In our first REMEMBER YOUR CREATOR article we focused on who Jesus is. In the second article we focused on what Jesus did when He went to the Cross and Rose again. He is the Person we need to believe in and receive in order to know we will be with Him in heaven when our journey through this life is over.
In this third article we will look ahead to see what Jesus is going to do, based on who He is and what He has done for us when He went to the Cross.
About 2,000 years ago, this One who became a man, stood at a judgment seat before Pilate the Roman governor and was unjustly convicted. He was sentenced to the Cross, but while he did suffer at the hands of men there. He would also suffer at the hand of God, taking responsibility for the sins of all that would receive Him, and pay for them as if they were His own, so that we who have now received Him will never have to bear the judgment we deserved.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God who did this, will in a coming day will also be the Judge of all mankind. The Bible the Father, in fact judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, so that all people will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. John 5:22
As He ‘in the beginning’ perfectly executed the mind of the Father in God’s Creation Plan, and as He ‘on the cross’ perfectly executed the mind of the Father in God’s Redemption Plan. in a coming day this One who was judged un-righteously by man, will perfectly and righteously execute the mind of the Father in God’s Judgment Plan.
This event is recorded in the last book of the Bible and is described as…Then I saw a Great White Throne and Him who sat upon it from whose face the earth and heaven fled away… And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and the books were opened
And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. The dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books… And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the Lake of Fire. Revelation 20:11-15
What this reminds us of, is that in the world today there are only two kinds of people.
Those of us who are guilty, but after pleading guilty before God and receiving Christ as His provision for our guilt, will never be judged for our sins because a Holy God will only punish sins once. It is a wonderful thing that Christianity is the only belief system where we can afford to be honest with God, and when we agree with Him that we have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23, and receive His Son as our Savior, we are forgiven and brought into an eternal relationship with God, and as promised in the Bible to all who did receive Him, He gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in His name. John 1:12
The other group of people in the world are those who are guilty as well, but have never acknowledged it before God and received His provision of forgiveness and eternal life that is only available through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
That is the group described here in Revelation 20. There lives will be fairly and justly evaluated as the first set of books is opened, and after a fair and just trial, they will be found guilty. The reason that they are cast into the Lake of Fire however, is because they never acknowledged their guilt and received God’s provision of His Son as their Savior, and had their name written in His other book, which is the Book of Life.
The Lake of Fire is a place and condition where one is eternally separated from God, and it was never intended for man, but the eternal fire was prepared for the Devil and his angels. Matthew 25:41
If you have never done so before, the Bible reminds us that Look, now is the acceptable time, now is the day of salvation. 2 Corinthians 6:2, and everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Romans 10:1
Author – Sid Osborn