When Judgment Day comes -- and deep inside, we all can sense it is coming -- Who do you think it is Who will judge you?
The Bible is clear about two things on this issue:
First, God alone is the Judge because He alone is righteous and holy and worthy to judge all mankind. No human being has either the right or the authority to make judgments as regards any other human's eternal destiny. Only God can be trusted with that. As the psalmists say:
"Rise up, God, judge the earth, for all the nations belong to You." Psalm 82:8
"The heavens proclaim His righteousness, for God is the Judge." Psalm 50:6
"... God is the Judge:
He brings down one and exalts another." Psalm 75:7
YHWH speaks these warnings to the bad shepherds of His people through the prophet Ezekiel:
"I, Yahweh, have spoken.
It is coming, and I will do it!
I will not refrain, I will not show pity,
and I will not relent.
I will judge you
according to your ways and deeds.
This is the declaration of the Lord God." Ezekiel 24:14
But, as the Good Shepherd, His promise of justice also carries with it comfort for His sheep. They know they can depend on Him to be just always:
“The Lord God says to you, My flock: I am going to judge between one sheep and another, between the rams and male goats." Ezekiel 34:17
“Therefore, this is what the Lord God says to them: See, I Myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep." Ezekiel 34:20
The New Testament also bears witness to God's authority as the Sovereign Judge and His determination to execute justice for all:
"... to the assembly of the firstborn whose names have been written in heaven, to God who is the Judge of all, to the spirits of righteous people made perfect..." Hebrews 12:23
"Marriage must be respected by all, and the marriage bed kept undefiled, because God will judge immoral people and adulterers." Hebrews 13:4
A thousand years before Messiah came to earth, King David told us Who that Judge would be:
10 So now, kings, be wise;
receive instruction, you judges of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with reverential awe
and rejoice with trembling.
12 Pay homage to the Son or He will be angry
and you will perish in your rebellion,
for His anger may ignite at any moment.
All those who take refuge in Him are happy. Psalm 2
David was writing about the Son of God, Jesus, the Second Person of the Triune Godhead.
Jesus, Who is 100% God and 100% man.
Jesus is that Judge of all creation.
Who better to judge all men than the One Who has lived as one of us? Of course, while He may have lived as one of us, even a cursory reading of the Gospels will show that none of us is His equal. In the way He lived and even in the way He died, Jesus proved His deity. We see this as well in His words. The Lord Jesus says in John 5 (italics mine for emphasis),
22 "The Father, in fact, judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son,
23 so that all people will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him."
So perfect is the unity between the Father and the Son that Jesus calls all mankind to honor Them both equally. In the very same way that we worship the Father, so we must worship the Son. After all, as Jesus says, "The Father and I are one." John 10:30
In a continuing demonstration of that unity, we are told that the Father has handed over the judgment of sinners to the Son, the One Whose favorite title for Himself was, "Son of Man."
In Matthew 25 Jesus says,
31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.
32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
33 He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on the left.
34 Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world..."
And what will be the fate of those who have rejected Jesus as King, Lord and Savior?
41 Then He will also say to those on the left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels!
This is indeed the Son of Whom King David had warned. He may have come as the Lamb Who takes away the sins of the world when He came the first time, but He returns as the Conquering King before Whom none will be able to stand. None.
The rest of the New Testament confirms Jesus' Judgeship:
"He commanded us to preach to the people and to solemnly testify that He is the One appointed by God to be the Judge of the living and the dead." Acts 10:42
"... because He has set a day when He is going to judge the world in righteousness by the Man He has appointed. He has provided proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.” Acts 17:31
"There is reserved for me in the future the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me, but to all those who have loved His appearing." 2 Timothy 4:8
"They will give an account to the One who stands ready to judge the living and the dead." 1 Peter 4:5
The Lord Jesus reiterates the fact that judgment is coming for those who persist in rejecting His Lordship in the final chapter of the last Book of the New Testament:
12 “Look! I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me to repay each person according to what he has done.
13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates.
15 Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.
16 “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to attest these things to you for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright Morning Star.” Revelation 22
We all would do well to heed His warning.
Jesus is Lord!
See also:
Where Does Jesus Say, "I Am God. Worship Me?"
http://apologika.blogspot.com/2014/02/where-does-jesus-say-i-am-god-worship-me.html
Where Does Jesus Say "I Am God" in the Aramaic Bible?
http://apologika.blogspot.com/2014/09/where-does-jesus-say-i-am-god-in.html
The Lord Our God is One!
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