My friend, did you know not only is God not judging Christians, but as a composite whole He is not judging nations because of the cross either? Today there are many teachings that America will be judged for their sins. Many Christians will furiously say stuff like “America is going to hell in a hand-basket” and “if God doesn’t judge America He will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.” Ironically many of the people showing so much ‘concern’ for this nation haven’t shared the Gospel in years.
If truth be told, these kinds of statements are not rooted in the New Covenant and nullify the work of the cross. God is not judging America, because the cross worked. Now think back to Sodom and Gomorrah. When you think of this story does God’s wrath and fiery judgment come to mind? Did you know God was not out to judge the two cities? He wasn’t on a sin hunt He was actually on a righteousness hunt.
God let Abraham in on the coming destruction of the two cities and even allowed Abraham to entreat Him. Abraham asked God if He would spare the two cities for the sake of 50 righteous men to which God answered “yes” (Genesis 18:26). Abraham then brought the numbers down to 45, 40, 30, and finally 10. Each time God answered with a yes and I believe had Abraham worked his way down to one God would have still said yes. He was on a righteousness hunt not a sin hunt.
On this side of the cross how much more will we not be judged? Jesus bore our judgments. God exhausted His judgments and fiery indignation in the body of His Son at the cross. He was on a righteousness hunt and found the righteousness of that One Man, Jesus and He is satisfied. Never fall for teachings that tell you that God judges you with cancer, accidents, business-failures, or broken heartedness on this side of the cross.
Now we need to get the revelation that by the blood of Jesus we’ve been made righteous (2 Corinthians 5:21). God was willing to spare Sodom and Gomorah for 10 righteous men so how much more America, which has millions of Christians who have been made righteous by the precious blood of Jesus.
The cross God is not imputing sin against the whole world. God has been reconciled to the world (2 Corinthians 5:19). God is not mad at the world any more because the cross worked. In fact the cross was so effective He’s not even in a bad mood. God has been reconciled to the world but the world still needs to be reconciled to God in order to be saved (v. 20). The sin of the entire world has been judged at the cross.
He is the propitiation for our sins and the worlds (1 John 2:2). The angels said peace on earth and good will toward man (Luke 2:14) so the world and God are at peace. His war on sin is over. Yes, those who don’t believe will be judged on judgment day. Only a false grace would tell you that everyone is saved. In order to be saved you must make a personal decision to receive Christ as your Lord and Savior. But look at what the Bible says about non-believers who reject the finished work of Jesus.
“But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God” (Romans 2:5 NKJV).
Unsaved nations are not getting snippets of God’s judgment for their sins. God is not pouring out bite sized pieces of His judgment on places that are living in sin. That’s an old covenant concept. After the cross unbelievers sins have been paid for but by rejecting Jesus they are storing up wrath for judgment day. Notice storing up is different than receiving bite size doses. One day they will experience God’s wrath- there is a hell to shun my friend, but that day is not yet.
Look at this beautiful passage of scripture where Jesus told us His mission statement:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18-19).
Here Jesus is quoting Isaiah 61:1-2. Had He continued He would have read “And the day of vengeance of our God” but instead look what happened. “And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. The eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him” (Luke 4:20). Jesus closed the book before He could get to the part about judgment and we need to learn to close the book where He does.
One day God’s judgment will be poured out on people who reject Jesus’ finished work but today is not that day. For far too long the church has made God look like a mean wrathful God who is eager to curse when really He is eager to bless. My Bible says “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them” (Hebrews 6:10 NIV). Beloved, America has sent more missionaries to preach the Gospel than any other country in the world. God is not eager to judge this country; He judged all of its sins at the cross. He is eager to bless this country. We need to change our mind about how we see God. He is not out to get you He is out to bless you.
Now think back to 2005 when Hurricane Katrina hit. Christians all around the nation were claiming that God was judging this place for witchcraft and practices of voodoo. Surprisingly the area of New Orleans that was hit wasn’t even in the radius where people are heavy into voodoo. It is surprising that the God who spoke everything into existence with His mere sovereign word and has many times demonstrated His all powerful awesomeness has such terrible aim. Or in 2001 when 911 happened Christians throughout the nation were claiming that our God did it while a terrorist organization was saying their god did it. There’s a problem when we can’t decide who was behind the attack. It looks like they got the same god. These thought processes, whether we believe God is judging our sins on an individual level or corporately as a nation, are voiding what Jesus did at the cross.
We are in the dispensation of Grace (Ephesians 3:2). God’s war on sin is over, Jesus closed the book, there are far more than 10 righteous men in America, and it is finished. Because of the precious blood of Jesus God isn’t judging America. I once thought, “If God doesn’t judge America for their sins, He is going to have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.” Now I know if God does judge America for its sins He will have to apologize to Jesus Christ! “Brother Rea, this sounds like a license to sin.” Well, my friend, people are sinning pretty well without a license. What I’m saying will not free you to sin, it will free you from the guilt and condemnation you experience when you do. Sin is stupid and literally is an archery term that means to miss the mark so obviously it is far from God’s best for our lives and with it comes many natural consequences. But, when we do fall and fail, the finished work of Jesus is enough. His finished work works.