By Sidharth Mohandas

Introduction

Eternal Judgment is a topic that is rarely discussed in contemporary churches; yet it is one of the six foundational doctrines of Christianity, mentioned in Hebrews 6:1-2. I personally can testify that whenever I study the topic of judgment, I am brought to an awareness of accountability to God and it leads me to a personal evaluation of myself in the light of God’s Word.

First and foremost, we must realize that God is the judge of all (Hebrews 12:23 ESV). God has the final say in everything. However, unlike us, God never uses flippant remarks or praises, nor bases His judgments on that which is seen or heard in the natural. His judgments are eternal. Two individuals could do the same work in the natural but one could be praised and the other rebuked, because God’s scale is based on the unseen (Matthew 6:6, Matthew 6:18).

God’s Purpose of Judgment

Later in this series, Titto will share with you how God deals separately with the righteous and the wicked. The purposes of judgment for each category are different too.

When it comes to the righteous, God sees judgment primarily in the positive sense. In other words, God wants to judge us so that He can praise us for what we have done for Him. [1 Corinthians 4:5b NIV]

Judgment for the things we did not do for Him or for the wrong we did is secondary in God’s judgment. As I was examining how God judged the seven churches in the book of Revelations, I found that in each of them He first commends them for their faithfulness and service, and then rebukes them for the times when or instances where they fell short of expectations [with an exception of the church at Laodicea, which is outside the scope of our study].

When it comes to the judgment of the wicked, historically we see that God’s heart was not geared to punish the wicked, but to protect the righteous. In fact, a judicial system that is concerned only with punishing wickedness is not a just system according to God’s Word. “How long will you judge unjustly, and show partiality to the wicked? Defend the poor and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy; free them from the hand of the wicked.” [Psalm 82:2-4]

However, note that, in eternity, the judgment of the wicked is for condemnation.

God’s Reluctance to Judge

Scripture clearly teaches us that God does not delight in judging the wicked. His reluctance to administer judgment is expressed in the way His judgments are ultimately carried out. Let’s examine this point in detail.

In the first instance and by sovereign eternal right, judgment belongs to God the Father. The apostle Peter speaks about the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work (1 Peter 1:17). Here, judgment of all men is declared to be the office of God the Father.

However, in John 5:22-23 and John 5:26-27 we are told that the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son. Here, it is explicitly stated that the office of judgment has been transferred from the Father to the Son.

Well, the transfer of rights does not stop here. So gracious and merciful is the divine nature of the Son, as in the Father, that Christ, too, is unwilling to administer judgment that He transfers the final authority of judgment from His own Person to His words (John 12:47-48)

Therefore, all the standards and principles of God’s judgment are contained within His Word. God’s eternal judgment therefore is based on our response to His Word. May we raise our standards of judgment today — judging our motives, attitudes and conduct soberly by God’s Word.

By Titto Thomas

Billy Graham once said “I have read the end of the book; therefore I am convinced of my future hope!” Isn’t that true of the bible? Isn’t it thrilling to learn that we will not stay conquered by death, but rather will be resurrected into the very presence of God. According to the Bible there is going to be a bodily resurrection for all people. While unbelievers will be resurrected to hell, believers will be resurrected to heaven.

In this post I want to look at our future resurrection in detail.

When?

The Bible teaches us that Jesus Is coming back. This return will be restricted to the clouds. It is at this time that the first resurrection starts- the resurrection of the believers. All those who died in Christ and all those who will be living in Him are going to be resurrected and caught up with Him (I Thessalonians 4:16-17).

Now, what about those people who accept Christ after this first coming? They will be resurrected at the third coming of our Lord. The third coming will be a glorious appearance where He will come as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. At this point the remaining believers will be resurrected. This completes the resurrection of the believers (Revelation 20:4-5).

After the third coming Jesus will reign on earth for a thousand years. At the end of this thousand year period, the remaining people will be resurrected and judged. This resurrection is for those people who have rejected Jesus (Revelation 20:13).  

How?

Now let’s look at how we will be resurrected. In I Corinthians 15, Paul likens our death and resurrection to that of a seed. This perishable seed will be sown into the ground and after the outer covering perishes, it will regain a new form.  Likewise, after our bodies perish on being sown into the ground, we will resurrect into a new imperishable body.

