And I heard the altar saying, yes, Lord God, the Almighty, true and just are your judgments.
– Revelation 16:7
Wow. What a statement, especially for those of you who may be listening to this on Christmas day. To see this picture in Revelation 16:7. As the judgments of God are being poured out on the earth and the altar proclaims, “Yes, Lord God, the Almighty true and just are your judgments.”
Revelation 16:7 reminds us the justice will reign.
Just think about this and what it has to do with Christmas specifically. First in a more general way, when we come to the end of world history, our conclusion will be clear. The judgments of the Lord God, the Almighty are true and just. In other words, in a world of injustice… You just think of all the times whether in your life you have felt injustice… In your life, you have witnessed or seen injustice.
Think about all the injustices in the world that we see right now or in the history of the world. In the end, Revelation 16:7 says, that justice will reign. And we will not wonder anything about the judgments of God or the justice of God. His coming justice will be shown to be perfect. This means you can have total confidence amidst injustice in this world, that justice is ultimately coming.
How do we know that? And this is the tie with Christmas because Jesus, the just and righteous God of the universe has come to us in the flesh. And why has he come? He has come to endure the just payment do sinners so that we who trust in Jesus can be saved from the judgments due our sin and receive the mercy of God. So that we can be spared the just judgment due us as sinners and saved for all of eternity.
Revelation 16:7 encourages us to worship God for his righteousness.
Praise Jesus, God in the flesh for living a just and righteous sinless life, for dying on the cross to pay the just price due sinners and for rising from the dead in victory over sin and the grave. And then ascending into heaven and promising, I’m coming back soon and my justice will reign on the earth.
Oh, Lord Jesus, we praise, we exalt you as the just and righteous ruler of the universe, as the savior of our sins. We praise you for coming to us to die on a cross for us, for our sins. It never gets old. Jesus, we praise you for the penalty you paid for our sins in your death on the cross. All glory be to your name. All praise be to your name. And all honor be to your name. We love and worship you as our Savior and our Lord.
God, I pray for anyone who’s listening to this right now who’s never placed their faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins. I pray that today would be the day, this Christmas day for many who are listening to this, that this would be the day where everything changes, that they would hear you saying to their heart, even right now that you love them, and you’ve sent Jesus to die on a cross to pay the price for their sins.
A Prayer for the Lost
God, I pray that you’d bring them to trust in Jesus right now. And when they do and for all who have to know that in the end, injustice will not have the last word in this world. That your justice and your truth and your judgments will have the last word.
So on this day, when many of us look back to when you came, Lord Jesus, we say today, we are looking forward to the day when you will come back and we will sing with those around the altar saying, yes, Lord God the Almighty, true, and just are your judgments even as we have been saved from those judgments by your grace and your mercy. We pray all this according to your Word in Revelation chapter 16:7 in Jesus’ name, amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
