We all dislike judgment,

especially God’s judgment.

We don’t like to be caught so we reject the right of others to judge our words and actions, even God.

“You don’t love and accept me if you insist on judging me!” – we pout.

Final Judgment is unacceptable. What right has God got to do such a thing?

All this is pointless because judgment is not an end-time thing, an after-death thing or even a later thing.

Judgement is now.

Judgement is built into creation. it has another name – consequence. (literally: the thing that comes next in the sequence.)

When I act unjustly (not in accordance with the rules of creation that God has told us will result in a good life for everyone) judgment is initiated.

If I slapped you, you may or may not slap back but there will be a reaction – not for the good.

If I murder, I set loose a murderous spirit that will dog my heels, inspiring murderous thoughts towards me in the hearts of others.

If I steal, unbalance the shalom/wholeness of the life of another, my own life will be unbalanced.

What I have stolen will flee from me – be stolen, lost, taken. It will not prosper my life in the way that a just action (in accordance with the rules for life specified by the Word of God) would bless me and those around me.

Give and it shall be given unto you. For every action there is an equal and opposite action.

Judgment / consequence / reaction is built in to the world we live in.

The judgment of God is really mercy.

Because of the fact that He has taken upon Himself the role of Judge, He can delay the time of trial.

He can buffer the sequence / time of consequences in order to give us opportunity to repent.

To repent is to decide to live and act differently, to change our direction away from ourselves and orient ourselves towards God and His Word.

Repentance can restore broken shalom through words, actions and by faith.

People do seem to get away with murder. But they really don’t.

Not in this life and certainly not in eternity.

Imbalance and Stasis

Matter is neither being created or destroyed – that is a fundamental law of physics.

That means that we live in a closed system – nothing escapes or enters (until time passes away).

A closed system does not change. It’s balance and order must remain essentially the same

therefore there must be a way to redress imbalance and restore stasis.

Shalom / stasis /peace / love is the nature of this closed system.

It’s order will be re-balanced by judgment.

Consequences arising directly from our actions account for most of that restoration.

Grace and mercy also play a part in judgment.

In order for them to operate, some judgment has been reserved until the ‘end’ to allow for actions not to release immediate and dire consequences.

An example of this delay is pollution of the environment.

If you add poison to the world around you, it should poison you – give and it shall be given to you.

We have strewn poison for centuries at a frenetic rate yet only now are the dire effects of that crime manifesting in our lives. These effects have been buffered – to give us time to realize what we have done.

We need to go and weep as Adam did when he was removed from the Garden of peace.

When Adam moved out of obedience to God he entered into judgment.

It is grace and mercy – God’s love – that delays the judgment / consequences of evil actions that is built-in to creation.

We do not have to like the fact of judgment but we should take it in to account before deciding to act in ways that are contrary to God’s Word.

The Word tells us how life works to our benefit and the prosperity of those around us.

“Walk this way and you will live.” Blessedly.