2 Thessalonians 1                    “To Judge the Living and the Dead”              February 24, 2008

 

Tonight we are concluding our overview of the way in which the Apostles’ Creed

            sets forth the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

More than half of the Creed is focused on Christ,

            because Jesus Christ is the center of our faith.

 

The Creed starts by identifying Jesus as the only-begotten Son of God.

            We confess Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as one God in three persons.

            In other words, we begin our confession of Jesus Christ

                        by confessing who he is – as the eternal Son of God.

 

And then we move through the incarnation:

            conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary

 

and then we confess his suffering and passion:

            suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell

 

before we conclude with his exaltation and glory:

            on the third day he arose from the dead.

            He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father almighty;

            from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

 

Last time we looked at the ascension,

            and how the ascension shows us that Christ is indeed

                        “our Advocate in heaven before His Father.”

And also that in him, “we have our flesh in heaven as a sure pledge that He, our Head,

            will also take us, His members, up to Himself.”

And finally that the ascension reminds us that he has sent

“His Spirit as a counter-pledge, by whose power we seek the things that are above,

            where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God,

and not the things that are on earth.”

 

But Jesus has not merely ascended up there somewhere.

            He has ascended to a very particular place:

                        the right hand of God.

 

What do we mean by the right hand of God?

            Throughout scripture, the right hand is the hand of power – the hand of judgment.

 

            In Psalm 80 we hear that God planted Israel with his right hand,

                        and prays that God would place his hand upon “the man of your right hand.”

            Jesus Christ is God’s “right hand man” – you might say.

 

Psalm 110 is pre-eminently the Psalm of Christ being seated at God’s right hand.

            The LORD says to my Lord:

                        Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.

 

            When the Son of David sits at the right hand of God,

                        what happens?

            Psalm 110:2 says,

                        The LORD sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter.

                        Rule in the midst of your enemies!

 

            When God seats the Son of David at his right hand,

                        that means that the Son of David rules in the midst of his enemies.

 

Or, as the Heidelberg Catechism puts it:

 

50.   Q.  Why is it added, And sits at the right hand of God?
  A.  Christ ascended into heaven to manifest Himself there as Head of His church, through whom the Father governs all things.

 

Jesus has been seated at the right hand of the Father

            so that he might rule as head of the church, but also as king of kings and lord of lords.

As Paul says in Ephesians 1:20, as he is praying that we might know

            what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe,

                        according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ

                                    when he raised him from the dead

                                    and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,

                                                far above all rule and authority and power and dominion,

                                                and above every name that is named,

not only in this age but also in the one to come.

                        And he put all things under his feet [there is the echo of Psalm 110]

and gave him as head over all things to the church,

which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

 

Paul prays that you might know the greatness of God’s power toward us.

            And he says that this power is revealed in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead,

                        and in the seating of Jesus at his right hand.

            After all, the resurrection of Jesus is fascinating –

                        it is mind-boggling –

                        it is earth-shaking –

                                    but the resurrection by itself doesn’t do anything.

            Remember, Lazarus had been dead four days,

                        and what did his resurrection accomplish?

            It was simply a remarkable display of the power of God revealed in Jesus.

 

Even so, the resurrection of Jesus,

            without his ascension and being seated at the right hand of God,

            would not have done anything for us.

 

What makes the resurrection of Jesus so powerful

            is that this Jesus ascended into heaven,

            and that he came to the very throne of God,

                        where no man had ever dared to come;

            and when Jesus came to the very throne of the Most High,

                        he did not do as Isaiah had done when he saw the glory of God,

                                    and when Isaiah had heard the angels crying,

“holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty”

                        when Isaiah fell on his face and cried out, “woe is me!”

            No, Revelation 5 tells us that when Jesus came into the presence of the Father,

                        and when he beheld the angels crying,

                                    “holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,”

                        he went and without the slightest hesitation

                                    he took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne

 

            And when the four living creatures and the 24 elders –

                        the ones who devote themselves at all times to the worship of the one, true God,

                                    when they beheld the Lord Jesus Christ,

                                    they fell down before him and worshiped him!

 

What?

            I tremble to say this to you,

                        but all the heavenly hosts this very day are worshiping a man –

                        because this man, the Lord Jesus Christ, is none other than the eternal Son of God.

            The God of all the universe has so set his love upon you,

                        that he has joined our flesh to himself so that we might share in his life.

 

The common idolatry of the human race

            is that man seeks to become God.

The marvelous grace of God is seen

            in that God has become man.

 

In Jesus Christ God has become all that we are by nature,

            so that we might become all that he is by grace.

 

We will never become God,

            but Peter tells us that through his great and precious promises

            we have come to be partakers in the divine nature,

                        because we have been united to Christ by faith.

If his life has become yours,

            then you have become united to the very life of God.

 

In order to understand what this means, we should then ask:

 

51.   Q.  How does the glory of Christ, our Head, benefit us?

In two ways:

 

First, by His Holy Spirit He pours out heavenly gifts upon us, His members.

 

As Peter told us on the day of Pentecost,

          because Jesus has received the promised Spirit from the Father,

          therefore now he pours out his Spirit upon his church.

 

And in the gift of the Spirit, we now have received heavenly gifts,

          as we partake of the glory of our Savior.

In the Old Testament the Spirit was given only in part.

But now that Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father,

          the Spirit has been poured out upon all flesh.

