Hebrews 12: 18-29
The church has its roots in Mount Sinai. It was there that Moses received the Ten Commandments. They were the foundation for holiness and righteous living. Keeping the Law set the children of Israel apart from the nations around them. For them, Mount Sinai was a holy place. It was also a fearsome place; the voice of God had been terrifying. The mountain had been burning with holy fire, and they knew that they were an unholy people. God did not intend His revelation on Mount Sinai to be the final revelation. Yet some in his community never moved beyond the law and the fear of that moment.

Sadly, some today in the Christian community still live as if the revelation of the Ten Commandments was a final revelation. “Hellfire and brimstone” is their trademark. They allow fear of the law to control their legalistic lives. They focus upon God the “Judge” and seldom think about God the “Loving father.” They have no vision of Mount Zion, the city of the living God. When we come to Christ in faith, our relationship with God is changed. God adopts us as his own children, and He enters our names into the book of life. We journey with him to the New Jerusalem. There we will stand before God the Judge in awe. He is not just our Judge; He is our Father.

Our Father the Judge is righteous. This means He will not judge us by the legalistic letter of the law. He will judge us by the law of righteousness. He has given us the Holy Spirit to guide us. Did we follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance? “Vs25…they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?(NIV)” On the day of judgment we will be His children, or we will be rebels. When we stand before God the Father Judge, we cannot be both.