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Sermon - 4. Judgement - God makes all things right (Christopher Appel)

29 Mar 2026

The Judgment of God

“This we believe…That all human being have sinned. That God has redeemed us from the power of sin and death through His Son Jesus Christ through His death on the cross. Jesus was resurrected again after 3 days, and that when Jesus returns, there will be a bodily resurrection for all people, who will then be Judged by Gods perfect and Holy standard.

There are some truths in the Bible we don’t naturally lean toward.

Not because they aren’t true…but because they’re difficult.

They’re difficult to explain. Difficult to think about. Difficult to accept.

And ‘judgment’ is one of them.

But listen to how the Bible speaks about it.

READ: Acts 17:30–31

In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”

God has set a day….Not a vague idea….Not a metaphor….Not a possibility….A day.

A moment in history when the world will be judged…and judged with justice.

I know our spine tingles a bit thinking about Judgement…but here’s the question for all of us—whether you’re a Christian or just exploring:

Would you actually want to live in a world where that day never comes?….A world where there is no final justice for the things that happen in this world?

Because if we’re honest…

Some of the deepest pain in this world comes from the fact that justice is often never done.

Wrongs that are never made right….Evil that is never dealt with.
People who never face what they’ve done.

So the question is not just whether we like the idea of judgment…

It’s whether we even can live without it.

Because if God is truly good…then judgment is not a problem. Judgment is not a problem to solve—it is the only way justice is finally done.

A good God cannot ignore evil….A holy God cannot pretend sin doesn’t matter….A just God must deal with what is wrong.

And if there is no final judgment…Then justice in this world is never truly completed, and God, is not all powerful, all holy and all just, as He says He is.

Some evil goes unpunished…Some wrongs are never made right. Eg. Hitler. Goering. Nurenberg.

Without judgment, justice is only partly done.

The real question is NOT: “How do I feel about Judgement?”

The real question is: Do we actually want a world where justice is never finished?

And the Bible’s answer is clear:

God has set a day…when justice will be done. (Acts 17:31)

We won’t understand judgment unless we first understand justice.

Deep down, every single one of us believes in it.

When we see injustice, oppression, when we hear about abuse, when something deeply unfair happens—we don’t shrug and say, “It doesn’t matter.”

We know and say, “That’s not right.”
We demand, “Someone should be held accountable.”

Illustration – Think about the innocent people dying in conflicts around the world right now. “Who will hold the rich and powerful accountable for what is happening?” is a phrase we often hear.

That instinct is not random. It comes from being made in the image of a just God. (Genesis 1:27)

God is holy. God is righteous. God is just.

Psalm 89:14: Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.

He does not ignore evil. He does not sweep sin under the carpet.

But here’s the tension—we as people believe in justice, but we are not very good at carrying it out.

(Matthew 7:1–5) We are biased. We lack full information. We are overly emotional. We are inconsistent. We excuse ourselves and judge others harshly.

Thankfully, God is not like us.

He sees everything. He knows everything. He judges perfectly.

Read Hebrews 4:13: And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

God does not judge wrongly.

So judgment is not something to fear because maybe God makes mistakes —it is something we can trust because God is good and He is perfect.

Now, when it comes to judgment itself, there are different views about how and when everything unfolds—and we’ll explore that in another series.

But Christians agree on this:

-Jesus will return again at a time no man knows

-God has set a day. (Acts 17:31)
-And on that day, judgment will take place.

And the Bible makes something else very clear:

That judgment has been entrusted to Jesus.

READ (SHORTENED): John 5:22–27

22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son…24 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. 25 Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live…27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.

The one who walked among us…The Saviour… is the Judge. The one who died for us…the one who rose again…is the one who will judge the world. (Acts 17:31; John 5:27)

It’s easy to talk about justice out there…in the messed up world of wars and famine and corruption.§

It’s much harder when the Bible turns judgement inward onto us…

Because the question is not just: “Will evil be judged?”

The question is: What happens when I am the one being judged?

The Bible teaches that a day is coming when every person will stand before Jesus, the Judge. (Acts 17:31)

And what will that judgment look like?

READ: Revelation 20:11–12

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.

It’s described like books being opened. Nothing hidden. Nothing overlooked.

Every life laid bare before God. No hiding. No comparison (which is our favourite game). No second chances to rewrite the story.

That can sound completely overwhelming—but here’s what we need to understand clearly:

-Judgment is not random.

-Judgment is not reacting emotionally.

-Judgment is not based on comparison with others.

It is personal to each individual.
It is completely includes all areas of our life.
It is perfectly just and righteous according to Gods moral law.

And the Bible shows us two key realities happening at the same time during the Judgement:

-First, our lives reveal what we’ve done.

-Second, and most importantly, our relationship to Jesus is revealed. (John 3:18)

So the question at judgment is not simply: “What have you done?”

But ultimately: “What have you done with Jesus?” The Saviour.

And the standard will not be, “Were you better than others?”

The standard is perfect holiness.

To please God, (Matthew 5:48) “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

And if that is the standard… then only one person has ever met it.

Jesus.

Illustration – Imagine standing in a courtroom…Not being compared to other people— but being measured against perfect justice.

