Judgment of The World Part 2

“Now Comes the Judgment of This World” — John 12 Continued

Jesus says it this way:

“Now comes the judgment of this world.”

Let that sink in.

Where I come from—and I know some folks get tired of me saying that, but it’s all I know—what I grew up with was this idea: Jesus came, died for your sins, and He was judged instead of you. Once you prayed the prayer and got saved, that judgment was passed.

But then there was another judgment coming.

A judgment of your life.

Depending on how you lived, whether you lived right or wrong, you might get rewarded or not. And all of this hovered under the threat of eternal conscious torment.

So in effect, you got out from under one judgment just to come up under another.

That’s the framework I grew up with.

But listen closely to what Jesus actually says—and why He says He came.

Why Did Jesus Come?

Why did Jesus come to planet earth? To save! But to save us from what?

It was not His angry Father that He came to deliver us from.

It was sin and death.

Because of Adam’s choice to live independent of God, sin entered the world and death through sin. That’s the problem Jesus addresses.

John chapter 3 tells us plainly that Jesus did not come to condemn the world, but to save the world. And when it says those who don’t believe are “condemned already,” that condemnation is not coming from God. It is the result of sin and the death that sin produces.

“The wages of sin is death.”

That condemnation flows from humanity’s choice to live independent of God not from God’s desire to punish.

Belief Is a Response, Not the Cause

It’s not our belief that sets things right.

Jesus sets things right.

His life. His death. His faithfulness.

Belief happens when we see it.

When revelation comes.

When the light shines into our darkness, into our ignorance, into the lies we’ve believed and exposes what was already true.

Jesus said:

“You shall know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

Belief is simply a response to revelation.

Judgment Taken Into Christ

What was already true?

That the judgment coming to us because of sin and the death sin brings was borne by Jesus.

He was judged in our stead, as us, and for us.

We were included in what He did.

The old Adamic humanity: the system of sin, accusation, and separation has been dealt with. It is finished. The crooked has been made straight.

Jesus said this was the very reason He came to this moment: that the world might come to its crisis—its krisis.

The Greek word translated “judgment” is krisis. It means a revealing, an uncovering, a decisive moment.

Jesus takes our darkness, our ignorance, our unbelief and He kills it in Himself on the cross.

“I Will Draw All to Myself”

Jesus goes on to say:

“And if I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself.”

All people.

All judgment.

Everything is gathered into Him.

This is not something humanity accomplishes. This is something Christ accomplishes.

Walking in the Light

The crowd pushes back:

“We have heard from the Law that the Messiah remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up?”

Jesus replies:

“The light is among you a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest the darkness overtake you. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become children of light.”

Belief, again, is a response to light.

John tells us that Jesus then went away and was hidden from them. He reflects on Isaiah’s words about eyes being blinded and hearts hardened. Some rulers did believe—but they would not confess Him because they feared people more than God.

There’s mystery here. But one thing is clear: Jesus had to be crucified. This was why He came.

Had He been universally received, the powers that be would not have crucified Him—and without the cross, there would be no deliverance.

That’s not a doctrine I’m laying down—just a thought worth pondering.

The Verdict Has Been Spoken

So let’s sum it up.

When the voice thundered from heaven, when God spoke of glorifying His Son, Jesus declared:

• The hour has come.

• Judgment has come.

• The ruler of this world is being cast out.

Sin has been dealt with.

Death has been defeated.

The accuser has been silenced.

Either Jesus judged the world or He didn’t.

And if He did, then the world has already come to its crisis.

God has spoken.

And His judgment has been revealed in Christ.