Eternity. A really short story.

Once upon a time, God decided to end the world as we know it. All of a sudden, a star fell out of the sky. More stars fell to the Earth. An army marched into Israel. Then army after army poured in. Then God destroyed all the armies in a storm of fire. This happened in the valley of Megiddo.

When the government had proclaimed anyone who became a Christian would be denied food, many lost their faith. However, those who kept the faith were spared for eternity. The Tribulation would destroy the Earth. It would last 7 years. The Tribulation was planned by Satan.

“Mama, what’s to eat?” two-year-old Matt complained.

“We will be eating in six years,” replied his mother. “Food is scarce.” Suddenly an alarm went off, indicating it was time for half an hour of weeping.

“I hate the fire pit.” Someone who died in an abortion clinic complained. “It’s so painful.”

“Well, we can’t do anything about it.” Samuel said. “I wish we could, but we chose to reject God, so He rejected us.”

“Hey, God, how’s life?” I asked.

Robert! Good to see you.” El Shaddai answered.

“Hey, God, want to go for a walk and you can tell me about what life was like before the Fall?” I said.

“Absolutely!” God replied.

“How big was Eden?” I asked.“The Garden was so big, you could climb to the top of the tallest tree and look around. All you would see would be trees. Want an apple?”

“Of course” I said. “Can you tell the apostles I said hi?”

“Sure. Want me to tell C.S. Lewis you said hi, too?”“Ok. Can you also tell Isaac Newton and Ravi Zacharias I said hi?”

“Certainly.” God laughed.

“Thanks.” I said sincerely.

“Want to hear a joke?” God said.

“Oh, sure.”I said.“Who was the only person who didn’t have a dad besides Me?”I shrugged.“Joshua, the son of Nun, had no father.” We laughed.

The Coming Judgment

Remember the movie Star Wars? Obi-Wan and Luke were standing together in Obi-Wan’s house. Obi-Wan held out a light saber. Luke’s eyes got big.

Obi-Wan explained, “I have something here for you. Your father wanted you to have this when you were old enough, but your uncle wouldn't allow it. He feared you might follow old Obi-Wan on some damn fool idealistic crusade like your father did. It's your father's light saber. This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or as random as a blaster, but an elegant weapon for a more civilized age. For over a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. Before the dark times, before the Empire.”

Justice today is rarely found. However, is it reasonable to believe that justice will never be delivered?

Biblical evidence for a judgment after death

Why should we believe in a judgment that is after death? Why can’t we assume that the Judgment is made-up just to scare people into becoming Christians? The Bible makes it clear that each man must give an account of his life. Why should we expect judgment in a court of law and not expect it at the end of life?

Scripture 1: Re 22: 12 "Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.”

How can the Bible be clearer than this? Basically, God’s saying, “If you are wicked, you will be punished. If you’re good, you will be rewarded,”

Who is the “I” referring to? If we read all of Revelation 22, we find it is Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Christ, who was there at the beginning of the world and created the world, is our worthy Judge. (John 1:1, Phil. 2:9-11, Colossians 1:16-17)

Scripture 2: Mt 5:12 "Rejoice, and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Jesus is talking about rejoicing when others persecute you. This is not the same as punishing. If we are punished for robbing a bank, we deserve the penalty we pay. However, if we are punished for being a Christian, which goes on in many parts of the world, then we should count it as a blessing.

Scripture 3: Mr 4: 22 "For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has [anything] been secret, but that it should come to light.”

Jesus is saying that nothing, not even our most private secret, will be hidden when perfect justice will be administered. If a judge saw us breaking the law, even a small detail, why should we be surprised if we are punished for it? Also, if we do something good in private, why should the judge neglect that?

Scripture 4: Rev 20: 12 “And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.”

All the dead are judged by God according to their deeds. Why should the dead be judged and not the living? It’s because the living will inevitably have to face death. You can’t avoid this judgment by dying and you can’t avoid this judgment by living. You know you are going to be charged. You know you will be found guilty. What can you do? Nothing. Only the Judge can pardon you.

