“It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment…” (Hebrews 9:27)
When people die, their life is not over. There is a life after death, and God’s righteous judgment will decide whether this is a joyful life in His presence, or a terrible life outside of His presence. The apostle John describes a vision that the Lord showed him about God’s final judgment of humanity. He sees a great white throne and God sitting upon it, and he sees how the dead are judged “from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds” (Revelation 20:12).
God will bring every deed into judgment, whether good or evil. He knows exactly what every single person has done. He knows their hearts. Therefore He can judge them fairly. The outcome of this judgment will be terrible. For God’s verdict is that “none is righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10). All people have sinned. All have disobeyed God’s laws. None can meet God’s standards of righteousness. All have deserved eternal death.
However, there is a way to escape judgment. God Himself has made that possible. Read more about this tomorrow!