Transcript Divine Judgment and the Gospel The Second Vital Issue

The Panorama of God’s Judgment
at its Best
©Jiří Moskala, Th.D., Ph.D.
Professor of Old Testament Exegesis and Theology
Andrews University
Old Testament Department
Divine Judgment and the Gospel
The Second Vital Issue
In the heart of the Sanctuary Doctrine is the
teaching about the Pre-Advent Judgment.
How to expect God’s Judgment without going
Crazy?
Only by knowing personally the Judge,
understanding the nature of His judgment, and
connecting judgment together with the rest of
the Gospel!!!
How to put together God’s
Judgment and the Gospel?
God’s Universal Judgment
How is usually presented/explained
divine eschatological judgment?
God’s Universal Judgment:
Traditional View
It is explained as eschatological
judgment in three phases/stages:
Which ones?
1. Pre-advent Judgment
1. Pre-advent Judgment
2. Judgment during Millennium
1. Pre-advent Judgment
2. Judgment during Millennium
3. The Final Judgment
Am I Right?
Vital Question
Is this view correct?
Is this understanding in harmony with
ALL biblical data?
YES or NO???
Yes and No!
It is right as for the events and dates!
BUT WRONG for the starting point!
It is right as for the events (three
judgments mentioned above) and
dates (like 1844), BUT WRONG for the
starting point, because in the year
1844 did not begin God’s
eschatological judgment!
Let me explain.
Pre-advent Judgment:
Where does the problem lie?
Correct biblical teaching about preadvent judgment and the date of
1844, but the event is isolated from
the most crucial point―the CROSS
of Jesus or Christ as a Person! HE is
not at the CENTER!
The Central Place of the Cross
• NOT ENOUGH!!!
• The Cross of Christ, Jesus Himself must
be the starting point of all our discourses
on the divine Judgment!
• The year AD 31 and not 1844 has to be the
foundational and beginning reference
point of God’s eschatological judgment!
No Dichotomy
• There is no dichotomy between AD 31 and
1844. You do not need to choose between
them. It is not a question of either – or.
• They need to be put together in the
proper relationship and perspective!
• The starting point of God’s judgment is
AD 31!
It is a better way how to preach
about God’s judgment
• It is crucial to connect divine judgment with
the Cross of Jesus!
• This is and must be the CENTRAL event
for all our doctrines!!!
Vital Question:
When Do the Last Days Begin?
- The last days?
- The end of the ages?
Traditional answer:
In AD 1798 (1755) or 1844.
Right or Wrong?
WRONG!!!
• Let me prove it from the Bible!
• Our faith must be always built on
“It is written!”
Question:
What is written?
The Beginning of the
Eschatological Time
1. Hebrews 1:1-2
“In the past God spoke to our forefathers
through the prophets at many times and in
various ways, but in these last days he has
spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed
heir of all things, and through whom he made
the universe.”
2. Acts 2:17; Heb 9:26; 1 Cor 10:11; 1 Pet 1:20;
4:7; 2 Pet 3:3; 1 Tim 4:1; 1 Thes 4:16-17.
Acts 2:17
“In the last days, God says, I will pour out
my Spirit on all people. Your sons and
daughters will prophesy, your young men
will see visions, your old men will dream
dreams.”
Hebrews 9:26
“Then Christ would have had to suffer many
times since the creation of the world. But
now he has appeared once for all at the
end of the ages to do away with sin by
the sacrifice of himself.”
Is There a Difference Between
the Last Days and the Time
of the End?
The phrase “the time of the end” #qe t[e is a
specific exegetical idiomatic expression used
only in the book of Daniel referring to 1798 or
1844 (Daniel 8:17; 11:35,40; 12:4,9).
It’s the time of cutting, the time of decision, the
prophetic apocalyptic time of the end.
The time of the eschatological
Resurrection
Once is used the expression “the end of the
days” !ymiY"h; #qe (Daniel 12:13).
Crucial Difference But
Complementary
General eschatological time was
inaugurated from the first coming of Christ
(the last days, the end of the ages began,
the end time).
Specific prophetic/apocalyptic
eschatological time of the end:
from 1798 and/or 1844 (Daniel 7-9, 12).
Difference but not Contradictory
• The Last days, the End of the Ages,
[the End of Time or the End Time]
– from the Cross
• The Time of the End
– from 1798/1844
Crucial Difference But
Complementary
General eschatological time
(the last days; the end of time)
Specific
prophetic/apocalyptic
eschatological time
(the time of the end)
from 1798/1844 on
The Centrality of the Cross
Eschatological Time (biblical teaching) – the end time, the
last days arrived with the CROSS (the first coming of
Christ)!
