The prospect of STANDING before God on judgment day is one of those Bible ideas that gets lots of bad press:
We either laugh it away (slide)
Or think of those failed predictions (slide)
Or the images are so horrible we push them to one side (slide)
The Word of God brings us BACK to out senses. WHY is final judgment necessary? WHEN will it happen? WHY will it happen? WHAT’S the purpose of judgment? These are some of the questions for us today. Then over the next few weeks we’ll be looking at the OUTCOME of judgment which is either heaven or hell.
The Bible affirms that there will be a great and final JUDGMENT for believers and unbelievers. At this time each one of us will STAND before the judgment seat of Christ and hear the ANNOUCEMENT of our eternal destiny. It is most vividly described in John’s vision in Revelation—Rev 20:11–15:
‘Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done’.
It’s a grand and solemn picture—the GREAT white throne—the DEAD rising—BOOKS opened—DEEDS exposed—JUDGMENT executed. As one commentator says, this is ‘the consummate judgment, to which all previous judgments pointed and which is the climax of them all’ (G.K. Beale, Revelation).
We ought NOT be surprised that there is a final judgment because the THEME of judgment runs throughout the Bible. You may already know that it BEGINS with the rebellion of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3.
When God made the world he LOOKED upon it and declared that it was ‘it was very good’ (Gen 1:31). It was good because it reflected the INTENTIONS of its Maker. The psalmist excitedly says, ‘The heavens declare the glory of the God, the skies proclaim the work of his hands’ (Ps 19:1).
As Westerners we treat CREATION as rather inert and lifeless. But the Hebrew mind is far more BUOYANT and much more poetic. Creation is ALIVE and designed to sing the praises of God. (To which all the gardeners say, ‘Amen’). Ps 96:11, ‘Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, [and all that is in it]; let the fields be jubilant, [and everything in them]. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy’.
God gave Adam and Eve the TASK of looking after the garden. They are to WORK and care for the garden. Under their leadership, creation will continue to REFLECT the glory of God. It’s a fantastic plan. Men and women in God’s image: ENJOYING relationship with God, enjoying relationship with one ANOTHER, and ENJOYING relationship with the world around them.
The rebellion of Adam and Eve turns HARMONY into turmoil. The young, energetic couple with the WORLD at their feet snatch at divinity. They want the WISDOM that belongs to God. And when they eat from the tree and their EYES are opened—it’s a rather PITIFUL scene—with their new found wisdom the ONLY new thing they see is their own nakedness.
Accountability rules. The LORD searches for Adam, who fesses up and says, “I was afraid, I was naked, I hid from you. Don’t blame me, Lord, the woman was your idea’ (Gen 3:10, 12). The LORD catches up with Eve who says, ‘Don’t blame me, Lord, the serpent deceived me’ (Gen 3:13). So the LORD says to the serpent, ‘Cursed are you’; the LORD says to the woman, ‘You will have pain in childbirth and pain in marriage’; the LORD says to the man, ‘Cursed is the ground because of you, your work will NO longer be pleasant, you will return to the ground from which you came’.
Now blessing and curse stand side by side. As humanity MULTIPLIES itself through the generations, it takes with it the CURSE of sin. A progress report is given in Gen 6:5, in the time of Noah, ‘The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time’ (Gen 6:5). This prompts the FLOOD (Gen 6 to 8), the tower of BABEL (Genesis 12), the judgments upon SODOM and Gomorrah (Gen 19).
We cannot IMAGINE how much sin grieves God! Broken and strained relationships are the very OPPOSITE to the relationships between the Father, the Son and the Spirit. Church should be a place where relationships reach their CRESCENDO. The picture of church in Acts 2 is the prescription for all churches, ‘They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all people’ (Acts 2:46–47).
We will NOT understand the nature of judgment until we UNDERSTAND the destructive power of sin. Sin tears us APART because it undoes the grace of God in our lives. Sin must be DEALT with and this comes from the hand of God.
Jesus has this to say about sin, ‘But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken’ (Matt 12:36). I’ve said a lot of careless words lately. In ROMANS 1, the Apostle Paul says, ‘The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness’ (Rom 1:18). In ROMANS 2 Paul deals with judgment upon those who have never heard of Christ and the law. The writer to the HEBREWS speaks about ‘eternal judgment’ (Heb 6:2). The Apostle Peter speaks about the UNSEEN spiritual realm. Here thee will be judgment upon angels who have sinned (2 Pet 2:4). The Book of JUDE refers to ‘judgment on that great Day’ (Jude 6).
