We Believe In Jesus: The RedeemerSample

Last Judgment: John 3:18

Immediately after the general resurrection, Jesus will exercise his authority and power as king by destroying all his enemies and blessing all his faithful people at the last judgment. Every human being will be included in the last judgment; no one will escape it. This is clear from passages like Ecclesiastes 12:14; Matthew 12:36 and 37; 2 Corinthians 5:10; and Revelation 20:12 and 13. And these same passages indicate that just as every human being will be judged, every aspect of each person’s life will be counted as evidence in the trial. Every thought, word and deed will be evaluated.

Because humanity is fallen and sinful, every human being that stands before God on his or her own merit will be condemned in this judgment, and punished with eternal damnation in hell. But the good news is that those who have been forgiven by grace, through faith, in Christ will be acquitted, and rewarded with an eternal inheritance. John 3:18 puts the matter this way:

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.

This same idea is repeated in places like John 5:24; 1 Corinthians 11:32; and 2 Thessalonians 2:12.

All of us have sinned. And so the justice of the judge has to be a major part of our concept of the cross and the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. Without that, I think we diminish the concept of sin. We don’t understand the need for fundamental repentance and the need for a savior from that sin. It becomes simply a loving deity who comes and sort of lifts me up from my problems. That justice and righteousness of the Lord Jesus is fundamental to a full concept of his work on the cross, and his continued work in the believer’s life even after a person’s been saved. We’re going to meet Jesus as the judge at the end of human history as well. So all of our lives come under this holiness of love and holy righteousness that his judgeship in all of its mercy are representative to us. – Dr. Bill Ury