“Winning the Last Battle”
John 5:28-29
Dr. Rick Bartosik
Mililani Community Church
December 2005
"There was a real railway accident," said Aslan softly. "Your father and mother and all of you are—as you used to call it in the Shadowlands—dead. The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning." C. S. Lewis, The Last Battle, 228.
"Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when ALL who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned." John 5:28-29
Death has infected the whole human race. There is no one on earth you can turn to, to avoid it. Death is inevitable. Sooner or later it will affect us all.
But Jesus made the astounding claim that he has authority even over death! He can and he will raise the dead.
A day is coming when all the dead will hear his voice and come forth. It will not be the Father’s voice they hear, or the voice of the Holy Spirit. They will hear the voice of the Son of Man, Jesus Christ!
There will be two resurrections: a resurrection of life—some will rise to live. There will also be a resurrection of judgment—some will rise to be condemned.
At the final judgment, Jesus Christ will be the presiding Judge. Whether they like it or not, every man and woman will someday stand before him face to face. "The Father judges no one but has entrusted all judgment to the Son" (John 5:22).
Those who have “done good” (Romans 2:7) are those who have trusted Christ as their Savior. Those who have not trusted him will stand before God on the basis of their own worthless works and be condemned because they rejected the only One whose work on the cross could save them.
That Day of Judgment will be a terrifying experience for those who have rejected Christ. Revelation 6:15-17 says that people will be crying for the rocks and the mountains to fall on them and hide them from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb (that is Jesus).
What a solemn thing to realize that Jesus Christ is not only the Savior, but He is the final Judge.
For those of us who believe in Him, He is the One who will raise us, and transform us, and make us just like Himself.
We will pass from death to life—into a glory that we can not even imagine now.
One of my mother’s favorite hymns expresses the hope we have of meeting Jesus face to face someday. It is entitled, "Face to Face" Carrie E. Breck (1855-1934) in Praise! Our Songs and Hymns, Ed. Norman Johnson, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan 1979), 479
Face to face with Christ my Savior,
Face to face what will it be?
When with rapture I behold Him,
Jesus Christ who died for me.
Chorus:
Face to face I shall behold Him,
Far beyond the starry sky;
Face to face, in all His glory,
I shall see Him by and by!
Only faintly now I see Him,
With the darkling veil between;
But a blessed day is coming,
When His glory shall be seen.
What rejoicing in His presence,
When are banished grief and pain,
When the crooked ways are straightened
And the dark things shall be plain.
Face to face—O blissful moment!
Face to face—to see and know;
Face to face with my Redeemer,
Jesus Christ who loves me so!
What a great and glorious day is coming for those who have trusted Jesus as their Savior!
At the end of C. S. Lewis’ book, The Last Battle, on the last page of the last book in The Chronicles of Narnia, Aslan speaks to Peter, Edmund and Lucy:
"There was a real railway accident," said Aslan softly. "Your father and mother and all of you are—as you used to call it in the Shadowlands—dead. The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning."
And as He spoke He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before." (C. S. Lewis, The Last Battle, 228)
I hope you know him today! If not, trust him now as your Savior.
Those who have the Son have it all! Those who reject the Son lose everything!
His claims are true, and someday you will see him face to face in glory or in terrible shame.
Claim his promise today and put your trust in him as your personal Savior. Amen!
