Every one of Your righteous judgements endures forever.      Psalm 119:160

 God the Judge of All

  Throughout this study we have been systematically examining the six foundation doctrines of Jesus which are listed in Hebrews 6:1-2.

  1. Repentance from dead works

  2. Faith toward God

  3. The doctrine of baptisms

  4. Laying on of hands

  5. Resurrection of the dead

  6. Eternal judgement

     We will now examine the sixth and last of these foundation doctrines: eternal judgement.

  In this session we shall consider the following two aspects of divine judgement: 

1. 1. the general revelation of Scripture concerning God as the Judge of all; 

1. 2. the main principles according to which God’s judgement is administered.

     Judgement Tempered by Mercy  

  For an introduction to the teaching of the Bible concerning God as the Judge, we turn to Hebrews.

  But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel (12:22-24).

   These three verses present a picture of God in His heavenly dwelling and of the saints and the redeemed who dwell with Him there. The key to the proper analysis of these verses is the number three.

  First of all, the verses fall naturally into three main parts:

  1) a description of God’s dwelling place,

  2) an enumeration of those who dwell there with God and

  3) a presentation of God Himself.

  Then each of these three main parts falls naturally into a further threefold subdivision.

  The description of God’s dwelling is threefold: 

1. 1. 1. “Mount Zion,” 
      2. “the city of the living God” and 
      3. “the heavenly Jerusalem.”

  The enumeration of those who dwell there is likewise threefold: 

1. “an innumerable company of angels,” 

2. “the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven” and 

3. “the spirits of just men made perfect.” Concerning these three groups, we may offer the following brief explanation.

  The “angels” here referred to are those who kept their proper domain, joining neither in Satan’s first rebellion nor in the universal wickedness of both men and angels in the period before the flood. The “church of the firstborn” represents the saints of the new covenant, who, through the experience of the new birth, have their names registered in heaven and thus have become a first-fruits of God’s new creation in Jesus. The “spirits of just men made perfect” represent the saints of previous ages, who, through a lifetime’s walk of faith, were gradually made perfect.

  Finally, the presentation of God Himself is likewise threefold: 

1. “God the Judge of all,” 

2. “Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant” and 

3. “the blood of sprinkling [that is, the sprinkled blood of Jesus], that speaks better things than that of Abel.”

  With the eye of faith and the light of Scripture, let us survey this heavenly scene. In the centre of it all we observe one solemn, majestic and awe-inspiring figure – “God the Judge of all.” Here God is revealed to us in His sovereign, eternal authority as Judge – Judge of all, Judge of heaven and earth, Judge of angels and Judge of men.

  However, if God were revealed only as Judge, there would be no place here for sinful men – neither for the perfected spirits of the Old Testament nor for the reborn saints of the New. In mercy, therefore, the revelation of God’s Word leads us on from the figure of God the Judge to the figure of Jesus the Mediator – the only One who can come between a righteous, holy God and lost, sinful men and reconcile the one to the other. The picture is completed by the revelation of the blood of Jesus, being both the means and the price by which reconciliation has been achieved.

  In this picture the blood of Jesus is contrasted with the blood of Abel. There are three main points of contrast.

  1. The blood of Abel was shed without his own will or consent, spilled suddenly by a murderer’s blow without warning; the blood of Jesus was freely given of His own consent as the price of man’s   

redemption.

  2. The blood of Abel was sprinkled upon the earth; the blood of Jesus was sprinkled before the mercy seat in heaven.

  3. The blood of Abel cried out to God for vengeance upon his murderer; the blood of Jesus pleads for mercy and forgiveness for the sinner.

  We see, therefore, that this revelation of God as Judge of all is tempered by the revelation of God’s mercy and grace manifested in the mediatorial office and the shed blood of Jesus. This revelation of God as a God of judgement tempered by grace and mercy is in harmony with the total revelation of Scripture upon this theme.

  The entire Bible reveals that, by sovereign, eternal right, the office of judge belongs to God Himself. This theme runs through the whole of the Old Testament. For instance, Abraham said to the Lord:

  Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? (Gen. 18:25).

  Other Old Testament sources say:

  May the Lord, the Judge, render judgement this day (Judg. 11:27).

  Surely He [God] is God who judges in the earth (Ps. 58:11).

  The psalmist says to God:

  Rise up, O Judge of the earth (Ps. 94:2).

  (For the Lord is our Judge . . . ) (Is. 33:22).

