IS THE CREATOR GOD A RIGHTEOUS JUDGE?
“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it. . . and I
saw the dead. . . standing before the throne. . . .and each person was
judged according to what he had done.” (Revelation 20:11-13)
THE FACT:
Every person will face God on Judgment Day. To understand how God judges us we should recognize some truth concerning our Creator God. First, He is not limited. Even in the time of Abraham and Moses with no scriptures on hand, the Lord spoke to them and guided them. Secondly, God reveals Himself through His creation. Thirdly, He has also given us a conscience to understand the distinctions between right and wrong. When we came to know Jesus Christ, it was the greatest revelation of our life. So, on Judgement Day we will be judged on criteria such as: the amount of truth to which we have been exposed; the opportunities we had to accept the truth and share it with others; and how we responded to those opportunities graciously given to us.
THE PRIVILEGE:
It is election season. Is God involved in elections? The Bible says: “God removes kings and installs kings.” (Daniel 2:21 TLV) Should the church be involved in politics? I believe this is a vitally important privilege in which believers should actively participate, in whichever country we make our home. The church must rise up and pray for God’s will and may we remember: God weighs our heart’s attitude.
THE DUTY:
The involvement of the church in politics is really an important question to be answered, as we’re coming up on election season to see what the Bible says about these matters. Considering the choices before us, our guideline should be to vote for Christian principles, and we need to prayerfully take action. It is critically important that God-fearing people be involved in the rule of a nation because there is a promise of blessing attached to it. “When My people, over whom My name is called, humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” This is an irrefutable promise of God. (2 Chronicles 7:14)
There is none perfect for the task; and we need to ask God to turn the hearts of our national leaders to Him because the scriptures also remind us: “A king’s heart is like a stream of water in the hand of Adonai; He directs it wherever He wants.” (Proverbs 21:1 TLV) I believe as the church; it is our duty to ask God to change the heart of our leaders to noble principles and seek the favor of God to heal our land.
At this moment in time, there’s a lot of division in the church about who we should vote for. But what I see the Bible say is that we are called to pray for the leaders and ask God to turn their hearts, as “the heart of the king is in His hand” and purge every evil way about them. This, I believe, is one of our most important duties as the church today.
We need healing across our land. The apostle Paul draws our attention to the institution of civil authority, which is according to the will and plan of God. He clearly insists on the fulfillment of his duty to the state. This continues to be our spiritual obligation today, whether it be paying our taxes or casting our vote at the elections. The fulfillment of our civic duty is entirely independent of the moral character of the civil government. As believers in Christ, our practicing loyalty and submission would certainly serve as a splendid witness for God and Christianity in our respective nations. (Romans 13:1)
So, let us get the facts right: God is interested in our elections. We must be involved in prayerfully voting in the days ahead and execute our civic obligation as the Creator God is a righteous judge.