As a result of this free will, humans are able to choose right from wrong, and therefore can sin if they choose to do so. The idea of free will is found in Genesis where Adam and Eve, the first humans, are given the Garden of Eden to live in. God asks one requirement of them, and that is not to eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. Eve and Adam disobey this commandment, and God then punishes the couple accordingly.
Christians believe that this is where sin entered the world. Judgment Day. Also known as the Final Judgment. It is the very last thing that happens before God destroys the old heaven and the old earth, which are corrupt on account of sin.
Before He creates His new heaven and new earth, He has to do away with anything that could bring sin into the new creation. The devil has just been cast into the lake of fire, where the beast and the false prophet Antichrist have already been since they were defeated when Jesus returned before the beginning of the millennium. This is to be the eternal retribution for their sin and rebellion against God. Now the time has come for God to judge who is to join them in the lake of fire, and who is worthy of a place on the new earth.
The thought of the end times doesn't have to evoke fear in us. Listen to this podcast about how we can best prepare ourselves for the day when we meet Jesus! Excluded from this judgment on Judgment Day will be those who are in the bride of Christ. They have already stood before the judgment seat of Christ while they were in the situations of their daily lives. They have, of their own free will, acknowledged their sin, taken up a battle against it and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus. More than just receiving forgiveness for sin, they have used the power available in the Spirit to overcome it.
Still others accumulate their good works like vouchers for eternal life, waiting for the day when they can cash them all in to an extremely impressed God. So what will it really be like? Like a promotional brochure for the perfect vacation, the Bible answers any anxiety about Judgment Day and heaven not with every specific little detail although we do have a few but with the big, reassuring promise: Judgment Day will be just right. Plan for it. Anticipate it.
In a response to this confusion concerning Judgment Day, the Bible touches us with the actual temperature of Judgment Day. Just right. That applies to God, it applies to every one of his actions, and it applies to Judgment Day. God is just right when he says that you have wronged him and others sinfully. God is just right when he says that his Son, Jesus Christ, has paid with his life for your sins and has risen from the dead to blaze a path of eternal life for you.
Put your worries about Judgment Day to rest in the hands of a gracious God. God will take care of anyone who trusts him. But what if, on Judgment Day, you choose door number two instead of door number three?
What if, on Judgment Day, you zig instead of zag? When the Bible says that Jesus will wipe the tears from our eyes, it is referring to this time Isaiah But the sorrow will last only a moment. On its heels comes the tremendous joy of having received forgiveness and lived a life pleasing to Him. At last, we will fully realize the depth and breadth of His grace. Believers need not cower or hang their heads during the judgment.
Nor are we to repent—the time for that is past.
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