A. The Bible tells us that there will a future event in which God will judge man, but do you realize that there has already been an event in which man has judged God?
B. Presently, let us contrast these two judgments in order to more fully appreciate the great mercy and grace of our God.
II. THE TWO JUDGMENTS CONTRASTED
A. The judgment of God against man will be an event in which each individual will stand before Christ to be recompensed for his deeds, which will result in the perfect exercise of God's justice and mercy.
1. This event will occur at the end of time following the resurrection of the dead and the destruction of the world. At that time, God will judge all people through His Son, Jesus Christ.
2. All men are sinners (Rom. 3:23), but not all men will be condemned for their sins (Rom. 8:1).
a. Those who are judged to be faithful and obedient in Christ receive forgiveness of their sins when they obey the gospel, and they will be granted eternal life by the grace and mercy of God at the judgment.
b. Those who are unfaithful and disobedient will receive wrath and eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord (Rom. 2:5-10; 2Thess. 1:8-9).
3. For a full study of the day of judgment, see Matthew 12:36; 25:31-46; John 12:47-48; Acts 17:30-31; Romans 2:5-10; 2Corinthians 5:10; 2Thessalonias 1:5-10; 2Timothy 4:6-8; Hebrews 9:26-27; 2Peter 2:9; 3:7-15; Jude 6; Revelation 20:11-15.
B. The judgment of man against God occurred in the succession of the various trials of Jesus Christ before men, and the result of those trials was the most shameful, unjust, unmerciful, unrighteous judgment in the history of the world.
1. Jesus was first judged and condemned by the Jews.
a. He was taken first before Annas, who had been high priest and was still honored as such by the Jews (John 18:12-23).
b. He was then sent to Caiaphas, who was the acting high priest (John 18:24). The result of this trial was a mockery of justice with a parade of false witnesses. No legitimate charges were found, but Jesus was pronounced guilty, beaten, spat upon, and mocked (Matt. 26:57-68).
2. Jesus was then judged by the Romans, who determined that He was without guilt, but they nevertheless condemned Him to be crucified.
a. The Jews sent Jesus to Pilate, the Roman governor, because they did not have the authority to put Him to death (John 18:31).
b. Pilate sent Him to Herod, who rendered no judgment but sent Him back to Pilate (Luke 23:8-12, 15).
c. Although Pilate found no guilt in Him, he succumbed to the will of the Jews and delivered the Lord to be scourged, mocked, beaten, spat upon, and crucified.
d. For the full accounts of these events, see Matthew 27:1-26; Mark 15:1-15; Luke 23:1-25; John 18:28-19:16.
3. The contrast between the truth about Jesus and the errant judgment of men is well stated in Isaiah 53:4-9. (That which pertains to man's judgment of Christ is underlined.)
4Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.5But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. 6All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. 7He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth. 8By oppression and judgment He was taken away; and as for His generation, who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due? 9His grave was assigned with wicked men, yet He was with a rich man in His death, because He had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in His mouth.
C. Consider these two judgments, God's judgment of man and man's judgment of God, in terms of two judgment seats: the judgment seat of Christ, and the judgment seat of Pilate.
1. According to 2Corinthians 5:10, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad."
a. Two abiding principles will govern the judgments that issue forth from the judgment seat of Christ: mercy and justice.
b. For those who have been justified through faithful obedience to the gospel of Christ, there will be mercy.
i. They will not suffer the penalty of death for their sins, for their sins have been forgiven through the grace of Christ's sacrifice on the cross (John 3:16).
ii. "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8:1).
c. However, for those who have rejected God's offer of mercy and grace, they will receive justice for their sins.
i. "The wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23a), and they will be paid in full measure.
ii. "But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each person according to his deeds...to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek..." (Rom. 2:5-6, 8-9).
2. Regarding Christ's judgment, John 19:13 states, "Therefore when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha."
a. At Pilate's judgment seat, mercy and justice were absent.
b. There was no mercy from the wild multitude of men who cried out, "Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!" (John 19:15). They wanted Christ's blood to be shed, and they would be satisfied with nothing else.
c. Likewise, there was no justice, for Pilate repeatedly pronounced Jesus to be free of guilt (Luke 23:4, 14, 15, 22; John 18:38; 19:4, 6). Jesus, an innocent man by Pilate's own judgment, was delivered to be crucified.
III. CONCLUSION
A. When we consider these two judgments, it makes for quite a contrast. One is the expression of love, grace, mercy, justice, and righteousness. The other is the expression of hatred, jealousy, cruelty, injustice, and unrighteousness.
B. How great is our God!
1. He allowed His Son to suffer the greatest injustice of all time at the hands of unmerciful men in order to provide mercy to mankind. Jesus suffered at the unjust, unmerciful judgment seat of Pilate so that we could receive mercy before His judgment seat.
2. Despite the injustice done to Christ, God does not relish the day of judgment as a time for His revenge, but rather He desires the salvation of all men (2Pet. 3:9-15).
