Recently, I listened to a pastor, on a video clip, explain the reason for the first verse in Genesis 1. Why does the Bible start with the record of the way God brought order to a chaotic planet? Not only did He create the earth but He also prepared it for human habitation.

He lit up the planet to expose the chaos then, step by step, He restored functionality on every level. He made plants and animals and, when everything He made was “good”, functional, He fashioned a human pair to set the process of inhabiting the earth in motion under His authority.

All the details of this process point to one fact,

‭Psalms‬ ‭24:1‬ ‭NLT‬
[1] “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him.”

Ownership! And… ownership means accountability. However much people hate, deny, and run from accountability, they can never escape the fact that everyone is answerable to God for what they do and the way they live.

The Bible is adamant that everyone must stand before God.

‭Romans‬ ‭14:11‭-‬12‬ ‭NLT‬
[11] “For the Scriptures say, “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will declare allegiance to God.’” [12] Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God.”

‭Hebrews‬ ‭9:27‬ ‭NLT‬
[27] “And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment..”

‭Revelation‬ ‭20:11‭-‬12‬ ‭NLT‬
[11] “And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. [12] I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books.”

It was Adam, the first man, who chose to reject accountability to God and strike out on his own but… his decision did not automatically cancel God’s ownership of the human race yet to come. It only heightened the guilt of all who deny their answerability to the God who made them.

On what grounds then, does God judge every person who either submits to or denies their accountability to God?

God’s right to judge is enhanced by His solution to man’s rebellion.

‭John‬ ‭3:16‬ ‭NLT‬
[16] “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

By paying the debt for every person’s rebellion, the incarnate Son of God, Jesus, gives everyone who believes in Him, i.e., submits unconditionally to His supreme authority, a new beginning. Their disposition is transformed from rebel to son. They recognise and accept their accountability, live by His instructions, fix their gaze in Him, and move in the direction of eternal life.

Those who reject God’s solution and continue to express their rebellion by living in purposeful contradiction to God’s instructions, must accept the consequences.

‭John‬ ‭3:18‭-‬20‬ ‭NLT‬
[18] “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. [19] And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. [20] All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.”

The only sin for which people will be judged is their refusal to accept accountability to Jesus, who is their judge because He paid their debt.

‭Acts of the Apostles‬ ‭17:24‭-‬26‬ ‭NLT‬
[24] “He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, [25] and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. [26] From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries….
[30] “God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him. [31] For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.”

There is a day coming when every person will stand before Jesus, the Judge, and give an account of his/her accountability. No excuse will acquit the guilty.

The standard of God’s Word will be the measure by which people will be judged and that standard is clear and inescapable.

‭Psalms‬ ‭119:130‬ ‭NIV‬
[130] “The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.

‭1 John‬ ‭5:11‭-‬12‬ ‭NLT‬
[11]”And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. [12] Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.”

Everyone must answer the same question,

Matthew‬ ‭16:15‬ ‭NLT‬
[15].. “But who do you say I am?”