Scripture 5: 1 Cor. 3:14-15 “If any man's work which he has built upon it remains, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire.”

This verse is talking about a judgment for Christians. I bet you didn’t think a Christian would be judged, did you? God tests even Christian works to see the person’s motive. Some things last for eternity and other things don’t really matter. If a Christian does a good deed that passes the test, they shall receive a reward. If the deed is not able to stand the test, he shall lose his reward. However, he will not be condemned.

Scripture 6: Luke 13:6-9 “And He began telling this parable: "A certain man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it, and did not find any. "And he said to the vineyard-keeper, 'Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?' "And he answered and said to him, 'Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; and if it bears fruit next year, [fine;] but if not, cut it down.'"

We need to bear fruit for the Lord. Remember the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23). This fruit does not develop noticeably daily. You need to work on it, just like growing a garden takes work

What can we conclude from these scriptures? We can conclude that the Lord will call everyone into judgment. Christians, Jews, Muslims, Agnostics, Atheists, Humanists, Buddhists, Hindu, and Deists will all face God’s judgment. Those who don’t know Christ as his or her Lord and Savior will be condemned by the Judge. In that day, God will say, “Depart from Me,” However, those redeemed by Jesus Christ will be pardoned by the Judge. God will say, “Well done.”

Can’t I get into Heaven by my good deeds?

Many people believe in an afterlife, including Jews and Muslims. They claim they don’t need God’s forgiveness, expecting to earn their way into Heaven. A Muslim belief is that their good works will be put on one side of the scale, balanced with their bad works. Then God will decide if they get into paradise, or not. However, this is impossible because of our fallen nature. It’s like trying to get enough pennies to outweigh a school bus.

What does the Bible say?

Scripture 1: Ezekiel 33:12 "And you, son of man, say to your fellow citizens, 'The righteousness of a righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his transgression, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he will not stumble because of it in the day when he turns from his wickedness; whereas a righteous man will not be able to live by his righteousness on the day when he commits sin.'”

If the righteousness of the good won’t save him if he sins (and all of us have fallen short of the commandments), how can we be saved by deeds? Obeying the law the majority of the time with one exception won’t work in a human court of law. It most certainly won’t work in God’s court of law. Only by accepting God’s grace can sin be forgiven.

Scripture 2: Eph. 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.”

If we are saved through faith, how can our good deeds get us into Heaven? Our good deeds on our own are like filthy rags. Many in Generation X, my generation, believe that truth is relative. Don’t believe that for a second. God’s word is absolute.

How to Escape Judgment

Scripture 1: Rev 20:14-15 “And death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

This verse makes it clear that anyone who is not found in the Book of Life will be condemned by the Judge. Since the punishment is described as a lake of fire, we can readily assume that the punishment is pretty severe. But there is good news.

Scripture 2: John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.”

So God has provided a way to escape judgment. The question is, will we accept that way, or will we face the Judge’s wrath? I speak this to you to warn you as a friend. Since we know the coming Judgment will be terrible for those who are guilty, how can we be found innocent? That is up to you. Other than a substitute, the only other way to avoid wrath is to do enough good deeds to appease the Judge, but that’s logically impossible because of our fallen nature.

A call to repentance

If you would like to avoid the Judge’s wrath, please pray this prayer.

Jesus,

I have come to talk to you about my sentence. I know I’m a sinner. I will be found guilty. However, I know that You offered to take my punishment on yourself. I accept your offer of eternal life. I want to live with you forever.

Amen.

To wait or not to wait?

Some people might say, “I’ll wait until another time to repent”. We aren’t even guaranteed we’ll be here tomorrow. It may be too late then. The longer you ignore God, the harder it is to turn from your sin. I went to a church once where the pastor said, “Being 99% sure you are going to Heaven is the equivalent of being 100% lost”. Be 100% sure. Don’t put off this decision another second.

All Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible