The Judge

With all the recent fires, hurricanes, and riots in the United States, many are debating whether or not America is under judgment from God.  It is interesting to listen to preachers on both sides of the fence.  Some are all doom and gloom predicting greater punishment from God due to America's sins. Others are adamant that disasters are evil and Jesus came only to save and give grace.  One minister encouraged people to avoid intellectual exercises of figuring out "why good things happen to bad people" and just do the kingdom work of spreading the gospel.

The problem is with greater turmoil and uncertainty in these days, people are begging for answers.  Others (many of the younger generation) are completely ignorant of the things of God.  I was simply trying to start a conversation about the gospel with a young cashier and she had never heard of Billy Graham, nor did she know what a tract was.  In a way this was refreshing because I did not have to encounter any prejudices about witnessing, but in another way it was very sad because the young people are very educated when it comes to Hollywood, social media, and other counterfeit gods but know little about Jesus and why He came.


So many people have negative connotations of a judge and the law.  But the fact is that we would have a world of absolute chaos and destruction if there was no standard and no person to enforce, exact or express truth. In fact everything in the world runs by rules, and the LAWS of creation were established by God from the beginning of time for our good and for our pleasure.  We operate best when we are doing what we are created to do and we are being what we are created to be. God is the eternal JUDGE and He makes His DECISIONs from the divine COURT in heaven.  The word JUDGMENT means:  divine sentence, formal decree or decision as made in court.   So how do we know the rules that are the basis for God's judgments?  The primary source is God's word.  God breathed His word over a period of 1600 years to various prophets and apostles to establish the Bible.  It is split into the Old and New Testaments or contracts.  The Old Testament is the LEGAL CONTRACT God made with man on how to follow Him through rules and regulations.


When God created beings, one of the first CODES He designed was free will.  God did not want created robots worshiping Him around the throne. He wanted relational beings that he could communicate with and who would choose Him freely as one to love, revere and obey.  Free will meant that God's created beings could decide whether or not they wanted to worship and serve God or not.  Those who chose to follow God would be granted eternal life and unbroken fellowship with God, but those who chose not to follow Him would be pronounced GUILTY of sin the PENALTY of turning from God would be eternal separation from God and death (Romans 6:23).

With this built-in function, one of the angels committed a CAPITAL OFFENSE when he became proud and wanted to get the worship for himself rather than give it to God.  This angel was named Lucifer and he devised a rebellion and was able to pull one-third of the angels away from God.  God SENTENCED the rebel angels to banishment away from His holy presence and the death penalty for a set day.  So the fallen angels came to earth to wreck havoc until their EXECUTION DATE.  When Satan saw the beautiful created beings in God's garden that bore the image of God, he tried to seduce man and woman to also turn from God .  In fact, the whole mission of this fallen angel was and is to steal, and destroy and kill God's beauty and perfection.  Our enemy is a REPEAT OFFENDER doing as much damage as possible before he has to face CAPITAL PUNISHMENT in the lake of fire.

Unfortunately the first people God made, took Satan's bait to disobey God's rule about the fruit tree.  And from the first man (Adam), to the children of Israel in the wilderness, to all humankind;  man chose to break God's rules, and in turning away from God, brought upon themselves the consequences of death and punishment.  No one was able to perfectly keep God's righteous standards.  God's VERDICT was that everyone has sinned and come short of God's glory or perfection (Romans 3:23).  The DEATH PENALTY is now hanging over the heads of all mankind.


So then what of God's personality and character?  God is perfectly holy and cannot stand the sight of sin but at the same time He is completely loving and forgiving and wanting to show mercy and kindness.  This is why God made a PROVISION that a person could pay the DEATH PENALTY through a perfect SUBSTITUTE that did fulfill the requirements (Hebrews 9:22).  The children of Israel sacrificed spotless lambs to pay their sin-debt based on God's law, but this was only a picture of God's final and forever substitute.

God came to earth Himself in the person of Jesus Christ. He  became love impersonated to live a perfect life and pay the sin penalty of death to appease the anger and fulfill the requirements of a holy God.  He not only paid the death penalty for mankind, but He offered mankind access to all the promises of God through trust in His work (John 3:16).  God made the New Testament or contract with mankind through the atoning work of Jesus (who fulfilled the law completely) and offered DEBT FORGIVENESS and GOOD STANDING to anyone who appropriates Christ's payment for themselves to obtain life eternal and blessing forever.  Christ was PUNISHED and cursed for us so that we could receive His righteousness and forgiveness (Galatians 3:13).  He not only died, paying the penalty of sin, but he defeated death by raising from the dead to give power over death to all who believe and make a FORMAL STATEMENT that Jesus is their Lord (Romans 10:9).


The message of the cross without the understanding of sin and judgment is only a partial gospel.  To come to Christ means to repent or turn.  Turn from what?  Turn from sin.  Turn to what?  Turn to Jesus.  When we make a turn or change, Christ cleanses us and creates in us a new, REFORMED man--a new spiritual person that is sensitive and obedient to the word and ways of God (2 Corinthians 5:17).


God, the JUDGE, made a divine DECISION that there is none righteous and SENTENCE that the PENALTY of sin is death and eternal separation from God.  But Jesus stepped into heaven's COURTROOM as our ADVOCATE.   He brought His own blood as a payment of the debt offering Himself once for all mankind to pay the penalty and bear the punishment for any who will accept His offering as a covering for their sin (Hebrews 9:12-14).  Those who have availed themselves of this payment are given the NOT GUILTY VERDICT and are freed from the curse and given access to the throne room of God.  Sadly, those who come to the court room of heaven and try to use their own good works, self-help programs, or other religions or gods of worship to pay for their misdeeds do not meet God's perfect standard and are given the GUILTY VERDICT and must bear the death sentence themselves for eternity.


