A great theme throughout the New Testament is the mercy and the grace of God that is offered to everyone who will put their faith in Jesus, the Son of God. However, the reason it is such great grace and such immeasurable mercy is because it saves us from the judgments that are coming upon the earth at some point in the future. The passage that we will look at this morning deals with this judgment that will happen when Jesus comes back to earth in order to set up his earthly kingdom. Something we should keep in mind is the fact that by this time many “judgments” will have occurred already (as we see in the book of Revelation). During the seven years leading up to the Second Coming of Jesus, God will send forth severe judgments on the earth. Some of them involve the removal of His protection from our own actions. The Beast Leader of Revelation will come forward and take control of the whole earth, bringing it under a mandatory economic system that involves allegiance to him. He will have many people put to death. Other judgments involve God actively doing things such as: allowing the spirit-beings to be released from the bottomless pit, earthquakes, and other environmental destruction. We also see in Revelation 19 that the nations of the world will gather their armies together in the Middle East in order to fight against Christ and stop His coming. We are told that these armies will be completely destroyed, and the beast and the false prophet will be captured and thrown alive into the Lake of Fire. Thus we are given a scene of a conquering King who is judging those who are left among the nations, those who have survived the horrors of The Great Tribulation.
The phrase “Son of Man” was used a lot by Jesus referring to himself. On one hand it is a title that emphasizes that someone is human, i.e. born of a human. He wanted us to know that he truly was human. This should not be seen as a contradiction of his also being the Son of God, i.e. divine. On the other hand, this phrase is also a technical term for an individual that was revealed in Daniel 7:13-14. It was revealed to Daniel that none of the empires of the earth would last. Rather, God would give everlasting dominion and a kingdom that cannot be destroyed to a character called “The Son of Man.” The Son of Man would be representative of the saints and share his kingdom with them. Jesus clearly saw himself as this character and his apostles clearly taught this about him later. This passage represents that point in the future when the Son of Man takes up this rule upon the earth.
We are told that the Son of Man would come in his glory. The idea of coming in glory refers to both how it will appear to those who see it, but also to the particular stage of Christ’s activity. The first coming was all about his humbling. But the Second Coming will be all about his being glorified. We should also connect this to Matthew 24:30. There Jesus tells us that the Son of Man will come on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory (similar descriptions are in Daniel 7:13-14). This glorious appearing involves visibility to the whole earth with Jesus in the sky, accompanied by angels who are most likely visible as well. Some would also say that resurrected believers will also accompany Jesus, but that is another sermon. On top of all of this, in the book of Revelation the Apostle John sees Jesus in a way that makes clear that he is not the same as he was when he was a lowly teacher in Israel. His glorified form is described in Revelation 1:13-16.
“13 and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. 14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; 15 His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; 16 He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength.” (NKJV)
He is not coming again to lay his life down for sinners. He is coming to bring the judgment that has been warned against for millennia, and He will be in glorious form.
Part of his glory is to sit on the throne of his glory. This is as opposed to sitting at the right hand of the Father’s throne where he is now (Ephesians 1:20; Hebrews 8:1). His Second Coming takes place because the Father has determined the time is ready for Jesus to come back and begin his 1,000 year rule on this earth. Christians are already a part of the kingdom of God. But that kingdom is ruled from heaven and has a very spiritual nature to it. At this point, the Kingdom of God will take on a more physical reality because Jesus and his place of rule will be a visible place here on earth. It is important for Christians and the denominations, to which they belong, to avoid seeing their buildings and headquarters, or even each country, as synonymous with God’s kingdom. No leader or city on this earth is to be confused with what this passage is talking about. Jesus is the only king and until he comes back no earthly city has claim to the allegiance of Christians.
We are also told that part of taking his place upon the throne of his glory is to judge all the nations. As I said earlier, it is the survivors of The Great Tribulation that are in view here. Thus Christ takes time to remove all things that are wicked before He continues His kingdom. The nations have already had their political aspect judged. Here the individuals of the nations are brought before Christ and he gives a decision regarding their future. It is amazing how many people and even Christians who do not understand that Jesus is the judge of all people. But this is a cardinal teaching of the New Testament. Jesus is the judge of the dead and the living. He has been given this position by the Father. Please remember that the key understanding of the word “judgment” is that of making a decision. He is making a decision between what is good, or acceptable, versus that which is not good, or wicked. This is pictured by a separation of sheep from goats. Notice that though these are all people who may not have noticeable differences to us, Jesus is able to determine a spiritual difference between them. Those who are classified as sheep are those who are putting their faith in God. Those who are classified as goats are those who have not trusted in God, and His Anointed One Jesus.
This judgment will lead to an individual being rewarded because they are deemed righteous or punished because they are deemed wicked. We are only going to look at the righteous today and will pick up the rest of the story next Sunday. Notice that the sheep are told that they are blessed of the Father. They are blessed because they get to experience and enter the kingdom of God. This kingdom will not be ruled by the wicked politicians of this world, or even hypocritical religious leaders. It will be ran by the perfect judge, Jesus Christ. This will truly be a Utopian age in which wars will cease and the ability of mankind is enabled by the grace of God to become what He intended it to become. The Bible says that people will live longer during this period of time and will not die from diseases and other maladies. Revelation 20 gives some more information on this 1,000 year period. Now it is important to recognize at this point that these people are still mortal. However, there will also be a large host of glorified believers who have accompanied Jesus to earth along with the angels. They are not emphasized in this passage, but we know they will assist Jesus as kings and priests in His administration. So the Millennial Kingdom will have both resurrected humans (who cannot die) and mortal humans who can. This mixed group will be like Noah and his family stepping off of the ark. They were spared the destruction of God’s wrath and are blessed with the grace and peace of entering the new age. Many people of this world believe they can bring about a new age that is full of peace and joy. All attempts that do not look to Jesus to bring it about are doomed to failure, even if they are done by Christians. We cannot make this happen. But we can serve Christ faithfully as we wait for the day in which this will come to past.
We do not know when Christ will return. We are simply told to continue to be faithful to what Christ has told us to do. Our mission statement is that we exist to connect people to the Abundant Life found in Jesus. We must make sure each day that we are drawing life from Jesus and following Him in all that we do or say. We must make sure that we are taking our place in His family of believers and doing our part to encourage others. We must make sure that we are having compassion on the lost and making them aware of Christ’s offer to join his people and enjoy the blessing of the Father. Our reward is sure no matter how dire things may get on earth before then.