God’s Saving Judgment

Jeremiah 16-17; Psalms 96; John 16

“O Lord, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in time of distress, to you the nations will come from the ends of the earth and say, ‘Our fathers possessed nothing but false gods…Therefore I will teach them – this time I will teach them my power and might. Then they will know that my name is the Lord.’”

Jeremiah 16:19, 21

“Say among the nations, ‘The Lord reigns’…he will judge the peoples with equity…he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his truth.”

Psalm 96:10, 13

God’s judgment of nations throughout history is based on the redemptive purpose of revealing his name, his power, his might, his righteousness, and his truth. God’s heart is that none would perish, but that all might be saved by a salvation that is not based on self-righteousness, or the slavish devotion to idols we create. It is salvation based on God’s righteousness, given and received as a gift in the form of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, the sacrifice for sin offered on our behalf, full of grace and truth. Jesus has sent his Spirit to convict the world of righteousness, sin, and judgment so that no one will be able to say they didn’t know. God’s Spirit convicts so that we might be saved. God’s judgment of nations reveals his power and his salvation. Many in this generation reject any external judgment of their lives or their sins; yet God’s salvation is being revealed to them as well.

“Lord Jesus, you are the sinless sacrifice and the just judge, the hope of all nations.”