Foundations of the Christian Life. Chapter 37: - ETERNAL JUDGMENT 2: - JUDGMENT OF THE UNBELIEVER.

Foundations of the Christian Life.
Chapter 37: - ETERNAL JUDGMENT 2: - JUDGMENT OF THE UNBELIEVER.

God has fully judged sin in Christ on the cross. This deals with the sin problem for anyone who receives it. However if a person refuses to allow Christ to remove their sin then Christ’s work does not cover them so they face the prospect of judgment on themselves.

There are three phases to God's judgment of sin.

(i) Judgment in time now.
(ii) Judgment at the End of the Age.
(iii) Judgment in Eternity.


JUDGMENT IN TIME NOW.

Because of sin and rebellion the non- Christian is living in judgment already.

John 3:18.
“Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.”

Romans 1:18.
“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness,…”

This judgment is seen in action already:

1. Sin Can Release a Curse that brings Suffering.

This is clearly seen in Genesis 3 where Adam and Eve first sinned. As a result of their sin certain consequences would result which God called a curse. In one sense this is an aspect of the Law of Sowing and Reaping at work. Because of this we are not to see God actively at work in this suffering. Rather it is the inevitable consequences of the operation of unchangeable law.

God does not curse anyone or anything, but as he is the author of the law he takes responsibility for its consequences. Hence when the Bible says, “I (God) will send a curse on you…” we are to understand that he is not personally cursing somebody, but rather he is accepting responsibility for the fact that he created the law and thus the effects are ultimately his responsibility. But it is a “second-hand” responsibility – he is not directly active in the consequences.

The difficulty for us is that we cannot normally see the connection between our actions and the curses we may be experiencing. The connection is spiritual and so is not immediately obvious to natural observation. After all, who would have thought that the growth of weeds would be a result of man's sin (Genesis 3:18). We would not have known this is God had not said so. There is no obvious connection to us between the two events, but when we understand the logic of God and how he created the universe it starts to make sense. Weeds are plants out of control -– the control man was given by God. Most “curse consequences” are like this. The link is not clear.

2. We Reap what we Sow.

Galatians 6:7,8.
“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.”

Again God is not directly involved in this, rather he takes responsibility for it as the originator of the law.
Again the difficulty for us is making the link between the sinful act and the consequence. After all a tomato seed doesn’t look much like a tomato plant with fruit on it. Neither does the fruit of sin look much like the “seed-act-of-sin” that was planted.

But there is a second level to sowing and reaping besides the spiritual curses that result. Scientific Law tells us that ervery action has an equal and opposite reaction. This is as true of human actions as it is of scientific experiments. Every action we do must have a consequence, and moral actions have consequences. Let's take a simple, obvious example. There is an epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases throughout the world, Venereal Diseases, Aids and others. The simple fact is this: If there was no sexual relationships outside of marriage (i.e. immorality) all of these diseases would disappear from the face of the earth within a generation. One does not need to be a Doctor of Philosophy to work that!

Similrly other sins have natural consequences that have to be reaped. Unfortunately, in a Fallen world such as the one we live in, sometimes the consequences are carried by innocent victims.

3. God’s Active Judgment of Sin.

Again it is difficult for us to see the connections. And this is compounded by the fact, as we have observed in the last chapter, that God doesn’t want to judge so he delays judgment. As a result the judgment is often separated from the act of sin by a significant period of time – long enough for us to have thought we have “got away with it” and forgotten the sin altogether. The classic example of this is the judgement that came of Israel and Judah with the exile. The prophets had given many warnings for several hundreds of years so the people thought that their sin didn’t matter to God. But it did!

God’s active judgment of sin in time is seen in:

(i) Partial Judgments in Time.

Romans 1:22-28.
“Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator- who is forever praised. Amen.
Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.”

"God gave them over".
God's judgment is seen first in the removal of the natural restraints and inhibitions of conscience so that man can descend to even lower levels of sin. The depths of sin men descend to is proof of God's judgment - even the animals do not behave that bad. In "letting go" restraint God allows men to descend into a living hell.

