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Grounded-In-Biblical-Truth | |
Sovereign Grace Doctrines
Concerning 'THE GOSPEL' - JESUS CHRIST
CHRIST AS THE JUDGE OF ALL THE EARTH
GENESIS 18:25
GOOD NEWS FROM THE REDEEMER
DANIEL E. PARKS, PASTOR
JUNE 5, 1999 - RADIO MESSAGE #270
We read in Genesis chapter 18 that Jehovah and two of His angels appeared to Abraham in the form of three men (vv.1-2a; re the two angels, read also v.16 with 19:1). After being warmly received by Abraham (vv.2b-5), they partook of the meal Abraham and his wife Sarah prepared for them (vv.6-8). Jehovah repeated to Abraham His earlier promise of the son which would be born to him and Sarah (vv.9-15; cp. 17:15-22). Afterward, Jehovah revealed to Abraham the destruction He was to bring upon Sodom because of that city’s wickedness, and the angels departed to execute it (vv.16-22). Abraham then pled with Jehovah to spare the righteous people in that city, and his plea was granted (vv.23-33).
Abraham’s plea was founded upon his belief that “Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (v.25). Christ is the “Judge of all the earth” who “shall ... do right”!
I. Christ is the person here identified as “Jehovah” and “the Judge of all the earth” who “appeared” to Abraham. Every appearance of Jehovah in the Old Testament was in the person of Jehovah the Son, Christ (see John 1:18; Colossians 1:15; John 10:30; 14:9).
II. Christ is elsewhere identified as “the Judge of all the earth.” “For the Father judges no one, but has all committed all judgment to the Son, ... and has given Him authority to execute judgment also” (John 5:22,27). “[I]t is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead” (Acts 10:42; cp. 17:31). Therefore “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 Corinthians 5:12; Romans 14:10f). This “judgment seat of Christ” is also the “great white throne” at which He will judge all mankind (Revelation 20:11-15). This judgment will occur at His second coming (Matthew 25:31ff): “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another [i.e. the righteous from the unrighteous], as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.” The righteous will be received into “the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,” while the unrighteous will be consigned to “the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Christ is indeed “the Judge of all the earth”!
III. Christ as the Judge of All the Earth “shall ... do right.”
1. Christ will slay the wicked. “The soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:20; cp. Romans 6:23). And Christ is “a just judge” who will not withhold from the wicked the punishment of death they justly deserve (Psalm 7:11-13). “For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, nor shall evil dwell with You. The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity. You shall destroy those who speak falsehood; the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man” (Psalm 5:4-6).
2. Christ will not slay the righteous with the wicked. The righteous are those who have received through faith the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ (Romans 3:21-26), as did Abraham (4:1-4). Some may die with the wicked in temporal calamities, but none will do so in the day of special judgment. God spared righteous Noah and his family when He destroyed the earth in the deluge (Genesis 6:5-18; 2 Peter 2:5). He spared the righteous when He destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD (Matthew 24:15-18). He here, in answer to Abraham’s plea, spared righteous Lot and his family (Exodus 19:12-25; 2 Peter 2:6-8). And at the final judgment, before slaying the wicked in the lake of fire, He will usher the righteous into His everlasting kingdom (Matthew 25:31ff). “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” Yes indeed, He shall!
Are you among the wicked whom Christ will slay? or among the righteous whom He will save?
Your servant for Jesus' sake.
Address all questions to pastor
Daniel E. Parks (2 Corinthians 4:5) e-mail RedeemerBC@aol.com
Pastor, Redeemer Baptist Church
2801 Cleveland Boulevard, Louisville, KY 40206 / 502.899-9205