For those live with Jesus as their Lord, final judgment is a time for acquittal, a time for reward, a time for celebration. God has a RECORD of delivering from danger those who are FAITHFUL to him—including Abel, Noah, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David. God saved DANIEL from the lion’s den and THREE MEN from the fiery furnace. He saved the Apostle Paul from many a STICKY situation. God preserves his remnant and he promises his people future reward.
So the Bible affirms the fact of judgment. But what is the PURPOSE of judgment? Why do we NEED a judgment day? For there is a sense in which people are ALREADY judged in this present life. John 3:18 says, ‘He who believes in Christ is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned’. The verdict flows from our response to Christ.
So why have a judgment day when the outcome is already known? I can think of two reasons.
The first purpose of final judgment is to display the glory of God.
Final judgment is God’s great, CORRECTIVE hand mightily restoring glory to his world. Centre stage on judgment day is the glory of God. This can be a hard point for people to grasp. In a world that’s all about itself, in the end, life is NOT all about ourselves.
Life is about God and his glory. The PSALMIST says, ‘Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth (Ps 57:5). JESUS prays, ‘This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.’ (Jn 15:8). And as the LORD contemplated the cross, he prayed, ‘Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you’ (John.17:1).
On judgment day, God’s grace will be MAGNIFIED in the salvation of his people, and his justice will be MAGNIFIED in the condemnation of his enemies. At the heart of the universe is the glory of God. So our church vision statement says, ‘Our aim is to glorify and enjoy God and make Him known’. The WCF says that ‘the chief end of man is to glorify God’. And on judgment day this WILL happen par excellence.
The second purpose of final judgment is one of publication. And there are two things which will be publicised.
The first is the PUBLICATION of people’s final destiny. A public announcement of the VERDICT for each person. Judgment day is the time for the PUBLICATION of our deeds, the PUBLICATION of the faith that people have or do not have. On this day what is HIDDEN will become public knowledge.
God’s courtroom is NOT like the Supreme Court in the city. In a murder trial, the evidence is heard and a DECISION is made about the guilt or otherwise of the accused. A human trial is a PROCESS of investigation. Interview the eyewitnesses, cross-examination, scrutinise the physical evidence, look for a motif. Bring all the EVIDENCE together and come to a verdict.
But God is all-knowing. He DOESN’T need an investigation. He has NO need of evidence to convince him. God has PERFECT knowledge of the character and history of everyone who stands before him. Paul says in Eph 1:4 that the saved are known BEFOREHAND by God from eternity.
Judgment day is not a time for investigation—it’s a time for declaration. After the publication of the saved and unsaved, then DEGREES of reward or punishment will be made known. The underlying PRINCIPLE comes from verses such as 2 Cor 5:10, ‘For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad’. The PARABLE of the pounds in Luke 19 and the building illustration in 1 Cor 3:10–15 make a similar point.
Think for a MOMENT about rewards in heaven. If heaven is life in the PRESENCE of God, then does it make sense to talk about rewards? What can be MORE rewarding than heaven itself?
It’s HELPFUL to look at it this way. The more you give yourself FULLY to the work of the Lord, the MORE joy there is in your Christian life. For example, if you TEACH primary or high scripture every week, this brings you the JOY of seeing young lives changed for Christ. But if you are HALF-HEARTED in your Christian life, if you NEVER speak about Jesus or act in service for him, then you will NOT see the Spirit of God at work. You will NOT know the full joy of the Christian life.
Being a disciple-making disciple brings its own reward. Leon Morris says, ‘Here and now the man who gives himself wholeheartedly to the service of Christ knows more of the joy of the Lord than the half-hearted. We have no warrant from the New Testament for thinking that it will be otherwise in heaven’.
The FACT of judgment, the PURPOSE of judgment, and now the ‘WHO’ and ‘WHEN’ of judgment.
There are a number of Bible passages that ASCRIBE judgment to God the Father. For instance, 1 Peter 1:17 says, ‘Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear’. Rom 14:10 mentions the judgment seat of God. 2 Thess 1:5 speaks of God’s judgment ‘being right’.
What is more COMMONLY taught in the New Testament is that Christ will be the judge. Paul speaks of ‘Jesus Christ who is to judge the living and the dead’ (2 Tim 4:1). In John 5:22 we read, ‘The Father judges no-one, but has given all judgement to the Son’. In 2 Cor 5:10, PAUL writes, ‘For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ’.
And here’s a surprise! Christ will be ASSISTED in judgment by the saints. When Paul rebukes the Corinthians for taking fellow CHRISTIANS to court, he says to them, ‘Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels’? (1 Cor 6:2–3).