St. Augustine (Bishop of Hippo, 4th cent) - " Sin is also the punishment of sin".
i.e. the state of suffering and sin man lives in because of sin is part of it's penalty. Non-Christians live in a foretaste of Hell.

Romans 1:27 - "receiving in their own bodies" - it doesn't wait until the END.

Have you noticed this fact of modern history:
There are what we call "Christian countries" who have, for several hundreds of years lived out of a Christian ethic. As a result they are prosperous and relatively wealthy. While Capitalism cannot be said to be a Christian doctrine many of the basic principles of Capitalism are Biblical Principles of handling money/ property. Because of our Christian ethic you can generally do business in an honest way without bribes or "kickbacks". And by and large the common people are free.
Then there are countries that have no Chrisitan heritage but have worshipped other "gods". Without exception their people largely live in poverty and need. Communism was one such "god" and it brought povery to every country that came under its domination. India has thousands of "gods". But in these cases it has brought poverty and slavery to the common people.

Now have you noticed these trends:
As "Christian" Countries are abandoning their Christian heritage the nations are going into debt and more and more people are becoming "poor". Poverty is on the increase in the West. And what is more to counteract this governments legislate to try to make things come right. But the result of such legislation is always to increase povery and to bring ordinary people into bondage to unnecessary laws.
Meanwhile countries such as India and China are adopting the "Christian" philosophies - and both are having real Christian revivals. As this happens the countries are becoming wealthy and the lot of the poor is being eased.

Its enough to make you wonder.

(ii) Total Judgments in Time.

In total judgments the sinful man is destroyed in his sin.

Examples:
Genesis 6:5-8 - the Flood.
Genesis 19:4-11 - Sodom.
Genesis 15:12-16; Joshua 11:14-20 - the Canaanites.
Exodus 1-10 - Pharaoh.
Acts 5:1-10 - Ananias and Sapphira

This only happens when the people concerned have become so hardened in sin that they are beyond any possibility of repentance or response to God. This will be the norm at the end of the age.


JUDGMENT AT THE END OF THE AGE.

The three ongoing judgments of sin we have already seen are, in a sense, restrained at the present time. However they will find a full expression at the end of the age. Part of this is because there are processes at work – spiritual laws like the Law of Sowing and Reaping – that bring increase, and the increase of suffering from sin will only reach its peak at the end of the age. This is one of the reasons why Christ returns then. If left to continue the processes would totally destroy mankind, so God must intervene.

Let us look again at the three ways judgment is seen in time to see the final manifestation of them.

This final manifestation of judgment at the end of the age is revealed to us in the Book of Revelation. To help us understand what is being taught there, there are a few things we need to understand:

The Structure of Revelation.
* Revelation is a book made up of a series of visions, seven in total, each vision has seven parts: The 7 Churches, the 7 Seals, The 7 Trumpets, The 7 Thunders, The 7 Actors of the Last Days, The 7 Bowls, 7 Last Visions.
* The book is not written in Chronological order, but goes round in cycles revisiting the same time period looking at it from different points of view.
* The three key visions are the Seals, Trumpets and Bowls. These three visions each contain a series of events over a time span. The seventh of each vision is actually the same event. This is indicated by the repetition of what is a “signature” of the Day of the Lord:

Revelation 8:1,5. The 7th Seal:
“When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour…
Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.”

Revelation 11:15, 19. The 7th Trumpet.
“The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever." …
Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a great hailstorm.”

Revelation 16:17,18. The 7th Bowl.
“The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, "It is done!" Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake.”

These are all describing the Day of the Lord. Various elements in the context confirm this but we wont take time to demonstrate this now.

It is these three cycles that demonstrate the three aspects of judgment we have been talking about and describe the full manifestation of each aspect.

