While many Bible believers think that there will be only one future judgment day where every person who ever lived will be judged, the scripture affirms that there are various judgments and it will happen in stages. This is the time for all of us to understand that we need to choose eternal life today. Your decision today will determine where you will be tomorrow. I always say to people that the future is giving us two parallel lines: the events of the world in our life and our choices. What we choose will determine where we will be during the events in the world. Either we are going to be on earth to experience the events or we will be in heaven to see the events, but our decision today will determine these things.
God’s righteous judgment is a stumbling block to many in our day. We live in a world where all behaviors and choices must be acceptable for everyone. To have any moral objection to a person’s choices or behavior is deemed to be hatred and bigotry. Because of this, God is rejected by many.
The curious thing about this is that those who reject God do so by rendering judgment against Him for His moral standards over His own creation. The other thing about this is that rejecting God based on His definitions of acceptable behavior and the consequences for failure in these areas ignores the fact that within these standards is provision for all to become acceptable to Him.
John 1:12-13 KJV – “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
Receiving Him and becoming children of God allows us to personally escape the judgment of God. This, however, is not through God turning a blind eye to our errors, nor is it Him compromising His righteous judicial nature by overlooking our transgressions and sins.
Isaiah 53:5-6 KJV – “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
Isaiah 53:10-11 KJV – “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.”
1 John 2:1-2 KJV – “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”
There is a day of judgment day coming for us all, believers and nonbelievers. However, there is a huge difference in the judgments. For “as many as received Him” the judgment for their sins and iniquities has been satisfied through the body and blood of Jesus shed for the whole world on the cross. So, what is the judgment that awaits “as many as received Him” if Christ bore the judgment for our sins?
2 Corinthians 5:10 KJV – “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.”
This judgment is not one that determines eternal destinies. This judgment is one of assessing our works before God as believers in Him. Our sin debt has been marked “paid in full” and God’s righteous judgment has been satisfied through the blood of His Son.
Those who have said in their heart, “I will not accept a God who does not accept me as I am, nor will I accept an imposed moral standard and beliefs that go against what I think,” there is a judgment awaiting them, too.
Revelation 20:11-15 KJV – “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”
The future judgment we will experience is a matter of choice. We can choose the judgment seat of Christ, where we will be rewarded for what we have done in and for His name. Or, we can choose the Great White Throne judgment where everything we have ever done will be measured against God’s holiness and written word. Then the Book of Life will be searched for your name, and if it is not there you will be cast into the lake of fire.
Dr. J. Vernon McGee said, “This is God’s universe and He does what He pleases. You might think you have a better way, but you don’t have a universe.”
Judgment day is coming for everyone, and in this life we must choose which judgment awaits us. Will it be the one where you stand before Jesus and have your works rewarded, or the one where you stand before the Maker of heaven and earth and have your actions judged against God’s holy standards?
If you haven’t made that choice yet, make it today. The choice to believe God and have righteousness accounted to you is the only way to have your name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus.