From and To the Cross
• “The Lamb that was slain from the creation
of the world.” Rev 13:8
The Centrality of the Cross in
all our Doctrines
“The Sacrifice of Christ as an atonement for sin is the great
truth around which all other truths cluster. In order to
be rightly understood and appreciated, every truth in
the Word of God, from Genesis to Revelation,
must be studied in the light that streams from
the Cross of Calvary. I present before you the great,
grand monument of mercy and regeneration, Salvation
and redemption—the Son of God uplifted on the cross.
This is to be the foundation of every discourse given by
our ministers.”
Gospel Workers, 315
The Centrality of the Cross
“Of all professing Christians,
Seventh-day Adventists
should be foremost in
uplifting Christ before the
world.”
Gospel Workers, 156
Toward a Biblical Theology of God’s Judgment:
A Celebration of the Cross in Seven
Phases of Divine Universal Judgment (An Overview
Of a Theocentric-Christocentric Approach)
(For more details, see my article in
Journal of Adventist Theological
Society - Spring 2004).
www.atsjats.org
click on my name:
Jiri Moskala
Divine Universal Judgment in Seven Phases:
Celebration of the Cross of Jesus
Eschatological/Post Cross Judgments
2
Pre-Cross
Judgments
1
7
3
4
5
6
God’s Executive
Judgment
Specific Nature of This Study
1. Time of Judgment: Pre-eschatological or
Eschatological
2. Nature of Judgment
3. Place: Heaven or Earth
4. Direct Beneficiaries (For the Sake of)
5. Key Biblical References
6. Description and Content
Divine Universal Judgment in Seven Phases:
Pre-Cross Typological Judgment
Eschatological/Post Cross Judgments
2
Pre-Cross
Judgments
1
7
3
4
5
6
God’s Executive
Judgment
1. Pre-Eschatological Judgment
1. Time: Pre-Eschatological/ Pre-Cross
Judgments
2. Nature: Typological or Pedagogical Judgment
(“Example Judgments”)
3. Place: Earth
4. Direct Beneficiaries: Survivors (Human Beings)
5. Key Biblical References and Content: Genesis 3,
4, 11-12, 19, Exodus 7-12, 13-14.
When does God’s judgment occur
for the first time in the Bible?
In the Garden of Eden!
Why did not Adam and Eve die when God
said that in the day they will eat from the
forbidden fruit they will surely die?!
• God’s GRACE was applied to
them which was streaming
from the Cross of Jesus!
Other Judgments
Upon Cain
1. Flood
2. Tower of Babel
3. Sodom and Gomorrah
4. 10 plagues in Egypt
etc.
Summary of the First Judgment
• Preliminary, Typological, and
Pedagogical
• Usually mixed with mercy
• Lessons for the Survivors
• Redemptive and Punitive
• God’s Surgical action as a wall against
the rising tide of Evil
Divine Universal Judgment in Seven Phases:
Judgment on the Cross - God’s Smile for us
Eschatological/Post Cross Judgments
2
Pre-Cross
Judgments
1
7
3
4
5
6
God’s Executive
Judgment
Phase Number Two
1. Time: Eschatological Judgment or Judgment on
the Cross
2. Nature: CENTRAL-COSMIC JUDGMENT
3. Place: Earth
4. Direct Beneficiaries: The Whole Universe Including
Humanity
5. Key Biblical References: John 12:31-32, Isa 53:3-8,
Dan 9:24-27, John 16:11, Rom 8:3, Rev 13:8, Rev
12:7-12, Eph 1:4, I Pet 1:20; Heb 2:14.
Who was judged on the Cross?
• Satan
John 12:31-32
“Now is the judgment of this
world; now the ruler of this
world will be cast out.
“And I, if I am lifted up from
the earth, will draw all
peoples to Myself.”
John 16:8-11
“Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your
advantage that I go away; for if I do not go
away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I
depart, I will send Him to you. And when He
has come, He will convict the world of sin,
and of righteousness, and of judgment: of
sin, because they do not believe in Me; of
righteousness, because I go to My Father
and you see Me no more; of judgment,
because the ruler of this world is judged.”
Who was judged on the Cross?
• Satan
• Sin, evil
Romans 8:3
“For what the law could
not do in that it was weak
through the flesh, God
did by sending His own
Son in the likeness of
sinful flesh, on account
of sin: He condemned sin
in the flesh.”
