God Is Just

“…There is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8)

Here’s an old (meant to be) humorous story that is seen occasionally on the internet:

“It was an unusually serious case for the small county seat courthouse and the courtroom was packed with spectators.  Reporters were everywhere.  The noise of whispering was so great that little could be heard.  ‘We must have ORDER in the Court,’ the judge shouted and banged his gavel another time.  He continued by shouting, ‘There have already been a half dozen witnesses that have testified today and I couldn’t hear a single word they said!’”

That’s actually not as “humorous” as we might like a joke to be, but the point of the story is that the judge in the story didn’t hear the testimony of the witnesses, and therefore his judgment would not be valid – it was not based on hearing the evidence.  That’s all too common – we make judgments without knowing all the facts.  But God is not like that.  He hears and sees everything and understands it all perfectly.  If He did not, then you could complain about His verdict.  But He does hear and He is precisely “the righteous judge” that the Apostle Paul described in our Scripture for today.  God knows our hearts, motives, words and actions.

We are all “witnesses” in one manner or another. All of us at one time or another have spoken for or against a neighbor, an acquaintance or a relative, with words designed to find them guilty or innocent, depending on our feelings about them. It’s true about how we view God. Many decide who and what He is without actually knowing anything about Him. We make snap judgments, often liking or disliking people before we know them. Then after we have made up our minds, we spend the rest of our time with them trying to prove what we’ve already decided. But God hears and decides from the evidence, not from mere opinion.

The ones God finds “Not Guilty” on the Day of Judgment receive “the crown of righteousness”  (2 Timothy 4:8).  Many in this world decide that God’s little ones, His people, are guilty of something or other, but God will stamp “Not Guilty” over the opinions of this world about us, for if we trust in the Lord, our acquittal is written indelibly in the blood of Christ.

The evidence upon which God renders His verdict is found in today’s verse.  The ones who will be judged “Not Guilty” are those “who have loved His appearing.”  In other words, if you are pleased that Jesus is the Son of God who came to earth as a human child, lived, then died for your sins and rose back to life, you have “loved His appearing.”  Through His grace, though your faith in the Lord is small, forgiveness is yours when you have that faith.  The Holy Spirit of God has been or is being placed deep within you, and “Not Guilty” is stamped over your previous sins.  When we place our faith in the Lord, you and I are changed for the good – forever.

Jeff Japinga wrote in a recent “Daily Guideposts” article about “two boys in (a) high school class… who shared the exact same name but seemingly little else. One was an all-state swimmer on his way to being class valedictorian and about to choose one of the six elite universities that had offered him scholarships. The other often skipped class, refused to play sports (although he was built like a line-backer…), and likely wasn’t even thinking about college. Two very different kids headed in two very different directions…”

Interestingly, as Mr. Jappinga continued, “both ended up going to college and both are doing very well… The talented kid decided to invest some of his talents in the other kid with the same name – and it all added up to TWO successful young men...” And he concluded, “Life isn’t fair. But God is good… God gave me what I have, not just for my own use but to benefit the lives of the world around me…” Your life is intended to benefit others.

Jesus Christ is similar to the “talented kid” who helped the other boy. All in this world, in some manner, are like the boy who “skipped class, refused to play sports… and likely wasn’t even thinking about college.” But the one boy helped the other and both succeeded, and Jesus Christ offers success with God for us.

God made Jesus “who knew no sin to BE SIN FOR US, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

I’ve mentioned this more than once, but it’s so important that it needs to be stated enough so that we all, you and me, finally KNOW the wonder of Jesus’ death as a Substitute for your sins and mine.  In the language of 2,700 years ago, Isaiah the prophet looked ahead to the work of Jesus the Messiah, stating, “…He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows… He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities… and by His stripes we are healed… and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquities of us all… He bore the sin of many…” Those are excerpts from Chapter 53 of the Book of Isaiah.  Read the whole chapter, which defines in advance the work of Jesus Christ in dying for your sins and mine.

Another recommended reading is Psalm Chapter 22.  It contains words like “They pierced My hands and My feet” and “They divide My garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots…”  Again, that Chapter described in detail the deliberate sacrifice of Christ Jesus for us and those words were written by David, about 3,000 years ago.

Other words were uttered a thousand years later to a religious man, a Pharisee named Nicodemus, who “came to Jesus by night” with questions. This man who came to Jesus had the right education, wore the right clothing, spoke correctly and was admired, looked up to by all. It was felt about such people that they “had everything.” Others wanted to be like him.

Nicodemus was troubled because Jesus did not have the right education, wore the wrong clothing, and spoke with the odd accent that revealed He came from Galilee, a place sneered at by those who lived in Jerusalem. And yet the evidence of Jesus’ actions suggested to the man that Jesus was “a teacher come from God…” for, as he continued, “No one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him” (excerpts from John Chapter 3).

Jesus did not answer Nicodemus’ questions by authenticating Himself.  Instead He went to the man’s deep need to become right with God.  He said, “…Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God… You must be born again… so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved…” (more from John Chapter 3).

God has heard the evidence about your life and mine.  He intimately knows our motives and what we have said and done. We all fall short before a holy and just God and you can’t save yourself or change your past. All that we could is if Someone Acceptable to God took our guilt and paid the price we cannot pay. And that’s exactly what has been done for you and me: He “who knew no sin (became) sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). When we “have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8) we become “Not Guilty” in the sight of “the Lord, the righteous judge.” As Mr. Japinga concluded, “Life isn’t fair. But God is good.” Let’s trust in the Lord:

Thank You, Father, for sending Your Son, and thank You, Dear Lord, for rescuing me.  I confess my need of You and I trust in You now.  In Jesus Name.  Amen.

 

Ron Beckham, Pastor

Friday Study Ministries

Send comments to: Ron@FridayStudy.org. 

While we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

 [Sermon 4/25/10 – 2 Timothy 4:8 – God Is Just]