8. The Coming Judgment of God

Lesson 8a - Resurrection To Judgment

A Text Badly Translated:

1. “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation” (John 5:28,29 KJV).

Many sincere students of God’s Word have been misled by the wording of this text in the King James Version of the Bible. This is because such a rendering seems to indicate that on-ly “those who have done good” in this life have a hope of everlasting life, while all others will be damned.

2. The last word in this text, damnation, is translated from the Greek word krisis, which properly translated would be “judgment.” It is translated “judgment” in almost every other translation that exists. Did you know that the translators working for King James gave a very poor rendering of this word, and that a short time later even the revisions of the KJV changed “damnation” to “judgment”? According to the Greek dictionary of the New Testa-ment contained in Strong’s Concordance, the word krisis is defined as: “decision (subj. or obj., for or against); by extension a tribunal; by implication justice (spec. divine law).”

3. There is a VAST difference between the words judgment and damnation.” “Krisis” or judgment implies both a trial and then a verdict. Contrary to this, the word damnation means a verdict has already been reached.

4. To hold on to that erroneous thought that “krisis” should be translated “damnation” is an in-sult to God’s love and fairness. As we have shown in many of the previous studies, those who have not understood the present message of salvation have been blinded by Satan.

5. The main subject of the Bible is the doctrine of the Ransom For All. This doctrine is woven through all the books of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. Since Jesus offered his life as a ransom for all mankind, ALL mankind must be given an opportunity to benefit from his sacrifice. This will be accomplished when all are allowed to acquire knowledge of him with the hope for everlasting life. All scriptures dealing with various subjects must be in harmo-ny with this central theme of the Bible, the Ransom For All, because “God is not the author of confusion” (1 Cor. 14:33 KJV).

6. As we showed in the previous study on the two resurrections, any of mankind who have no part in the first resurrection will come up in a second resurrection of judgment. They will undergo their period of “krisis” (judgment), which will consist of a trial for life followed by testing and a verdict. Those who accept Christ and obey God’s laws during that time of trial will gain everlasting life on this earth, while those who do not will have lost the opportunity for eternal life and cease to exist.

7. We shall now show one of the MANY correct translations of John 5:28,29: “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come forth - those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who commit-ted the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment” (New Americn Standard Version). You will find just about this same rendering in most translations.

8. Did you notice how only the first resurrection is called a resurrection of life? This means that only those who come forth in such can be considered forever alive right away when they are awakened from death. They will never be in danger of the second death. All who come up under judgment must first prove themselves worthy to receive the gift of eternal life before they will be considered alive. Until that time, the possibility of a second death will always be upon them.

Lesson 8b - Day Of Judgment, A Lengthy Period Of Time

1. One thing we must realize is that the coming day of judgment in which the people of earth are to be judged is NOT to be a literal twenty-four-hour day.

2. The word day in the Bible was often used to refer to a much longer period of time than 24 hours, and does not refer only to a normal day. In most cases it was a translation of the He-brew word yowm which is translated “age” in other places in the Bible. According to Strong’s Concordance, its figurative meaning is “a space of time defined by an associated term.”

3. “These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the DAY that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens” (Gen. 2:4 KJV).

It is reasonable to understand that the word day in this verse does not refer to a literal twen-ty-four hours. In fact, the NIV translation helps us to better understand this, as it uses the word when instead of “in the day.” Even if we were to believe the six periods (or spaces) of time called days were each twenty-four hours long, we would have to consider the creative day of this verse to be six days long.

4. In Hebrews 3:8,9 (KJV) we read of Israel’s “day” of temptation in the wilderness. We KNOW that this use of “day” does not refer to a literal twenty-four hours, because other scriptures accounting for that period of time tell us it lasted forty years. In fact, even the 9th verse of this text shows that Israel’s day of temptation lasted forty years. Note the words used in the NIV: “. . . do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did.”

5. Isaiah 22:5-8 speaks of the “day” of trouble that would come on Judah. “Day” was used there to symbolize the period of time involved in Judah’s corrective punishment.

6. In John 8:56 Jesus said that Abraham rejoiced to see his “day.” There, the word day appar-ently was used in reference to the period of time Jesus would offer himself as the Lamb of God. That “day” lasted three and a half years.

7. Throughout the book of Isaiah we find the words day and days used interchangeably. For example, we read in Isa. 2:2 that God’s Kingdom will be established in the last days. Going on to the 12th and 20th verses of that same chapter, the word day refers to the SAME period of time. This is another proof that “day” does not always refer to a day of twenty-four hours.

