"I have hope in God that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust. This being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense towards God and man." Paul, the apostle
HOPE
RESURRECTION
CONSCIENCE
JUST AND UNJUST
In the last blog, I made the point that Jesus will return to judge the world. In this blog, I make the point that this is not only the reason He will return, but that it is also a very good thing. In fact, everything about who Jesus is and what Jesus does is very good. If it is not good news, then it is not about Jesus.
It is good news that Jesus will judge the world because we all want this world to be made right. We all want a new beginning, individually and collectively. We all want forgiveness. We all want justice.
This alone gives us hope, and was alone Paul's hope.
We hope for resurrection, to die and be born again.
For all of our violations of conscience to be cleansed.
To no longer have anything to hide.
When I speak of a clear conscience, I speak not about what you learned from your parents, Sunday School, or society. This is not an issue of socialization, or some one's definition of right and wrong being shoved down your throat. I'm talking about when you lie awake at night and no one but you and God know your thoughts. There are things we've done that are absolutely wrong BY OUR OWN DEFINITIONS! We know what they are. You know and I know. We feel intense guilt and condemnation. No one made us feel this way. In fact, no one may even know that we did such evil things, or thought about and wanted to do them. This guilt is our very own, AND WE AGREE WITH IT! We hate what we see in ourselves when our conscience is guilty, and when we see others do what we've done or thought in secret, we know we are as guilty as they are.
Guilty.
But here we have hope for our guilt! When Jesus came the first time, he came to give us a new beginning, a new start, a clean slate. Those things for which we felt like dying, and knew we DESERVED to die, Jesus died in our place. The coming Judge took our judgment and punishment. Again, it is the punishment we AGREE that we deserve. I cannot emphasize this enough. No one but us knows the secret evils we've thought and done, no one but God. It is before Him that we KNOW we are guilty of going against our very own consciences.
We hope for resurrection to begin again with a clear conscience.
We hope to be forgiven.
When Jesus returns, He will reward those who trust Him with the assurance of forgiveness. They will see in His face no trace of a memory of when they were guilty. It will be as if they never violated their own consciences; as if they never sinned. They will be rewarded with his love, acceptance, and glory. They will shine like stars forever, never to die, because Jesus died for us.
And His death for us was just. We deserved death, but he died in our place. Those who are just in God's eyes (and now their own) admitted the guilt in their own consciences. They made no excuses. They admitted that they themselves felt they deserved the death penalty. They thought murderous thoughts, and enjoyed those thoughts. They lied to loved ones, knowingly and willingly. They stole things most precious to others. They hated others in their hearts, which Jesus says is equal to murder. They were unfaithful to wives or husbands, bringing pain and destruction to their families. They admitted all of this without excuses. Jesus forgave them, having died for them.
But for them who refuse to admit the guilt in their consciences, but instead continue to act against conscience, until they have no conscience--they will be punished, because they are the unjust. Jesus returns to make things right in relation to them. To those bent on evil, to the willing psychopath or sociopath, Jesus comes to remove from the earth, and to repay them for all the harm they've caused others.
We
Want
This.
This
Is
Good.
Unless we are those without conscience: psychopaths and sociopaths.
The psychopath and sociopath are not necessarily like those on shows like "Criminal Minds." This is because the essence of psychopathology or sociopathology is the willful negation of conscience. It is when someone ignores their conscience to the point of it's nonexistence. Everyday, you and I are on the verge of psychopathology, or actively resisting sociopathology, depending on our faithfulness or unfaithfulness to our consciences.
Jesus comes to reward those who live with perfectly clear consciences, and to punish those who knowingly and willingly live without conscience. This is the truth about when Jesus comes back. It is every one's hope of resurrection, forgiveness, and justice, only found in Jesus. Everyone wants this. I want this. You want this.
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