God the Judge

Today's Reading

Read Psalm 96:10-13: "Say among the nations, 'The LORD reigns!'... Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it! Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the LORD, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his faithfulness."

Then read Acts 17:30-31: "The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead."

Reflection

The modern mind finds the idea of divine judgment distasteful. We prefer to think of God — if we think of Him at all — as endlessly understanding, forever making allowances, never holding anyone accountable. Judgment sounds harsh, primitive, vengeful.

But the Bible tells a very different story. In Psalm 96, the coming judgment of God is not dreaded. It is celebrated. The heavens are glad. The earth rejoices. The sea roars. The trees of the forest sing for joy. Why? Because God is coming "to judge the earth in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness." This is good news because it means that every wrong will be addressed, every injustice will be corrected, and every hidden truth will be brought to light — by a Judge who is perfectly righteous and perfectly faithful.

Packer observes that the doctrine of final judgment means that history is not a meaningless cycle. It has a goal and a climax. Every human life has significance because every human life will be evaluated by the One who sees all things truly. "The final judgment will be a public occasion," Packer writes. "God's purpose is not merely to display His justice but to reveal the full truth about every human being, and to show the world that His judgment is righteous."

In Acts 17, Paul tells the Athenian philosophers that God "has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed." That man is Jesus Christ, and the proof of His appointment is His resurrection from the dead. Judgment is not a vague threat. It is a fixed date on God's calendar, and the Judge has already been named.

But here is where Packer's pastoral instinct shines: "The thought of being judged by the Lord of the universe should be the most sobering thought the human mind can entertain. But for the Christian, it is also a thought full of comfort, for the Judge is our Saviour." The One who sits on the judgment seat is the same One who hung on the cross. The Judge who will evaluate your life is the Advocate who died for your sins.

Going Deeper

For the oppressed, the marginalized, and the victims of injustice, God's judgment is the best news in the world. It means that their suffering has not been overlooked. For the believer in Christ, God's judgment is not a source of terror but of confidence — because the verdict has already been rendered at the cross. Today, let the reality of judgment sober you and the reality of the gospel comfort you.