  However, the truest and most perfect expression of God’s eternal nature is not in judgement but in grace, not in wrath but in mercy. This truth is illustrated in the description of God’s wrath and impending judgement given in Isaiah 28:21.

  The Lord will rise up as he did at Mount Perazim, he will rouse himself as in the Valley of Gibeon –

  to do his work, his strange work, and perform his task, his alien task (NIV, italics added).

  Here the prophet Isaiah pictures the Lord rising up to administer wrath and judgement upon His adversaries. However, he describes this act as strange and alien.

  The administration of wrath and judgement is alien to God’s nature. It is not something He naturally desires to do. It is rather the inevitable response of God to the unthankful and unholy behaviour of man. It is the warped and twisted character and conduct of man, the creature, which calls forth this strange manifestation of wrath and judgement from God, the Creator.

  As we move on from the Old Testament into the New, we enter into a fuller revelation of the motives and methods of God’s judgement. Renewed emphasis is laid upon the fact that wrath and judgement are alien to the abiding nature and purpose of God.

  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved (John 3:17).

  The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9).

  These scriptures – and many others like them – reveal that God delights to offer mercy and salvation but that He is reluctant to administer wrath and judgement. However, the New Testament revelation takes us still further along this line of truth. The reluctance of God to administer judgement finds expression also in the way in which God’s judgement will ultimately be carried out.

  The Father – The Son – The Word

  In the first instance and by sovereign eternal right, judgement belongs to God the Father. The apostle Peter speaks of “the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work” (1 Pet. 1:17).

  Here judgement of all men is declared to be the office of God the Father. However, in John 5 Jesus reveals that the Father has chosen in His sovereign wisdom to commit all judgement to the Son.

  For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgement to the Son, that all should honour the Son just as they honour the Father. He who does not honour the Son does not honour the Father who sent Him (John 5:22-23).

  For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgement also, because He is the Son of Man (John 5:26-27).

  Here it is explicitly stated that the office of judgement has been transferred from the Father to the Son. Two reasons are given for this: 

1. because with the office of judge goes also the honour due to the judge, and in this way all men will be obliged to show the same honour toward God the Son as they would toward God the Father; 

2. because Jesus is also the Son of man as well as the Son of God. That is, He partakes of the human as well as of the divine nature, and thus in His judgement He is able to make allowance, from His own experience, for all the infirmities and temptations of human flesh.

  So gracious and merciful, however, is the divine nature in the Son, as in the Father, that Jesus, too, is unwilling to administer judgement. For this reason He has, in His own turn, transferred the final authority of judgement from His own Person to the Word of God. Jesus says:

  And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him – the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day (John 12:47-48).

  The final authority of all judgement is vested in the Word of God. This is the impartial, unchanging standard to which all men must one day answer.

  The same revelation concerning God’s Word is given in the Old Testament, for David says to God:

  The entirety of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgements endures forever (Ps. 119:160).

  This is to say, all the standards and principles of God’s judgement are contained within His Word; like that very Word, of which they are part, these standards and principles of judgement endure unchanged forever.

  Four Principles of Judgement by the Word  

  What, then, are the principles of divine judgement revealed in God’s Word? Paul unfolds four main principles which may be summarized as follows.

  The First Principal, Paul declares that God’s judgement is according to truth.

  Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. But we know that the judgement of God is according to truth against those who practice such things (Rom. 2:1-2).

  Paul is here speaking primarily to religious people who judge other people by one standard and themselves by another standard. Paul says that this is not the way of God’s judgement. God’s judgement is according to truth. If we see and acknowledge the truth of God’s judgement as applied to others, we must apply precisely the same truth to ourselves and our own lives. God’s standard does not vary. It is always the truth – the revealed truth of God’s Word.

  Jesus Himself says to the Father, “Your word is truth” (John 17:17). This revealed standard of God’s truth applies just as much to the one who judges as to the one who is judged.

  The Second Principal, God’s judgement is according to “deeds”: “[God] will render to each one according to his deeds” (Rom. 2:6).

  This principle of divine judgement is repeated many times over in Scripture.

  The Father . . . judges according to each one’s work (1 Pet. 1:17, italics added).

  Again, in the account of the final judgement in Revelation 20:12, we read that:

  Books were opened . . . And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.

  The use of the word books in this connection is interesting and illuminating. In modern English the word book normally denotes a number of paper pages bound together at one edge. However, in New Testament times a book normally took the form of a long sheet of parchment, leather or other material which was kept rolled up and was unrolled in order to be read. A scroll of this kind, sealed with seven successive seals, actually plays a prominent part in the imagery of the book of Revelation.

