Ecclesiastes 12:14
God will judge every deed. We must all – me, you, every person who ever lived – appear before the judgement seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive the due for what we have done while living on this earth, whether good or evil (2 Corinthians 5:10).
In the blink of an eye, all our deeds will be laid bare naked before us, even the evil we did not know we were doing. Whether you are the Ukrainian President Zelensky trying to fight for the survival of your country or the Russian President Putin trying to usurp another country’s sovereignty, we will all be appalled when the lid is ripped open and our deeds and motivations exposed for what they really were. At that moment the only words we will be able to utter will be: “I am not worthy, Lord, send me into the abyss. I am unworthy to enter the gates of your glorious kingdom, for I am a sinful man (I am a sinful woman) and the only thing I deserve is to be dammed forever.”
Then one of two things will happen. For those who do not fear God, who do not take him seriously this side of heaven, he’ll let them go to that putrid place. But, for all those who do fear God, accept the gift of salvation from the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, he will say those words deep down inside we all want to hear, “Well done good and faithful servant.” Yet, while we are spellbound in disbelief that such a thing could be said of such a sinner as you or me, those who trust in Christ will notice that our Judge has one eye on us while the other eye is on himself. For his death paid for what our sinful deeds deserved, and his righteousness became ours because we united ourselves with him.
What will become a tragic day for some becomes a welcomed day for those who believe. We know our eternity is safely in our Shepherds hands, we need not fear that day. Yet for those who do not believe they will continue in their unbelief. They will even gnash their teeth against God, tragically pushing away the Shepherd who gave his life to save sinners. He came to secure for us what we could not earn – the gift of eternal life with him. Will you confess your sin and receive his gift of salvation?