The Judgment Of God Series

End Times Doctrine

“The Judgment of God”

** Watch at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RShVBBGano

The church today lacks a healthy fear of God. We have lots of teaching on God’s love, mercy and grace, which is good and necessary, but little is said about God being holy, righteous, and just.

And here is the point, until we truly understand the meaning of God’s judgment, we’ll never fully understand the meaning of His grace.

We also hear a lot about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, and are looking forward with great expectation to that day. But crouched in this teaching is a truth that when it is finally understood it should shake the church out of its lethargic condition. That truth is the coming judgment of God.

God’s judgment may be the one truth that will awaken the church so it can shake the world.

And here it is, that all humanity will one day stand in judgment before God. There will be no support from anyone, not family or friends, not even an attorney. Everyone must stand before the justice and judgment of God.

This is why the truth of God’s judgment lays forgotten and ignored. It reveals the severity of God that most people, even those within the church, want to avoid. The teaching about God’s judgment has become distasteful. Just as the love, grace, and mercy of God cannot be overstated, so the holiness, righteousness, and justice of God cannot be understated.

The fact that everyone is judgment-bound is probably the most sobering thought that can be presented in the church today, and that’s because it’s been appointed for everyone to die and be judged afterward (Hebrews 9:27).

The only problem is that everyone thinks they’re going to heaven. They don’t think they’ll ever face God’s judgment, because judgment is for evil people like Hitler and Osama Ben Laden, and they’re nowhere near like them.

It’s like the story of the little boy who told his teacher, “My daddy says that if I don’t get better grades, someone’s going to get a spanking.”

The little boy, however, didn’t think he deserved to get punished, but he was pretty sure the teacher did.

When it comes to judgment most people think they’re going to get a pass from God. While they’ve done bad things, these are nothing compared to the things done by really “bad people.”

This, however, is not the way God’s sees it. God says there is no one who is righteous. All have sinned and fallen short of God’s glorious standards (Romans 3:10, 23).

Look at Isaiah’s response when He found himself in the presence of God.

“My destruction is sealed, for I am a sinful man and a member of a sinful race.” (Isaiah 6:5a NLT)

The prophet Isaiah is someone we consider to be as righteous as they come. But when he looked at himself in the light of God holy presence and purity he saw himself for who he truly was, a sinner.

But judgment isn’t just for the wicked; everyone will face judgment in the end. The Bible says, “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27 NKJV)

If we’re all going to face God’s judgment, the question becomes, “At which judgment will we appear?”

There are actually two judgments, one for the wicked, and another for the righteous, and each has their own judgment seat and outcome.

In Matthew 25:46 Jesus said, “And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:46 NKJV)

However, before we can get to these two judgments, there is what is known as the book of life, from which these judgments derive.

The Book of Life

God’s judgment is based upon who is written in the Book of Life, also called the “Lamb’s Book of Life” (Revelation 13:8, 21:27). This is the book Jesus will use when He judges everyone in the end, because God the Father has given the final say to His Son, Jesus.

“For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son.” (John 5:22 NKJV)

The Book of Life contains the names of those who are righteous, and they’ll have eternal life. But the ending of the wicked, those whose names are not contained within this book, will be everlasting death.

“And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:15 NKJV)

The names written in the Book of Life are believers in Jesus Christ whom God considers righteous, not based upon their own righteousness, but rather the righteousness of Jesus. Jesus refers to them as overcomers, and their white apparel is an indication of their righteousness.

“He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.” (Revelation 3:5 NKJV)