Who was judged on the Cross?
• Satan
• Sin, evil
• All humanity (we were judged)
Isa 53:4-6
Surely he took up our infirmities and
carried our sorrows, yet we considered
him stricken by God, smitten by him, and
afflicted. But he was pierced for our
transgressions, he was crushed for our
iniquities; the punishment that brought us
peace was upon him, and by his wounds
we are healed. We all, like sheep, have
gone astray, each of us has turned to his
own way; and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
1 Cor 15:3
For what I received I passed on
to you as of first importance:
that Christ died for our sins
according to the Scriptures.
Who was judged on the Cross?
•
•
•
•
Satan
Sin, evil
All humanity (we were judged)
God was “judged” and proven to be God
of love, justice, truth, order, and freedom –
it was a revelation of the true character of
God
God’s Universal Judgment in Seven Phases:
Judgment during our lifetime
Pre-cross
Eschatological/Post Cross Judgments
2
Judgments
1
7
3
4
5
6
God’s Executive
Judgment
Phase Number Three
1. Time: Post-Cross / Judgment During Our
Lifetime
2. Nature: Decisive Judgment
3. Place: Earth
4. Direct Beneficiaries: Individual Human
Persons
5. Key Biblical References: John 5:22-24, 3:1618,36, 14:6, 16:8-11,Rom 5:1-2, 8:1-4,8:31-39,
Eph 2:4-10, 1 John 2:28, 4:17, Isa 53:11-12.
Everything depends on our
relationship to God
• Jesus Christ, His sacrificial substitutionary
death on our behalf is the center, magnet,
steering wheel, anchor, and turning point
of the plan of salvation.
• On the acceptance of His death for us
depends our eternity!
• John 5:24
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My
word and believes in Him who sent Me has
everlasting life, and shall not come into
judgment, but has passed from death into life.”
(NKJV)
“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and
believes him who sent me has eternal life and
will not be condemned; he has crossed over
from death to life.” (NIV)
Everyone Judged
2 Cor 5:10
“For we must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ, that each one
may receive what is due him for the things
done while in the body, whether good or
bad.”
John 3:17-18
“For God did not send his Son into the world
to condemn the world, but to save the
world through him. 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.”
No Condemnation
Rom 8:1
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation
for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Illustration
• Paper (representing me―a sinner).
• Bible (representing Jesus Christ).
• I am attracted to the loving, gracious, forgiving, caring,
holy, just God.
• I openly, honestly, sincerely confess my sins.
• He accepts me for 100%.
• I am hidden in Him.
• His righteousness is my righteousness; His perfection is
my perfection; His purity is my purity; His character is my
character.
• Amazing grace will gradually transform me to His image.
• When Heavenly Father looks upon me, He sees His
beloved Son Jesus Christ!
Steps to Christ, 62
• “If you give yourself to Him, and accept
Him as your personal Saviour, then,
sinful as your life may have been, for His
sake you are accounted righteous.
Christ’s character stands in place of
your character, and you are accepted
before God as just as if you had not
sinned.”
Ephesians 2:1-10
1 “As for you, you were dead in your
transgressions and sins, 2 in which you
used to live when you followed the ways of
this world and of the ruler of the kingdom
of the air, the spirit who is now at work in
those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also
lived among them at one time, gratifying
the cravings of our sinful nature and
following its desires and thoughts. Like the
rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4
But …
Ephesians 2:1-10
4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is
rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even
when we were dead in transgressions-- it is by
grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised
us up with Christ and seated us with him in
the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in
order that in the coming ages he might show the
incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in
his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by
grace you have been saved, through faith-- and
this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 9
not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For
we are God's workmanship, created in Christ
Jesus to do good works, which God
prepared in advance for us to do.”
Ephesians 1:20
“Which he [the Father] exerted in Christ
when he raised him [Jesus Christ] from the
dead and seated him at his right hand in
the heavenly realms.”
Summary of the Third Phase
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Decision is personal and private.
Response to the message of the Gospel.
Occurs when humans are justified (forgiven).
After death nothing can be changed (sealed, no second
chance).
Real issues involved in this Judgment:
a. What shall I do with Jesus?
b. Whom shall I trust?
c. What is my reaction to the Gospel?
Decisions are done in lifetime for all eternity: savedunsaved, faithful-unfaithful, good-evil.
Nothing, nobody can reverse this judgment (free will).