Like Jesus’ new body after resurrection our new body will also be a tangible one. Jesus re-iterated that he had not resurrected into a spirit, but had real flesh and bones (Luke 24:39). He ate normal food with the disciples (Luke 24:41-43), yet he could appear and disappear (Luke 24:36, Luke 24:31 and John 20:19). Thus, this new body will have more characteristics of the spirit than of the flesh.

Many people are blinded by the false belief that when they die, they just perish. However, the Bible teaches us otherwise and warns us that every action on earth will have a consequence in eternity. In the next series of posts we will show you what happens after resurrection.

By Titto Thomas

In the last couple of posts, Sidharth introduced the biblical reality called resurrection. In this post we delve deeper into this. 

Let’s start with this key verse “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20 ESV).

To fully understand the term resurrection, we must first comprehend the term ‘death’. Death simply means separation–separation of the body from the soul (physical death), or separation of the spirit from God (spiritual death, Romans 5:17). Resurrection, however, is just the opposite–it is a reunion.

We know that Jesus defeated death and rose again, but we also ought to remember that he was not the first person to do so. There are a number of references in the Old Testament where people rose from the dead. For example, a dead man sprang back to life when his body was thrown onto Elisha’s grave (2 Kings 13:21). In the Gospels too, we find people being raised from the dead, the most documented of which was the resurrection of Lazarus’s. Even at the time of Jesus’ death, a multitude of people rose from the dead (Mathew 27:52).

So, how is the resurrection of Jesus unique? How does it stand out from the rest of the cases we pointed out? To answer this, let me ask you if those resurrected people are alive today. The obvious answer is “of course not!” Everyone who was resurrected is no longer around today, because they died later on–except for Jesus. He was the first person to conquer death and rise back to immortality (never to die again).  And by doing so, he defeated death itself. But what is this claim based on?

Although we witnessed the resurrected savior when we first met with the Lord, there are other tangible proofs which clearly document Jesus’ resurrection. We are well acquainted with historical, prophetical (Matthew 12:40), and archeological proofs, but there is one logical proof which demands recognition. Many people are willing to die for the truth, many actually die for a lie they believe to be true, but it goes beyond reason to die for something which you know is a lie. Consider then how Jesus’ 11 disciples died. They all chose death (save John, but then he received persecution for the same question) over renouncing their faith in Jesus.

All of them claimed witness to the resurrected Lord, meaning one of two things: either the disciples believed it to be true, or they knew it to be true. But if they merely believed, there is room left for doubt and uncertainty. I am fully convinced that a person would not give their life for something they were uncertain of. In other words, the disciples were not delusional or uncertain about it. Rather, they witnessed the resurrected Christ and they died for the truth! These lowly fisher folk—one of whom could not even summon the courage to talk to a servant girl—that went around turning the world upside down and then laying down their very lives for the Gospel. If, as the Jews claimed, they had hidden Jesus, they would never have been able to stand like they did. But rather, they had seen the risen Lord, and had in fact dined with him. This knowledge of the truth is what changed them for eternity. Anyone who denies the resurrection is obliged to justify the disciple’s response.

Now that we know why Jesus’ resurrection was so unique, let us consider its significance. Right from Jesus’ birth, He had numerous attempts on his life. But God had appointed a time for his death and when that time came he was crucified. Just like scriptures foretold, Jesus rose back from the dead on the third day. Death could not contain him, Hallelujah! This resurrection is the testament of his complete victory on the cross. Yes, He had died (bodily) for your sin and mine, but now he is alive(bodily alive) for your justification and mine (Romans 4:25). He won the battle and the enemy was defeated. Hence the resurrection was a sign of His victory and proof of His everlasting kingdom.

The resurrection factor is what makes the Christian faith so unique over all other philosophies, ideas and religions of the world. Our Lord did not just claim to be Lord but proved it by conquering death itself. Many ‘good’ people have come and gone, some of them have preached a lot of ‘good things’. But when their time was up, they died. Death had conquered them all!

 You can sense the euphoria in Paul’s writing in 1 Corinthians 15 as he speaks about the Lord’s resurrection. Paul patterns it to show that the resurrection factor is what portrays the supremacy of Christ. He then goes on to say that our very faith rests on this fact. He was resurrected for our justification and is now seated at the right hand of God (Acts 7:55-60). In the next post I will show you how this relates to our future hope.