Breadth of Mind and the Bible – The End Game – Part 1
Breadth of Mind and the Bible - The End Game - Part 1
When one becomes a Christian, has he/she simply entered into a lifestyle of "do this" ... and "don't do that"? Or is there an end game, some substantive event on the horizon, that motivates the Christian to seek righteousness as God defines it? You probably already know ... this second question is where we are heading.
This title is a bit of a mis-statement. There is no "end" for those who have eternal life. Nor is this a "game." But, there will be a conclusion to sinners being able to inflict sin upon others - and there is a specific role each Christian will play in that conclusion. So, maybe this should be titled, "Breadth of Mind and the Bible: The Christian’s Role in the Final Saga of This Age."
Revisiting the Two Corinthian Bombshells
Some Christians in Corinth were involved in lawsuits against one another. Paul was appalled by this, and proceeded to drop two bombshells that have resounded from that moment, through the rest of this age - and beyond. "Does any one of you, when he has a case against his neighbor, dare go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints?" Now, bombshell one. "Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world?" Bombshell two. "Do you not know that we will judge angels?" (1Cor 6:1-3). Paul presents this material as ...
Common Knowledge
These bombshells are questions with the answer already supplied. That means ... these were not inquiries. "Do you not know ...?" "Not" is the adverb, "ou" with an indicative verb (it is also in the perfect tense). This is a Koine Greek literary device for a strong statement. Paul is stating, "Yes, you have known, and continue to know ...." Know what? That "the saints will judge the world" and "we (the saints) will judge angels."
Paul proceeded to admonish them as to how this common knowledge should be applied to their current circumstance (read the entire 1Cor 6:1-12 passage). But, for us the question is this: Do we, as Christians, know it is our destiny to judge the world ... and angels? "How? When? Where?" Let’s back up and see if we can piece this together.
Some Old Testament "Clues"
The first bombshell really should not surprise us. "Let the godly ones exult in glory, let them sing for joy on their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth (throat) and a two-edged sword in their hand, to execute vengeance on the nations, and punishment on the peoples; to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; to execute on them the judgment written. This is an honor for all His godly ones. Praise the Lord!" (Ps 149:5-9). Then, at the Old Testament’s close, another clue. "‘But for you who fear My Name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip like calves from the stall. And you will tread down the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the souls of your feet on the day which I am preparing,’ says the Lord of hosts" (Mal 4:2,3). Two verses later, He speaks of "the great and terrible day of the Lord" - a future day of judgment, we now call ...
Judgment Day
"He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead" (Ac 17:31). There are actually two different Judgments. The sheep to His right will experience The Believer’s Judgment. The goats to His left (unbelievers) are headed for The Great White Throne Judgment. My guess is the Believer’s Judgment will occur just on the other side of the Christian’s exit from this age. That judgment will be accompanied by rebukes and fires and (hopefully) commendations and rewards. The saint will then experience a final cleansing and confirmation in eternal righteousness. The saint will then be in Paradise (Lk 23:43) until reunited with his/her raised and recreated immortal body on the Last Day (Jn 6:39,40). Then judging duties at the Great White Throne will be assigned. The eternal states of Heaven and Hell will then be established. Let’s look at this point by point.
The Time Line Just Forwarded ...
... is not the point. The dynamics of these coming transactions ... are the point. For example, the dispensing of rewards to the saints may come in several different ways. In Paradise, if the Believer’s Judgment has already occurred and if operating on a linear time line, Christians might be watching their eternal rewards grow as God continues using their life’s work, witness, and influence in this age. Can you imagine what Paul’s writings are producing this very day worldwide? But, it is also possible God has already presented the "final check" - handing out rewards not yet actually realized in real time - since He knows "the end from the beginning" (Isa 46:10). God may do this in Satan’s presence ... instilling a great panic in him ... letting him see the degree that saint will ultimately be used to "plunder his house" (Mt 12:29). This would not be unlike God. He did this with Jesus on the eve of the greatest battle of all time.
In the Upper Room, we read: "during supper ... Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands ... rose from supper ... girded Himself about ... and began to wash the disciples feet" (Jn 13:2-5). Jesus was not yet crucified (thus, victory had not yet been secured in real time) but, all authority had already been given to Him ... ahead of time. What an insult - what an assault - by God the Father! Satan’s long devised plans and preparations - his best - declared, "Failed!" ... before the final assault even started. Jesus was even washing Judas’ feet! One can hear the Father saying, "You will ‘bruise Him on the heel’ - but, He is about to crush your head (Gen 3:15). Your fate is sealed." Put yourself in Satan’s place at that moment and you may get a sense of this taunting - this mocking - by his Creator ... and the rage it would engender in the doomed god of this age. "He who is enthroned in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at (him). Then He will speak to (him) in His anger and terrify (him) in His fury" (Ps 2:4,5). While Satan successfully stripped the Christ for a few humiliating hours, Jesus has eternally stripped him (Col 2:15) ... starting in the Upper Room.
I must now take leave of you ... and address myself.
The Believer’s Judgment - Appearing Before The Judgment Seat of Christ
I am destined for an unavoidable Appointment before the Lord. It will come. "For we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ ... each one shall give account of himself to God" (Ro 14:10,12). While I do believe I am His, and have been pardoned, I still must be found as one who "endures to the end" (Mt 24:13). I have not yet reached the end. I must not assume or presume or continue with sin unaddressed - rationalizing it with some subtle, lethal form of thinking that where sin abounds grace abounds all the more - and risk being of that number whose "condemnation is just" (Ro 3:8 and 5:20).
