Our Part in Judgment Day

You should be laughing by now - I don't know what judgment day will be like any more than anyone else, of course. But I wonder . . . if, after Lord Jesus receives each one of his saints, without a single mention of their sins (for they've been forgotten and cleansed and wiped out and cast into the depths of the sea), and enfolds them in his love, then I wonder if all those billions of people will all assemble before the throne, and it will be time to re-dress the imbalance pervasive in all of temporal history. You know how it is: some very godly people labor faithfully their whole lives and never see the fruit of it, and some Christians are flashy and impressive but are really building with wood and straw (1 Cor 3).

I believe in salvation by grace but judgment by works (but, of course, part of God's grace is enabling us to do good works, and thus pass a judgment we otherwise would despair before). So I wonder if, on that day, the Lord Jesus will go through each saint, and have each one stand up before that great multitude. I wonder if, Christ's love and devotion and acceptance not at all in doubt, there will be a kind of examination of each one of us, in which other Christians will play a role. One Christian will stand up in front of that multitude, and (if you'll pardon the expression) the floor will be open for comments. Someone else will stand up out of the crowd and say, "Lord, he/she was a faithful Christian, they blessed me with their hospitality, he prayed for me, and I remember how he helped me out in that particular situation." And the question will come back from the great Judge: "Did this Christian wrong you?" And the witness from that great multitude will say, "If he ever did, I do not remember it" (for although there were sins committed, they have been forgiven and forgotten). And the judge will thank the witness for their testimony. And then another Christian will stand up and say, "Lord, this Christian said an encouraging word to me which I really needed to hear on such-and-such a day." And so on and so on. Every single life the Lord has touched through our lives will stand up and testify on our behalf; and by God's grace, we'll pass that judgment. And at the end, some will have little and some will have much.

And each one of us will have to testify on behalf of other Christians, putting justification by faith into practice, speaking the very best we can of another Christian, even those who have wronged us terribly, penetrating to whatever good there was in their lives, and truly forgetting how they wronged us, testifying to the Lord on their behalf, laying out before everyone what was good in their lives.

I wonder if it might be something like that.