Articles
When We Stand Before the Judge
God's word tells us plainly that all will one day stand before God in Judgment. The writer of Hebrews noted, “it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Heb. 9:27). The apostle Paul goes further and wrote, “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10), and, “we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ…So then each of us shall give account of himself to God” (Rom. 14:10, 12). Anyone who denies this does so without evidence and, in fact, must reject the testimony of God to do so.
The thing is, when we stand before God, we will do so knowing He is a just Judge (Psa. 7:11) and He is righteous (Psa. 11:7) and He is merciful (Psa. 116:5). That will either be a great comfort or a cause for terror, depending on our standing before God and whether or not we have lived for Him while here on Earth.
But there is something else we should consider, in light of this knowledge that we will one day stand before Him: Who will speak for you?
Here in this physical world, we have a justice system that is set up in such a way that every citizen has an advocate in court. The point of this is to ensure the rich do not have an advantage over the poor [though that is still quite often the case], and that everyone has an equal ability to provide a defense when accused. In our court system, it may very well be that an innocent man has been accused of a crime, and it is even more likely that guilty ones are not ever brought to trial or even face any accusations. Our system is flawed simply because we have to rely on testimony of eyewitnesses or experts who themselves are flawed and imperfect, and the truth is sometimes overlooked, ignored, or even suppressed.
Such will not be the case when we stand before God, however; God's word tells us plainly that all the deeds done in the body will be considered, but they also teach us “God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil” (Eccl. 12:14), and in that Judgment God will “bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts” (1 Cor. 4:5; NASB). We won't be able to hide anything from God, the just Judge, and we will not be able to suppress any relevant evidence.
Now, with all that said, we now find that we are in a seemingly hopeless position. Every one of us has sinned against God (cf. Rom. 3:23) and the truth is, “there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin” (Eccl. 7:20). Since sin is defined by God as transgression of His law (1 John 3:4), we will all stand before Him guilty and, as Eli once asked, “If one man sins against another, God will judge him. But if a man sins against the Lord, who will intercede for him?” (1 Sam. 2:25); indeed! Who will be our advocate before the Lord when that Judgment Day comes for us?
The reason the gospel is "good news" is that it tells us that God, in a similar manner to how our justice system ensures an advocate is provided for everyone, provided one to intercede for us, and to be our Advocate. Peter reminds us that God sent to man His Son, “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed” (1 Pet. 2:24), fulfilling a prophecy by Isaiah of One would be “wounded for our transgressions,…bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed” (Isa. 53:5). The Son of God — our Savior and Redeemer — interceded and died for us, taking our guilt away by His blood.
For those who believe the message of the gospel and who humbly obey the commands of our Lord, God will raise him up “with Him through faith in the working of God,” and, will make him “alive together with Him, having forgiven…all trespasses” (Col. 2:11-13). By His blood, we are forgiven and redeemed (Eph. 1:7), and we can stand before the Judgment knowing the guilt is no longer held against us, for the Judge will keep His word to “remember no more” the things that rendered us once as guilty (Heb. 8:12). Now, because of our Intercessor, we can stand before Him forgiven and justified.
And even as disciples, we know that we will still sin again; it's not that we "have" to, but we do. John reminded the early disciples, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8), and, “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us” (1 John 1:10). Right in the middle of those two verses, we find God's solution to those times when we fail: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). But, we should know that there is no power in our words and forgiveness doesn't come by obligation; no, God's grace and mercy shine again when we realize, as John states immediately following this, “we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1).
You see, Jesus did not just come to this earth, live as a man [but never sinned], and died for our sins; when He left this earth and returned to heaven, He continued in the work of saving us and justifying us. As the writer of Hebrews noted, “He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (Heb. 7:25). As disciples, when we pray to God, boldly coming to Him looking to “obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16), we do so because Christ is standing there at the right hand of God, continuing to intercede for us when we come to God in prayer. We can come boldly to God's throne, seeking mercy and help — forgiveness — because we know our High Priest [Jesus] is one who can sympathize with us, having faced temptations as we do, though He did not sin (Heb. 4:14, 15). When we make our plea for forgiveness, Jesus can speak as one who has faced temptation, too, and can plead for our forgiveness based on the sacrifice He has already made for our sins. We can know we will be forgiven because God is “faithful and just to forgive us our sins.”
So when you stand before the Judge, will Jesus be your Advocate? — Steven Harper
