judgment seat – The Lowedown

1 John 2

¹My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; ²and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.

(1 John 2:1-2, NASB)

The Daily DAVEotional

In the first chapter of John’s first epistle, he shared a number of important principles regarding sin and experiencing fellowship with God. I wrote about that in my blog post, “Walking in the Light Simplified”.

Immediately following that passage, John says that our aim as believers should be to avoid sinning. But we also know that in our fallen humanity, we will inevitably still sin. In the first chapter, he outlined the importance of confessing our sin in order to maintain fellowship with God.

In this section, John stresses the fact that when we do sin (and we WILL sin) we have an Advocate in the person of Jesus Christ.

The picture here is of a defense attorney who pleads our case before the judge, the Father.

Jesus is uniquely qualified to be our advocate because He alone is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world.

What exactly does that mean?

If you’re unfamiliar with the word “propitiation”, it may be because the NIV and NLT, two of the most popular translations used today, don’t include this word in their translation of this passage. Instead, these versions translate the passage to say that Jesus is “the atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

It’s certainly true that Jesus is the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world, but there’s an element of truth that John is communicating that is missed as a result of omitting the word “propitiation” from the translation.

The word “propitiation” means to appease wrath. The idea is that God is so just and holy, that sin is an infinite offense against God’s character. God’s righteous anger demands that sin be punished.

When it says that Jesus is the propitiation for sin, what it means is that Jesus, through His death on the cross, satisfied the payment that was required for sin. Hence, God’s wrath is appeased or satisfied.

Jesus is more than an atoning sacrifice for sins. He is the propitiation for sin. His death not only atones for sin, but it turns away God’s wrath so that no more punishment is required.

The Greek word for propitiation is “hilasterion” which is the same word for the Old Testament Hebrew word “mercy seat”.

The mercy seat was the cover of the Ark of the Covenant and was the place where the yearly blood sacrifice was made by the high priest. This sacrifice occurred only once a year in the Holy of Holies. On either side of the lid (or mercy seat) were two cherubim (angelic beings). They were facing each other and looked down at the lid.

Inside the ark were placed three significant artifacts: manna, representing the Jewish people’s rejection of God’s provision; Aaron’s rod, which represented man’s rejection of God’s leadership; and the broken pieces of the Ten Commandments, representing man’s rejection of God’s holiness.

When the cherub of Righteousness looked down on the symbols in the ark, it saw all the evidences of man’s rejection of God. When the cherub of Justice looked down, it saw that man was no longer like God’s righteousness and pronounced the death penalty on man. But on the Day of Atonement, the cherub of Justice looked down at the blood sacrifice covering on the lid and said, “I’m satisfied because the death penalty has been paid.” Similarly, Righteousness looked down and was no longer offended because the evidence of man’s sin was covered up and could not be seen.

Jesus’ death on the cross transforms the judgment seat, representing the judgment and punishment we deserve, into a mercy seat, representing the fact that His shed blood through His death on the cross, provides a covering for our sin. Atonement is made, once and for all, and therefore, there is no longer any punishment reserved for those who have placed their trust in Jesus.

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Reflection

What difference does it make to know that Jesus’ death and shed blood has appeased God’s wrath towards your sin?

What is your view and understanding of the holiness of God? Does it seem appropriate to you that God, in His infinite justice, must punish sin? Why or why not?

Is the lid of the ark of the covenant a judgment seat or a mercy seat for you? What is keeping you from putting your full trust in Jesus to cover your sins so that you experience God’s mercy instead of justice?

Photo of Ark of Covenant provided from the following website under Creative Commons License 4.0

https://skfb.ly/6TpDB

2 Corinthians 5

¹Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. ²Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, ³because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. ⁴For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. ⁵Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

⁶Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. ⁷We live by faith, not by sight. ⁸We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. ⁹So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. ¹⁰For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. (2 Corinthians 5:1-10, NIV)

The Daily DAVEotional

In this section of Paul’s second letter to the church at Corinth, he gives some theological perspective on what comes after this life.

Some people have the idea that when we die, we will just be spirits floating about from cloud to cloud, with our harps no doubt.

