The Man On That Throne

The most fitting one in all the world will sit upon that throne. It will be God, but hearken, it will also be man. “He shall judge the world by this man, Christ Jesus, according to my gospel,” says the apostle. The judge must needs be God. Who but God were fit to judge so many, and to judge so exactly? The throne is too great for any but for him of whom it is written, “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is thy scepter.” Christ Jesus, the Son of God, will judge, and he will judge as man as well as God; and how fitting it is that it should be so! As man he knows our infirmities, he understands our hearts, and we cannot object to this, that our Judge should be himself like unto us. Who better could judge righteous judgment than one who is “bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh”?

And then, there is this fitness about it; he is not only God and man, but he is the man, the man of men, of all men the most manly, the type and pattern of manhood. He will be the test in his own person, for if a man be like Christ, that man is right, but if a man be otherwise than Christ-like, that man deserves to be condemned. That wondrous Judge needs only look upon his own character to read the law, and to review his own actions to discern whether other men’s actions be right or wrong. The thoughts of many hearts were revealed by Christ on earth, and that same Christ shall make an open exhibition of men at the last great day. He shall judge them, he shall discern their spirits, he shall find out the joints and the marrow of their being; the thoughts and intents of the heart he shall lay bare.

From a sermon entitled "The Great White Throne," delivered August 12, 1866. Image by DavetheGray under Creative Commons License.