grace and Judgment Part 7

The Word That Judges Is Life

A Reflection on John 12, Judgment, and the Gospel of Grace

We’ve been spending time in John 12, and we’ve been moving around a little in the Scriptures, looking at God’s heart toward humanity, the cosmos, and the world we live in. What keeps rising to the surface is this: God is not imputing sin to us.

At the cross, Jesus drew (dragged) unto Himself all judgment and all people. The world was judged in Christ. Paul says it so clearly, and I keep repeating it because it really is good news, even though it can be hard to hear and hard to believe until Holy Spirit opens our eyes to see it.

“If One died for all, then all died.”

And if all died, then He was raised so that those who now live might live not unto themselves, but unto Him who died and rose for them. Paul goes on to speak about new creation, humanity recreated in Christ. That whole passage deserves slow, prayerful attention. It’s rich with revelation.

In John 12, Jesus tells us that He did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. Yet He also says that the words He speaks will judge in the last day those who reject Him. Then He explains something remarkable: He only speaks the commandment He hears from the Father: and that commandment is life.

So the word that “judges” is not condemnation. The word is life.

This takes me back to Ezekiel 16. Israel is pictured as an abandoned infant, thrown into an open field, unwashed, uncared for, struggling in its own blood, dying. No one had compassion. And God passes by and says:

“Live. Yes, I said to you in your blood, live.”

God didn’t wait for cleanup, correction, or improvement. He spoke life into death. He spoke identity into abandonment. He spoke belonging into rejection.

SEE JESUS, SEE YOURSELF

Now listen again to Jesus in John 12. He says He speaks only what the Father commands and the Father’s command is life. That same life-giving word is what Jesus says will stand as judgment. Life itself confronts every false story we’ve believed about God, ourselves, and one another.

And here’s where the gospel becomes deeply personal.

Paul says in Romans 4:25 that Jesus...

“was delivered up because of our transgressions and was raised because of our justification.”

When you see Jesus, you are meant to see yourself. The Father looks at you the way He looks at His Son. The Father loves you the way He loves His Son.

“As we behold, as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord, we are transformed into that same image from glory to glory.”

When we begin to truly see Jesus, something happens inside us. We start to see ourselves in Him and Him in us. Freedom begins to emerge. Love begins to flow. We stop judging people according to the flesh. As Paul says, the love of Christ constrains us, because we have concluded this: if One died for all, then all died.

This is why a new creation has come into being. A new world. A new way of seeing. The kingdom of God. With the resurrection of Jesus a new world is available.

The same Word that spoke in the beginning “Let there be” the same Logos that created the world, became flesh and dwelt not only among us, but in us. Just as what Adam did affected all humanity, what Christ has done has affected all humanity. Whether we believe it or not, it remains true. God has reconciled the cosmos to Himself, not imputing trespasses, but redeeming, restoring, and making all things new in Christ.

So what about judgment?

Paul gives us clarity in Romans 2:16:

“On the day when God, through Jesus the Messiah, judges the hidden secrets of people’s hearts, their response to my gospel will be the standard of judgment used in that day.”

Notice this carefully. Judgment is “according to the gospel.” It is measured by good news not bad news. It is measured by the revelation of who God truly is in Christ.

Even the New King James says the same thing:

“God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.”

So the question becomes unavoidable:

What is the gospel?

What is the good news?

• It is that God has spoken life into our death.

• That God has reconciled the world to Himself in Christ.

• That sin is not being imputed against humanity.

• That in Christ, all have died and all have been raised into a new creation life.

• That the Father’s eternal word over humanity is not condemnation, but life.

And that word still speaks.