Salvation Not Judgment Part 6

Jesus Came to Save the World

Reflections on John 12 and Hebrews 9

This is from John chapter 12, using The New Testament for Everyone by N. T. Wright.

verse 47.

Jesus says:

“If anyone hears my words and doesn’t keep them, I’m not going to judge them.”

Seeing the Father in the Son

Jesus has already said here and in other places “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father.” He also tells us:

“The only things I do are what I see my Father doing, and the only things I say are what I hear my Father say.”

So when Jesus says He is not judging, He is revealing the heart of the Father.

“I Came to Save the World”

Jesus continues:

He came not to judge but to save.

I can already hear the objection: “That’s why He came the first time: to save. But if you reject Him, He can’t save you.”

But here’s the point: He’s already saved you. He’s already revealed the truth. He’s already faced the crisis. He’s already made the judgment. He’s already paid the debt of sin which is death.

“The wages of sin is death.”

And death has already been dealt with.

What Judgment Really Means

Any judgment that remains is not future punishment it is a revelation of what happened at the cross.

Jesus said:

“Now is the judgment of this world.”

And yet He also says:

“I didn’t come to judge those who hear my word and reject it.”

So what is being judged?

Sin and death.

Judgment is a crisis a revealing. Light shining into darkness. Truth exposing what was hidden.

Some will say, “Jesus didn’t come to judge the first time, but He’s coming back one day, and that’s when judgment happens.”

That brings us to one of the most quoted passages in these conversations.

Hebrews 9:27

The Appointment with Death

Hebrews says:

“Just as it is laid down that humans have to die once, and after that comes judgment.”

Traditional versions:

“It is appointed unto man once to die, and after this, the judgment.”

There is a powerful revelation here.

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:

“If one died, then all died.”

Humanity’s appointment with death was kept.

Once in Time, Once for All

Mankind died in Christ on the cross two thousand years ago.

Death was dealt with. Judgment came.

Hebrews continues:

“So the Messiah, having been offered once and for all, to take away the sins of many…”

Once in history. Once for everyone.

Both are true.

Why Jesus Was Offered

Why was He offered?

“…to take away sin.”

So are we really saying that Jesus was judged in our place only for us to come back under judgment later?

When Jesus dealt with sin, He dealt with sin.

Sin as an Identity Issue

This is hard for us because our minds have been trained a certain way.

Sin is more than actions it’s an identity issue.

Sin is a failure to believe who I am as a child of God. A failure to live according to the blueprint of Christ within me.

God is conforming us to the image of His Son.

The Second Appearing Has Nothing to Do with Sin

Hebrews goes on to say:

“This Messiah will appear a second time. This will no longer have anything to do with sin.”

From the New King James Version:

“To those who eagerly wait for Him, He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.”

The Judgment Has Already Come

That appointment with death? Christ met it.

Why?

Because sin and death are what He came to deliver us from.

When He appears again, it will have nothing to do with sin, because sin has already been judged and dealt with.

The judgment has already come. And grace is what remains.