It’s the end of the millennium (see Revelation 20:11, 12). Billions of people—all the wicked who have ever lived on this earth—are scattered across a great plain before God’s throne. The judgment is about to begin. Listen!
“How can God judge us?” snaps a tall brunette. “What does He know about suffering?” She jerks back a sleeve to reveal the tattooed number from a Nazi concentration camp. She says, “We endured terror, beatings, torture, death!”
A large black man lowers his collar “What about this?” he demands, showing an ugly rope burn. “Lynched for no crime but being black! We’ve suffocated in slave ships, been wrenched from loved ones, and toiled till only death gave release.”
Scattered far across the plain are hundreds of groups, from all races, each with a similar tale. Each has a complaint against God for the evil and suffering He permitted.
Lucky God to live in heaven, they agree, where all is sweetness and light—no weeping, fear, hunger, hatred, broken dreams, or marriages to endure. “After all,” snarls one. “God leads a pretty sheltered life.” Each group sends its leader, chosen because he or she has suffered the most. Reaching the center of the plain, they consult one another. At last they present their case to God.
It’s simple: Before God could be qualified as their Judge, He must have lived the life they lived. Their decision is very simple: “God should be sentenced to live on earth as a human!”
But, because He is God, they set certain safeguards to be sure He doesn’t use His divine powers to help Himself.
Let Him be born a Jew.
Let the legitimacy of His birth be questioned, so that none will know who His father is.
Let Him champion a cause so just, but so radical, that it brings down upon Him all the hate, condemnation, and power of the established religious authority.
Let Him try to describe what no man has ever seen, tasted, heard, or smelled—let Him try to communicate God to men.
Let Him be betrayed by His friends.
Let Him be indicted on false charges, tried before a prejudiced people, and convicted by a cowardly judge.
Let Him see what it is to be terribly alone and completely abandoned by every living human being.
Let Him be tortured and let Him die! Let Him die the most humiliating death—with common thieves.
As each leader announces his portion of the sentence, murmurs of approval go up from the throng. When the last person among the wicked has pronounced his or her sentence, there’s a sudden silence. No one utters a word. No one moves. For suddenly they all realize the truth—God has already served this sentence.
the court case
The scene is, of course, imaginary, but its conclusion is true: God has served His sentence. As a human. One of us. A sufferer. Hungry. Poor. Lonely. Treated unjustly. Misunderstood. Judged. Condemned.
He who was condemned among us, and the Father who suffered with His Son, are the ones who will judge us, the people of this earth!
“As I looked,” said the prophet Daniel,
“thrones were set in place,
and the Ancient of Days took his seat.
His clothing was as white as snow;
the hair of his head was white like wool.
His throne was flaming with fire,
and its wheels were all ablaze.
A river of fire was flowing,
coming out from before him.
Thousands upon thousands attended him;
ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.
The court was seated,
and the books were opened”
(Daniel 7:9, 10).
Slip unobserved for a moment into that courtroom. The case of a professed Christian, Jeffrey Jones, has just come up for review. Satan, the “accuser of our brothers and sisters” (Revelation 12:10), sneeringly recites Jeffrey’s record of commandments broken, and based on that, demands the death penalty for him. “It’s Your own law he’s broken,” Satan points out, and he demands that Jeffrey fry in the lake of fire.
But then, as Advocate and Lawyer for the accused, Jesus steps forward to argue Jeffrey’s defense. “Jeffrey was a sinner, it’s true,” Jesus says. “But when he failed, he sought forgiveness and claimed My sentence as his. Here is the record: In ad 31, at Calvary, I took Jeffrey’s place and died for him. His baptism is on record, showing he witnessed publicly to his faith in My death, burial, and resurrection on his behalf.”
Turning to God the Father, Jesus says, “The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels” (Revelation 3:5).
Can’t we imagine the Father’s reply “Son, when You return to earth, call Jeffrey from his grave and bring him home!”
