John

December 29

Revelation 20:11-13

The Judgment

John wrote down everything God allowed him to see—things in heaven and on earth that would happen at the end of time, when God judges the earth.

John said, “Then I saw God sitting on His great white throne, and everything fled from His presence. I saw those who had died—great and small—standing before the throne. The book of life was opened, and the dead were judged for what they had done.”

Will I also be judged?

Are you afraid of standing before God to be judged for every wrong thing you have done? You have nothing to fear if you have asked Jesus to forgive you and let Him be Lord of your life.

God, who is fair and holy, will judge those who have not followed Jesus or listened to Him. Because God is holy He must deal with sin; and those who have not asked Jesus to take their sin away must answer to God for every wrong they have done. The punishment for sin is eternal death, not in the way our bodies die, but a spiritual death in a place called hell. Hell is far away from the goodness of God, a place where sin causes eternal pain and sadness (Luke 16:23).

Christians will be judged too. However, we will be judged for the good we have done—not for our sins. Our judgement is more like a prize giving to test our motives and to reward us for the things we did that brought glory to God (1 Corinthians 3:12-15). Believers need not fear God’s judgement because Jesus has already taken our punishment. What a wonderful God we serve!

Verse for today

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him … 2 Corinthians 5:10