I think the precious beauty of God’s justice and fairness is most beautifully portrayed in the court scene of Revelation 20. Every single person, from every time, the living and the dead, the great and the small, the one with years and years of life and the one with days, they all get their day in court.
Our courts in the US, which are normally deemed as some of the most fair and unbiased in the world, daily refuse to hear cases. Their dockets are already full. There is no absolute right to have a case heard.
In the court of public opinion people are judged constantly not as individuals but by association, prejudice, race, ethnicity, age, height, beauty, neighborhood, dress, etc., etc., etc. We lump people together and our biases and bigotry come out.
But, God promises to hear everyone. All the books are open. Each individual has the opportunity to take their stand and allow their facts and evidence to speak for them.
Unfortunately for them, the burden of proof is not to be better than most others. It isn’t even to get an “A” grade of 90%. The requirement for acquital from sin is perfection. For any sin, is sin and sin is not perfect.
The proper response in the court of the final judgment is not in taking a stand, but in bowing on our knees. To fall on the mercy of the court and seek the promised assurance that Jesus gave that His perfection paid our price for sin and we are absolved of standing on our own merits.
There are many things that are a mystery, but the fact that, as Paul said, “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” is not a mystery. No human, in their right mind, claims to be perfect (except Jesus Christ). Yet many choose to stand on their own instead of bow to Jesus.
But when the heavens and the earth have shrunk away and all your possessions, marks, buildings, wealth are gone and all of your deeds are presented together, what is there to stand on? As we know, there is only one – Jesus Christ! And because He, the rider on the white horse, is called Faithful and True (Rev 19:11), we can stand on His promises, on His Word and on the power of His Blood with complete assurance and confidence. Complete! Not kinda confidence, not 90% assured, but 100% through Him.
My Answers: (day 2 and 3 combined, so same answers)
3.
Jesus. He was given the throne by the Father
4.
The earth and the heavens fled from His presence, there was no place for them – Jesus (bigger than heaven and earth)
5.
a.
Books of judgment. Books of record of choices and decisions and deeds
b.
Believers, those who are righteous because of Christ, those who labor for His kingdom to spread the gospel, those who are His bride
c.
eternal damnation – eternity spent in torment of burning fire in the lake of fire – those who deny Jesus and choose their own path or the path of false gods and idols
d.
Yes and yes, by being bold and by living to not be hypocritical of my faith. I stumble and fall, but I should live as a foreigner in this land and not conform to the wickedness of this world.
6.
That God/Jesus is bigger than the heavens and the earth and that He will come as judge and all will be judged
The Notes are Good 