“Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.”
because as He is,
The ground of our confidence at the Judgment Seat of Christ is who Jesus is and what He did for us on the cross. The Greek emphasizes “He.” We could translate “He” as “that one.” The Father was well pleased with the Son when He was on earth. This is not as Jesus was on earth, but as He is in heaven. He is now in the closest fellowship of love with the Father.
Mt 3:17, “And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’”
Mt 17:5, “While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!’”
so are we in this world
Note the “as…so” connection between these two phrases. As Christ demonstrated love on earth so the Christian’s love will give him cause to have boldness at the Judgment Seat of Christ. The basis of our boldness is our likeness to Christ. In so far as we manifest God’s love to others, there will be no blame on that day. We will stand there without reproach and regret.
Note that this is present tense, not future tense. We are like He is there over here. We are here just like He is there. He represents us there, and we represent Him here. He is my assurance that I will have His heaven. He is already there making room for me. He is Himself the guarantee that I will be with Him.
PRINCIPLE:
We are here just like Jesus is there.
APPLICATION:
God’s love in communion with us attains its consummation in Christ’s likeness. The reduplication of Christ’s love in our lives ensures that we shall be beyond censure and rebuke at the Judgment Seat when it comes to rewards. The likeness here is not positional but practical and experiential. We are here just like Jesus is there. He represents us there. We represent Him here.
It is also true that we will have positional privilege before the Father at the Judgment Seat of Christ. As the Father was well pleased with the Son on earth, He will be well pleased with us at the Judgment Seat of Christ. We are also spiritually one with Christ. We stand at the judgment seat with all the authority of Christ. God will see us united to Him. As Jesus is removed from sin in glory, so we are in this world.
If He represents us there as we represent Him here, there might be some doubt whether we would ever make it to heaven. Thank God that He represents us perfectly there.
He is my assurance that I will be with Him there because He is already there. He is my guarantee that I will be with Him one day. His ascension guarantees my ascension.
Jn 16:8-11, 8 “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 “of sin, because they do not believe in Me; “of righteousness, because I go to My Father [the ascension] and you see Me no more; 11 “of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”