8. What we have shown in this lesson are just a few of the many instances in the Bible where the word day designates periods of time of variable lengths. By carefully studying all the prophecies of the Old Testament concerning what will occur during the coming day of judgment, it can also be clearly seen that a literal twenty-four-hour day was not meant for that process.

Lesson 8c - The Judgment Relating To The Church

1. There are several judgments referred to in the Bible. The two we will deal with in this study relate to the Church and the world. Individuals which comprise each class come under the judgment of God. In many ways they receive the same kind of judgment, because the end result of the judgment is either approval or disapproval. The faithful overcoming believers of the Church who run their course of life successfully are rewarded with life in the first resurrection. The rest of mankind who gain God’s approval by successfully pleasing Him dur-ing their trial for life in the Millennial judgment day will also be granted life after their final testing in the “little season” (Rev. 20:3-6). However, there are some differences between the judgment of the Church and the judgment of the world, which we will cover in this lesson.

Members Of The Church Now On Trial:

2. There is a saying among certain professed Christians that “once in grace, always in grace.” This is part of the doctrine of man, and cannot be found anywhere in the Bible. After we have accepted Christ in our lives and believe that we have the true faith, our victory is not yet guaranteed. The Apostle Paul inferred the possibility of failure in 1 Cor. 9:26,27: “Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” We can be overcomers if we let God’s Spirit work in us. (Read Rom. 8:37-39.)

3. It is also clearly written in scripture that no amount of faith will benefit us if we do not per-form the good deeds that should accompany our faith. (See James 2:14-22.) These deeds or works must be in obedience to God’s will for us. It must be His work done through us. That harmonizes with what our Lord meant when he said a tree is recognized by its fruit. (See Matt. 12:33.) If we fail to bear fruit, we will be like the dead branch which is pruned and thrown into the fire. (See John 15:1-8.) Note, our fruit bearing is dependent on our attach-ment to the vine, Jesus Christ. He supplies us what we need to bear fruit.

4. By going over these scriptures in your Bible, you can see that the called-out ones (the Church) are being judged by God now during their trial period. They are the stones of God’s temple being prepared in advance, just as the stones of Solomon’s temple were prepared in advance. They are being prepared to reign with Jesus as his Bride during the coming thou-sand-year rule of God’s Kingdom over the earth, and must be found worthy. Those who make their calling and election sure” (2 Peter 1:10) by remaining faithful to the end will come forth in the first resurrection to eternal life with Christ. As we showed in the previous study, the second death will have no power over them (Rev. 20:6).

5. Unfortunately, many Christian believers have failed to make their calling and election sure, and some today may fail under test. Forseeing this, Jesus said, “For many are called but few are chosen.” (Matt. 22:14 KJV) The “workers of iniquity” he referred to in Matt. 7:21-23 were not unbelievers, but rather members of the Church who chose to do their “own thing” rather than obey the will of God. In this life they continue to think they are doing God’s will, in their quest to reign with Jesus, but he will tell them, “I never knew you.” What a SAD time that will be for them! Anyone not chosen will have to come up in the second resurrection and go through the judgment of the world. They will have lost the opportunity to be a member of his Bride.

6. Some of those who have fully responded to God’s call can fail if they fall away from the true faith. Heb. 6:4-6 states that it is impossible for those who were once enlightened to be brought back to repentence if they fall away. In verses 7 and 8 they are likened to the land that produces thorns and thistles instead of a crop. It will be burned in the end. (See also Heb. 10:26,27.)

7. The writer of Hebrews warned us in 12:15 not to miss “the grace of God,” showing it is a possibility. As the Apostle taught elsewhere, we can fail by not succeeding to gain a firm hold on the everlasting life. (Also see Heb. 12:15.)

8. There is no more sacrifice left for those who turn away and deny Jesus as their Saviour. In-stead, they fearfully must face the judgment. The verdict for those who continue to reject our Lord in that judgment will be a sentence of eternal destruction. Only through the sacri-fice of Jesus is there hope of eternal life. If they continue to reject that gift from God, they will lose the hope of eternal life. (See Heb. 10:14-27.)

Lesson 8d - The Judgment Relating To The World

1. As in past studies, when we use the term world, we refer to the inhabitants of the world apart from those who are “called out.” Consecrated believers are still in the world, but they are not part of the world. (Read John 17:14-16.) As you study about the future judgment of the world, you must take into consideration everything you have learned in past studies about the Ransom For All.

2. If you studied these lessons carefully and found the proof in the Bible, you should now real-ize that God’s love for humanity is much broader than the limited love many religions would have you believe. To begin with, we showed in past studies how Adam and Eve fell from God’s favor after they sinned. Going on, you saw how the penalty of death came on them because of that sin, and how it has brought suffering and death down through all the genera-tions ever since. Then you studied about the work of Jesus Christ on behalf of fallen man-kind while he lived on earth as a perfect man. You saw how he offered his perfect human life as a Ransom For All, which has provided a way in which EVERYONE who has ever lived on this planet will have the opportunity to gain everlasting life.

