Judgement

Psalm 96:13 NIV: Let all creation rejoice before the LORD, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness.

On this New Year’s Day, I wanted to tackle something big: God’s Judgment. Before you move on because you’re not in the mood for shame-inducing, anger-producing feelings today, sit with me for a bit. I promise this is good news. 

This verse comes at the end of a psalm full of praise, celebration, and anticipation. The reason for such joy is surprising: God is coming to judge the earth.

But wait!  Why would anyone celebrate the possibility of being judged? That depends entirely on what you think judgment is. 

For many in the church and for much of my young life, my understanding of God’s judgment was steeped in the image of a courtroom.  Judgment meant that a record of all my deeds, both right and wrong, would be examined, and a verdict of “worthy” or “unworthy” would be rendered. 

You might imagine my surprise when I realized I had misunderstood God’s justice and judgment. His justice is not punitive but restorative. The best working definition of God’s judgment I use comes from theologian N.T. Wright: God setting the world to rights. Another way to say this is “putting things back where they belong.” 

That’s where we get the word restorative. In my artwork, I wanted to depict our feeble human attempts to build a perfect world that consistently fail us. These failures can stem from our own mistakes, faulty building blocks, or harmful interference from outsiders. Perhaps you can think of the things that have gone wrong in your life and identify which of those was at play. God’s judgment, however, is depicted not as scolding or indifference but as kindly and patiently putting things right. 

Knowing that God is actively at work today, trying to put things right in my life and in our world, allows me not only to sigh in relief but also to actively long for his justice. It also challenges me to recognize that part of getting things set right again is my responsibility.  

As you start this new year, keep this truth in mind: Judgment, it turns out, is not God standing over the ruins, but God kneeling in them—patiently putting the world back together.