We are All Called to Account⤒🔗

We need to be serious about our life. This flows already from the fact that life is a gift of God, a gift with a directive. As creatures we carry a large responsibility. The sense of responsibility becomes stronger when we take into account God’s judgment that is coming upon us. “We are being taken seriously.” Human life has so much weight that it asks for the divine judgment.

From of old the church has confessed that Christ will return to judge the living and the dead. This faith clearly has a biblical background (2 Tim. 4:1; 1 Peter 4:5). In Peter’s proclamation, recorded in the book of Acts, it is said of Jesus that God has appointed him to be judge of the living and the dead. All people fall under his judgment; therefore all need to seek their refuge in him. Everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name (see Acts 10:42, 43).

In numerous other places in Scripture it is stressed also that the future judgment will be universal. No one will be able to escape it. It will cover everybody and everything.

When you are familiar with the Old Testament, you will come to be impressed with the weighty words with which God’s judgments are announced. Sometimes the one curse follows the other (Lev. 26:14-39; Deut. 28:15-68). The curse will come upon Israel when it does not observe God’s commandments and does not serve him (Deut. 29:18-21; Joshua 24:20). Disaster is foretold for both Israel and the surrounding nations, for God punishes evil and will declare judgment (Jer. 1:13-16; 46:51; Ezek. 24, 25). In connection with the coming judgment we hear more than once about the approach of the day of the LORD. “A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness” (Zeph. 1:5). The calamity over Israel is often identified as the exile, and the doom over the nations implies their downfall. Judgments and sentences that are carried out in a specific time frame have also a further dimension, because they state that it is God who acts as King and Judge. When he acts like this in history, he reveals himself as the holy and righteous God he always is. That is why his judgments are always pointing forward to the final judgment. At times in the depictions of salvation and of calamity the limits of the earthly dispensation are breached, and the prophecy portrays the final judgment before our eyes, bringing with it eternal salvation or doom.

There is always a cause, a reason, when God is angry with his people. It is because of our sins that need to be confessed:

             For we are brought to an end by your anger;
             by your wrath we are dismayed.
                You have set our iniquities before you,
             our secret sins in the light of your presence. Psalm 90:7, 8

Besides words such as anger and dismay the term “wrath” also points to a fearsome reality: the punishing retribution, which God applies to those who have caused this. “God’s wrath provides perspective to the abyss of sin and the immeasurable deep severity of injustice, abuse of power, pride, violence and oppression. God, who loves justice and righteousness, does not remain unmoved when this is violated.”

Words such as retribution and wrath often have a negative connotation with us. We know of an expression, “repaying evil with evil” and a phrase such as “desire for revenge”. But when God is saying, “Their iniquity is not concealed from my eyes, but first I will doubly repay their iniquity and their sin” (Jer. 16:17, 18), then he is the holy God.

God is righteous when he punishes sinners. He always acts according to his Word. It is expected that the Judge of all the earth will bring vengeance and repay the proud (see Ps. 94:1, 2).

            But the Lord sits enthroned forever;
            he has established his throne for justice,
            and he judges the world with righteousness;
            he judges the peoples with uprightness Ps. 9:7, 8.

The New Testament contains fewer depictions of judgments than the OT — except for the book of Revelation. Yet the verdict is announced in all sincerity. In the person and in the work of Jesus Christ the history of revelation comes to a climax. Now that God’s love has been revealed in such an abundant manner, it becomes fully clear what the rejection of this love will bring about.

A New Testament writing in which there is often mention about God’s judgment is the letter to the Hebrews. In Hebrews 2:3 we already find, “How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?” Here and in other places (Heb. 10:26-31; 12:25-29) it is emphasized to what extent our responsibility has increased in the new dispensation. “And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Heb. 4:13). “...it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Heb. 9:27). God has entrusted the powers of judgment to Christ. Jesus knows that his Father has given it to him (John 5:22, 27). Doing justice belongs to the work of the Mediator who was appointed to this task upon having been raised from the dead (Acts 17:31).

Sometimes the question is asked whether there is then no decision at the end of our life. Is it not the case that the one will go to heaven to be with Christ, and the other does not? “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (John 3:18).

There are people who are sure through their faith that they have been acquitted from guilt, that they do not need to fear punishment, and that they have a claim to eternal life. However, one may not appeal to John 3:18 or other places in the gospel to declare that this is all there is to it. Scripture speaks clearly of the judgment of the end. Our destination is decided in this life, and in the last judgment this will be made public. The crisis, the judgment, the scrutiny, the separation, which are already coming about here through the words of Jesus, will be brought into the full light of the last day and it will be confirmed at that time; it will be publicly testified.

All people are called to give account, also those who imagined that they had a free hand in the evil they brought about. In this world, evildoers can go free. However they will not escape God’s judgment. One day all the books will be opened. Then it will be shown to man what he has done by himself, to his neighbour, and with God’s wonderful creation.

The Benchmark←⤒🔗

Did our life measure up to God’s intention? In the final judgment that is the crucial question. The deepest reality and direction of our life will be revealed.

It is no secret what the benchmark will be in the last judgment. It will be about whether we stood in the right relation to God, and that is only possible through faith in Christ. The Saviour tells everyone, “So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 10:32, 33).

