Why was the coach so upset? Because the quarter was "tails up"! The coach's view was, who would ever want to go into a game with that kind of an evil omen? The other side of the coin, the judgment, for many people is bad news. The story goes that not long ago he verbally berated one of his players for picking up a quarter he noticed laying in the grass on the sidelines just as the game was getting under way. He evidently is also very hard and demanding on his players, and also rather superstitious. Recently I saw part of an interview with an acclaimed football coach who has been head coach for three NFL teams, leading two of them to Super Bowl fame.
#I CORINTHIANS 3 JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST FULL#
But Christ is not only the full embodiment of God's love, He is also the Judge who will separate the sheep from the goats, the good from the evil, those who believe from those who reject. Jesus, out of His infinite mercy and grace demonstrated God's love by giving His life on the cross for our eternal salvation. There are two times where Paul alludes to this "beema," the "judgment seat of Christ."Ī couple weeks ago we dealt with the subject of Grace - this is the other side of the coin, and frankly, most of us don't like the other side of the coin.
So clearly, the "beema" is the throne of a powerful ruler related to when he is sitting to render judgment. When thee rulers sat on the "beema" they were operating in a judicial capacity, providing the highest appeal that would be available to the citizen in that particular territory. Pilate (Matthew 27:19), Herod (Acts 12:21), Gallio, procounsul of Achaia (Acts 18:12), Festus (Acts 25:6) when Paul was brought to trial, and Caesar (Acts 25:10). The word is used for a number of very powerful rulers: However, there's another word for throne that's found several times through the New Testament it's the word "beema" which in the bestthing refers specifically to the "tribunal" or "judgment seat." From the throne decisions are made, commands are given, and messages dispatched. It simply means the seat of power and authority, the official place where sits the sovereign ruler.
In the bestthing, the most common Greek word for "throne" is almost exactly the same as ours - "thronos". How often have you heard someone refer to sitting on the toilet as "sitting on the throne"? An odd place to get a message, but it got me thinking about that which all of us will face someday. I know that there's a company called "Church Chair" that makes these kinds of seats - which has always struck me as an odd name for a company that makes toilet seats, but I had never seen this name before - it was "Bemis". When I went into the men's room, which is off the hallway just to the left of the serving counter, I could immediately see that the toilet seat was up - it was the men's room, after all! But what caught my attention was the logo on the underside of that seat. Recently I was traveling through Connecticut on I-84 and stopped at my favorite Duncan Donuts for a bathroom break and a medium sized cup of the world's best coffee - one sugar and cream, please. It is interesting, encouraging, and sometimes surprising that God speaks to us in the everyday flow of our lives, at times in strange and unusual settings.
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