John 3:18 Already Judged_

He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. John 3:18

The word judgement sounds so final, and in our 21st century context, is often not a positive term. In a legal context it means that a magistrate has heard all the evidence and makes a determination of guilt or innocence. Judging, or separating between fact and fiction, good and evil, right and wrong, acceptable and rejected, is a responsibility given to few. And in this context, any judgment made by God is considered informed.

Jesus made it clear in verse 18 that the son did not come to judge, but to save. But he clarified what that meant: The Father has already made a judgment, or separation, or decision about men, “because they have not believed in the name of the Only Begotten Son of God.” What does this mean?

It’s hard to move beyond the choice Adam and Eve made in the garden. It reflected fundamentally an expression of distrust for God. Self-seeking. Self-protection. At that time of failure, God rendered a verdict: Man and woman did the one thing they were asked not to do and ate from the tree. Men were barred from the garden and the tree of life. Except… if you receive the provision that God made. And even then, your ability to eat from the tree of life will be deferred to a future time. By faith, one may take that provision, which was the lamb, slain. Faith in the Father’s sacrifice. Jesus’ name means: Yahweh is Salvation. From the very beginning, Adam and Eve had the opportunity to believe in that name – the very character and heart of God to forgive and restore. This salvation was entrusted to Adam, then the Patriarchs, then the Jews with a continuity from the garden to this present day. But now, in the flesh is Jesus the Savior – the real provision for sin. Believing in salvation (or the name of the only begotten, as he says here) was something many in Israel were already doing even before Jesus, the man, arrived. At the Messiah’s arrival, those who believed and trusted God, made a transition in faith to Jesus, the real lamb. Internally their heart and spirit knew this was God’s salvation. So from the beginning, a judgement had already occurred in the Garden which separated the believing from the unbelieving, those who had faith in his salvation, and those who didn’t.

But is this judgment final? Not by any means. It was an initial ruling or finding of man. The essence of our character was found to be unbelieving, untrusting. Yet there is hope! Good news! Our nature may be redeemed. But it takes a choice to believe this. And continue to.