3. One of the important subjects of the Bible can be summed up in the phrase, “Paradise lost to Paradise restored.” Genesis, the first book of the Bible, describes the beginning of man’s history, the paradise home that was his, and how paradise was lost through sin. The books of the Bible that follow Genesis describe God’s plans for redeeming mankind from sin and death, and restoring the paradise that once existed in Eden. Only because the Ransom For All was paid can those paradise conditions be restored. Any other subject we attempt to study in the Bible must be harmonized with that main subject. Paradise will be regained by the people of earth through the sacrifice which our Lord Jesus made by offering himself a Ransom For All.

4. With all this in mind, the future judgment of the world must also be in harmony with the central theme of the Bible. That thought is expressed in the first lesson of this study. In the previous lesson, what you studied had to do with the judgment of the Church, whose mem-bers have been enlightened by the truth. In the lessons that follow, we will go into detail as to how judgment will apply to the world of mankind during God’s coming Kingdom. They, too, will be enlightened by God’s Word so as to have an opportunity for everlasting life on this earth, but their reward will not be the same as that of the Church. The glory now offered to the Church will never be offered again.

Lesson 8e - Judgment In Righteousness

1. “For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:31). We repeat here that you must keep in mind the fact that all scriptures dealing with a specific subject must remain in harmony with all of God’s Word, in order to properly understand the Bible.

2. The Apostle Paul was quoting Isaiah in his letter to the Romans when in 15:12 he showed how Jesus was the “root of Jesse” who one day will rule over the nations, and the Gentiles will hope in him. By comparing Romans 15:12 with Isa. 11:10, one can see it is a direct quote.

3. Please open your Bible and read Isa. 11:1-10 for yourself. This text shows several of the things that will occur when Christ reigns over and judges the world. These verses declare that Jesus will not judge after the sight of his own eyes nor reprove after the hearing of his own ears. Rather, it is clear that he will judge with righteousness. This text also shows the peaceful conditions that will exist on this earth during the coming judgment period. By reading such verses, one should easily see that the judgment of humanity will be done over a period of time, rather than in a single twenty-four-hour day.

4. “. . . When your judgments come upon the earth, the people will learn righteousness.” (Isa. 26:9) As Isaiah spoke to God in this verse, he recognized the fact that people will benefit from God’s judgment when His Kingdom is reigning over the earth. The fact that they will learn righteousness shows they will be judged in fairness.

5. “See, a King will reign in righteousness and rulers will rule with justice. Each man will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land. Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed, and the ears of those who hear will listen. The mind of the rash will know and understand, the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear” (Isa. 32:1-4). In this proph-ecy we see more proof that mankind will greatly benefit from God’s coming judgment of righteousness on this earth. Can you see how precious God’s promises are for mankind?

6. The scriptures we have covered in this lesson deal with the rest of mankind who will come forth in the second resurrection to live here on the earth. As we showed earlier in this study, those in the Church who are running for the “High Calling” are being judged now. They have the opportunity to gain immortality in this lifetime, which includes everlasting life. However, those in the world will not have their opportunity to gain everlasting life until sometime in the future when God’s Kingdom is established on the earth.

7. We dwelt quite a bit on Acts 3:19-23 in previous studies. It, too, refers us to others apart from the Church who are not being judged at this time because they have not been called out by God. As stated in the text, they will have the opportunity of hearing Christ, “that proph-et,” after he returns from heaven, and they come up to judgment in the second resurrection.

8. After Christ returns and Satan, the one who has blinded unbelievers to the truth, is taken out of the way, the prophecies of Isa. 26:9 and 32:1-4 we quoted earlier in this lesson will be ful-filled. “The mind of the rash will know and understand, and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear.” In the present day and time, very few people comprehend God’s plan. The “rash” do not understand His ways, but they WILL during the coming time of judgment. They will then have to choose whether to accept or reject God’s Word.

Lesson 8f - A Hope For All In The Judgment

1. As we showed in the previous lesson, Isa. 26:9 states that the people of the world will learn righteousness when the time of God’s judgments come in the earth during the Kingdom. At that time, dear student, we are told in Isa. 11:9, “. . . the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD . . .” But this is not saying that all will take hold of the great opportunity that will be offered to them at that time. Going on to Isa. 26:10, we read that there will be wicked ones who rather will choose to go on doing evil in that “upright land.” It is for that reason that we find the Apostle Peter’s implied warning in Acts 3:23: “And it shall come to pass, that every soul which will not hear (obey) that prophet (Jesus Christ) shall be destroyed from among the people” (KJV). In Revelation that punishment is called “the second death,” from which there will be no return. (See Rev. 21:8.)

