Issue link: https://cp.revolio.com/i/1333777
ONLY GOD CAN JUDGE ME Marty Edwards Three of us had ridden to Reno's Street Vibrations from Southern California to join up with twenty or so other Black Sheep. We had plenty of members in our booth handing out water, sunscreen and shining boots. It was an unusually good year in that we had great weather, plenty of help and a lot of interested bikers walking by. (I went to junior and senior high school in Reno and met my bride in Sparks - so it continues to hold a special place in my heart.) On Friday night I had the opportunity to slip away by myself and do a little shopping for the wife. (If you leave her behind you'd better come home with something nice!) I was weaving my way through the crowd of people on Virginia Boulevard when I saw a mountain of a man coming towards me. It was more of a march than a walk, but it wasn't his menacing scowl or giant muscles that caught me off guard, but the words on his shirt: "Only God Can Judge Me." This now popular declaration comes from a song by Tupak Shakur: "Only God can judge me, that right? Only God can judge me now. Only God baby, nobody else, nobody else All you other mother f------ get out my business Only God can judge me now." The thought that instantly struck me was, "Does anyone really take comfort in the thought of GOD's judgment?" (Remember: He has known you since the womb. He knows your every thought, every lie, and every dirty deed!) For me, the idea of standing before an angry God (angry because I rejected and disrespected the precious gift of His only Son, Jesus Christ) is terrifying! But as a servant of Jesus Christ, I have the promise that I will never suffer the judgment of an angry God because THAT is EXACTLY what Christ died for! I'm not good! I'm not sinless! I'm not better than anyone else – but I am forgiven and therefore, will not suffer the judgment of God. Jesus said, "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." and "The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on them. (John 3:16-18 and 3:35-36) Other places in the Bible say things like, "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them." (Romans 1:17-19) and "Because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed." (Romans 2:5) Tupak and my giant friend in Reno have it all wrong. The pathetic impotent judgment that comes from man is insignificant to me, but the thought of God's judgment is paralyzing. That's why I am grateful for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross when He said, "It is finished." b