Divine Judgment Equals Divine Justice!

2nd Sunday of End Time, Last Judgment, 11/06/16
2 Thessalonians 1:5-10


Divine Judgment Equals Divine Justice!
I. Justice for those who opposed Jesus
II. Justice for those who trust Jesus


What I'm about to say is simply my opinion and I don’t expect you to agree with me, but I feel our justice system in the United States of America is the finest in the world. If someone brought charges against me, I’d rather face my accuser right here in the USA than anywhere else in the world.

Having stated that opinion, however, I don’t feel our system is the perfect system. In fact, there are times when I’m certain justice has not prevailed. You hear about it nearly every day. People are deprived of justice. They don’t have the means to get the best defense possible. Or, in the eyes of society, they’re insignificant and so the fact that their rights have been violated is insignificant as well. The poor suffer oppression and the powerful and wealthy get their way, even in front of those who have the sworn responsibility to carry out justice. Corruption, bribery and extortion are far too common.

So, even if you agree with me that our system of justice is the best there is, it still leaves us less than satisfied. We’d like to see and receive justice in every case for every person every time.

That longing will never be realized completely in this life. But it will in your spiritual life when your Lord Jesus returns. As I mentioned, we’re celebrating the Last Judgment this morning. And I did say “celebrating” it. There are several reasons for celebrating it and the Apostle Paul offers one in this morning’s text from 2 Thessalonians 1. Where human courts fail, the Lord Jesus does not. Where mortal judges fail, the eternal Judge never will. God’s truth for us to celebrate this morning is that divine judgment equals divine justice. On the Last Day the whole world will be silenced before the judgment seat of Christ. And you and I will nod in blissful agreement because divine judgment equals divine justice.

Part I.

It just doesn’t seem fair. The immoral and the godless seem to breeze through life while we—the ones who hold to and stand up for God’s truth—seem to suffer. It’s just not fair!

That’s pretty much the way it’s always been to a greater or lesser degree. What you and I are facing today is nothing like what the Thessalonians Christians faced. In his first letter to them, Paul praised them for remaining faithful to the Lord Jesus in spite of severe suffering. We don’t have any details, but it’s safe to assume they faced economic hardships because they were Christian; they may have lost jobs and homes; they may have even been physically abused. All these atrocities were occurring to them because of their connection to Christ. It just wasn’t fair!

And there are situations in our lives in which we know how that feels—maybe not to the degree that the Thessalonians did, but we feel it nonetheless. If you’ve ever taken a stance on God’s word regarding a moral issue and made that stance even slightly public, you know what oppression feels like. Our godless world forces its ways upon us. And we get tired of it and even a little angry at times. We want justice, justice from God against our godless world.

The problem is that we’re usually a little short on patience, and understandably so. We’re God’s people and we’re suffering at the hands of those who aren’t God’s people. So we want God to do something about it, and not tomorrow; today, now, right now. The Thessalonians Christians knew how you feel.

Listen to what the Lord told them through St. Paul, “God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels.” Opposition to Christianity will occur until the Lord returns. Your God doesn’t promise to end it anytime soon. But he does promise to end it on the Last Day. “God is just.” Those who oppose Jesus and his Church will receive the punishment they deserve. They wanted nothing to do with Jesus in this life; they’ll have it that way forever. They thought they could oppose Christianity and oppress Christians without any repercussions. But they’re wrong, eternally wrong.

Listen to what the Lord of all the universe states, “He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power.” As disgusted as we may be with our sordid world, as worn out as we may be at the hands of our anti-Christian world, it’s really not up to us to even the score. That’s solely the responsibility of our God. He will deal justly with all who oppose Jesus. But that justice won’t come one second sooner than the very last second in all of history. Then and only then will perfect justice prevail.

Divine judgment equals divine justice—justice for those who oppose Jesus.

Knowing that Jesus will ultimately judge those who oppose him comforts our oppressed hearts right now. It’s good to know that God won’t allow anti-Christian forces to go unpunished. “They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord.” But shouldn’t that truth also fill us with compassion? After all, these are people whom Jesus loves so much that he suffered and died for them. So what’s your first reaction when you witness opposition to Jesus? Is it overwhelming disgust and perhaps even hatred? Does the thought ever occur that these people need your prayers? Would you ever look on them as people who need to hear God’s truths about their sin and their Savior from sin? Or, do you snuggle into the seat of judgment reserved only for Jesus and content yourself with watching and waiting until Jesus brings down his divine hammer on them? You see, your heart and mine are not right by nature with Jesus either. The sins of those who oppose Jesus lurk in here, too. It’s only by the grace of God that we don’t oppose Jesus. It’s only by the grace of God that he has brought us to faith in Jesus, sparing us from his righteous judgment. It’s only by the grace of God that the Jesus who suffered and died for the sins of all people is our personal Savior. Don’t stand on the sidelines of his divine courtroom waiting for him to mete out his justice. Jesus calls on us to share his word which alone changes sinful hearts.

Part II.

But the Last Judgment isn’t only for those who oppose Jesus; it’s for all. It’s for you and me. And that doesn’t exactly fill us with warm and cozy feelings. In fact, we have our fears. And one the reasons for those fears is that the judgment will take place in the future. And with any future event, we’re always anxious because we fear something will go wrong. For all her planning, what bride-to-be doesn’t fear that something will go wrong on her big day? For all his preparation, what employee doesn’t fear that his big presentation will fall flat? It seems nothing is ever quite perfect in our lives.

With that being the case, the judgment on the Last Day doesn’t fill us with confidence. What if something goes wrong, as it often does? What if Jesus changes his mind about us? What if he decides to reveal before everyone those sins of which we’re so ashamed? What if we humbly ask him to let us into heaven and he laughs in our faces?

A little unsettling, isn’t it? So, how can we be sure things will go well for us in the Last Judgment? Because this event doesn’t depend on a single thing you can say or do. It only and always depends solely on what Jesus said and did for you. Our justice on the Last Day—our confidence—is in Christ. It rests in his person and work. He is the eternal Son of God who took on human flesh and blood in order to redeem us—to buy us back from Satan. That’s what his life here on earth was all about. His work culminated in his sufferings and death for the sins of the world. We cling to that death every time we worship.

And his resurrection three days later is the guarantee that his work was completed perfectly. His resurrection assures us we are justified—declared not guilty. That’s what you are and that’s what you’ll hear in the judgment on the Last Day. Jesus justifies you—he declares you not guilty because of what he did for you.

Jesus lives and rules right now so that he can make that not-guilty declaration about you before all the world. Listen to Paul describe it, “He [will come] to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.” On that Last Day you will be the source of the glory of Jesus. Before the whole world—a world which thinks Christianity is utter foolishness—Jesus will point to you as proof that he is the Son of God and the world’s only Savior from sin. That’s a thrilling truth, isn’t it? The Last Judgment isn’t about what you’ve done—good or evil. It’s all about what your Savior has done for you. He will return in glory so that you can share that glory with him. Jesus accomplished his divine justice for you on the cross 2,000 years ago. On the Last Day he’ll declare it.

Divine judgment equals divine justice—justice for those who trust Jesus.

In a way, your salvation isn’t fair. Jesus took the punishment for your sins and mine on himself. He’s suffered the Father’s wrath for you and me. He died so that we can live with him. He did all that so that he could declare you not guilty on the Last Day. What sweet good news! That’s divine judgment and it always equals divine justice for you. Amen.