PLEASING GOD ON JUDGEMENT DAY
Judgement day.
For many Christians this is a terrifying thought as their mind immediately goes to all their sins being projected onto a giant movie screen for all of Heaven to see. And while they are publicly humiliated, Jesus is either weeping or shaking His head with a disapproving, disappointing look on His face. Doesn’t that sound exciting…
Thankfully, this is not what judgement day will look like for the believer. In fact it couldn’t be further from the truth. Look at what the writer of Hebrews says judgement day will not be about,
“And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.” – Hebrew 9:27-28
He further tells us in chapter 10, verses 16-18 that because of Christ’s sacrifice, God will remember our sins no more. That even includes on judgement day.
So if judgement day is not a rehash of all our sins – and it’s certainly not to see if we were good enough to enter Heaven based on how well we measured up to the Law because we Christians are no longer under it. Then what is the purpose of judgement day? What is going to be judged?
Among the many passages on the believer’s judgement, I believe one of the clearest is 2 Corinthians 5:9-10 where Paul tells us,
“Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”
Paul is telling us is that WE are not being judged. For we have already been made righteous and acceptable. Instead, it is the quality of the works that will be judged. On judgement day we will discover which of our works were good (that is, done by and through the Holy Spirit in us) and which were not (what we have done through our flesh).
The next question then becomes, how do we know if we are pleasing God or not? How do we know if the works being done are good or bad? Once again Scriptures give us an answer. Hebrews 11:6 says “without faith it is impossible to please Him.” Meaning, the type of work is not what matters, but whether we were trusting Him for it. So judgement day will not primarily be about how many people you led to Jesus, how many sermons you preached, how much money you gave away, or any other “spiritual looking” activity you can come up with.
Simply put, it will not be about WHAT was done. Instead, it will be about WHO was doing them.
It will be about the times you trusted Jesus while at work, while you were out with friends, while you were making dinner and even the times you were trusting Jesus to take out the trash to love your family.
For what pleases God the most is that we turn to Him and rely upon Him in this very moment. And on judgement day you will see exactly how pleased He truly is. Makes me look forward to that day!
In Christ who is our Life,
Ross