Robb Brunansky
People across the political spectrum were outraged this week when President Donald Trump dismissed the importance of the Epstein List. During his campaign, President Trump said, “Yeah, I’d do the Epstein thing. I’d have no problem with it.” Many people voted for President Trump, at least in part, because he promised to release the list. Earlier this year, Attorney General Pam Bondi claimed on Fox News that she was in possession of the Epstein List and was reviewing it. However, this past week when a reporter asked Ms. Bondi about the list, Mr. Trump intervened, shaming the reporter for still being concerned about who might have been Jeffrey Epstein’s “clients.” Despite Mr. Trump’s urging to move on from discussing the Epstein List, Americans still are demanding accountability for what happened, and who participated in it, on Epstein Island. Such a day of reckoning may never come, given the combined wealth and power of those implicated in Epstein’s crimes.
As Christians, we understand that many times wicked deeds go unpunished in this present evil age. The Psalms testify repeatedly that evildoers seem to prosper because of their wealth and power, while those who are seeking the Lord suffer injustice and persecution. In Psalm 53:1, David accurately describes life in our fallen world when he writes, “The wicked fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God,’ they act corruptly, and commit abominable injustice; there is no one who does good” (LSB). Asaph was troubled by the evils he observed in the world, writing of the wicked, “They are not in trouble as other men, and they are not stricken along with the rest of mankind… They scoff and wickedly speak of oppression; they speak from on high… They say, ‘How does God know? And is there knowledge with the Most High?’ Behold, these are the wicked; and always at ease, they have increased in wealth” (Psalm 73:5, 8, 11-12 LSB). The delusion of the depraved is that they can cover their dastardly deeds, and not even God will recompense them for their crimes. When Christians see evil parading itself through the earth and injustice winning the day, we can be just as discouraged as David or Asaph. But like David and Asaph, we need to remember that injustice is always temporary.
The consistent proclamation of God’s Word reveals that God’s judgment inevitably and irrevocably will fall on unrepentant sinners, and no one will get away with anything. Revelation 20:11-15 paints an overwhelming scene before the Great White Throne in heaven. The Lord Jesus Christ sits upon His glorious throne, prepared to judge the living and the dead. All the dead from all of history are raised and brought before the judgment seat on this great day. As the small and the great stand before Christ awaiting judgment, books are opened. In these books, God has recorded everything that sinners did during their lifetimes. A list of all of those who were ensnared by the devil, with all their evil works, is published on that day. Every hidden sin will be made public; every secret evil deed will be broadcast for all people and angels to hear.
When Jesus was sending out His disciples to proclaim the gospel throughout the land of Israel, He gave them instructions in Matthew 10. One of those instructions involved the necessity of courage, because proclaiming the gospel can bring suffering and persecution. Jesus said to His disciples in Matthew 10:26, “Therefore, do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known” (LSB). People engage in elaborate schemes to cover up their sins. The rich will spend countless wealth to hide their misdeeds. But Jesus is penetratingly clear: nothing hidden can be kept hidden forever. Nothing that gets covered up will remain covered up on the Day of Judgment. All the secret sins of humanity will be brought to light.
Not only will sinful actions and words be made public, but the Lord will also reveal the secrets of the heart, the inner thoughts people have and their motives. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 4:5 that, when the Lord comes, He “will both bring to light the things in hidden in the darkness and make manifest the motives of hearts” (LSB). The motives of people’s hearts can never be recorded on any human list, but God knows not only what we have done but why we have done it. He keeps a perfect and complete record of every word and deed as well as every thought and motive. Not only people’s sinful actions, but their sinful thoughts and motives, will be disclosed on the Day of Judgment.
This truth serves as a great comfort to the people of God. Asaph prayerfully realized that the end of the wicked is horrific. He said, “When I gave thought to know this, it was trouble in my sight until I came into the sanctuary of God; then I understood their end” (Psalm 73:16-17 LSB). As he considered the ease and wealth of the wicked, he was troubled until he perceived that God’s justice will fall. He goes on to say, “Surely You set them in slippery places; You cause them to fall to destruction. How they become desolate in a moment! They are completely swept away by terrors!” (Psalm 73:18-19 LSB). Justice is not always immediate, but when it comes, it comes swiftly and without mercy. Those who live long lives of luxury and wealth, hiding their crimes and covering their sins will in a moment be destroyed. The terrors of divine wrath will sneak up on them, and they will find themselves suffering under eternal torment in the lake of fire, all of their wicked deeds having been made known to all. Everything they thought they had shrouded in impenetrable darkness will be revealed by the light of God’s holy judgment.
This eternal and certain judgment will come one day when Christ returns, but the good news of the gospel is that it is avoidable, even for the worst of sinners. In Revelation 20:11-15, we read of another book that is opened. This book is not a record of the sins of the wicked but a book entitled The Book of Life. This distinct book contains the names of all those who have been saved by the blood of the Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ. This list reveals who has put their faith in Jesus so that their sins are forgiven. The wicked works of those written in the Lamb’s book of life have been written down on a list, taken out of the way, and nailed to Jesus’ cross (Colossians 2:14). That is why Paul can say that “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1 LSB). The sins of the believer, known and unknown to others, have been taken out of the way and cast into the depths of the sea, never to be dredged up again.
The Epstein list might never come to light this side of the Day of Judgment, but on that great day a more important list will be read, and no one will disregard its importance. If anyone’s name is not written in the book of life, their sins will be revealed for all to see, and they will justly suffer God’s wrath in the lake of fire forever.
The Christian hope for justice is thus twofold. We take comfort knowing that no evil deed goes unpunished, and God will right all the wrongs. But we also rejoice that the sins of everyone who repents and trusts in God’s Son, Jesus Christ, are forgiven, the penalty paid and the punishment meted out at the cross.
Robb Brunansky is the Pastor-Teacher of Desert Hills Bible Church in Glendale, Arizona. Follow him on Twitter at @RobbBrunansky.