But does the judgment not involve our works? Is there not a recompense based on our good works (see Matt. 16:27; Rom. 2:5-11; Rev. 22:12)?

Faith is the decisive factor, for we will be justified through faith and not by works. This does not contradict that it depends on these works, for it is all about a living faith, and a faith without works is a dead faith (James 2:26).

Our faith comes to expression through our works. “Every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit” (Matt. 7:17). Because good works are fruit of a genuine faith, the Lord does not pass these by. “For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do” (Heb. 6:10).

A Scripture passage that is often mentioned in this connection is Matthew 25:31-46. Reference is made to the words of the King and Judge, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me” (v. 40). This was said to those who were called the righteous, but who were not aware themselves that they had acted justly toward the King. People have also tried to read into this that the King would also judge “anonymous Christians” in a positive way. H. Berkhof remarked that we are dealing here with acts of mercy toward the persecuted church of Christ, but yet confirmed that they too would receive eternal right who “without knowing about this remedial Lord have yet become imitators of his mercy”. We should certainly not read in this passage that Jesus identifies himself with the poor, the sick, and the oppressed. In that case, human solidarity or charity would be the benchmark. H.M. Kuitert extrapolated from this the far-reaching conclusion that “it is decisive for our eternal weal and woe whether we do or do not show humanitarian care”. The expression “the least of these my brothers” is not meant to primarily single out the poor, the sick and the oppressed. They are the people whom Jesus regards as his own. Righteous people in the gospel are not just those who treat their neighbour well, without being in a right relationship to God, that results in doing the Father’s will (Matt. 7:21). With them there will be a measure of surprise about the words of the King, because they do not perceive anything meritorious in what they have done, while for others there will be bewilderment because they did not realize that they did not merely shortchange their fellow human beings, but the King himself (Matt. 25:44).

The King says to the righteous, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 25:34). Also here it appears that acts of charity are not the actual ground for the judgment of the King. Do we not hear the loud peals of the clocks of God’s free grace?

The Judge is the Saviour←⤒🔗

Should we not be afraid of the coming judgment? All will be judged, many will be convicted...

There have been times when the horrors of the final judgment were painted in harsh colours. In the time of the Middle Ages many people lived in great fear of the final judgment, and a silent anguish for Christ, who was anticipated more as a Judge than as a Saviour. From the late Middle Ages is the song Dies irae, dies illa:

Day of wrath and doom impending.
David’s word with Sybil’s blending,
Heaven and earth in ashes ending.

Oh, what fear man’s bosom rendeth,
When from heaven the Judge descendeth,
On whose sentence all dependeth.

In what follows we hear the prayer:

Righteous Judge, for sin’s pollution
Grant Thy gift of absolution,
Ere the day of retribution. trl. Wm. Josiah Irons

Without taking away any of the daunting seriousness of the judgment, the Reformers regarded also this aspect of Christ’s work in the light of the gospel. “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:17).

In the Catechism of Geneva Calvin poses the question (87): “We should not then tremble at this judgment, so as to let it fill us with dismay?” And the reply is, “No, indeed; since we shall only stand at the tribunal of a judge who is also our advocate, and who has taken us under his faith and protection.”

As Judge, Christ is none other than the Saviour. Anyone who believes in him may see in the fact that he was innocently condemned to death the grounds for our acquittal. He was condemned in our place. That is also how it is confessed in the church (see Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 15, and the Form for the Holy Supper). He underwent God’s judgment for us, and this is now behind us. In 1 John 4:17-18 is spoken of the fact that “we may have confidence for the day of judgment” — no fear, but trustful confidence.

For us this also means that we must depend only on the Lord Jesus Christ and not on ourselves, not on our religiosity, orthodoxy or good works. We need to concur with and echo what the Belgic Confession states in Article 15: “We rely and rest on the only obedience of Jesus Christ crucified…For indeed, if we had to appear before God, relying — be it ever so little — on ourselves or some other creature, (woe be to us!) we would be consumed. Therefore everyone must say with David, “O Lord, do not bring your servant into judgment, for no one living is righteous before you” (Ps. 143:2).”

The thought of the return of Christ as judge is comforting (HC, Lord’s Day 19); yes, it is  “horrible and dreadful to the wicked and evildoers but it is a great joy and comfort to the righteous and elect, for then their full redemption will be completed” (BC, Art. 37).

God will make his righteousness triumph over all unrighteousness. His kingdom is based on right and justice. God’s children may look forward to it that he will make all things right, and that he will do justice to them. It is prayed for: “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth” (Rev. 6:10)?

In his commentary on Matthew 25:31 Calvin writes, “So then Christ now sits on his heavenly throne...to establish perfect order in heaven and earth, to crush his enemies under his feet, to assemble his believing people to partake of an everlasting and blessed life...And, in a word, there will be a visible manifestation of the reason why the kingdom was given to him by the Father.”

When Christ has fully accomplished and completed his task, he will deliver the kingdom to God the Father (see 1 Cor. 15:24). With this his role as mediator is not at an end, for he will be for us the eternal Head of the new humanity.