Have you ever wondered why God brings judgment? If some people love God and put their faith in Him why don’t all people do that? What makes people bad? If you have ever had children, you learn very quickly that a child does not need to be taught to be naughty or selfish. These traits seem to be built in and take no training. Romans 3:23“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.”[1] Judgment happens when we rebel against God.
As a parent you want your child to be good because you want the best for them. You don’t discipline to be mean but to guide your children into what is good. This is also what the Lord wants for us, and that only happens when we place our faith in Jesus as our Savior. It is the Lord who transforms us and begins to work in us no matter how young or old. When the Lord gave mankind free will, He gave them the option to love and serve Him or reject Him. God did not make us robots, because He desired our love and love must be a choice.
God Brought Judgment on the Philistines
In our story about Sampson, we see the Lord used him to bring judgment upon Philistines.
Judges 16:28 Then Samson prayed to the Lord, “Sovereign Lord, remember me again. O God, please strengthen me just one more time. With one blow let me pay back the Philistines for the loss of my two eyes.” 29 Then Samson put his hands on the two center pillars that held up the temple. Pushing against them with both hands, 30 he prayed, “Let me die with the Philistines.” And the temple crashed down on the Philistine rulers and all the people. So he killed more people when he died than he had during his entire lifetime. [2]
It appears that God knew these people would not repent and they had oppressed God’s people. God would stay true to His part of the covenant and protect and defend His people.
The Philistines brought judgment upon themselves as they worshiped a false God. We don’t like to think about consequences to our actions, but there is.
Jesus Came to Take the Judgment We Deserve
Jesus is called the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world in John 1:29. When Jesus died on the cross almost 2000 years ago, all of our sins were poured out on Him. Not one sin for any of us was left out.
Romans 6:23For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. [3]
John 3:16 For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. [4]
The Lord does not want to bring judgment upon us because of our sin so He made a way for us not be punished. All we have to do is to place our faith in Him as our Savior. Wow! What an amazing sacrifice our Lord made for us.
To find out why God brings judgment, listen here: https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/series/faith-makes-a-difference
[1-4] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation . Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.