1. Sin Can Release a Curse that brings Suffering.

This is demonstrated in the Seven Seals. To understand the meaning of the Seals we need to go back to Revelation 4&5. There we find God the Father, Son and Spirit presented to us – but in a particular context, as the Triune God of the Covenant.
God, the Father, is presented as the Creator God in Chapter 4 and his throne is surrounded by symbols that speak to us of covenant, the covenant with Adam.
Christ is presented as Redeemer, the one who is “able”, i.e. legally has the right, to open the seals on the scroll.
The scroll is the title deed of Earth, sold by Adam to Satan, now redeemed by Christ. But the price of sale was death. As the scroll is opened we see the price of death read out, seal by seal.
Thus the Seals reveal to us the final and full outworking of the curse brought on the world by Adam’s sin.
In one sense this is God’s action in Christ, but in another sense it is the final outworking of impersonal processes of law begun in the Garden of Eden

2. We Reap what we Sow.

This is demonstrated in the Seven Trumpets. The whole of this section of Revelation is steeped in the symbolism of the Feast of Tabernacles, the great feast celebrated by Israel at the end of every annual harvest. The idea of seven trumpets itself comes from the fact that Tabernacles was celebrated in the seventh month of the year and each month was begun with a blast from a trumpet. Hence the seventh trumpet began the seventh month, which really began with the day of Atonement, the prophetic type of the Day of the Lord.
So the whole underlying motif of the Trumpets is the idea of harvest.
As the trumpets are blown what we see is the final outworking of the truth that “we reap what we sow.”
Again, in one sense, this is God bringing judgment, but in another sense it is the final outworking of the processes of the law of sowing and reaping.

3. God’s Active Judgment of Sin in Time.

This is demonstrated in the Seven Bowls. This is actually said to be God’s wrath on man’s sin. Here the context is not immediately obvious but a little knowledge of Jewish jurisprudence helps.
In Jewish law when a judgment is made there is always a punishment of the guilty and a rewarding of the innocent. When a dispute between a complainant and accused is brought before the judge all the evidence is collected and reviewed and the judge then makes his judgment. If the complaint is upheld the accused is punished and the complainant is rewarded. If, however, the complaint is not upheld then the tables are turned – the complainant now is punished and the accused is rewarded. In actual fact the judgment that the original complainant would have made against the accused is made against him. This rewarding and punishing happens in the same event.

This is what we see in this section of Revelation, God is now acting as judge.
In Chapter 14:14-20 we see two harvests – the righteous, who are raptured, and the wicked, who are thrown into the winepress of God’s wrath. Then in Chapter 15 and 16 this is elaborated on. In Chapter 15 we see the righteous in heaven being rewarded, in Chapter 16 we see the wicked receiving the wrath of Almighty God. This is God’s active judgment finally seen in full measure on the world. This rewarding and punishing happens in the same event.

JUDGMENT IN ETERNITY.

There appear to be two judgments of non-Christians after the end of the age.

(1) The Judgment of the Nations alive at Christ's coming.

Often called "The Throne of His Glory".

Here there are no Jews nor Christians present, only Gentiles who are left alive after Armageddon.

Matthew 25:31-46.
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. "Then the King will say to those on his right, `Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
"Then the righteous will answer him, `Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
"The King will reply, `I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
"Then he will say to those on his left, `Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
"They also will answer, `Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
"He will reply, `I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

The exact meaning of this parable of Jesus is not clear and there is some debate as to what it means. The best meaning, or so it appears to me, is to understand it as being a judgment of those non-Christians still alive after Armageddon. The basis of judgment is simply common human decency shown to those Jews and Christians suffering persecution in the last days. The timing of this judgment – Christ says it is at his Second Coming – menas that it is not the same judgment as the next one we will consider.

(2) The Great White Throne.

Revelation 20:10-15.
“And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done.
Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.
If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

This is clearly at a different time - it is at the end of the Millennium. It is the judgment of all those who did not have faith in God from all time. They are raised to life for the judgment (the Second Resurrection). Also included are the fallen angels and demons, though the False Prophet and Antichrist are already in Hell (Revelation 19:20-21).

The only outcome of this judgment is Hell.


