TEXT: I Thessalonians 1:10

SUBJECT: The Passion of Jesus Christ #48: Rescue From Final Judgment

Tonight we come to chapter 47 in John Piper’s small book, The Passion of Jesus Christ. Published a little more than a year ago, it explains why our Lord went to the cross, and what His death does for us.

If you were listening carefully, you heard me say, ‘does’—‘What His death does for us’. I chose that word on purpose to make the point: salvation is a present blessing. Believers are saved right now; at this moment, our sins are forgiven, and we are counted righteous in Christ! We are really and truly saved. Now.

If salvation is a present blessing, it is also a future blessing. And if what we have now is good, what we will have is even better. Now we see though a glass, darkly, but then, face to face.

Salvation is both present and future.

So is damnation.

Unbelievers are under the wrath of God. John 3:18 and Psalm 7:11 are not easy to misread--

You notice there’s nothing future about these verses. Our Lord doesn’t say men will be condemned if they remain in unbelief, but they are now condemned for their present unbelief. The Psalm makes the same point—and it’s even sharper. It doesn’t say God will be angry with the wicked one of these days, but He’s mad at them every day.

If the unbeliever’s present damnation is bad, it only gets worse. For now, he can escape the wrath to come, by repenting of his sins and believing in Jesus Christ. But on the Day of Judgment, there will be no escape. On that day, the sinner’s damnation will be final and full.

The images are not comforting. Damnation is compared to outer darkness, chains of darkness, and utter darkness. It’s also the pit where there is no water, the bottomless pit, and of course, the lake of fire. I don’t want to be lurid in my descriptions, but the words have a nightmare quality to them. I think of being locked up in a small box, unable to catch my breath. I think of falling and falling and falling. I think of a deadly thirst and nothing to drink. I think of worms feasting on my insides!

Worst of all, we have no hint of the torments ever ending or lessening with time or being gotten used to. No, the worm does not die! It is everlasting punishment. And their smoke ascends forever and ever and they have no rest day or night. These citations are taken right out of the Bible, and when read in context, they’re even scarier than they sound in this little sermon!

This is the wrath to come!

If it were reserved for a few super-notorious sinners we wouldn’t have to worry too much about it. By civil standards, we’re fair-to-middling people. But what if the standards are higher than civil? And, what if our thoughts were laid open and judged by the same standard as our actions? Then, what if ‘the good we didn’t do’ will be as criminal as ‘the bad we did’?

There’s no ‘what if’ to the Final Judgment. We will be judged by God’s high standards; our thoughts will be laid open and tried alongside our actions. And, what we didn’t do—such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and visiting the prisoners will be held against us.

We will be found guilty on all counts and sentenced to eternal punishment. And not just a few super-notorious sinners, but all sinners will be turned into hell.

Except for those whom Christ rescues from the final judgment.

Has He done this? Yes He has. We started with II Thessalonians 1:10, and now I repeat it—

How has He done this? He did it by dying in our place. When we think of the cross, we’re prone to concentrate on what men were doing to our Lord. This was the defect in the Mel Gibson’s movie (which I didn’t see). From what I’ve read and been told, it’s the bloodiest movie ever made, with graphic scenes of beating the man, crowing him with thorns, driving spikes through his hands and feet, and so on. But what it didn’t show—because it cannot be shown—is what matters most:

People wince at the words, but they have to be spoken: the One who tortured our Lord most on the cross was not the Roman soldiers or the Jewish mocker or the dying criminal. It was His own Father. Isaiah 53 says so—

God ‘bruised’ our Lord. This stands for all His physical torment. God also ‘put Him to grief’ or broke His heart. God also made Him ‘an offering for sin’, and this means, like the priests of Israel, He cut His throat (so to speak) and burned His body on the altar!

Of course, men played their evil parts and played them willingly. The Rulers of Israel, King Herod, Pontius Pilate, Judas Iscariot, and the others took Him with wicked hands, crucified and slew Him. But all of their malice did not put the wrath of God on Him…or take it off of us!

It was God Himself who did that! It was God who poured out His fury on the Lord Jesus Christ, and this means, He’s got none left for anyone who believes in Christ!

The Apostles’ Creed says our Lord…Descended into hell. This is a true statement, but it has to be interpreted carefully. It doesn’t mean, He went to hell after He did, for He plainly told the thief that he would join Him in paradise! And not, after the Resurrection, but that very day!

What it means is: Our Lord descended into hell on the cross, for there He took the Final Judgment of God onto Himself and off of us.

This means: The Day of Judgment, though sobering, holds no terror for us. We will stand before the Judge and be found not guilty because Christ was found guilty for us.

It also means: The Day of Judgment holds nothing but terror for unbelievers, for they too, will stand before the Judge, and be found guilty, because in not trusting in the merits of Christ, they’re left with their own. And they won’t do! Now, the might, if you don’t look too closely. But on that Day, being nice, good, above-average, even excellent won’t do.

You must be found as good as our Lord Jesus. And that can only happen—not by imitating Him—but by coming into union with Him through faith.

One last thing and I will be done. While a few Christians obsess over hell, most of us don’t think of it nearly as often or as deeply as we ought. But, with balance and sobriety, meditating on hell is good for you. For two reasons:

First, it will show you how bad sin is. Sin is so accepted nowadays that its true quality is seldom understood. When people don’t notice the Lord’s name taken in vain, when men joke about adultery, when the government pays poor women to kill their babies, it’s no wonder we don’t feel the awfulness of sin—its pollution and guilt and what an insult it is to God!

Then we remember hell and see that the very things we ignored, laughed at, and paid for with our tax dollars are the ones that made it necessary!

Second, it will show you how wonderful our Lord is. Paul loved the Jewish people dearly; so dearly that he wished himself accursed if it would win them to God. But what Paul wished for—and maybe exaggerated a bit!—our Lord did. He submitted to the damnation of hell to save His people from their sins.

What a magnificent Savior we have! How worthy He is of our love and obedience and zeal! We can never thank Him too much or serve Him too well. Remember what He saved you from, and you won’t have to be pushed and prodded to come to church, to read the Bible, to pray, to be honest, to work hard, or to love your family. The love of Christ will do more for you than a hundred scolding sermons a week!

Why did Christ suffer and die? He suffered and died to rescue us from the Final Judgment. And His suffering and death are not in vain. We are rescued. Because He wasn’t.