THE GREAT WHITE THRONE

Rev.20:11-15 – Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

This is the judgement all of us want to avoid at all costs. This is the day that all of those who did not call upon the Lord will stand before the Lord to give an account for their lives. The terrifying thing about this day is that there is no possible way of escape, we are a fallen, sinful creature who has spent his entire life rejecting the claims of the gospel and ignoring His appeals for salvation. Our sinful condition is completely exposed before a holy God and the results are certain, we will face the justice of God on our own without the mercy of God that we scorned throughout our life. We will see Jesus Himself on the throne, see His scars of redemption that He suffered for us, and know the price we will have to pay for our rejection of the gospel. This moment will be seared on our conscience for eternity, Christ died for us and we rejected His offers of eternal salvation. Here is how the Fire Bible describes the Great White Throne judgement.

“The judgment described here is called the “Great White Throne Judgment”. Jesus Christ is the judge. This judgment includes all the spiritually lost of all time. The glory of God and the fire of his judgment surrounding the Great White Throne are so intense that even the elements of the physical universe cannot remain in God’s presence.…The lives of all who did not accept God’s forgiveness and entrust their lives to him will be completely exposed before God. Every selfish and defiant act and ungodly thought will be called into account. Even the “secret sins,” which it seemed no one knew about, will be brought to light and judged. All will be judged individually for their works according to God’s standards and principles, with consideration for motives and opportunities. This indicates differences in the sentencing and degree of punishment, but not in the duration. The torment of the lake of fire is unquenchable and will last forever.”

Thankfully each one of us still has time. You may have turned away from Christ a hundred times throughout your life, multiple times the gospel was preached to you and each day you put it off with a “maybe later” and a shrug of defiance. But the end of all things is drawing near, the last appeals for repentance are being given and the day of your judgement is fast approaching. What will your eternity look like? Will it be joy unspeakable rejoicing in the salvation made possible by Christ’s blood poured out on the cross or will you spend eternity in darkness, separated from Christ and your loved ones for eternity. The decision is in your hands.