THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT THE FINAL JUDGEMENT: PART 1

 

PART 1: THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT THE FINAL JUDGEMENT

There are many brilliant people in this world: People with the ability to captivate audiences, and that has made them popular speakers of our day. One of these great speakers was asked what he regarded as the greatest thought that ever occupied his mind. He replied: “The sense of my individual responsibility to God”.

 

In elaborating his answer, he said: “This thought is not pleasant to those who are living in their sins and out of relationship to Him, and consequently are not prepared to face the tremendous issues involved. However, whether the issues are faced or not, the fact remains: “So then every one of us shall give an account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12). So then, we are responsible to God, as the word of God declares, and … cannot escape our responsibility.

 

These words of the speaker lead us to consider our choices carefully. Our character is formed as we establish repeated habit patterns as a result of the consistent daily choices we make. Choices are the stuff that life is made of, and our choices will determine our eternal destiny. God has created us with free will, and we are responsible for the choices we make. The judgment implies moral responsibility. It speaks to the fact that we are not mere machines or products of biological chance. 

 

As Paul states: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he or she has done, whether good or bad”(2 Corinthian 5:10). But the judgment is more much-more much-than about us. It has to do with a universal struggle between good and evil. It focuses on a cosmic battle for the control of the universe. 

 

The judgment is primarily about God. Is God fair? Is He just? Is He loving and merciful? In the great controversy that is raging in the universe, Lucifer, a rebel angel, has declared that God is an authoritarian tyrant. This fallen angel has defamed the character of God. He has portrayed God as selfish, desiring obedience and giving little in return. The evil one has claimed that God’s laws restrict our happiness. He has charged God with the mismanagement of the universe. 

 

Do not misunderstand this!

There is no question that we are accountable to God. 

There is no question that we are responsible for our actions. 

There is no question that the decisions we make will determine our eternal destiny.

There is no question that we have free will and that the choices will determine our fate.

 

But in the larger picture, we need to understand the judgment that will powerfully impact our lives. The book of Revelation is all about the war that Satan has declared upon God. Revelation focuses on the end of the age-long controversy between good and evil. Satan claimed that God is unfair and unjust in the way He has administered the universe.

At the very center of this conflict over the character of God is Revelation’s final judgment. John states, “Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach . . . to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people-saying with a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give Him glory, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made the heaven and the earth, the sea and the springs of water’ ”

 

Notice especially in the light of the everlasting gospel there is the expression” The hour of His judgment has come.” This is the hour of the entire universe to see the goodness of our God. For the last time, the beings of the unfallen worlds will see, in the light of the judgment hour, that God has done everything He can to save every human being.

 

Check out part 2 as we reflect on Revelation’s end-time judgment.