Many today opt for a sentimental, non judgmental, loving, God, rejecting the biblical vision of a God who judges the world. But are we not reacting against the wildly speculative end times theologies that seem to savor the so-called coming blood bath when God slaughters the unbelievers in an Armageddon nightmare? What if the final judgment of God is fundamentally about justice “setting all things right?” Does not this world cry out, in the face of the slaughter of innocent civilians in the middle east, Africa and Europe, for a day when God sets right what is now so profoundly unfair? Victims of violence who believe there is no God or no God who will finally bring justice to this earth, understandably feel justified in using weapons of unending vengeance.
What if the fact God is going to “set all things right” at the last day frees us up to be ministers of Christ’s peace now? We are to be ministers of peace in our churches, families and neighborhoods because God will bring his just judgments to this earth at the consummation of all things. The idea is at least as old as Paul’s letter to the Romans . ”Do not take revenge, my dear friends but leave room for God’s judgments.” ( 12:17-21) Otherwise we will as Paul says “be overcome with evil.” Rage will devour our hearts. Romans 13 describes our governments as agents of justice against murderers, but even governments cannot bring the justice we long for.
In a war zone soaked with the blood of the innocent only the Spirit of the God who will properly judge the world fills us with hope . The little dead Syrian boy, recently washed up on the beach in Bodrum, Turkey, is not forgotten by Immanuel, the One who will properly “set all things right.” Because God took the judgment due us upon his head we can trust this God to fairly judge all of us. In the age to come when Our Lord comes to resurrect the dead he will have that little boy on that beach up and dancing for joy!! Today, such a hope fills us with peace and love as we live in the war zone.