God’s Universal Judgment in Seven Phases:
The Pre-Advent Judgment
Pre-cross
Judgments
Eschatological/Post Cross Judgments
2
1
3
4
5
7
6
God’s Executive
Judgment
Fourth Phase of Judgment
1. Time: Pre-Advent Judgment.
What is its NATURE?
Known as the INVESTIGATIVE JUDGMENT.
Can be a misleading term.
Who need to investigate?
- God?
- Believers in Christ?
- Angels?
God knows who are His!
2 Tim 2:19
Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands
firm, sealed with this inscription: "The
Lord knows those who are his," and,
"Everyone who confesses the name of the
Lord must turn away from wickedness."
New terminology
• Terms are very important
• Truth, concepts, ideas are conveyed
through words
• We need to choose the best!
Fourth Phase of Judgment
Affirmative Judgment
(or Demonstrative or
Revelatory Judgment)
Fourth Phase of Judgment
1.
2.
3.
4.
Time: Pre-Advent Judgment.
Nature: Affirmative Judgment.
Place: Heaven.
Direct Beneficiaries: Angels / Whole
Universe.
5. Key Biblical Texts: Dan 7-8, Rev 14:7,Rev
19:2, Matt 22:1-14.
Facts About this Judgment
•
•
•
•
Also known as the “Investigative Judgment.”
Bible prophecy points to it starting in 1844.
This is “Investigative” only from the viewpoint of angels.
It is the affirmative or confirmatory judgment from the
viewpoint of GOD and human beings.
• It is God’s demonstrative or revelatory judgment: He
openly demonstrate to the whole universe our relationship to
Him.
• Salvation of God’s people―“Judgment in favor of the saints
of the Most High.”
• Condemnation―the “Little Horn” is judged.
Facts Continued.
• A revelation of God’s grace and power, rather than a
display of our sins.
• A demonstration of how God worked for us, in us, and
through us.
• Nothing mysterious or hidden activity―it is a legal
admission to Heaven in front of the whole Universe.
• Plainly and openly revealed who accepted God as
their Creator and Savior.
• God is proven just, because sinners are transformed
by God’s grace, Word, and Spirit.
• God’s love and justice are demonstrated when He
accepts into the heavenly family those who repented
and followed Him.
What’s missing?
•
•
•
•
Pictures are very impersonal.
Very sad (sober) faces.
Distance between justified sinner and Jesus.
Usually, Jesus or the Cross is not at the center
of the picture but sinner.
Three possible ways of improvement:
- Repentant sinner on the pierced palm of
Jesus.
Three possible ways of improvement:
- Repentant sinner on the pierced palm of Jesus.
- Being in the heart of Jesus.
Three possible ways of improvement:
- Repentant sinner on the pierced palm of Jesus.
- Being in the heart of Jesus.
- Jesus embraces repentant sinner.
Personal View
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
With one hand Jesus embraces me
With another shows my real life
Not only the display of my sins
Jesus as my true Witness demonstrate to the
whole universe what is my attitude toward Him, what
is my attitude toward sin and salvation
Especially the demonstration of God’s working
GRACE in me
My orientation for Jesus and life is revealed
My attitudes and directions of life are demonstrated
My priorities
Jesus Christ:
“My grace is sufficient for the
repentant sinner Moskala.”
Joy in Heaven
• Everyone will jump out of their seats and
applaud.
• They will applaud, of course, not me, but Jesus,
His powerful grace in my life.
• Remember - God’s amazing grace is always
transforming grace.
• They will proclaim: “We want that Moskala lives
with us! He fits and belong here to be part of our
family!”
• Jesus is legally securing my place in heaven
for the whole eternity in front of the universe.
God’s Universal Judgment in Seven Phases:
The Realization Judgment
Pre-cross
Judgments
Eschatological/Post Cross Judgments
2
1
3
4
5
6
God’s Executive
Judgment
7
The Fifth Phase of Judgment
1. Time: Eschatological Judgment, PostCross, Judgment at the Second Coming
of Christ
2. Nature: Realization Judgment
3. Place: Earth
4. Direct Beneficiaries: Redeemed People.
5. Key Biblical Texts: Rev 19:17-21, Matt
25:31-46, John 5:28-29, 1 Cor 4:4-5, Dan
12:2, 13
John 14:1-3
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in
God; trust also in me. In my Father's
house are many rooms; if it were not so, I
would have told you. I am going there to
prepare a place for you. And if I go and
prepare a place for you, I will come back
and take you to be with me that you also
may be where I am.”
