The book of John is rich and powerful when it comes to the relationship between God and His Beloved Son, Jesus. One of the beautiful topics in scripture, especially in the book of John, is Jesus being the judge of all men. Jesus understood His work on earth and explicitly stated the duration of God’s work. “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working” (John 5.17). God bestowed great honor upon Jesus by putting Him in position to be the judge of all men. Jesus said, “For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son” (John 5.22). What an honor to be in such a position to judge all men, for He will judge the living and the dead at His appearing… (2 Tim. 4.1).

Why was Jesus made the judge? Because of Jesus’ obedient will to the Father, God raised Him in holiness (Rom. 1.4). Jesus would be raised to rule as a King sitting on David’s throne in glory on God’s right hand (Acts 2.30). Again, Jesus’ righteousness would not allow God to keep Him in the grave and therefore God raised Him up to judge on His behalf. Notice the words of Paul: “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17.30-31).

Jesus will be our judge and He will be a righteous judge for God toward all men. Jesus will use the words of His Father to judge us. Jesus said, “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him–the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak” (John 12.48-49). On that Day of Judgment, everyone will come forth from the grave and stand before Jesus. Jesus said this: “I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me” (John 5.30).

According to Paul’s writings, we must all give account to God and stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give an answer of the things we have done in this body, whether it be good or evil (Rom. 14.12; 2 Cor. 5.10). Again, Jesus will be using the word of His Father to judge all men and we can take comfort in His judgment being true, merciful and righteous (John 8.15-16). On the Day of Judgment everything will be laid bare before Him. God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to Paul’s gospel (Rom. 2.16). Nothing will get by the Lord that Day. As Solomon stated, “For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil” (Eccl. 12.14).

Since there will be a judgment day, what manner of people should we strive to be and what spiritual influence should we seek to be on others in our neck of the woods? We should be people who strive to live worthy of the gospel of Christ—those who seek opportunity to do good and bring glory and honor to our God and His beloved Son (Phil. 1.27; Acts 10.38). Since we will give an account of our actions and words, we should be diligent to guard our hearts to ensure our words are with grace, seasoned with salt (Col. 4.6). There are so many things we can do with our words and one of those things is to build up our brethren and those in the world. Our brother James said these words: “So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty” (James 2.12). Since we will be judged by the Lord, let us simply do what is right by our righteous judge.

Let us conclude with a word of exhortation and empowerment. As the people of God in San Angelo, remember the words of Peter concerning Jesus and His willingness to do God’s will in the face of suffering. He “Committed Himself to Him who judges righteously…” (1 Pet. 2.23). Why bring this concept up for exhortation and empowerment? Because life is tough and sometimes doing what is right in the face of suffering becomes difficult. Yet, Jesus was able to overcome and we are to follow Him to that same end. Let’s be faithful to our Redeemer, Mediator and Judge today and everyday of our lives. Let us be ready to hear those beautiful words from our great and Awesome judge, Christ Jesus: “Well done…” (Matt. 25.23).