:39 NASB)
“When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.” (Colossians 2:13-14 NASB)
In Hebrews 10:10,14,17-18, it cannot be made more clear, that Christ was judged and punished for ALL our sins, both confessed and unconfessed, both all past and future sins. Paul reminds us in Romans 5:1-11 that, as a result, we are declared righteous before God, not based on what we have done, but for what Christ has done for us. It is why we preach “Christ crucified” in order to compel repentance and belief.
The Bible tells us that as we go through this life that there are three other judgments that we need to consider.
SECOND, there is a Self-Judgment that we are to exercise continually whenever we are about to partake Communion. We are instructed that before receiving the elements of Communion we must ask the Holy Spirit to examine and illumine our sins in order to confess them. In Corinth this intended act of “communion” with the Lord had become a thoughtless and even selfish church ritual. Have you seen it before? It is why Paul wrote to them:
“Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.” (1st Corinthians 11:28-30 NIV)
Here Paul informs us that there are real consequences for taking Communion in a careless manner. It is important for us to commemorate the Crucifixion in humility and with a repentant heart, having confessed our sins before the Lord. The elements have been ordained to soberly remind us of the high cost of God’s forgiveness. Eating and drinking them vividly depicts our union and solidarity with Christ as our Savior, Lord and Source of spiritual life.
Many churches today hurriedly “go through the motions” of celebrating Communion and “checking it off the box” in the order of service without approaching the Lord in the reverential tone and manner He prescribes. This is a mistake and time should be allotted for this self-examination by members, a form of self-judgment aided by the Holy Spirit.
We are reminded that “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1st John 1:8-9 KJV)
It is important to understand this moment. When we confess our sins before God as a believer, this is not a legal transaction akin to a judge and a criminal. This is more a form of family forgiveness, much like that of a father and a wayward child. This feeds into the next form of judgment.
THIRD, is the Disciplinary Judgment that is mentioned in 1st Corinthians 11 and further amplified in Hebrews 12:7-13.
“For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.” (1st Corinthians 11:31-32 KJV)
Aided by the Holy Spirit, if we thoroughly examine ourselves, and condemn and correct what we find amiss, we can often escape times of God’s “chastening” in our lives. To be exact and severe on ourselves and our conduct enables us to avoid the severity of God’s discipline.
But the writer of Hebrews reminds us that when God’s “chastening” or Disciplinary Judgment occurs in our lives, He disciplines us out of love just as we discipline our children.
“It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” (Hebrews 12:7-11 NASB)
Judgment looks back to the past on sinfulness in order to bring about retribution. But instead, as God employs discipline in our lives, He is looking forward to our restoration, exhorting and strengthening us along the way.
As we move towards the FOURTH JUDGMENT, we are continually reminded that the Bible implores us to take the Christian life seriously, to live by the Word and will of God. In his letters to the Corinthians he exhorted believers to take the “far look”, that the present is all temporary if not a testing ground for our faithfulness. He used the analogy of a runner’s marathon race. Why?
The ancient Grecian and Isthmian athletic games were well-known by the Corinthians. The arena contained a raised platform on which the president or judge of the games sat. From here judges rewarded all contestants and awarded all winners. It was the “bema seat” or “rewards seat.” It is in this context that Paul likens our faith walk to that of a long-distance race. (Hebrews 12:1; Galatians 5:7; 1st Corinthians 9:24-27; 2nd Timothy 4:7; Romans 5:3-4)
The Bible says that our FOURTH JUDGMENT will be the Bema Judgment (2nd Corinthians 5:10) or Judgment Seat of Christ and which is visually amplified in Revelation 4 when the elders of the Church fall down before the throne of God and “cast their crowns” before Him. Wearing white robes in verse 4 signifying that they have gone through the Bema Judgment and received their crowns, then casting them before the Lord Jesus Christ in honor and gratitude. (See blog post dated 7/31/19)
How we live today is how we will be rewarded tomorrow. God is evaluating us today with view of rewards for eternity. Yes, we are living in this present world, but we are moving towards glory and resurrection. Not our innate glory, but the reflection of Christ’s glory in us!
No one knows the day or hour, but the next event for the Church will be the Rapture. Immediately after the Rapture we will all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ whereby our Lord will evaluate our lives. “Surrounded by a cloud of witnesses” we are in a marathon race, how are you running yours?
“And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.” (Matthew 10:42)