When will the final judgment take place? (slide). Pope Innocent III – 1284; Charles Wesley – 1794; Family Radio – 21 May, 2011; and there’s always the next comet for good measure!
Final judgment will OCCUR at the end of this age. When’s the END of the age? It’s when final judgment occurs! Matt 24 speaks about the COMING of the Son of Man. It will be a public event. ‘No-one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father […] Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come’ (Matt 24:36, 42).
No-one knows when the Lord will return, so be prepared! But the APPLICATION of final judgment is not all future.
Final judgment assures us that justice in this world will eventually be done. Ultimately God’s universe is FAIR, for God is in control, and he keeps ACCURATE records and dispenses just judgment. When Paul tells slaves to be SUBMISSIVE to their masters, he re-assures them, ‘For the wrong-doer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality (i.e. no wrong doer gets off the hook)’ (Col 3:25).
History is littered with great injustices. This is a TRAGIC, mixed up, confused world. JEREMIAH asks, ‘Why do the ways of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live in ease’? (Jer 12:1). Books such as Job and ECCLESIASTES confront the amount of disproportionate evil and suffering in this world. And they also give us the HOPE of a new heaven and a new earth—and they foreshadow hell.
The Bible insists that GOD is entirely just, and so ultimately justice will be done. But because this is an appeal to what has NOT yet taken place, the assurance this offers comes ONLY to those who trust in the promises of God. If you CANNOT wait for answers, if you CANNOT trust God simply because he is a just God, will find NO comfort at this point.
Final judgment enables us to forgive others freely. It is NOT up to us to take revenge on others who have wronged us because God has RESERVED that right for himself. In Rom 12:19, he says, ‘Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord’.
We should hand over to God our DESIRE to hurt or harm someone who has wronged us. For every wrong in the UNIVERSE will ultimately be paid for—either by Christ on the CROSS if the wrongdoer is a Christian—or it will be paid for at the FINAL judgment when God hands down his verdict on a rebellious world.
Once we are SATISFIED that God will bring everyone to account, we can freely forgive others. God is just and soon he will right all wrongs and dispense fair rewards and fair punishments. We must FOLLOW the example of Christ, who ‘when they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly’ (1 Pet 2:22–23).
Final judgment enables us to forgive others freely.
Final judgment also provides a reason for righteous living. Heaven is our home, and as we live as citizens of heaven, we reap GREATER eternal reward. In the Sermon on the Mount, So Jesus tells us, ‘Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven’ (Matt 6:20). The final judgment is an INCENTIVE to faithfulness and good works. On judgment day, we want the PUBLICATION of our works to bring glory and honour to God.
Even in the world-at-large, there is a SENSE of accountability before God. Amongst non-Christians, there may be FOUND a ‘fear of the Lord’ which restrains actions. A few years ago I was dealing with SOMEONE who was in the pit of life. She couldn’t get any lower. And all of a sudden, she started TALKING about God and justice. It really surprised me!
But there are some who have NO fear—the Apostle says, ‘no fear of God before their eyes’ (Rom 3:18). Elsewhere Peter says, ‘you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised?’ Final judgment is a COMFORT to believers and a WARNING to unbelievers not to continue in their wicked ways.
Final judgment provides a great reason for evangelism. The DECISIONS made by people in this life will affect their destiny for eternity. We will all STAND before the great and just judge of creation. So we need to get OUT into this world and SHARE the gospel of the Lord Jesus. We need to tell people that God is SERIOUS about sin and he will judge us according to our works. And God only delays his judgment because he is KIND and merciful. ‘The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance’ (2 Pet 3:9).
Life isn’t about HAMBURGERS and energy drinks and designer label clothes. It’s a sad state of affairs when some religious leaders call The Simpsons the most theologically RELEVANT show on TV. In the book, The Gospel According to the Simpsons, Tony Campolo writes in the foreword, ‘Do not go too hard on Homer Simpson because more people in our churches are where he is than any of us in the mainline denominations want to acknowledge’.
We need to LIFT our heads. And when we rise ABOVE the hamburgers and energy drinks and designer label clothes, we see the future resurrection which is a reminder that God has set a day when he will judge the world (Acts 17:31). One theologian (Leslie Newbiggin) wrote in the Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology, ‘It is one of the weaknesses of a great deal of contemporary Christianity that we do not speak of the last judgment and of the possibility of being finally lost’ (1994, 130–131).
So be warned and be prepared!
