The Foundation and Eternal Judgment Part 2: Understanding Choice
By Rodney Kirkpatrick
February 7, 2008
The subject of Eternal Judgment is considered "foundational" in Hebrews 6:2 because our understanding of it directly affects who we see Christ to be. We first looked at how Christ is the ultimate authority. Romans 14:9 (NASB) says,
9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
Understanding the supreme authority of Christ is a key to living the overcoming life. Reaching out to Muslim nations at the risk of one's life, healing diseases, following the Lord into seemingly impossible natural situations only to see them overcome would all be impossible without an assurance that Jesus is able to deliver in any of these circumstances.
Authority and Mankind
Inherent in fact that Jesus has all authority is that He can give it to whomever He wants. He did this in Matthew 10:1 (NASB) which says,
1 Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.
He extends a measure of His authority to all believers in Mark 16:15-18 (NASB) which says,
15 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
16 "He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.
17 "These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues;
18 they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."
So what part do we play with what Christ has given us? Galatians 5:16 (NASB) instructs us,
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.
While only the Holy Spirit empowers us over the leading of the flesh, there is no way to avoid that we have the choice to yield to its leadership. The Lord has always given mankind the choice of whether or not to be involved with Him and He simply won't force us into relationship with Him or to rely on Him as we go through life. Revelation 3:20 (NASB) tells us "...if anyone...opens the door, I will come in to him." It is an amazing thing that the all powerful and knowing God is humble enough to limit His input according to our consent!
Critical Questions that are often misunderstood
How then does the interdependence of Jesus and our choice relate to the subject of eternal judgment? It helps us to separate what is going on in a number of situations that are usually distorted by the enemy and paint an improper picture of who the Lord is. Here are several questions that many believers and consequently the world struggle to answer with conviction:
1) How does a loving God send part of His most prized creation, human beings, to hell?
Remember that the Lord won't force us to choose to be with Him. God wants everyone to be saved and spend eternity with Him (see John 3:16), but many don't want to be with Him even if it means living in Hell. Revelation 16:10-11 (NASB) says,
10 Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became darkened; and they gnawed their tongues because of pain,
11 and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds.
The Lord loves people enough to warn them by giving them a taste of what hell is like before they get there. Some in spite of the "pains" and "sores" just don't want any part of the Lord. While hell is certainly part of His judgment, it has a lot more to do with giving people what they want than being harsh or cruel.
2) Why was the Lord so brutal in the Old Testament by sanctioning bloodshed and many of Israel's wars?
Psalms 9:7-10 (NASB) says,
7 But the Lord abides forever; He has established His throne for judgment,
8 And He will judge the world in righteousness; He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity.
9 The Lord also will be a stronghold for the oppressed, A stronghold in times of trouble;
10 And those who know Your name will put their trust in You, For You, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.
Only the Lord knows when a person or group of people become hardened to the point that they will not repent and pose a threat to those who do choose to trust Him. When the Egyptians pursued Israel they had seen demonstration after demonstration of His power and still decided to come after them. What loving father wouldn't step in and "judge" those who would stop at nothing to enslave/kill His own children?
3) How could a loving God allow cancer and other terrible diseases to ravage people on earth?
Matthew 8:17 (NASB) says,
17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: "He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases ."
This passage is a reference to the famous Messianic prophecy in Isaiah 53:4. When Christ died on the cross, He conquered sickness and disease. Furthermore, James 5:14-15 (NASB) says,
14 Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;
15 and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.
Concerning sickness and disease, what is credited to God as His "judgment" is really being allowed by Christians failing to assert the authority given to them by the Lord.
The real fruit of God's judgment
Once we distinguish God's decision to intervene from the consequence of our unwillingness to acknowledge Him it is easy to see the presence of His love, even in judgment. I believe one of the most recent examples of this was in Hurricane Katrina that struck the city of New Orleans, Louisiana in the United States. One study was conducted prior to the storm and concluded that citizens living in the "Eighth Ward" area of the city were unwilling to report gunfire to the police for fear that they would be exposed by them and fall victim to retaliation! Most of this area was destroyed by the storm and remains abandoned to this day. While most viewed those displaced by the storm as victims of a tragedy, it was in fact a doorway to a new life and opportunity that they couldn't make for themselves. This is one of a multitude of events throughout history that has been distorted to portray a heroic action by the Lord as anything from a random tragedy to a cruel and heartless act. If you take the time to pray over some of the events that are truly supernatural acts like Katrina, you will find that His judgment is righteous, fair and an agency for the liberation of the poor and the oppressed.