So what of the question of human suffering?  The scriptures say is that the world is under a curse because of the sin of man.  Satan and his demons are looking for opportunities constantly to exact destruction in and through people and the earth's atmosphere.  This means there is decay, natural disasters, disease, violence, trouble, hatred, and death.  As long as we are on the earth, we will face these things.  This is why God is creating a new heaven and a new earth where those who have turned to Him for life will live forever free of those things.


Sin and sorrow therefore points us to the need for a Savior.  For a need for redemption from a body of corruption and a world of confusion.  The Bible teaches that the closer the world comes to the end, the more sin, war, and disasters will occur as a sign to its soon destruction (Luke 21).  The comfort is that God always makes an ESCAPE CLAUSE because of His love.  During Noah's day it was through a physical ark, that all who boarded were saved from the flood waters.  Today it is Jesus who is like the ark.  All who come to Him find safety from the storms around.


When a nation, family or person does not have the blood of Jesus covering them from sin, Satan has LEGAL GROUNDS to bring punishment for the sins of that person.  Some people further invoke Satan's power through witchcraft and false religions bringing greater torment upon themselves.  Others have accepted Christ's sacrifice but a pattern of continual sin in their life makes His sacrifice of none effect for them (Hebrews 6:5-6).  These people say they believe in Jesus but their life does not match what they say and they give Satan legal access through their continual sin.  Until that person's sin is exposed and repented of, the whole family or nation can suffer defeat, as in the case of Achan's sin (Joshua 7:1).


So when evil things happen, can we say someone has sinned?  Sometimes.  The fact is Satan cannot do anything to us without God's permission, but Satan is the one who does the destroying--not God.  Jesus came to give life and that more abundantly, but Satan came to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10).  Sometimes Satan destroys due to the legal access he has because of someone's sin, but other times, as in the case of Job, there is no sin, but disaster is a result of being in a fallen, cursed earth where there is a measure of freedom Satan has to operate.  Fortunately, God promises that He will work the enemies devices for good to those He has called and refuse to turn from Him (Romans 8:28).  For righteous Job, this meant getting back more than what he had before his trouble (Job 42:12).


How do we approach disasters?


First, make sure you and your family are safe in the "ark".  APPROPRIATE the protective covering of Jesus blood protection from the death angel trying to bring destruction, by receiving Christ as your Savior and learning of His ways in the Bible in order to be more like Him (Romans 10:13).

Second, intercede, repent, and APPEAL the CASE for others.  This was shown by Abraham and Moses who pled with God to save Sodom and the children of Israel after their stubborn sins were manifested.  You may be successful in staying God's judgment through prayer.  Abraham was not successful in the case of Sodom, however, Aaron was successful in Numbers 16 when he interceded for Israel during a deathly plague and God stopped the plague.

Third, point others to the "ark" Jesus who can bring protection and deliverance.  Do this by being a WITNESS to TESTIFY who Jesus is and demonstrate what He does (the works of Christ including healing, and deliverance).

Fourth,  PRONOUNCE what Christ paid to give you.  Take the authority Christ gives believers as one to establish His kingdom on earth and command the work of Satan to cease, desist, and become null and void and release/loose healing, blessing and prosperity in the earth (Matthew 18:18).  Our words have creative power!!  Believers should live as it is in heaven and bring heaven to earth through prophetic proclamations.

Fifth, be the DEFENSE.  Cry out and work for justice on behalf of VICTIMS of disease, disaster, sin and poverty. Offer defense, protection and provision to the most innocent and helpless and vulnerable.  This can be through prayer, public office, lobbying, donations, law enforcement, humanitarian deeds, and church discipline as you operate in your office and sphere of influence.

Sixth, grant PARDON to the least deserving.  We are to forgive even our persecutors!  By showing the undeserving grace we model best what Christ did for us when He loved us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8).

Finally, increase your prayer cover if you are encroaching on territory the enemy claims.  We see that Daniel's revelation was delayed due to the spiritual warfare involved in getting this information download from heaven.  Also, Jesus had a severe time of testing in the wilderness before he was released into full-time ministry.  Sometimes tests are not any fault of your own, but God is getting ready to promote you and the enemy is doing all he can to delay or stop you as God's chosen vessel.  Let this actually encourage you because "Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world" (1 John 4:4).

So what of the doom and gloom prophets?  I would say yes, we need to know that sin brings punishment and death and the world is coming to destruction, but even more, we need to know that the sentence of death in us can be lifted by the sacrifice of Christ and that He is the ark of safety we can run to to preserve our lives and live eternally in heaven!  As Esther we are placed on the earth "for such a time as this" to use every opportunity to point people to salvation through Christ.  The greater the storm, the greater the opportunity to show people the way to eternal safety.  Let's take the good news and run with it!!!  Let us not just encourage people to turn to Christ but compel them and ARGUE THE CASE for them to come to Christ (Luke 14:23), making each day count (Ephesians 5:16, especially as the day approaches of the Lord's soon return and the final JUDGEMENT where God, the eternal JUDGE makes His final PRONOUNCEMENT of the eternal destination of each individual from all time (Revelation 20:11-15).