Understanding Judgment—from Parents to God

How often do you hear the phrase, “You are so judgmental”?
As parents, we make judgments all the time, about our children, their progress in school, how they perform in sports, and even how teachers are interacting with them. The list goes on, doesn’t it? Just yesterday, the All-Blacks coach was asked whether he felt the pressure of New Zealand’s public opinion. His response? “Every New Zealander will be making a judgment on my choice of selection.” And that’s true for so many areas of life, isn’t it? We all form judgments, consciously or not.

But what about God’s judgment? The Bible speaks a lot about judgment, but often in a very different way than we might first think.

There are several kinds of judgments mentioned in Scripture. We know that our God is a God of justice, as the psalmist says: “A sceptre of justice will be the sceptre of your kingdom” (Psalm 45:6).  It is the Lord Jesus Himself who is the Judge of all the earth: “The Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son” (John 5:22). Jesus alone is worthy to open the scroll (Revelation 5:5), and in Him, we see judgment wrapped in righteousness and truth.

Currently, I’m preaching a 4-part series on Ezekiel. Last week, we explored the Reality of God in Ezekiel 1-3. This week, we’re focusing on part 2, called the Reality of Judgment, in chapters 4-11, which will take two weeks to cover. I’d love for you to take a moment to read through the text ahead of time. There’s something refreshing about coming to the Word with an open heart and a mind ready to receive. It’s an opportunity to prepare ourselves, not just intellectually, but spiritually.

As we study deeper into this series, I pray that we can all learn to see judgment in the light of God’s justice, grace, and restoration.

Have a great week, and hopefully the sun will come out for the last week of the school holidays.