2. It would be worthwhile for you to note something about the history of mankind. It opens in the third chapter of Genesis with man’s fall into sin and death, and it closes in the 22nd chapter of Revelation with both mankind and the earth itself restored to perfection. It shows how man will eventually be at peace with God, with nature, and with one another, following the destruction of Satan, his fallen angels, and his human followers. That blessed peace will last forever!

The Reason There Is A Hope For All:

3. In one of our lessons on the Resurrection, you studied about the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. You learned the importance of believing that he did indeed rise from the dead. A most wonderful part of Christ’s resurrection is not only the hope it now offers to the Church, but also the hope for everyone who is now living or has ever lived on this earth - the hope of eternal life.

4. The true purpose of our Lord Jesus Christ’s coming to this earth has been hidden from the world by its enemy, Satan, to this very day. Many churches have taught their people to be-lieve that Jesus died for our sins only to take those of us who have been good to heaven, and send the rest to hell. Nothing could be further from the truth than this.

5. It is indeed true that Jesus Christ died for our sins, but the truth, though withheld from so many people, doesn’t stop there. Jesus died as a substitute for Adam, giving his perfect hu-man life for the perfect human life of Adam which was lost through sin. By satisfying divine justice, he not only redeemed Adam, but the WHOLE human race! This great act of love on the part of both God and Jesus - “For God so loved the world . . .” (John 3:l6) - provided the ransom and has redeemed all mankind from the curse of sin and Adamic death.

6. The Apostle Paul said in 2 Cor. 6:2 that “now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” Certainly this is the only time we will have to become one with Christ so that we may reign with him and not have to come under future judgment, but this does not diminish the hope for the rest of mankind. For them to take hold of their hope, they need only to obey the words of “that prophet” in the next age, and remain faithful and true to the very end of their testing. In so doing, they will be fit to receive the gift of eternal life on the earthly plane.

Lesson 8g - The Destiny Of The Wicked

Wicked Cut Off From life:

1. Proverbs 2:21,22 declare that the upright will reside on the earth, but the wicked and unfaith-ful will be cut off from life. The time is coming when God will no longer tolerate those who choose to remain evil. (See also Psa. 37:9-11,29.)

2. When Christ returns and established his Kingdom, every person who has ever lived will have the opportunity of hearing and obey- ing him. Those who obey him will be the “up-right” who will reside on the earth, while those who continue to reject his teachings will be cut off from life. (See Acts 3:19-23 again.)

3. It will truly be merciful on God’s part to destroy the wicked, those who, after coming to a full knowledge of God under favorable conditions, continue in sin and disobedience. Were they to continue living out of harmony with God’s laws in that glorious age to come, their evil deeds would harm others.

4. God alone knows how the earth should be governed, and we are perfectly content to “Let God be God.” When His laws are obeyed, there is peace, love, and contentment amongst His subjects. When people violate those laws, the results are pain, hatred and suffering.

5. According to Rev. 21:4, the time will come when weeping, pain, and even death will cease forever for those who love peace and righteousness. At that time there will be a clean world. (See Isa. 11:9; Rev. 21:5.) There will be no place for the wicked in that coming world. (See Rev. 21:8 again.) According to Psa. 37:10, they “will be no more;” they will not even be found.

6. “Zion will be redeemed with justice, her penitent ones with righteousness. But rebels and sinners will both be broken together, and those who forsake the LORD will perish” (Isa. 1:27,28). We read in Rev. 11:18 how the Lord will destroy them that corrupt the earth.

7. There should be no doubt in your mind that a time is coming when God will no longer per-mit evil. Since Satan was the cause of sin from the beginning, many ask why God doesn’t just destroy him at the beginning of the Millennium. The answer is that a service still re-mains for him to do, and it will incur the final testing of mankind. You can read about it in Rev. 20:7-10. Remember for a moment how Satan succeeded in alienating man from God in the Garden of Eden. He wanted man to serve him instead of God. That goal was defeated at the cross of Calvary. But after Satan is released for a short time (Rev. 20:3), he once again will try to thwart God’s plans for humanity. Hopefully, relatively few of mankind, after the experience they have had with sin and death, will choose to follow him again. That will be their final testing, and those who do continue to follow him will be destroyed in the second death, as well as Satan and all his evil angels. Both Rev. 20:14 and 21:8 tell us that the lake of fire and sulfur is a symbol of the second death. The second death means final or total destruction.

END OF STUDY