  Among the various means developed by modern technology for recording and transmitting information, there is one which resembles an ancient scroll far more closely than a modern book does, and that is electromagnetic recording tape. This is kept rolled up in precisely the same manner as an ancient scroll but must be unrolled in order to transmit the information recorded on it.

  With this picture of an electromagnetic tape in mind, it becomes easy for us to realize that there is an individual record kept in heaven of the entire life of every human being. Just as a man’s words may be recorded and preserved on earth by means of electromagnetic tape, so on a special “book” or scroll in heaven God preserves a complete and flawless record of the entire life of every person. According to this record of his deeds preserved upon this heavenly scroll, each person will one day be judged.

  However, we must be careful not to limit the meaning of the word deeds merely to external actions such as can be observed by other human beings. The whole Bible makes it plain that God, in His judgement of man, takes into account not merely external actions but also the deepest and most secret thoughts, impulses and motives of the heart.

  . . . the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel (Rom. 2:16).

  Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts; and then each one’s praise will come from God (1 Cor. 4:5, italics added).

  This same truth is actually contained in the revelation that judgement will be by the Word of God.

  For the word of God is living . . . piercing even to the division of soul and spirit . . . and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account (Heb. 4:12-13, italics added).

  We see, therefore, that God’s record of men’s deeds covers not merely their external, observable actions but also their thoughts and intents, the deepest motives and impulses of their minds and hearts. It is in this all-embracing sense that God’s judgement of men will be according to their deeds.

  The third principle of God’s judgement is stated in Romans 2:11: “For there is no partiality with God.”

  In place of “partiality” the 1611 King James Version uses the phrase “respect of persons [literally, faces].” This expression implies that God is not influenced in His judgement by a person’s external characteristics. These do not necessarily give a correct indication of that person’s real character and conduct.

  Men are often influenced in forming their judgements by such external things as race, religion, profession, social position, physical appearance, wealth, education and so on. However, God’s judgement is not influenced or diverted by any of these things.

  For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart (1 Sam. 16:7).

  Not only is God Himself never moved by respect of persons; He also strictly charges all those who exercise judgement in human affairs never to yield to this influence. There can scarcely be any principle of Scripture which is stated more often than this. It is mentioned nine times in the Old Testament and seven times in the New Testament – a total of sixteen times in all.

  The fourth principle of God’s judgement is: “according to light.” This is implied in Romans.

  For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law (2:12).

  Applied generally, this means that each person will be judged according to the measure of moral light and understanding made available to him. Those who have had the full knowledge of God’s moral standards revealed to them through the law of Moses will be judged by that law. But those who did not have the fuller revelation of the law of Moses will not be judged by that law, but only in accordance with the general revelation of God granted to the human race as a whole through the wonders of creation.

  For since the creation of the world His [God’s] invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse (Rom. 1:20).

  Paul here states that a general revelation of God’s nature, that is, His eternal power and Godhead, is given through creation to all men everywhere – irrespective of race or religion – who attain to normal understanding.

  This, therefore, is the basic standard by which all men will be judged. However, those who receive an additional and special revelation through God’s Word will be judged by the higher standard of moral knowledge thus granted to them. Therefore, judgement is according to light – according to the measure of moral knowledge granted to each person.

  This same principle of judgement according to light is contained in the words of Jesus to the people of His own day.

  Then He began to upbraid the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent: “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgement than for you. And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgement than for you” (Matt. 11:20-24).

  Jesus here shows that the sinful cities of the ancient world – Tyre, Sidon and Sodom – will be judged according to the measure of moral knowledge available to them in their day. On the other hand, the cities of His own day – Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum – will be judged according to the much greater measure of knowledge granted to them through His personal presence and ministry. For this reason, the judgement of these latter cities will be much more severe than the judgement of the former.

  Let us bring this principle down to our own day. We who are alive today will be judged by the measure of moral light and knowledge available to our generation. For those of us who live in countries with a long history of Christianity, such as America or Great Britain, there is probably a greater measure of moral knowledge more easily available than there has ever been to any previous generation in earth’s history. For this reason, the standards by which we shall be judged will be the highest of all. The following words of Jesus apply to us in our generation.

  For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more (Luke 12:48).

     Such, then, are the four main principles of judgement according to the Word of God.

     1. According to truth.

    2. According to deeds.

   3. Without partiality (or respect of persons).

   4. According to the light available to those being judged.