Coming Judgment - 2 Timothy 4:1

2 Timothy 4:1 (ESV)

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:

Paul’s charge to Timothy to proclaim the Word is made all the more emphatic by the grounds of his charge. There is a three-fold foundation for his charge, the omnipresence of God and Christ Jesus, the fact that Jesus will judge the living and the dead, and the fact that Jesus will return and set up his kingdom. I wrote about the omnipresence in an earlier blog. I’ll likely address the kingdom in a future blog, but Judgement and the kingdom add further impetus to the charge. Here in the West, we have developed a view of Christianity that is much less about coming judgment and more about present comfort. One is more likely to hear a sermon about how to be happy than about the coming judgement. It is not that judgment is all that should be preached, but certainly there should be some mention of the truth that one day we all stand before the judge. Those who are not believers will stand before the Christ’s Great White Throne and be judged first on their works, and then on whether their name is in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Rev 20:11-12). Believers will stand before our Lord to be judged and rewarded for our service, or there is the possibility that we enter eternity with empty hands (1 Cor 3:13-15). Either way, there is judgment. It’s not that fear is the primary motivation to service. Paul’s writings almost always talk about obedience in the context of our identity in Christ, not judgment. But that is what makes this charge to Timothy all the more weighty. Timothy, proclaim the Word! For those same reasons whether in a preaching ministry, or whether we are the living presence of Christ in our workplace, we must make sure that we are Christ centered and biblically grounded wherever we find ourselves. Believers in Jesus Christ are People of the Word.