But this is not the picture Paul gives of the afterlife.

Paul compares our earthly bodies to a tent.

Why would he do that?

There is some imagery here that would have been obvious to Paul’s audience but may be more confusing to the modern reader.

People in ancient times often lived in tents – temporary structures that suited a nomadic lifestyle. In addition, the tabernacle, which is another word for “tent”, was the temporary structure in the Old Testament that signified the dwelling place of the Lord up until the more permanent temple was built.

When Paul says that our earthly bodies are like a tent, he means that our earthly bodies are temporary because our lives are temporary. While we are living in this life, we have mortal bodies that enable us to do things, like walk, talk, eat, work, play, think, etc. But our mortal bodies are temporary. They don’t last forever.

Paul says that while we are living in this life we are “away” from the Lord’s presence. He doesn’t mean that we have no access to the Lord in this life. He simply means that even if we are Christians, walking in the power of the Holy Spirit, engaged and active in pursuing God, we are never fully present with the Lord because we are not yet in heaven.

But something amazing will happen to us when we die. We will be given NEW bodies! That is great news for a lot of us whose bodies are beginning to fail us in numerous ways.

Given these facts, Paul says that his preference would be to be “away” from this body because that means he would be with the Lord.

But the reality for Paul was that he was still in his mortal body. He was living on this earth, which means he was not present with the Lord in heaven yet. That being the case, the goal is always to please the Lord in whatever we do.

The reason why Paul says we should make this our goal is because we all are going to appear before the judgement seat of Christ to give an account of our lives.

The idea that Christians will be judged may be confusing to some, especially since Scripture teaches that those who place their faith in Christ’s finished work on the cross are completely forgiven (Colossians 1:13-14) and there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ (Romans 8:1).

So what is this judgment that Paul is talking about?

The judgment that Paul is talking about here is a different kind of judgment. The Bible is clear that those who have placed their faith in Christ are saved. They will experience eternity with God in heaven.

But Christians will also give an account of how they’ve served Christ and how they have managed the resources God has entrusted to them.

The word for “judgment” in verse 10 is the greek word “Bema” (pronounced “bay-muh”). It represented a platform or an elevated seat from which an official would render an important decision.

In this context, Paul is saying that there is going to be a day when everyone, Christians included, will appear before the Lord and our lives will be evaluated. This “judgment” doesn’t determine whether we will make it into heaven or not; that has already been decided at the cross. This judgment will evaluate how we’ve lived our lives as Christians and how we have stewarded the resources (time, talent, treasure) that God has entrusted to us.

In this evaluation, those things that we have done that have glorified Jesus and advanced His kingdom purposes will be rewarded. We will receive no rewards for the things that have not been worthwhile to the cause of Christ.

It’s important to emphasize that this judgment does not include punishment. Christians will either be rewarded or they will not be rewarded.

One might ask, “if there’s no punishment, why should I care?”

Scripture is clear that on that day, those whose lives have not been stewarded well for God’s purposes – those who have not lived their lives in such a way that God was glorified – will experience extreme regret.

Jesus spoke of this accounting in Matthew 25:14 with the parable of the talents. The point of this parable is that God has given us talents, abilities and resources (money and material possessions) to manage on His behalf. The judgment Paul speaks about in 2 Corinthians 5:10 is a judgment where our lives will be evaluated based on how we have stewarded those resources. How well have we served Christ? Did we make our life count for His kingdom and His purposes?

Though we don’t know exactly what that day will look like, we know it’s coming and therefore, we should prepare ourselves.

Pastor Pete Briscoe has developed a dramatic presentation that depicts what that day could look like for someone. It’s a powerful monologue that is designed to move the believer to reflect on how they’ve lived their life and perhaps think about making changes in light of that day!

Reflection

Were you aware that Christians will be judged and give an account of how they’ve lived their life for Christ?

What thoughts and emotions do you have when you think about appearing before Christ and having your actions evaluated in light of His commands and His purposes?

What changes do you think you need to make in your life to better ensure that God will say to you “well done good and faithful servant”?

What challenges do you face when you think about living your life completely for the Lord?

Photo by William Krause on Unsplash