Psalm 50

The God we worship is the Judge of heaven and earth. How can we stand in His presence? If we just come and go, returning to the dust with no immortal soul, then we can comfort ourselves with the idea that there is no judgment ahead of us. But Hebrews 9:27 says, “It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” Not only that, but there is an eternal testimony within us that our destiny is not over with our death. See Ecclesiastes 3:11. When we begin to consider that there may be more to life than the beginning and end of our biological existence as we know it, this can be very disquieting. We can regain peace only when we are assured that our future life has been secured. But if God is the judge of heaven and earth, how can we stand in His presence? How can we have true peace with Almighty God, the God presented to us in the Bible as the only true God?

What is the God of the Bible like? His voice goes out to all the earth. The Bible begins with these words: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” According to Ephesians 1:10 God has a final purpose. The bookend to the word of beginning at the opening of Genesis would be that in the end God has purposed “to unite all things in Him (Jesus Christ), things in heaven and things on earth.” The Lord created the world for a purpose. The greatest harmony of a reunited heaven and earth is coming. In between the beginning and the end, God has been ruling over all, for He (Jesus Christ again) “upholds the universe by the word of His power” (Hebrews 1:3).

This God is holy and just. He is the One who said to Adam in the garden, “of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17). We have seen the evidence of God's judgment all around us in the death that came into the world with sin. If we imagine that God has no judgment, we are talking about a god that we made up, not the God who has supremely revealed Himself in Christ, who came to pay that penalty of death for all who would believe. Christ is at the center of the revelation of God, and has satisfied the demands of God's justice for all who will worship the Lord through Him.

You have an existence beyond this world. There is a true God. He is a Savior because He is also a judge. If you think that the judgment of God is a fiction, then the cross must be a fiction, because on the cross Jesus faced the wrath of God that we deserved. Without the judgment of God, the cross makes no sense.

God calls to the earth in His great works of creation and governance. He calls from the glorious Zion above in the present heaven. He calls through His gathering of worshipers on earth. He shines forth in all He does, and He speaks forthrightly in His Word. The division between heaven and earth at present is necessitated by our sin and God's holiness. We could not stand to be in His presence without a Mediator. His coming in person will mean judgment for the present earth and the fullest rescue for all who take refuge in His Son, the one Mediator between God and man. See 1 Timothy 2:5.

Even those who claim to take refuge in Him will be tested. He knows His own. He will judge His people, for judgment begins with the household of God. See 1 Peter 4:17. He gathers together those who perform the rituals He commands. In the days of Israel, the people brought sacrificial animals before His altar. In New Covenant worship, we remember the Lord's death and have communion in the body and blood of the Lord around His table. In all eras of God's saving work, the Lord demands the sincerity of true thanksgiving and praise. He knows the truth and can see the hypocrite who honors Him with His lips, but whose heart is far from Him. The heavens declare the Lord's righteousness, and His Word tells us that the heavens are correct in that declaration. He Himself is judge.

His concern with Old Covenant Israel and with the New Covenant church is not merely that we have made ceremonial errors. Those could be easily corrected. Our deeper transgression comes from a heart that will not give to God the thanksgiving that we should. God demands that we give Him what we have promised. He seeks those who will worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. This is more than our best attempts at religious devotion. We must worship Him in the complete consecration of His perfect Son Jesus Christ. He commands that we call upon Him in the day of trouble, and He promises to deliver us. He promises us that we will glorify Him. God has not given up on His eternal purpose. He will unite all things in Christ. There will be a reunited heaven and earth. We will glorify God.

This will not be the story for those who have only taken God's words on their lips in unbelief. They hated His discipline on earth, they despised His Word. They were pleased with the ingenuity of clever thieves, and enjoyed the company of those who seduce the wives of other men. They filled their mouths with lies, even slandering their own brothers. They imagined that even God was the same as they were. But they will face Him one day and will see that they were wrong.

Do not believe that your life ends when your body dies. This is a false peace. Do not invent a God who would never judge. That would be a denial of the cross. Embrace a bigger end than going from dust to dust. God has a better eternal purpose than that. Hold on to the Man who faced the justice of God in your place. God will unite all things in Him. Worship God through Christ, and consecrate your life to Him, ordering your ways rightly as is fitting for those who believe. God will show you His salvation. You will glorify the great I AM forever. This is a much better and fuller way of life than comforting yourself with the lie that this world is all that there is.