And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. Hebrews 9:27
As much as they hate and reject the Bible, there is one small part of the Bible that every atheist will agree with: the first part of our text. They will disagree with the last part. In fact, it’s to avoid considering the last part that they are atheists. But they all know that they are someday going to die. You don’t drive very far along any road before coming to a cemetery. You don’t look at any gathering of people and see anyone who has been living for centuries. You don’t see the obituary column getting any shorter. Everybody who is born lives out a certain span of years and then dies. There are no exceptions. And nobody in their right mind will disagree with that, no matter how much they dislike it. It’s the last part of the verse that the sceptics and atheists reject. But refusing to believe it doesn’t make it invalid, anymore than refusing to believe in Revenue Canada excuses you from paying your taxes. An honest person will admit that we not only must someday die, but we also must face an accounting for the life we have lived. As Christians, we are thankful that the accounting for the sins of our life was all handled at Calvary, and there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). But there is a different judgment that we are to face that has nothing to do with our sin.
It’s called the Judgment Seat of Christ, and every true child of God will be brought before this review. 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 (2 Corinthians 5:10). In a way, the Judgment Seat of Christ is somewhat like graduation day at school. We are familiar with the way in which students receive their certificates that indicate how well they did in their studies and their work. There is no reprimand for missed assignments, no punishment for failing to pay attention in class, no detention for misbehaviour in school. No, graduation day recognizes how much or how little the students accomplished. And that’s how it will be done at the Judgment Seat of Christ. Just as the students can lose out on high marks and scholastic prizes, so the Christian can lose out on praise from the Saviour and on the great crowns and other rewards that are available to us. The apostle Paul knew about that when he said ‘I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus’ (Philippians 3:14). Paul was also thrilled about the awards that lay ahead when he said, ‘I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing’ (2 Timothy 4:7,8).
Sinners ought to dread today’s text. But saints ought to see it as an incentive to serve our Lord ever more faithfully as we see the day approaching. -Jim MacIntosh