Not, “Were you better than most?” but, “Were you completely right in every thought, every word, every attitude, every action?”

And in that moment, something becomes very clear. It’s not just that the world is broken out there…It’s that something is broken in here.

Because we don’t just live in a broken world— we contribute to it…

We’ve all had moments where we knew what the Right thing to do was…and chose to do something else.

Moments of selfishness. Moments of pride. Moments where we failed to love as we should.

The Apostle Paul highlights this reality when he writes:

“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)

As we covered in our series when we looked at ‘Sin’, no one stands before God saying, “I was good enough.”

Instead, we stand in one of two ways:

- Either carrying our own life record…
- or covered by Christ.

For those without Christ:

They are judged according to their own works—and fall short of God’s holiness. Judged ‘Guilty’, the full anger and hatred of our holy God over sin to poured out over them.

If that’s where the story ended… that would be terrifying.

Illustration – BUT! Imagine standing in court, guilty.
The evidence is clear. The verdict is just.

The judge looks at you… and says: ‘The sentence must be carried out.’

And then—he steps down from his seat…walks around… and takes your place.

The penalty is still paid. Justice is still done……But it falls on him instead of you.”

This is where the gospel becomes good news:

-Jesus is willing. (John 6:37)

All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.

-Jesus is able. (Hebrews 7:25)

Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

-Jesus is powerful enough to save. (Colossians 2:13–14) READ OUT

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.

For those in Christ (Like we heard in our sermon on Redemption in our series): Their sin has already been judged—on Jesus. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

And what is left is not ‘condemnation’…but ‘confirmation’ that they belong to Him. (Romans 8:1) “There is therefor now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

And for those who are in Christ there is even more good news.

Judgment is not only something we are saved from…It is also something that shows that our lives mattered.

The Bible tells us that God sees every act of faith, every act of love, every quiet moment of obedience that no one else saw or noticed.

Nothing is wasted. Nothing is forgotten.

2 Corinthians 5:10 — “we must all appear… so that each may receive what is due…”

1 Corinthians 4:5 — “He will bring to light what is hidden… and each will receive their praise from God”

This means that:

Every act of faith…Every sacrifice…Every unseen act of love…Will be brought into the light.

Not to condemn you— But to honour what His grace produced in you.

And even that glory does not ultimately point to us…It points back to Him. Because every good thing in us was first a work of His grace.

At the final judgment, there are ultimately two kinds of people.

-Those who say, “Lord, Your will be done.”
-And those to whom God will say, “Your will be done.”

And the Bible is also clear about what follows that judgment. This is not just a moment—it leads somewhere.

We will do a full preaching series about Heaven and Hell and eternal life in the future, but following the judgement, those who belong to Christ enter into eternal life with Him—fully restored, fully alive, in the presence of God forever. The Bible calls this place Heaven.

And those who reject Him and His offers of grace and forgiveness, face eternal separation from Him—the just consequence of their choices and sin. The Bible calls this place Hell.

God does NOT delights in judging and sending people to Hell —but because He is perfectly just He will NOT ignore evil.

Scripture tells us that God is “not wishing that any should perish.” (2 Peter 3:9)

So what does this mean for us?

First, it means we can release judgment into God’s hands ‘Forgiveness’.

Alongside the ‘power’ to forgive which comes from the forgiveness of Jesus which He first extends to us, the ‘reason’ we can forgive is because God is the perfectly just judge and everyone will be judged and receive their just rewards.

God says, “Vengeance is mine…” (Romans 12:19)

God sees. God knows. God will judge rightly.

Illustration – One of saddest moments of my young life was when I traded one of my deepest friendships to hold onto unforgiveness. I had come first on my Training course and the reward of coming 1st was to fly in the Presidents Air Race. I was so excited! I went away on a deployment for a few weeks and when I came back, one of my best friends and the guy who came second on course, had been chosen to fly in my place. It was wrong. It was favouritism. It was bad, but I let that eat me up to the point that I don’t think I spoke to my friend again for 5 years.

Second, for those in Christ, this means freedom from condemnation.

“There is therefore now no condemnation…” (Romans 8:1)

If you belong to Jesus, your judgment has already happened—on Him.

Often our problem is self-condemnation as much as we feel condemned by Gods perfect standard. Have you ever used the phrase: “I know he could forgive me, but I don’t know if I could ever forgive myself!”

This sounds like humidly, but it’s just another form of pride. God has forgiven you and declared you ‘Not guilty’ because of Jesus’ death on the cross in your place for your sin. It is desperately prideful to hold onto our own shame and condemnation when God Himself has set us free.

Third, this means we live with urgency and purpose.

Because God has set a day… (Acts 17:31)

“We must all appear…” (2 Corinthians 5:10)

So we must not drift through life. We must live awake. We must live intentionally. BOTH for our own lives, and the lives of others.

For us this morning the invitation of Jesus is open to all. (John 3:16)

And here is the most important question:

Can I know now what my outcome will be? YES!

Not through performance…but through trusting Jesus.

Judgment is not just a future reality. It is a very present invitation to run to the goodness and mercy and kindness of Jesus.

Right now, there are still two responses:

“Lord, Your will be done.”
Or “My will be done.”

And here is the good news: