We are near the end of our big picture of the bible series or the story of the bible, and it would be missing something enormous if we did not spend an entire morning looking at the final judgment. The scriptures from beginning to end set forth God as the moral Ruler of men. We live in His universe, governed by his rules. Charles Hodges, in his commentary said, “Nothing [in the bible], is plainer than that men in this world are subject to the moral government of God.”

So on the day of judgment every injustice will be made right and every evil will be accounted for, because the Lord will judge the entire world with impeccable righteousness. Nobody, in the ultimate sense, will get away with anything. In a world where it seems like powerful people get away with everything, this is stabilizing. God is just. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. Every sin, every transgression of God’s moral law, will be judged and punished in one of two ways. Either, in Christ on the cross for all who are in him. Or, rebels against God, who continue as enemies of His, will receive just retribution from God. 

That there is a last judgment at the end of the age, upon the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, is abundantly clear in the bible. The bible teaches that there is one, final judgment, at the end of the age, upon the return of Jesus. The coming of Christ, our blessed hope, and the last judgment are contemporaneous events. The bible uses the phrases “the day of the Lord”, “that day”, “the day of wrath and righteous judgment”, and “the day of judgment”, along with “the coming of the Lord” and “the coming of the Son of Man in his glory” to refer to the same thing. He is coming in glory to inflict vengeance on those who do not know God and to be marveled at among his people (2 Thess. 1:8-10). He is coming again to judge the living and the dead.

Of course, for those who are in Christ, this is not going to be a day of wrath for us. We have been rescued from wrath by the sacrifice of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. However, it is something for us to consider with utmost seriousness and sobriety. I think many professing Christians waltz through life without any consideration that they will give an account of their lives before the all-seeing, ever-present, Almighty God. And I think it leads to a life that lacks any seriousness and gravity. Believers who are alive on the earth when Christ returns will indeed marvel at him, but the marveling will be filled with wonder, awe, and reverence (Himalayas versus marvel movie). 

And one thing that Jesus makes clear in his teaching is that though he will not be surprised by the final destinies of men, there will be “many” hypocrites who say, “Wait Lord…” (Matthew 7). And so to say we should have clarity on this doctrine is an understatement. We should have as much clarity as possible. For the day of God’s righteous judgment is appointed. It is set in stone by God’s determination. I have chosen for my texts two passages, one from Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth and one from one of the final chapters of the bible. I believe they are talking about the same event. And would like to lay out for you the key elements of this last judgment after which I will ask and answer the question, “How then should we live”? How should we live in light of it? 

First, Judgment will be universal

We must all appear…

The word “must” is striking. We must. Says who? Well, the God of glory. He will see to it. Paul even includes himself. Revelation 20:9 says, “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne.” The great and small. From the least to the greatest. The lowliest, most obscure person who has ever lived on the face of the earth will be there. And the greatest, mightiest, wealthiest, most influential man will be there. No amount of money or power will be able to get someone out of this appearance. No legal maneuvering will work. Elon Musk, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Adolf Hitler, Julius Caesar, Joseph Smith, every pope, Bloody Mary, Mother Theresa and the apostle Paul will all be there. And so will you. 

There are all sorts of appointments you can get out of with the right excuse. I just got a notice for jury duty. There are ways one can get out of jury duty and of course not everyone who receives a letter is ultimately required to appear before the judge and lawyers to go through the final process. Judgment Day is an appointment you will be present for. There is a 100% chance that you will be there.

Those who are lost and forgotten by everyone in the world will be there. The Lord has not forgotten them. Revelation 20 says the sea will give up the dead who are in it. Think of the millions of men and women and children who have died at sea and their bodies sank to the bottom of the seas. I remember camping up on the coast of Lake Superior and in a visitor center, I saw a book telling the story of the terrible storms and wrecks on the great lakes. Some 6,000 wrecks and thousands of lives lost, many forgotten forever. The sea and lakes will give up their dead. Death and hades will too. Death, that strong and formidable force all of humanity will succumb to. Death will give up the dead for the day of judgment. 

The simple statement from the apostle’s creed sums it up: “He is coming again to judge the living and the dead” (Acts 10; 2 Timothy 4:1). That accounts for everyone. You are either living or dead (in the physical sense) when the Lord Jesus Christ returns. This judgment is universal. We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. 

Judgment will be personal

That each one may receive what is due, for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil

This goes from the universal to the personal, from the corporate to the intimate. It will be personal in that you will give an account of your life. You will give an account of the things that were done in the body. Revelation 20:12 says that books are opened. There is a single book - the book of life. And there are the books, which I think contain the record of deeds done in the body. JI Packer wrote, “Everything about everybody will be exposed on Judgment Day.” 

Jesus said it will be so personal that, “on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak” (Matthew 12:36). It is not just our words, but our motivations, purposes, intentions as well. Paul said, “[When] the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart” (1 Corinthians 4:5). Spurgeon said (I think), “Every hidden thought is a spoken word to God. Our entire lives are lived before him”. Judgment is not only universal in that everyone will be there. It is personal - gets down to the details of our lives. 

The Judge will be Jesus Christ

It’s called, “The judgment seat of Christ”. Jesus Christ will judge the living and the dead. This is the consistent witness of the NT. Jesus himself said that he will “come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done” (Matthew 16:27).

Jesus said that the Father had given all authority to the Son to execute judgment because he is the Son of Man. The apostle Paul said God has fixed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by a Man he has appointed. That Man, who is no mere man, is Jesus Christ (Acts 17:31).  

Jesus said he will come in the glory of the Father and sit on a throne of judgment, gathering all the nations before him and separate them into the sheep and goats (Matthew 25:31-32). And the scene we get in Revelation 20 is truly an awesome scene. Jesus, in his blazing glory, will sit upon a judgment seat… or a great white throne. And I believe that day will truly be a day of universal shock and awe. We will be stunned by his glory. Nobody will casually walk up to Jesus Christ. Nobody will have an ounce of swagger before Him. Look at the way Revelation 20 describes him. Verse 11 says, “From his presence (literally “face”) heaven and earth fled away, and no place was found for them.”  Nobody will casually walk up to Jesus on this day. All mankind will bow before him and pay homage to the King of glory. 

It is fitting that Jesus Christ would be the judge. You may have noticed that Jesus, in judgment, refers to himself as the Son of Man (Messianic, but also a reference to his human nature).  Paul said God appointed a man to judge. The man, Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5), will be the judge of all men. The One who stood before the judgment seat of Pontius Pilate will sit in judgment of Pilate. The One who was cursed and rejected by Caiaphas, the high priest, will judge the high priest. [God in the Dock - Lewis] And it is only fitting that as believers in Jesus Christ, our Judge should also be our Redeemer. The One who will open the books and review our lives, is the One who bled and died for us to redeem us from every lawless deed. Jesus Christ, the God man will be the Judge on that day. 

This Judgment will be final

Final in the sense that it is the last judgment. It is the tribunal that ends all tribunals. There is no need for another. And it is final in that it is perfect. Perfect justice will be fully delivered. The perfection is alluded to in the words of Revelation 20:14-15, “This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” 

It sounds trite, but it is true, that our God is the God of second chances and third chances fiftieth chances. But when we say that, we are talking about this age, which is a time of mercy. The day of judgment will be final, in which the Judge of all the earth will do right and eternally destinies of all mankind will be fixed forever. This judgment will be final. 

Judgment will be according to what we’ve done resulting in reward and punishment

So that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, good or evil. 

This is not a one off. Jesus said he will repay each person according to what he has done (Matthew 16:27). So those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth will receive wrath and fury. Those, whoever, who seek to do good and seek for glory and honor and immortality, Jesus will give eternal life.

Some may be wondering, “how can this be?”. How can our judgment be according to the works done in the body, good or bad if we are saved by faith and not by works? Everyone will be judged according to works even though salvation is not earned through works. Here’s how the bible sorts this out.

You and I and everyone who ever will be saved, is certainly saved by faith. However, the evidence brought into the courtroom as proof of whether it is a living faith or a dead faith is your life is the works you have done in the body. Does your life bear the marks that you are truly in Christ? Or does it bear witness to an empty profession? Is your life marked by obedience to Christ and love for the brothers? The idea that we can believe in Jesus by mentally affirming that he died for us and then live like those of the world is a demonic doctrine. Heresy of the first order. And that path to hell is well worn. 

And there will be varying degrees of punishment and reward. Punishment and reward will be doled out. It is not merely that those apart from Christ will be cast into the lake of fire and those in Christ will be ushered into the eternal joy of Christ. There are degrees. In punishment, Jesus said one who has received greater light and rejected it will receive greater retribution than one who rejects the little light they receive (Luke 12). 

And in reward, there will be degrees. I don’t think we should expect the thief on the cross to receive the same reward as the apostle Paul or someone like John Wesley or Billy Graham. That said, one fascinating thing about reward from Christ is that it seems to be out of proportion. Matthew 25 (parable of talents) → Faithful in a little, set over much. Even the reward is pregnant with grace. I believe that there will be lowly and unknown Christians, who love Christ and are faithful in ways that get no recognition, who will receive such a glorious commendation from Jesus Christ. It is not so much the quantity of work, but the quality - the aim and motivation. 

I truly believe that every person who is in Christ and thus receives a hardy, “enter into the joy of your Master” will think to himself/herself “What have I done to deserve this?” And will understand that is all entirely of grace. On the day, looking through the books, the works you did… it will be evident that all the good you did was born of a new heart, motivated by a desire to please the Lord, with the help of the Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul understood this dynamic when he said, “I worked harder than all of them (the other apostles). Yet it was not I, but the grace of God in me” (1 Corinthians 15:10). 

Punishment will be based on God’s justice. Rewards for the redeemed will be according to what we have done in the economy of God’s grace in Christ. Which means, there will be no boasting before the Lord in ourselves. All boasting will be in the Lord and what he has done for us and through us. Judgment will be according to our deeds resulting in reward and punishment. 

How Should We Then Live?

In 2 Corinthians we see two great motivations for the apostle Paul’s life - the love of Christ and the judgment seat of Christ. This future event served as a motivator for Paul and it should for us. How should we live in light of the day of judgment? 

1. Make it your serious aim to be fully assured you are in Christ.

It is not good to live questioning your salvation all the time. But we can be self-deceived. And we live in a day in which self-deception abounds. So there is a place for healthy examination before the Lord. Your only hope on that day is that your Judge is also your Redeemer. So, you should desire above all to be found in him on that day, not having the filthy rags of your own righteousness of your own to cover you, but the perfect righteousness of Christ (Php 3:9). 

The hymn Jesus Paid It All says, “And when before the throne I stand in him complete, Jesus died my soul to save, my lips shall still repeat.” The word “still” is striking. Still repeat what? 

Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.

Is this your boast, your song, your glory? Are you abiding in Christ? Staying near him in your daily communion? First John 2:28 says, “Abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.” Oh, don’t play games. Be fully assured you are in Christ. Trust him, glory in his cross, and abide in him. Then you can approach that day with confidence. 

2. Make it your serious aim to please the Lord in life and death

This is the most obvious connection Paul makes in our text from Second Corinthians. He said,

So whether we are at home or away (in the body or not), we make it our aim to please him, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ…

[Grayson wanting my happy approval] I fear many scarcely give any thought of pleasing the Lord. Pleasing self, yes! Pleasing the Lord… huh? Your life is lived before him at all times. You can live for his pleasure. And it is a beautiful thing when you come to realize that living for his pleasure is actually what brings the deepest satisfaction, though it may put you out of favor in this world. Though it may prompt trouble in this world. Make it your aim to please the Lord in all of life and in death. Live with the mindset at the start of each day, “I want today’s record in the books to please my Lord!”

3. Make it your serious aim to persuade as many as you can

This is also a direct connection Paul makes. Paul says we will stand before the judgment seat of Christ, 

Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others…

A godly fear should motivate us to give ourselves to the great task of gospel persuasion. Think about this. Every person you ever meet will stand before the judgment seat of Christ and be welcomed into his joy or cast into the lake of fire. The apostle Paul took this to heart: “I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.” (Acts 20:26-27)

Does a godly reverence for the coming judgment alter your sense of responsibility to others? Does it give you compassion for those who do not know our Lord? Does it move you to be equipped and ready as an ambassador of Christ to call people to be reconciled to God? I pray it does. Let’s pray.