Death & Judgement -
Hebrews 9:27 often times leaves us with a very frightening picture. It seems to have the opposite effect of boosting our faith...however, for those who have their faith embedded in Christ, God's plan of salvation, this verse is there to encourage.
'27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,' (NKJV)
There are 2 facts mentioned here by the author of Hebrews:
1) We are all destined to die once
2) We will ALL give an account of our lives Some struggle to understand this portion of Scripture.
Ray C. Stedman gives a beautiful explanation to put our minds and hearts at ease...
"'For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive good or evil, according to what he has done in the body. (2 Corinthians 5:10 RSV) This is oftentimes a very frightening and misunderstood concept to many people.
The apostle speaks of a "judgment seat," and that always strikes terror to our hearts. Many people, I am afraid, identify this with that sobering and imposing scene in the 20th chapter of Revelation where all the dead, small and great, are standing before the "great white throne" of God. In an awesome moment of judgment "the books are opened" (Revelation 20:12), it says, lives are reviewed and eternal destinies are settled. It is a terribly impressive scene, and many think that this is what this refers to. But, if you read it that way, you have totally missed the point of the Scripture.
This is not a judgment to settle destiny. This is a personal evaluation given to each individual by the Lord himself of what his life has really been like. It is as though you and the Lord walked together back through all the scenes of your life and he pointed out to you the real nature of what you did and what you said and what was behind it all. The primary characteristic of the "judgment seat" is that it is a time of disclosure to us of what has been hidden in the silent, inner reaches of our own hearts. And not only a disclosure to us, but also to others. In fact, the word that is used here is a very interesting one. It says, "we shall all appear."
Literally it is, "we shall all be manifested," "we shall all be unveiled," in a sense, at the judgment seat of Christ, in the eyes of everyone. That is the point. This is the moment Jesus spoke of when he said, "Whatever is spoken in the secret places shall be shouted from the housetops." And it is described for us in the First Corinthian letter, Chapter 4, where Paul says, "Therefore, do not pronounce judgment before the time before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart," (1 Corinthians 4:5 RSV). That is what he is talking about."*
Stay Blessed
Pr Paddick
#LDMI #Hebrews9
© Paddick Van Zyl - LDMI - 2016
*http://www.raystedman.org/new-testament/2-corinthians/whats-there-to-live-for pic. www.toolsformoney.com/
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