He warns of neglecting the proper use of talents He has granted - or risk losing even what I thought I had (Lk 8:18). He is an austere Master, "taking up what (He) did not lay down and reaping what (He) did not sow" (Lk 19:21). When John, the Apostle of love, said, "watch yourselves, that you might not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward" (2Jn 8), it is clear his audience could choose otherwise - and have less than a full reward. He alone will judge when I made u-turns and headed back toward Egypt.
A realized hope of finding my name in the Book of Life (Rev 20:12,15) does not end this judgment matter. While I may have built upon the right foundation post-conversion, that does not mean all my activity was right. "(E)ach man must be careful how he builds upon the foundation ... for the day will show it ... and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work ... survives, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire" (1Cor 3:10, 13-15. Incidently, if "the day" is a strict reference to The Last Day, then the Believer’s Judgment does not come at the saint’s exit from this age as suggested earlier). Some will emerge from this meeting empty handed - though still saved. My best case scenario will be a mixture of triumphs and humiliations. When I think of some of the things in my post-cross experience, I find myself hoping for a quick gloss over. But, I do not think ... I will escape that easily. I suspect that along with the fires (plural) before me, the cost for pardoning the fuels of those fires ... will be fully unmasked.
As my fires rage, if I am able to talk, I suspect my utterances will parallel Isaiah’s or Peter’s: "Woe is me, for I am ruined! ... I am a man of unclean lips ... depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord" (Isa 6:5 and Lk 5:8). It is likely Daniel’s condition will be replicated: "There remains just now no strength in me, nor has any breath been left in me" (Dan 10:17). As those fires burn out, and the cost for their expungement is being fully realized, my only hope will be an undeserved pardon, in the power of mercy - extended by the Judge Himself. But, that has always been my only hope anyway. Some things never change.
Well, I guess I am now ready to resume our conversation. But before moving on, the reason I suspect the Believer’s Judgment will occur at one’s exit is because I don’t believe Abraham has been in Paradise for thousands of years with his failings still unaddressed before the Lord (Lk 16:19-31 with Lk 23:43). The same for David, Samson, Paul and all the rest of the redeemed. Conversion does not mean we never sin again. God would not need to rebuke, discipline or scourge us if we had no post-conversion sin problems. But we do, and He does (He 12:5-12). Upon entering Paradise, I just don’t think we will be dragging those humiliations in there with us. All that will have been burned "outside the camp" (He 13:11-13).
Judging Fellow Christians
One reason we are not to judge brothers - damning them or their work - centers on the following passage: "Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and stand he will for the Lord is able to make him stand" (Ro 14:4). On one hand, God commands we must act when a professing Christian engages in clear-cut sin (Mt 18:15-17 and 1Cor 5:9-13). This requires judging. He also commands we "examine everything carefully" that a professing Christian teaches (which also informs practices) and then "adhere to that which is good" (1Thes 5:21). This requires continual judging. But at the same time, I am to always be aware that no genuine Christian will answer to me for any of his/her work and witness - good or bad, right or wrong, truth or error. They, just like I, will appear one-on-One with the One they represented to their world - and answer only to Him. In this context, He says, "(t)herfore, do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts, and then each man’s praise will come to him from God" (1Cor 4:5). My hands are full with an honest appraisal of my own motives and agenda - without digging into another’s field. "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick. Who can know it?" (Jer 17:9).
"Know Fully"
Something quite astonishing awaits each believer. Paul told the Corinthians, "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know fully just as I also have been fully known" (1Cor 13:12). The word, "dimly" in Koine Greek is "ainigma." We have derived the word, "enigma" from it. The Greek literally means, "an indirect or indistinct visual image" (Louw and Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains, Vol 1, pg 280). But, this is clearly referencing our understanding. Things which we just can’t "see" now, we will then "know fully." How fully? As fully as we have been known - by God. That means that all of life’s questions and all of our life’s perplexities will be known and understood ... every enigma untangled. This is an astounding promise. That is one reason why we are told, "let those who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right" (1Pet 4:19). We ... will ... know.
To "Know Fully" Does Not Mean "To Know Everything"
We will never know everything God knows. He will always remain a Creator of surprises and unending wonders. For example, energy, matter and the three dimensions we currently experience are all creations of God. He thought these things up ... and then made them. There is no telling what other "things" He will come up with. But I do think that whatever areas we personally delve into - nothing will be held back. We will always be learning (like the angels ... I am coming to that below), but if our particular area of interest does have a completion in its knowledge, we will be allowed to "fully know" the material. If my speculation about this proves errant, that can only mean ... the reality will be even better.
Confirmed In Righteousness Forever
Another miracle to be visited upon the saint is that he/she will be delivered from all remaining sin, and all sin inclinations, and be established in eternal righteousness. This may be simultaneous with the fires ending, being made to stand, and knowing in full. The saint will then be in full moral agreement with God, and yet be as far away from robotic as can be imagined. The saint will be a free thinker - knowing no bounds as to the depths of inquiry and investigative study - yet have no inclination to step outside the eternal guard rails of righteousness.
Resurrection on the Last Day
Paul told the Corinthians our bodies are "sown in corruption (and) raised in incorruption ... sown in weakness (and) raised in power" (1Co 15:42,43). The Christian is destined to exist in his/her physical body - but, a perfect and immortal one. Jesus said, "this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son, and believes in Him, may have eternal life; and I Myself will raise him up on the last day" (Jn 6:40. Also see 1Cor 15:50-54). "What then shall we say to these things? ... He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?" (Ro 8:32). These stupendous bestowments are but crumbs from His table ... compared to what He already gave us. Boy ... what "crumbs."
(End of Part 1- the intense part is next)
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