"The LORD is known by the judgment which He executeth…" [Psa 9:16a]
In the gospel of John, we are told of Jesus, “and this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” [Jn 17:3] Through Jesus’ words, we come to learn that eternal life is not just immortality beyond the grave, but is more specifically, to know God; and this, mainly, is through an intimate relationship with Jesus, whereby we may come to know who God is and what His characteristics are; for Jesus said, “he that hath seen me hath seen The Father,” and we are told Jesus is, “the exact representation of [The Father’s] substance.” [Jn 14:9, Heb 1:3] So then, by coming to know Jesus, we shall come to know God, and therein is contained eternal life. We see then, a fuller definition of what God originally told Adam in Eve in Genesis, when He warned them of the forbidden tree, saying, “in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” [Gen 2:17] And to more readily see this, we will look briefly to Daniel.
The prophet Daniel tell us by the word of The LORD, speaking of that final day, “many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting abhorrence.” [Dan 12:3] Therefore, it is revealed to us that all men shall live forever: none shall simply cease to exist – either a man shall hear Jesus’ voice and awake to those dreadful words, “I never knew you,” [Mt 7:23] or a man shall awake “satisfied,” rising up to receive a new body “with [God’s] likeness” and in His presence, “present with The LORD.” [Psa 17:15, 2 Cor 5:6-8] Jesus confirmed this for us when He said, “the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” [Jn 5:28-29] Therefore, because we are in no uncertain terms told all men shall be resurrected, the death God spoke of as punishment for sin goes far beyond just the death of the body; it speaks chiefly of the death of the spirit and soul, and it is through this death that man is barred from acquiring knowledge of God, for Paul tells us, “but the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” [1 Cor 2:14]
It is this death which is far greater than any physical pain; it is the death which Jesus our Lord had to endure, a pain so cruel and wicked, in which God forsook His Son making Him an abhorrence and casting Him from His presence in those three, dark hours upon the cross. If we do not see how cursed a death it is, to be forbidden from knowing or drawing near to God, let us remember what if spoken of Satan, who shall soon be crushed and thrust into “everlasting fire, [which was] prepared [him],” [Mt 25:41] where he shall be “as a carcase trodden under [foot],” covered in devouring maggots. [Isa 14:11, 19] If this is the physical torments belonging to those in hell, no doubt their spiritual torments, wherein they lack the knowledge and light of Christ, shall be equally dismal. Truly, though, it is through Jesus, and through His regeneration of our spirits and hearts, (for we have been promised “a new heart and a new spirit”), wherein we are granted the ability to know God, and therein is found life: for God has said, “seek ye me, and ye shall live.” [Ezek 18:31, Amo 5:4]
Now that we have seen how sweet it is to know God, seeing that therein is found unending life – it being as a deep well, pure spring, or flowing river – we can better appreciate and understand what is said in today’s verse, which again says, “The LORD is known by the judgment which He executeth.” The purest form of this knowledge of God is found in “the judgment which He executeth.” Notice the definite article, “the.” Truly, The LORD has executed many judgments since the world began; many of them are written down for us. And in addition to these, more judgments may be yet added, finding their climax in The Day of The LORD. However, because we find the definite article here, The Spirit would direct our attention to one judgment in particular. If we were to suppose which judgment of God’s would be described as the judgment, which one would surpass all others, being the pinnacle of His righteous judgments, we should frankly conclude it is the judgment The LORD executed upon Christ Jesus, His Son. In all of time and in all of the world, there has never been such a judgment enacted of God as the one upon His own Son. And it was indeed The LORD, God The Father, who was judging His Son for all of mankind’s sin; for we read in Isaiah that Christ was, “stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted;” and, “the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all;” and again, “it pleased the LORD to crush Him; he hath put him to grief.” [Isa 53:3, 6, 10]
It is upon the cross where, “mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other;” [Psa 85:10] for it was upon the cross where God’s righteous and fiery judgment was poured forth on Christ, but also where His mercy was in that same moment poured out upon sinful man, creating a way for reconciliation and peace to all who would come to believe in His Son. It is upon the cross, in the judgment which The Father executed upon His Son, where the fullest knowledge of God is imparted to us, where we can discern more of “the breadth, and length, and depth, and height” of Jesus’ Christ’s love, “which is surpassing knowledge, that [we] might be filled with all the fulness of God;” [Eph 3:18-19] for, “by this we perceive love, because [Jesus Christ] laid down His life for us.” [1 Jn 3:16] The cross is the pinnacle and climax of all of history – the absolute most important event ever to unfold upon the earth; and through the study of it, we come to know more of the one, true God and of Jesus, which, as Jesus says, is eternal life. So then, let us not look down upon the cross, as though we have already discerned all of the intricacies held in its grains and in it shape, as if we have studied it thoroughly enough to fully comprehend the words, “He hath made Him to be sin for us,” or as though we have weighed the beam which Christ bore upon His bloody back and found it wanting – nay, let us not be so foolish or so ignorant; let us not esteem the cross and what happened there as trivial or childish and low-level doctrine: for therein, in that glorious and high mystery, we shall know God. May this devotion urge you to pursue this knowledge on your own; may these feeble words prick your ears up and spark your heart toward a more focused pursuit of what Jesus has done.
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