God the Judge

If you have not read Fred's post below, I suggest you read it before reading this. Upon recent conversations, it is quite apparent that men do not like to think of God as a judge, exercising punishment and retributive justice for violating his holy law. Listen to this excerpt from J.I. Packer's book knowing God.

Do you believe in divine judgement? By which I mean, do you believe in a God who acts as our Judge? Many, it seems, do not. Speak to them of God as Father, a friend, a helper, one who loves us despite all our weakness and folly and sin, and their faces light up; you are on their wavelength at once. But speak to them of God as Judge and they frown and shake their heads. Their minds recoil from such an idea. They find it repellent and unworthy.

The idea of God as Judge may be repellent and unworthy to natural minds, but what do the Scriptures have to say?

Psalm 75

1We give thanks to you, O God;
we give thanks, for your name is near.
We recount your wondrous deeds.
2"At the set time that I appoint
I will judge with equity.
3When the earth totters, and all its inhabitants,
it is I who keep steady its pillars.
Selah
4I say to the boastful, 'Do not boast,'
and to the wicked, 'Do not lift up your horn;
5do not lift up your horn on high,
or speak with haughty neck.'"
6For not from the east or from the west
and not from the wilderness comes lifting up,
7but it is God who executes judgment,
putting down one and lifting up another.
8For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup
with foaming wine, well mixed,
and he pours out from it,
and all the wicked of the earth
shall drain it down to the dregs
9But I will declare it forever;
I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
10All the horns of the wicked I will cut off,
but the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up.

Hebrews 12:21-24

21Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, "I tremble with fear." 22But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

The Scriptures are clear that God acts as judge upon humanity. See also Genesis 18:25, Judges 11:27, Psalm 82:8.

God judged Adam and Eve for eating the forbidden fruit and expelled them from the Garden of Ede. God judged wicked humanity in Noah's day and sent the flood as punishment. God Judged those who worshipped the golden calf, using the Levites as his executioners. God judged Nadab and Abihu for offering him strange fire. The judgement of God fell upon Ananias and Sapphira for lying to the Holy Spirit. Judgement fell upon the church at Corinth for their abuse of the Lord's Supper.

Friend, if you see God just merely as your friend and helper, and do not believe God to be Judge over all the earth, I pray that today you will not be ignorant of the truth of Scripture. All of humanity has transgressed the law of God, and unless we are found righteous, we will be judged and justly condemned to an eternity in hell. The only way we can be found righteous is to be found in Christ (See Romans 3). It is my prayer that you recognize that your sin is an offence to the character and the law of God and that you repent from your sinful ways and trust in the efficacious work of Christ on the cross in your behalf. For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. ~2 Corinthians 5:21