In my previous posts, I wrote about how God is the Almighty King ruling over His creation. As King, He is the Lawgiver. In this post we will see that God is also the righteous Judge. At the end of earthly life, everyone has to stand before God’s judgment bar in His court in heaven. We will all stand before Him as guilty sinners, guilty of breaking His holy laws. But if you believed in Jesus and received a free pardon for your sins, you will be justified (declared righteous instead of guilty) not by your own righteousness, but by the merits of Christ’s righteousness that has been imputed to you. You will be accepted in the Beloved.

Take time to envision the heavenly courtroom. Then envision yourself standing before the judgment bar of God. As you stand before God as a guilty sinner, you enter your plea, “I have this one plea: Jesus Christ has died for me. I am redeemed! My sins have been washed away, and I am clothed in the righteousness of Christ.” By God’s grace, you are declared righteous in God’s eyes and are welcomed into your eternal reward in heaven.

As you are contemplating having to stand before God, remember that in the heavenly court, the Judge is God the Father, who graciously provided a way of salvation for you to be able to go to heaven. He was the one who offered you that free pardon of your sins through Christ, so He will definitely uphold it. God the Son, Jesus Christ, is your Advocate with God and is always interceding for you with the Father. Jesus Christ obeyed the Law perfectly and died on the cross in your place so that you can have that pardon. And God the Holy Spirit, is also your advocate. And it was the Holy Spirit that first moved in your heart to make you aware of your sin and your need of God and implanted that new principle of life in you during regeneration. So your salvation is sure. It’s certain. We really can stand before God, clothed in the righteousness of Christ, and be welcomed into heaven. Let the joy of that assurance calm your mind and heart as you meditate on it.

Here is a link to the hymn “The Old Account Settled Long Ago” by F. M. Graham – Learning to Live by Faith. The words in it describe the experience of standing before God’s judgment bar after having all of your sins washed away.

The 3^rd verse says,

When at the judgment bar
I stand before my King,
And He the book will open,
He cannot find a thing;
Then will my heart be glad,
While tears of joy will flow,
Because I had it settled,
And settled long ago.

As you listen to this hymn, envision yourself being able to stand before God having been cleansed of all your sins and made pleasing in His sight. Feel His great love for you. And rejoice in the hope of heaven!