Another case. An angel reads the name—Lynda Barnes. Again, Satan claims his victim. The book of records is opened and we listen in growing horror to an explicit record of unconfessed sins. Lynda, too, called herself a Christian, but it is soon evident that her master wasn’t Jesus. After each recorded sin we hear a voice recite “Unconfessed.”
At last Jesus turns to the hushed court and sorrowfully says, “Whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven” (Matthew 10:33). But Christ our Advocate desires that everyone should be found innocent before that tribunal. To every sinner He says: “How can I give you up? . . . All my compassion is aroused&rdquo (Hosea 11:8). It will indeed be a solemn moment when the books of record are opened and everyone’s response to the love and sacrifice of Christ is revealed.
the books of heaven
According to the Bible, in heaven there are three books of records.
The first is the book of life (Revelation 3:5; 20:12), in which are recorded the names of all who have ever called themselves “Christian.” Paul speaks of his faithful fellow workers “whose names are in the book of life” (Philippians 4:3), and John writes that “only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life” shall enter the city of God (Revelation 21:27).
There is also “a scroll of remembrance,” in which are recorded the good deeds o “those who feared the LORD and honored his name” (Malachi 3:16). Every sacrifice, every suffering and sorrow endured for Christ’s sake, is recorded (Psalm 56:8).
Finally, there is also a record book of sins (Ecclesiastes 12:14; Matthew 12:36, 37) that records warnings of reproofs neglected, wasted moments, unimproved opportunities—all have been chronicled by the recording angel.
“There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known” (Luke 12:2).
How thankful we can be that “if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1, ASV*).
sin dealt with
The Old Testament sanctuary and its services illustrated how God deals with sin. But when Jesus died on the cross, the earthly sanctuary and its sacrifices were no longer necessary, for the true Lamb of God had shed His blood.
The attention of God’s people was to shift to the heavenly sanctuary—“the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being” (Hebrews 8:2). It’s in this context that the judgment of our earth’s people will take place.
How grateful we should be that Jesus, the One who walked among us and met our temptations, is now our Advocate and High Priest. The writer of the book of Hebrews sees the human nature of Jesus as a key element in warranting His fairness: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin” (Hebrews 4:15).
Jesus can represent us as no one else could, because He is both God and man. He knows all about us. He sympathizes with our human weaknesses because He lived as a human, subject to our temptations—but He didn’t sin.
When you remember that your defense Attorney in heaven’s judgment is the same Jesus who died for you, can you doubt that He will do His best on your behalf?
life for a life
During the Vietnam War, a little boy wrote to a prisoner of war in a Hanoi prison: “I would have gave my life to get you guys out of prison,” he said. “But my mother and father wouldn’t let me.”
But Jesus’ Father did. He served our sentence and got us out of prison. Now He invites us to share His reward. He says, “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done” (Revelation 22:12).
the Old Testament sanctuary
Early in Israel’s history, God gave detailed plans for a building, called the sanctuary, which was a “type” of one in heaven (Hebrews 8:1, 2). Through its services the Israelites were to learn how sin may be transferred to Jesus, the “Lamb of God.” When a person sinned, he brought an animal offering—often a lamb—to the priests at the sanctuary. The sinner confessed his sins over its head, then slit its throat with a knife. This was meant to teach the horror of sin and show faith in a Savior— the true Lamb—who would come to earth and die for all sinners. Blood from the lamb was then sprinkled in the Holy Place of the sanctuary. Thus, in symbol, the priest brought his sins and the people’s sins to God, who forgives through the blood of Jesus.
Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest entered the Most Holy Place, and in a special service, the polluting influence of sin was removed from the entire nation of Israel. This was called the “cleansing of the sanctuary.”
When Jesus ascended to heaven, He entered the heavenly sanctuary to begin His work as our Intercessor (Hebrews 8:1–3).
* Scripture quotations marked ASV are from the American Standard Version.
