For the LORD is our Judge, The LORD is our
Lawgiver, The LORD is our King; He will save us.
Isaiah 33:22*
Few professions on earth are more God-like than that of a judge. An artist may create something original on a blank canvas, and the president is commander-in-chief, but a judge has the power to define right and wrong and gives the final word. Politicians make laws and policemen enforce them, but judges determine what they mean and declare the winners in legal battles.
Christ is not only the Creator and Lawgiver; He is also Judge. He will judge people on three different occasions to declare who is just and who is not. No one will be able to dispute His verdict.
At the Great White Throne, the Lord judges the lost. The record books will be opened and men and women will be judged according to their deeds. Religious folks will be there as well as the notoriously sinful, but none of them will have their names written in the Book of Life. To all of them, He says in one way or another, “I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness” (Matthew 7:23).
Christians are scrutinized in another way, because they all must appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10). Their works will be reviewed and rewards given or lost. Christ desires that each of His servants be found faithful.
When Christ returns to earth at the end of the great tribulation, He will stand in judgment of the nations. He’ll separate the faithful from the unjust as a shepherd divides the sheep from the goats. The wicked will go to everlasting punishment, but the righteousness into eternal life.
The word of the Judge is final, so the guilty should fear to face Him. However, as long as the age of grace lasts, there is time to settle out of court.
*see also Matthew 7:21-23, 25:31-46; John 5:22-24; Romans 2:16; 2 Corinthians 5:10
July 27