 

And as we saw as we went through the book of Acts,

          the Spirit is given to the church to empower her as she testifies to the gospel of Christ.

 

God has not given you the Spirit to make you happy.

God has not given you the Spirit to make your life easier.

 

God has given you his Spirit so that you might testify to the gospel of Christ—

          so that the message of the kingdom of God might go forth to the ends of the earth.

 

Second, by His power He defends and preserves us against all enemies.

 

I often think that we forget this part.

It is one of the central themes of the book of Revelation.

          Jesus sits at the right hand of God.

          Therefore what are you afraid of?

 

Jesus spoke of this in John 10:27-30:

          My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

          I give them eternal life and they will never perish,

and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

          My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all,

and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.

          I and the Father are one.

 

Jesus is the good shepherd.

            And a shepherd not only leads and feeds his sheep.

            He also protects and defends us against our enemies.

 

Do not be afraid.

            Jesus has never yet lost one of his sheep.

            No lion or bear has ever yet snatched one of Christ’s sheep from his hand.

 

And they never will.

 

It almost might seem superfluous to ask question 52,

            and yet it never hurts to come out and say it plainly:

 

52.   Q.  What comfort is it to you that Christ will come to judge the living and the dead?

They don’t ask “what does it mean?”

They simply ask “what comfort is it?”

 

The coming judgment of God might not seem at first like a comforting topic –

            but for the one who is in Christ,

            you have no fear of the coming judgment –

                        because you have already been set free from the guilt and the power of sin.

 

Therefore,

 

  A.  In all my sorrow and persecution I lift up my head and eagerly await as judge from heaven the very same person who before has submitted Himself to the judgment of God for my sake, and has removed all the curse from me. He will cast all His and my enemies into everlasting condemnation, but He will take me and all His chosen ones to Himself into heavenly joy and glory.

 

Notice how the catechism talks about how Jesus has already endured

the “final judgment” that I deserved.

The judgment of God has fallen on Jesus.

            Jesus has taken upon himself the wrath and curse of God.

 

Therefore all who believe in him – all his chosen ones –

            will share with him his heavenly joy and glory.

 

But those who do not believe – all of his and my enemies –

            have no protection from the wrath and curse of God.

Therefore they will be cast into everlasting condemnation.

 

Paul talks about this in 2 Thessalonians 1.

This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God,

            that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God,

for which you are also suffering—

            since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you,

                        and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us,

                        when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels

                                    in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God

                                    and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

            They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord

                        and from the glory of his might,

                        when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints,

                                    and to be marveled at among all who have believed,

                        because our testimony to you was believed.

 

Paul talks about two kinds of suffering:

            There are those who suffer for the kingdom of God,

                        and there are those who suffer the punishment of eternal destruction.

            There are those who suffer now for the kingdom,

who will be granted relief when Jesus is revealed;

            and there are those who now do not obey the gospel of Jesus,

                        who will be condemned in the final day.

 

And Paul says that we should look to that day with hope --

            because that is the day of our relief.

 

Until that day you will suffer.

After that day your enemies will suffer.

 

And so until that day, Paul prays,

            That our God may make you worthy of his calling

                        and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power,

                        so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you,

                                    and you in him,

                        according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

There is one line – indeed, four little words – in verse 12 that could easily be overlooked:

            “and you in him.”

 

It is easy to understand what Paul means in the previous statement:

            so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you…

If God makes you worthy of his calling,

            if God fulfills every resolve for good and every work of faith in you,

            then it is easy to see how the name of the Lord Jesus is glorified in you.

 

But Paul is neither a legalist nor a moralist.

            His vision here is not simply that you will make Jesus look good.

            He also wants you to see that you are glorified in Jesus.

 

The reason why the final judgment is such a comfort to you and to me,

            is because the final judgment has already happened in Jesus!

 

Therefore, already you begin to share in the glory of Jesus.

            Notice that Paul does not use the future tense here.

            He does not say that you will be glorified in Jesus.

            No, he is speaking of your daily life right now.

                        Right now God is making you worthy of his calling.

                        Right now God is fulfilling every resolve for good and every work of faith

                                    by his power.

                        And right now the name of our Lord Jesus is glorified in you.

                                    And YOU in HIM.

 

            Even now the work of glorification has begun.

                        Not visibly.

                        Right now you cannot see it.

            But every time the grace of God is triumphant in your life,

                        the name of the Lord Jesus is glorified in you.

            And you are glorified in him.

 

Only in the final day will all of this be revealed openly.

            Only then will he be fully glorified in his saints.

 

            For now we walk by faith.

            Then we shall see him as he is,

                        for we shall be like him!

 

50.   Q.  Why is it added, And sits at the right hand of God?
  A.  Christ ascended into heaven to manifest Himself there as Head of His church, through whom the Father governs all things.

51.   Q.  How does the glory of Christ, our Head, benefit us?
  A.  First, by His Holy Spirit He pours out heavenly gifts upon us, His members. Second, by His power He defends and preserves us against all enemies.

52.   Q.  What comfort is it to you that Christ will come to judge the living and the dead?
  A.  In all my sorrow and persecution I lift up my head and eagerly await as judge from heaven the very same person who before has submitted Himself to the judgment of God for my sake, and has removed all the curse from me. He will cast all His and my enemies into everlasting condemnation, but He will take me and all His chosen ones to Himself into heavenly joy and glory.