In the divine administration Christ is the Judge of the living. “The Father does not judge anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son” (John 5:22). As the Son of God (John 5:25) Christ can give life (John 5:21), and as the Son of Man He can execute judgment. Because Christ is a man, He is fully qualified to judge man. Romans 2:16 says, “God shall judge the secrets of men...by Jesus Christ.” The Father “gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man” (John 5:27). Furthermore, the Father gave all judgment to the Son “that all may honor the Son even as they honor the Father” (John 5:23). The Son will judge justly according to the Father’s will (John 5:30). He is one with the Father in the matter of judgment.
Acts 17:31 says that God “has set a day in which He is about to judge the inhabited earth in righteousness by a Man whom He has designated, having furnished proof to all by raising Him from among the dead.” The day set by God for the judgment of the inhabited earth will be the day when Christ will judge the living from the throne of His glory before the millennium (Matt. 25:31-36), probably not including the day when He will judge the dead at the great white throne after the millennium (Rev. 20:11-15). According to Acts 10:42, Christ has been designated by God “to be the Judge of the living and the dead.” He will be the Judge of the dead after the millennium at the great white throne. Second Timothy 4:1 and 1 Peter 4:5 also say that Christ will judge both the living and the dead. The day in Acts 17:31 refers particularly to the day when Christ will judge the living, because on this day He will judge “the inhabited earth,” which should refer only to living men. This day of Christ’s judgment on earth will be brought in by His coming back. He has been designated by God to execute this judgment, and God’s raising Him from among the dead is strong proof of this.
Revelation 20:4 and 6 reveal that Christ with the overcomers will reign over the nations for a thousand years in the coming age, and Revelation 11:15 unveils that at Christ’s coming back the kingdom of the world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever. By all these verses we can see that Christ as the Administrator of God will be the King reigning over the earth in the millennium and for eternity. In the coming age and eternity Christ will be the Ruler over all the peoples on the earth in the divine administration.
In the divine administration Christ will be the Judge not only of the living but also of all the dead (Acts 10:42; 2 Tim. 4:1). As described in Revelation 20:11-15, Christ will judge the dead at the great white throne after the millennium. Revelation 20:11 says, “I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose face earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.” “White” here signifies righteous, indicating that the Lord’s great throne for His judgment is righteous. “Him” is the Lord Jesus, for God the Father has given all judgment to the Son and has ordained Him to be the Judge of the living and the dead.
Revelation 20:12 goes on to say, “I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by the things which were written in the books, according to their works.” The word “standing” indicates that the dead have been resurrected. This is the resurrection of the unbelievers, the resurrection of judgment, after the millennium (John 5:28-29; 1 Cor. 15:23-24). The unbelieving dead will be judged by the things written in the books. These books are the records of the works, the deeds, of the unbelievers, according to which they will be judged. The other book that is opened, the book of life, is the record of the names of the believers (Rev. 13:8; 17:8; Luke 10:20). The unbelievers will be judged by the things written in the books, according to their works. All that they have said and done will be written in these books.
Revelation 20:15 says, “If anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.” The perishing unbelievers will be judged according to the books, which are a record of their works (vv. 12-13), but they will be cast into the lake of fire according to the book of life. This indicates that they are condemned by the Lord because of their evil deeds, but they will perish because of their unbelief, not having their names written in the book of life. Not believing in the Lord Jesus is the unique sin that causes people to perish (John 16:9).
In this message we have seen all that Christ is in God’s economical administration. These aspects of Christ are marvelous, beyond our ability to enjoy or comprehend fully. Some of these aspects of Christ are also included in the divine dispensing. If we allow Christ to dispense Himself with all His unsearchable riches into us, this dispensing will include what He is in the divine administration.
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