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June 4, 2009
Standing before God... Can you imagine? Standing before the throne of the King of Kings. Standing before the Creator, something so wonderful, so pure, so holy, so powerful, all knowing, and even terrifying. Terrifying maybe because we know that we can no longer use our slick skills and smooth moves to try to talk our way out of some serious trouble. Terrifying because 2 Corinthians 5:11 says "Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men...". Terrifying because Revelation 20:11 says that "And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them". Revelation 20 goes on to say that everyone will stand before God and account for everything they have said and done. EVERYTHING. Regardless if we believe in God or not, the Bible says we will all stand before Him. Regardless if we are saved or not, we will stand before God and answer directly to Him for everything we have done.
This seems to me to be a message that is no longer politically correct to talk about. Yes, the messages of salvation are true and uplifting. Yes, we as sinners can be forgiven through Christ and have eternal life. And yes, we can inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. The message of salvation makes a great church sermon and may draw bigger crowds to church. But a lot of times the preaching stops there. The Bible does indeed say these things. But some sermons only teach half of the story. The other half that gets left out sometimes is the part about the Bible telling us that everyone will stand before God and give an answer for everything that they have said and done. Can you image that? Answering for things that you may have already forgotten about? Maybe something we did decades ago, that we have already forgotten about will be accounted for on that day as we stand before God.
So, are our sins really cleared away as if they never existed? Can we intentionally do harm to someone else and then just have it cleared away as if it never happened in the first place? And what about the person that was harmed? Too bad, so sad? Are our churches teaching that sins will be forgiven and forgotten by God? As if they never happened? I hope not. If your church or Bible expert is teaching that, then I pray that you will pick up your KJV Bible, read it, and become your own Bible expert. I hear all too often that WE DON'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING, because our sins were cleared away when Jesus died on the cross. If that is true, then why does the Bible go on to say that we will all stand before God and answer to Him for our WORKS? The Bible also says that we will be rewarded for our GOOD WORKS.
Yes, it's true that Jesus defeated death for us. Yes, He made it possible for anyone to enter the Kingdom of Heaven through His Spirit. But the Bible says that all is not forgotten. As saved Christians, we will still stand before God as His children, and account for everything we have done. And we will be rewarded for the good deeds that we have done. God will judge everyone of us. His piercing gaze will see right through to our true hearts. God, knowing our true intentions, will listen to us explain to Him why we did the things we did. He will be the final Judge. His decisions will be everlasting.
In Christ,
David
John, chapter 5:28-29 KJV:
Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
Romans, Chapter 14:10-13 KJV:
But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.
Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.
2 Corinthians, chapter 5:10-11 KJV:
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.
Revelation, chapter 20:11-13 KJV:
And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
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