Judgments: A Special Yuletide Devotional
12/25 Reading Portions: 2 Chronicles 30; Revelation 16; Zechariah 12:1-13:1; John 15
Online Bible Audio/Readings Links (ESV)
12/25 Reading Portions: 2 Chronicles 30; Revelation 16; Zechariah 12:1-13:1; John 15
Revelation 16:7
And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are Your judgments!”
CHRISTMAS
I don’t need to go over why Jesus wasn’t born on December 25th. I mentioned it yesterday and provided a link to last year’s devotional which explain with scriptural proofs why Jesus wasn’t born this time of year (click here to read it you have not). Nevertheless, observing and acknowledging Christ’s incarnation should be celebrated every day of the year by believing Christians. Why was Jesus born as a flesh and bone perfect and sinless Man? It was for two reasons. The first is that He represented Man through His righteous life. Jesus lived the sinless, righteous life that you and I cannot possibly live. Therefore, He was the perfect representative to stand before the heavenly Father on behalf of all mankind. But Christ’s righteousness could not simply be assigned to us. Because of the sins we inherited from Adam, as well as the sins we committed against God ourselves, our sins must be paid for. The second reason Jesus came was to die on behalf of sinners. In fulfilling all righteousness, Jesus repented on our behalf, though He had nothing to repent from. Jesus prayed to the Father on our behalf because His prayers were perfect, and ours are stained with corruption, if not altogether selfish and self-serving. Jesus did so with no benefit and absolutely no profit to Himself. Orthodox biblical doctrine declares that Jesus was one Person with two natures— He was both perfect, sinless Man and Almighty God. Therefore, His humble birth, His righteous life, His substitutionary death, His resurrection from the dead, and His ascension into heaven didn’t make Him more perfect as a Man, nor did it make Him more divine as eternal, infinite, and immutable God.
Now as far as judgments are concerned. The book of Revelation has been taught, preached, and narrated as a terrible, terrifying time of judgment upon the earth— and in some instances before the Lord’s return, it will be. Sadly, many of these narratives suffer from a more terrible, terrifying error. Many well-intended preachers and teachers of Revelation use verses like the verse we consider today as something of a scare tactic. Like the series of Left Behind novels from a few decades ago. I’ve preached this many times before— the only thing left behind in those books was the gospel. When it comes to judgment, the judgment that will be experienced upon the earth before the Lord Jesus returns cannot compare with the judgment Jesus suffered in His person when He hung upon Calvary’s tree. In fact, in the Day of Judgment, when those who have rejected Christ by their hatred of and rebellion against God, their collective suffering for sins they committed against a good and holy God will never come close to Jesus enduring the infinite and eternal wrath of God when He was at His weakest point physically on the cross. When I’ve preached countless times that “Jesus paid a debt He did not owe for a debt you and I owe but cannot possibly pay,” those words can never fully convey what Jesus suffered when He was crucified that day. His substitutionary atoning death was the reason He came. To reject this is to reject LIFE itself. You and I deserve eternal punishment for sins we’ve committed against an infinitely holy God. Yet Christ suffered judgment so completely in His perfect humanity that the heavenly Father has declared that all those who believe on Christ, and trust in His sufficient life, death, and resurrection from the dead will know the love of God that surpasses our finite knowledge, will experience the joy of God that will leave us speechless, will possess the peace of God that will comfort beyond all understanding, and will spend eternity living in the presence of Jesus because His presence is what makes heaven heavenly. Hallelujah! What a Savior! Merry Christmas!