The Anatomy of Judgment

As the day draws near and we are barreling toward a certain and inevitable judgment, I’ve found myself contemplating what the judgment of God looks like more often than I would like. It is not merely a philosophical or intellectual exercise, but a true and honest searching, especially in light of the fact that everywhere you turn you have preachers and pastors calling one thing or another the judgment of God, then summarily retract their statement and apologize for their insensitivity the following day.

How can we define the judgment of God? Will we know it when we see it? Will it look like what we’ve always expected it to look like, or will it be something wholly unprecedented?

These are the questions I struggle with, the questions that bounce off the sides of my cranium on chilly spring mornings, and starry spring nights.

The reason understanding the judgment of God is so important is that once judgment commences, it eliminates the possibility of repentance. As long as God is warning, as long as God is pleading, as long as He is allowing certain things in the hopes of correcting us, the possibility of repentance, of turning from our wicked ways and once more seeking His face is implied. Once judgment is poured out, however, the possibility of repentance is eliminated, done away with, and all that remains from that moment forward is the reckoning.

When speaking of the judgment of God, I believe one of the most important things we must know is that the possessions of the wealthy will not be able to hedge against it, nor will the strength of the young, nor the wisdom of the old, nor the preparations of the prepared. The only thing that will inoculate us from the judgment of God when it commences, the only thing that will keep us, protect us, and carry us through it all, will be to be in Him.

This is how we will likewise know that it is His judgment, and not just a loving warning. Nothing men can do to hedge against it will work, nothing that man can prepare for with his hands, his intellect, or his abilities will weather the fierceness of His judgment when it is finally poured out.

The judgment of God is also an all-encompassing proposition. By this, I mean that there will be no avenue of escape, no way to minimize it, soften the blow, or alleviate the ripple effects for those who are not found to be under the shadow of His wing.

Men will not be able to beg, bribe, steal, or force their way out of the outpouring of God’s judgment no matter who they are, how hard they try, or what connections they might have made along the way.

Although we have a tendency to gloss over it, because let’s face it we would rather just not deal with the implications, the last thing we must acknowledge about the judgment of God is that it begins in His house.

God is not a busybody, endlessly concerned about the neighbor’s yard; He cleans His yard first, then proceeds with the rest of the block. What the notion of judgment beginning in God’s house first must tell us, is that even within His house there are practices and individuals deserving of judgment.

Just because we call ourselves sons or daughters of God does not give us a blanket immunity, nor will God wink at the selfsame practices among His children that He will subsequently judge in those of the world.

Contrary to the incessant blathering of some, God does hold His own to a higher standard, He does have greater expectations of those calling Him Father than He does of those who don’t, and He will, for the sake of His Son’s blood judge those who trample upon it more harshly still.

With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.