Because He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead. Acts 17:31
Have you ever been in a courtroom during a trial? As a reporter, I have been in many such courtrooms, and they are not all the same. Some court atmospheres are monotonous and boring, others are frivolous and relaxed, still others are solemn and hushed, and others are noisy and argumentative. But when the issues have been deeply serious, such as when a murder trial is underway, a courtroom can become almost frightening in many ways. Security is high, and the judge appears grim and glowering, and the lawyers are hushed and shrinking in their starched formal robes. Nobody dares to move or even whisper, and even those who need to cough do so as discretely as possible. Some people can be very intimidated by such an atmosphere, and well they should be. But even such courtroom scenes are insignificant when it comes to the greatest courtroom scene of all time. Our text is speaking of a day that the Bible identifies as the Judgment of the Great White Throne.
Courtrooms are often the most crowded during jury selection at the beginning of a trial, when several dozen people are summoned from whom the defense and prosecution lawyers select the members of the jury for the trial. Sometimes the crowd is overwhelming if the courtroom is not large. But those who will be called to attend the hearings at the Great White Throne will include the billions of humanity who are not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Unlike jury selection in our courts, no one will be excused for health or disability or family responsibility reasons. This is the place where all will be judged for their sins. The only exceptions will be those who have accepted the judgement for sins that was administered at Golgotha. And the One Who received that judgment at Golgotha will be the Judge at the Great White Throne. And that will be the most frightful aspect of that judgment for those who will face their final Judge.
Because of Calvary, there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). For us, sin has been judged. Actually, for the whole world, sin has already been judged. But those who have rejected the judgment, or neglected the judgment of sin at the cross, must finally face an accounting for their sin. The greatest crimes to be presented at the Great White Throne are not the murders or the treasons or the brutality and hate and selfishness that marks fallen man. No, the greatest crime will be unbelief, the failing to accept that Christ has made one great sacrifice for sins forever. And all who are brought to stand before the final Judge will know that it is forever too late to accept the pardon that they were once offered.
God has raised His Son from the dead to be our Saviour. Rejoice that he is no longer our judge. Work that others might so rejoice with us. -Jim MacIntosh