The Great White Throne Judgment
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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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