The Day of Judgement

According to my gospel, God, through Jesus Christ, will judge the secret thoughts of all Romans 2:16 The shops may be ready for Christmas, and Santa may be going  'Ho, ho!' in the shopping malls, but most of December falls in the Advent season. It's penitence and preparation, officially at least, until Christmas Eve. Advent like Lent, is intended as an opportunity of serious reflection and preparation before a time of celebration - Easter, at the end of Lent, Christmas, at the end of Advent.

One of the great themes of Advent is the sombre one of judgment - not a popular notion,  when the children are practising their nativity plays and the choir their jolly carols. It reminds us that God, who sent us a Saviour at Bethlehem, will one day banish evil from his creation. In patience and mercy he delays this moment of judgment - 'crisis', in Greek  - but it must eventually come. A God who simply tolerated the injustice and evil which is present in the world would either be impotent or immoral - not able, or not willing, to deal with it. Such a God would not be the God of the Scriptures - indeed, hardly a 'god' at all. The consistent teaching of the Bible and Christian tradition is that God will judge between good and evil, and will finally root out the corrupting and demoralising forces which have been at work in his world. In the picture language of Revelation, this will take place at a great, final Assize, the moment of universal judgment. The secrets of all hearts will be revealed. Obedience to conscience will be tested (that is the theme of the preceding verses in this passage from Romans). Faith, endurance and hope will be rewarded. Evil will be accused and exposed.

This may seem an overwhelmingly bleak picture,  of little appeal to our 'so what?' generation. In fact, the picture is nowhere near as grim as it might appear at first. The key phrase for me in this apparently stark picture of final judgment consists of just three words: 'through Jesus Christ'. The judgment of the world will be delegated by God to the Saviour of the world. Thus Advent and Christmas come together, the truth of judgment and the hope of mercy meeting in Jesus Christ, once the babe of Bethlehem and now our Saviour-Judge.

David Winter