A Sure Judgment

Saturday, May 4, 2019

“For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:14 KJV).

Here, the Book of Ecclesiastes closes; here, we must rest.

As Bible-believing Christians, we cannot help but yearn for justice. There is far too much evil going unpunished. Even King Solomon, writing Ecclesiastes over 900 years before Christ, lamented: “So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter” (4:1). The downtrodden are helpless—their tormentors are strong!!

Solomon had written earlier, “And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there. I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work” (3:16,17). Even in the court system, evil prevailed when righteousness was expected! Life is quite puzzling—innumerable unanswered questions, inexplicable events, heartbreaking reversals, awful ironies!

Once he concluded his investigation, the King penned (today’s Scripture): “For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” While there is much in life we simply cannot understand or explain, there is coming a day when all will be evaluated and set right. Righteousness will triumph in the Earth. The truth will be known, and the lie forever suppressed. Evildoers will be punished; God’s people will be delivered from their persecutors. The Lord Jesus Christ will be glorified in Heaven and Earth. Satan will be removed and placed into the Bottomless Pit (and, ultimately, the Lake of Fire).

The lost, or unsaved/damned, of the ages have not escaped God’s justice (see the Great White Throne Judgment of Revelation 20:11-15). As for we believers in Christ, our sins are already paid for, and we will not be confronted with them: however, at the Judgment Seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:9,10), we will give an account for our Christian service on Earth. One way or another, lost and saved alike, justice will be meted out!