THE FINAL PENALTY - HELL.


There is not much we know about Hell but we can work out some details.

(1) Hell is not Hades, the two are different.

Revelation 20:13-14.
“The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.”

Hades is cast into Hell, so must be different.
Hades is the waiting place of the dead BEFORE the resurrection and judgment. Hell is the place that those judged as unbelievers go to AFTER the judgment.

(2) Is it eternal suffering or annihilation?

The Bible teaches the continuing state of the wicked, therefore it is eternal. It is also clearly a place of suffering. There is a real existence there.

Matthew 25:46.
"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

(3) Is it a period of reform, or are those in Hell there permanently?

The Roman Catholic church teaches that there is a place of reform, or a place of limited punishment, called Purgatory. So long as you are baptised you will get out of Purgatory after a suitable period of punishment. Those not baptised go to Hell anyway. This idea is not found in the Bible.
Hell is said to be there permanently, and there is no escape, this is it's great horror. It is not designed to be a reformatory because THOSE THAT GO THERE ARE BEYOND REFORM. The time of free choice is past.

Some other teachers feel that Hell's purpose is reformatory but they ignore the meaning of the word "eternal". If Hell is not eternal then how can we be sure that Heaven is eternal - they are described in the same way?

(4) It is a second death.

Life as we know it, or as will be known by the redeemed saints, will not be experienced there.

Revelation 20: 10,14.
“And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
…Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.”

This does not imply there is no existence there however. Death is not the end of existence, rather is the change of SPHERE of existence. The quality of existence in Hell is such that there is nothing we could call "life".

(5) Is it a physical place, or purely spiritual?

The words used imply it is physical. This is what we should expect. Those who go there are raised from physical death before they are judged (Revelation 20). The nature of man demands that Hell be physical. Man IS Body, Soul and Spirit. God created man to be a physical being on a physical world, this is not going to change in the new creation. Men sin in the body, and will ultimately be punished in the body.

(6) Is it in God's presence?

Yes! - How could it be otherwise? But it is in a state of the complete absence of God's favour. Our God is a consuming fire. Hell may be the result of being in eternity, in God's holy presence, without sins being covered.

(7) Where is it?

God Knows. It may not be created yet. There is nothing in the Bible to indicate that it is. It will be around in time to receive the Antichrist and False Prophet who seem to be its first inhabitants (Revelation 19:20). There seems no need for it to exist before then. It may be created as a result of God's judgement on Satan's earthly capital, Babylon.

Revelation 19:3. - "her smoke goes up for ever" – speaking of Babylon.

Man's eternal destiny is earth related, so Hell will probably be a place on earth.

(8) What is Hell like?

To those outside of it, Hell may appear to be as nothing. To get the idea, read C.S.Lewis - "The Great Divorce".

To those inside of it, it is an endless disturbance of existence as a result of the complete dominance of evil in there. It is suffering in mind, body, emotions and conscience TO THE HIGHEST DEGREE CONTINUOUSLY, without the possible relief of insanity. Every negative experience and emotion will be there in full strength WITH NO BALANCING GOOD.

However even in that there will be degrees of punishment decreed by God due to conscience.

Matthew 11:22-24.
“But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths. If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you."

Hell is the full manifestation of evil and suffering, but it is unrestrained.

Just as we, as Christians, create our own heavenly reward while in this life, so too non Christians create their own level of punishment by their own rebellion.

(9) What about the apparent injustice of this age?

Psalm 10 - the wicked prosper.
Psalm 22 - the righteous suffer.

Heaven and Hell, bliss and torment, will reach back into time from the last judgment and transform the experience of life. Things look differently now because we see things imperfectly (1 Corinthians 13:9). When we see the whole truth from God's point of view we will see that, in truth, the righteous were blessed and the wicked were cursed. We will see this, not only in the act of the last judgments, but we will see that it was always true in every experience of life.


TRANSFORMER VERSE.
JUDGMENT.
ROMANS 2:9,10.
There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, but glory and honour and peace for every one who does good.