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There are lines of an old song
which say, "In that great day, people in that great day. . .
God's gonna rain down fire. God's gonna sit in the middle of the
air to judge the quick and the dead. Early one of these mornings
God's gonna call for Gabriel, that tall bright angel, and God's
gonna say to him, 'Gabriel blow your silver trumpet.' And then
putting one foot on the mountain top and the other on the sea
Gabriel stands and blows his horn and wakes the living nations.
Where you gonna stand on that day?"
The Bible teaches clearly that
judgment day is coming. Every member of Adam's race, both saved
and lost, from the beginning of time until the end, will stand
before God in judgment.
The judgment of the saved is
called the Judgment Seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10; Romans 14:10).
This judgment is discussed in another article. See “Judgment
Seat.”
“Therefore having overlooked
the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all
people everywhere should repent, because He has
fixed a day in which He will judge the world in
righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed,
having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the
dead.” (Acts 17:30-31)
The Great White Throne
God’s final judgment of the human
race is called “the Great White Throne.”
"Then I saw a great white
throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose face the earth
and the heaven fled found no place for them.” (Rev. 20:11)
The Judge
The one sitting upon this throne
is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. God the Father has
given to Him the responsibility for all judgment.
“For not even the Father
judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son,
so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the
Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the
Father who sent Him. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who
hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal
life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of
death into life. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is
coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the
Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the
Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also
to have life in Himself; and He gave Him authority to
execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. Do
not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who
are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth;
those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of
life, those who committed the evil deeds to a
resurrection of judgment.” (Matt. 10:22-29)
The Judged
Those who will be judged at the
Great White Throne are people who have not trusted in Jesus
Christ.
"He who believes in Him is
not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned
already, because he has not believed in the name of the only
begotten Son of God." (Jn. 3:18)
"He who believes in the Son has
everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not
see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." (Jn. 3:36)
The unbelievers will be judged
out of the book of works. God has recorded in these books every
thought, word, and deed of every person who has ever lived.
“And I saw the dead, small
and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And
another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the
dead were judged according to their works, by the things
which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead
who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead
who were in them. And they were judged, each one according
to their works.” (Rev. 20:12-13)
Those who fail to measure up to
God’s righteousness will be cast forever into the lake of fire.
God’s required righteousness is that righteousness which His
righteousness requires Him to require. God must adjust all to
His absolute righteousness. This judgment has been forever
satisfied “in Christ.” If we have believed in Christ and die “in
Him,” we are not to fear the Great White Throne judgment,
because we will not be there.
The Judgment
The unbelieving segment of Adam's
race will one day face the full and final judgment of God which
the Lord Jesus called hell.
“Do not fear those who kill
the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear
Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
(Matt.10:28)
Then Death and Hades were cast
into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not
found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of
fire." (Rev. 20:11-14)
This Great White Throne judgment
is reserved for those who are called "Death and Hades." Death in
the Bible means separation. When Adam sinned, the point of
contact between God and man immediately changed. Man's sin
violated God's holiness and immediately set in motion the demand
for His justice. Because the genetic blueprint for the entire
human race was in Adam at the very moment of His sin, his death
was passed on to all. All sinned in Adam.
"Whereas by one man sin
entered the world and death by sin, and so death passed on
all men, for all sinned." (Rom. 5:12)
Every member of Adam's race was
indicted by God and sentenced to death.
"In Adam all die." (1 Cor.
15:22)
"The wages of sin is death."
(Rom. 6:23)
This judgment of death has to be
carried out. God's word was at stake. God's absolute
righteousness is in the balance. God’s required righteousness
is that righteousness which His righteousness requires Him to
require. Those who are not given the life of God by faith in
Christ will taste forever death by being separated from God
forever in the place called "the lake of fire."
"He who has the Son has life;
he who does not have the Son of God does not have life." (1
Jn. 5:12)
This final forever judgment is
called "the second death." It may be that those of us who have
believed in Jesus Christ will taste the pangs of physical death.
"Yes, though I walk through
the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for
You are with me." (Psa. 23:4)
However, we will never have to
face the horror of the second death because Jesus Christ bore
this death upon the cross.
"For He has made Him who knew
no sin to be sin for us that we might be made the
righteousness of God in Him." (2 Cor. 5:21)
God's Justice Forever
Satisfied
Motivated by an indescribable
love, God determined long before Adam and the human race sinned
that He Himself was going to take care of our sin problem once
and forever.
In order for this to happen a
death had to occur (the wages of sin is death, Rom. 6:23). That
would not be an easy task because as God He is eternal life and
eternal life cannot die.
"From everlasting to
everlasting, You are God." (Psa. 90: 2)
In order for Him to die and thus
satisfy His own judgment of death, He became a human being.
"Let this mind be in you
which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God
thought it not robbery to be equal with God but made Himself
of no reputation and took on the form of a servant and
was made in the likeness of a man. And being fashioned
as a man He humbled Himself and became obedient to death,
even the death of the cross." (Phil. 2:5-7)
The Son of God born to the virgin
Mary was in every way perfect. Because of His supernatural
birth, He had not been contaminated with Adam's sin. Because of
His perfect life, He never committed a single act of sin.
God then slipped out of His
judicial robe as our judge and onto a cross becoming our sin
sacrifice. God, in the person of Jesus Christ, bore the judgment
that was meant for us. The One who was right became a
substitutionary atonement for those who are wrong. The innocent
became a substitute for the guilty.
"He made Him who knew no sin
to become sin for us." (2 Cor. 5:21)
Here is the wonderful news of the
gospel. The gospel is the good news that God's just judgment
against man's sin has forever been settled by the death of Jesus
Christ. And the good news gets even better. The magnificent
benefits of the work of the cross are made available to all who
will trust Jesus Christ.
"Being justified freely by
His grace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ,
whom God has set forth to be a propitiation by His blood,
through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in
His forbearance God has passed over the sins that were
previously committed. That God may be just and the justifier
of those who believe." (Rom 3:24-26)
God will declare to be right
before Him only those who believe. God will not grant the
righteousness necessary to enter heaven to anyone until it is
received by personal faith.
"But to him who does not
work, but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his
faith is counted for righteousness." (Rom. 4:4)
"He that believes on Him is
not condemned; but he that does not believe is condemned
already because he has not believed in the name of the only
begotten Son of God." (Jn. 3:18)
"Most assuredly, I say to
you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me
has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but
has passed from death into life." (Jn. 5:24)
We could never do anything of
ourselves to persuade God to be any more loving and just than He
has already been in Jesus Christ. We cannot stop all of our bad
habits, join a church, give our money, say prayers, nor anything
at all to help satisfy God's demand of death against us. God's
work of grace has been finished.
This second death is reserved
only for those who have not trusted in Him. They will all appear
at the Great White Throne judgment.
Every member of Adam's race will
stand before God either at the Judgment Seat of Christ or the
Great White Throne judgment. There can be no escape. As the song
writer says, "Where are you gonna stand on that great day when
time shall be no more, and the sun goes out like a candle in the
wind. Oh where you gonna stand."
Sources:
S. Lewis Johnson
Chuck Swindoll
The Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old
Testament
John MacArthur
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