We All Will Stand Before the Judgment Seat
We must live in the fear of God and obey His purposes in order to be well pleasing to Him and experience the blessing of friendship with the Lord.
K.P. Yohannan emphasizes the importance of living in the fear of God as we anticipate standing before the judgment seat of Christ, where our lives will be evaluated not for punishment but for reward, akin to the Olympic games. He draws parallels with Abraham, who exemplified total obedience and reverent fear of the Lord, leading to his blessings and becoming a blessing to many. Yohannan encourages believers to follow Abraham's example by embracing God's call and living a life that is well-pleasing to Him. The sermon highlights that true obedience stems from a relationship with God, where His grace and fear guide our actions. Ultimately, friendship with the Lord is promised to those who fear Him, revealing the depth of His covenant with us.
Text
Let us look forward to the day spoken of in 2 Corinthians 5, where Paul reminds the believers to live in the fear of God because we all will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. This is not a punitive judgment; it is not as though we are being tried for a crime that was committed. Rather, it is like the Olympic games, where one receives the gold medal, another the silver and another the bronze. We will stand before the judgment seat of Christ, and He will evaluate the life we have lived--our words, our attitudes and motives, the way we obeyed, how we spent the resources He gave us, the things we did and the things we did not do.
"Therefore we make it our aim . . . to be well pleasing to Him" (2 Corinthians 5:9). This is what Abraham did. In total obedience he walked away from everything comfortable and familiar and lived his life for the purposes of God. And he could only do this because within him was a reverent fear of the Lord. Because of that fear, he was blessed and became a blessing, being the father of many nations. In fact, when we open the New Testament, the first words we read are: "A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham: Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers . . ." (Matthew 1:1-2, NIV, emphasis added).
Everything began with Abraham. He is the starting point of all of God's purposes and of His plan of redemption. Abraham was called out of terrible darkness and idolatry and given the call to follow the living God. And because he obeyed, he was changed and his life became a blessing to the many who came after him. This is the same call of blessing the Lord extends to us today. May we follow in the footsteps of Abraham. To do so, we must let the fear of God and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ lead us into this kind of obedience. We will never be sorry for it, for "friendship with the LORD is reserved for those who fear him. With them he shares the secrets of his covenant" (Psalm 25:14, NLT).
Sermon Outline
- I. The Judgment Seat of Christ
- A. Not a punitive judgment, but an evaluation of our lives
- B. Based on our words, attitudes, and motives
- C. Our obedience and use of resources
- II. The Example of Abraham
- A. Walked away from comfort and familiarity to live for God's purposes
- B. Had a reverent fear of the Lord
- C. Was blessed and became a blessing to others
- III. The Call to Obedience
- A. Let the fear of God and the grace of Jesus lead us
- B. Follow in the footsteps of Abraham
- C. Experience the blessing of friendship with the Lord
Key Quotes
“Therefore we make it our aim . . . to be well pleasing to Him' (2 Corinthians 5:9)” — K.P. Yohannan
“Friendship with the LORD is reserved for those who fear him. With them he shares the secrets of his covenant' (Psalm 25:14, NLT)” — K.P. Yohannan
Application Points
- We must let the fear of God and the grace of Jesus lead us into obedience to His purposes.
- We can experience the blessing of friendship with the Lord by having a reverent fear of Him and living in obedience.
- Abraham's life is a model for us to follow in our pursuit of living a life pleasing to God.