Sunday, March 22, 2009

Judgment: A Sure Comfort to the Suffering

Sorry for not keeping up with the blog for the past couple weeks. Life has been really busy. I'm about to wrap up a preaching series and that should free up more time to write.

Judgment is a touchy subject. And to call it touchy might even be to paint things in an optimistic light. Judgment has gone beyond being touchy to being a just downright inappropriate subject matter in the pluralistic west. Sadly, judgment has not just become a touchy matter for those outside the church but for those inside of it as well. The doctrine of divine judgment is one that many of us would often prefer to relegate to the periphery of theology. Indeed the doctrine of judgment is like the embarrassing relative at a family reunion who most all relatives attempt to keep their distance from despite the obvious relation. This is truly tragic and I believe that an encouraging aspect of Christianity is lost when the doctrine of judgment is relegtated to the sidelines. Encouraging? What about judgment is encouraging you ask. Let me explain.
Many Christians have a yucky taste in their mouth when it comes to judgment. They think of God's wrath and often wonder in doubt how a God of love could pour out his wrath on such a significant portion of mankind. While attempting to answer this question they utterly miss out on the fact that judgment is meant to be an encouragement to Christians. It is meant to be an encouragement because Christians will one day rejoice when God has his final triumph over all evil. Evil includes those who have denied his son, those who have committed evil against God's people and the overall satanic web of evil that ensnares so many in this world. Perhaps we can't comprehend this sort of comfort/encouragement in the west because we in fact face so little overt evil. Much of the evil in the west is covert (and make no mistake there is a great deal of oppressive, satanic covert evil in the western world). Christians are not yet being executed in masse so we don't think people are all that evil or all that sinful. But this couldn't be further from the truth.
While it is difficult for us to comprehend, I doubt little that judgment is a comfort to those in another cultures where oppression is intense and overt. Judgment is a comfort for those who suffer because it is during judgment that those who have tormented the saints are brought recompense for their wickedness. It is the day of judgment that believers in centuries past have looked forward to with great anticipation. Judgment for many Christians outside of western society is not an awkward relative but a close friend whom they long to see frequently. All one has to do is look at the book of Revelation. Consider the words of the martyred saints in Revelation 6:10, "O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" These martyrs, the ones who spilt their blood for Christ, are longing for the judgment of evil men on earth. They want to see their blood avenged for they have gone to the slaughter as innocent lambs and no wait for their Lord to bring justice to those who harmed them. There is a sesnse of anticipation in this verse. It is as if the martyrs cannot bear to wait any longer to see their blood avenged. And for those who are still lving, the hope of judgment is the only way in which they will see their oppression halted and ceased and therefore they long to see the day of judgment. Consider again those who witness the fall of Babylon at the end of times as the seafaring men cry out, "Alas, alas, for the great city where all who had ships at sea gew rich by her wealth! For in a single hour she has been laid waste. Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, for God has given judgment for you against her!" The heavens (saints, apostles and prophets) are commanded to rejoice at God's judgment against babylon. Notice once again as the saints cry out to God in Revelation 19:1-2, "After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitiude in heaven, crying out, 'Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for his judgments are true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality, and has avenged on her the lood of his servants.'" Judgment of the wicked is a cause for great rejoicing.
The practical exhortations here are multiple. First, as those who live in a wetern society we must stop pretending that people are basically good. As Christians we buy into this even though we often affirm the reality of sin in our credal statements. People are not good (Romans 3:11-17). And as we open our eyes to the sinfulness of mankind, we must become more aware of the avenues of oppression in a free and democratic society. The avenues are all around us. The cries of aborted children, the money grabbing greed that runs much of the American polictical and power structures. We must simply unplug the ipod, turn off the DVD player and wake up to the calls of the oppressed. American Christians are entertaining themselves to death as years of their lives are lost on meaninglness pursuits.The truth is, is that God hating realities are around us everday. We can take no comfort in the doctrine of judgment if we aren't aware of the oppression and evil that surrounds us on a daily basis. It is when we see this evil that we will rejoice at the fact that our Lord will one day come in judgment. Judgment will not be this doctrine that we can't understand but it will become the event that we long for.
Two, this exhoration is primarily directed at my Reformed brethren. Friends, consider the seriousness and actual reality of evil/satanic forces in this world. The understanding of external evil forces has long been neglected in Reformed thought, often in preference for an overemphasis on evil within. Don't get me wrong, indwelling sin is a major major problem to be contended with. But equally problematic is the network of evil angels and satanic forces that manifest themselves in this world. There is a very real cosmic battle taking place on a minute by miute basis between good and evil. This is so plain and clear in the book of Revelation and no amount of traditional dogma can drown out this truth. Evil lies both within and without. We need to become more aware of the satanic oppressive evil that is rooted in our socities.
In sum, judgment is a good thing and somehting that God is to be worshsipped over. He will one day come to crush the enemies of the church and set all things right. In the words of Jesus Christ, the bright and morning star, "Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay everyone for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."

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