The season of Advent is a season of waiting. In the days before Jesus’ birth, God’s people were waiting for the arrival of the long-prophesied Messiah who would save his people from sin and usher in a new era of righteousness and peace. For those of us living many thousands of years after the birth of Jesus, we actually wait for the exact same thing today.
We know that Jesus’ first arrival marked the beginning of a new kingdom, but we can also see that his new kingdom has not yet been fully realized. Even as he has promised that the gates of hell will never prevail against it, we await the day when that kingdom will be fully and completely realized as Jesus returns to make all things right. He will execute judgement against all sin and injustice, and this is a reality that can give us hope!
We don’t usually equate the concept of judgement with the idea of hope. Most often, judgement is seen as a bad thing to be avoided rather than something to wait for with eagerness and expectation. And while that may be our initial reaction, when we think about it a little bit more—especially as we consider the all of the brokenness and evil in the world around us—we realize that it is indeed good news that one day every evil deed will be accounted for and every act of injustice will be brought to justice. For many of us, these realities aren’t merely theoretical. Many of our lives have been deeply impacted by the evil and injustice in this world, and under those circumstances, the judgement of God in Christ is actually for us the guarantee of a hopeful future.
God’s judgement would never be good news, however, if not for the fact that we know the outcome of our judgement. For those who are in Christ, all of their evil ways—every sinful act they have ever committed—have already been judged at the cross. This is the hope of anyone who would recognize their need for a salvation outside of themselves and run to the only perfect, sinless saviour who offers them forgiveness and clothes them in perfect righteousness. For anyone who is in Christ, the day of judgement becomes a day of hope. It becomes a day when ever tear will be wiped away and all things will be made new. It becomes a day when every unjust action, every unfair pain, and every unresolved conflict will finally be resolved, once and for all.
As those who await the return of our Saviour during this season of Advent, let us look forward with hope to the day when perfect justice will finally be executed, and let us rejoice in knowing that we will escape that judgement because of the grace and mercy of our great Saviour who loved us and who willingly gave himself for us that we might be judged righteous on the day of judgement.
Come quickly, Lord Jesus!
All the best,
Luke
