WHY IS JUDGMENT INEVITABLE?

WHY JUDGMENT IS INEVITABLE               

                We often picture God sitting on His throne waiting for sin to get to a certain point. When our cup of iniquity is full then God says” “Okay, I’ve had it. I am going to go down there and wreak some havoc and punish those rebels.”

                But judgment is not usually a result of God throwing a temper tantrum. Judgment becomes inevitable simply because sin produces destructive results. That’s why God doesn’t like sin in the first place. Sin reaps what is sown.

                This principle is laid down for us by Paul in Galatians 6:7, 8: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever man sows, this h e will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life.”

                This principle ties in with other principles in the Bible. For instance the Bible tells us that the things that are seen are temporary while the things that are unseen are eternal. (2Cor. 4:18)

                On a very personal level Paul explains that while our outer man (Our physical being) is decaying, the inner man (Our spirit) is being renewed day by day. So which part of you do you want to invest in, the part that is decaying and temporary, or the part of you that is constantly being renewed and will never die?

                Jesus alluded to this same thing in His discourse with Mary, eth sister of Lazarus saying: “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25, 26

                This is also why Jesus said as a matter of principle: “Seek first the kingdom of god and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.” In other words, invest in the invisible and the material things will take care of themselves.

                How wise it is for us to invest in eternal things rather than in things that are here today and gone tomorrow. A large part of our training to reign is involved in this matter of learning how to operate on the eternal level rather than the temporary level. A child, if given the choice between a valuable piece of property or cotton candy, will most likely opt for the cotton candy, simply because he doesn’t comprehend the value of something he can’t see at the moment.

                God is trying to teach us how to run our lives on eternal principles. Jesus came to demonstrate what it is like when you live your life based upon eternal things. He was trying to lift our eyes to a higher plain of existence… one that would not fade away with time. The people wanted Him to conquer and secure a temporary kingdom for them, when in fact Jesus was offering them a kingdom that is not of this world and eternal in nature.

                Everything that Jesus taught us was eternal in scope. Love is forever… hatred kills and destroys everything it touches. Peace is eternal… war destroys everything it touches. Generosity is eternal… greed destroys everything it touches. All of the fruits of the Spirit are eternal. The Holy Spirit is in us, building eternal principles and teaching us to live by them.

                That’s why much of prosperity preaching is bad. We are trading in our eternal things for temporary things and asking God to give it to us. So, in many cases He does give it to us and we, like the kid with the cotton candy, are so ”happy and blessed” but living on borrowed time.

                It seems that no matter what subject I write about it always takes us back to Romans 8.

                Romans 8 is all about living by the Spirit and not by the flesh.  So judgment then is mostly a natural phenomenon for as Paul explains it: “…the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.”

                The world scoffs at us for the world cannot see what we see with the eye of faith. The things of God are foolishness to them. The cross is foolishness to them. The blood of Christ’s atoning sacrifice is foolishness to them for it all operates on eternal invisible principles.

                Are there not times when you will suddenly rise up with a start and ask, “Is all of this for real?

                Our material mind cannot fully grasp the invisible realm and so when we are not in the spirit we feel jolted by an alternative reality… one in which only visible things are real. But it is then that the Spirit of God calls out to our spirit and draws us back into the realm of spirit and of faith. Even this would be impossible except for the fact that we have been born again and a new spirit has been created in us that cries out, “Abba Father.” And so, we turn back to live by that which our Father has placed within us. “For we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves> (2 Cor. 4:7)

                Yes, there is a time when God says “Enough is enough.” There is a time when Michael stands up. There is a time when the angels that hold back the winds of strife, let go and let nature take its course. And God takes the credit for our judgment because He is ultimately in control of everything, but most of our judgment is based upon God allowing nature to run its course. We reap what we sow and whether we understand it or not, even nature somehow seems to revolt against our sins even as we see nature doing right now. Sin creates an atmosphere of destruction, even as low pressure areas allow storm clouds to come in.

                Even Israel’s captivities were a matter of the natural occurrence. When a nation is in moral and spiritual decay, another stronger nation will invade. The prophets see it coming and they shout out their warnings, but the foolish people put them to death as if that will prevent the inevitable from happening.

                Repentance, revival and reformation strengthen a nation and keep the invaders at bay, but moral decay and spiritual decay have their symptoms and signs of impending doom. That is what Romans chapter one is all about. In chapter one of Romans, Paul shows us the progression of moral and spiritual decay that lead to the downfall of a nation and whether we like it or not, these are the signs that a nation is about to implode… in fact the same symptoms have been involved in the downfall of every nation throughout history.

                Nations reap what nations sow and apart from revival and reformation, they will follow their course to the bitter end.

                May the church rise up and stand up and call this nation back to eternal things.