God’s Universal Judgment in Seven Phases:
Judgment during Millennium
Pre-cross
Judgments
Eschatological/Post-Cross Judgments
2
1
3
4
5
6
God’s Executive
Judgment
7
The Sixth Phase of Judgment
1. Time: Eschatological, Post-Cross Judgment,
Judgment during Millennium
2. Nature: Attestation Judgment
3. Place: Heaven
4. Direct Beneficiaries: Redeemed
5. Key Biblical Texts: Rev 20:4-6, 1Cor 6:2-3,
Matt 19:28
God’s Universal Judgment in Seven Phases:
The Final Judgment
Eschatological/Post Cross Judgments
2
Pre-cross
Judgments
1
7
3
4
5
6
God’s Executive
Judgment
The Final Phase/7th Phase of Judgment
1.
2.
3.
4.
Time: The Last Judgment.
Nature: Executive Judgment.
Place: Earth.
Direct Beneficiaries: Whole Universe
including Redeemed.
5. Key Biblical Texts: Rev 20:7-15, John 12:48,
Acts 17:31.
There Is
• God with His people there.
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first
heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there
was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new
Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her
husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne
saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and
he will live with them. They will be his people, and
God himself will be with them and be their God.’”
Rev 21:1-3 (NIV)
This is the Gospel according
to God’s Judgment!
Glory, Hallelujah to the Lord!
The Gospel according to God’s
Judgment:
• It is a perfect Gospel, because our God
is perfect in all His actions!
• He is God of LOVE!
• He is our beautiful Judge!
• Revelation 20:1-5 : “Then I saw an angel coming down
from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great
chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of
old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand
years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him
up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the
nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But
after these things he must be released for a little while.
And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and
judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls
of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and
for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his
image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on
their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a
thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live
again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first
resurrection.”
Different Function/Role
• God wants that we are happy in heaven and
happy throughout the whole eternity even in
the case (or in spite of the fact) that our beloved
ones or close relatives would not be with us
there (hypothetical illustration: my father who
lead me to Christ), or if we could meet there our
enemies or those who according to our
understanding were enemies of Christ and His
people (hypothetical examples―Nero, Hitler,
Stalin, etc.)
• Time for receiving clearer insights and deeper
understanding of reality.
Another Function
Time for reconciliation, healing emotional
wounds, restoration of broken
relationships, and growth.
Illustration―2 Kings 21
• The King Manasseh.
• Who was he?
Illustration―2 Kings 21
- The worst king in Judah (like Ahab in the
North).
- Symbol of evil.
Illustration―2 Kings 21
- Yet was 55 years on the throne.
Illustration―2 Kings 21
- Practiced idolatry.
- Offered his sons to foreign gods.
Illustration―2 Kings 21
- Exercised magic and spiritism.
Illustration―2 Kings 21
Murdered Isaiah and many other prophets
and people.
Illustration―2 Kings 21
According to the pseudepigraphic writing,
The Ascension of Isaiah, Isaiah was
sawed in half during the reign of
Manasseh.
Terrible!!! What can be worse?
BUT― According to 2 Chronicles 33
• The King Manasseh repented
– Sent to the Assyrian captivity
– Sincerely asked God for mercy
– Returned back
– Revival and Reformation
Good News?
Rejoice – God saves!
Good News! God saves sinners!!!
Manasseh will be in heaven!!!
Glory to God for His amazing transforming
grace who could save man like Manasseh!
Good News
Isaiah and Manasseh will meet in heaven!
Will they pretend that nothing happened?
Will they ignore each other?
Don’t you think that it is now time for
Manasseh to say “I am deeply sorry” to
Isaiah? Then they will embrace each
other …
Another examples
• David and Uriah (2 Sa 11).
Another examples
• David and Uriah (2 Sa 11).
• Apostle Paul before his conversion put to
death many Christians who knew him only
as an enemy of the church.
Another examples
• David and Uriah (2 Sa 11).
• Apostle Paul before his conversion put to
death many Christians who knew him only
as an enemy of the church.
• Paul was the main witness of (and
responsible for) the death of Stephen, the
deacon (Acts 7:54-8:3; 9:1-6).
Facts about the Judgment during
Millennium
• Confirmatory, revelatory, negative (shows
condemnation).
• Endorses God’s previous judgment.
• God wants that all redeemed are happy through
whole eternity.
• Revelation of God’s love, justice while not forgiving
those who rejected His saving grace.
• All redeemed attest to God’s goodness and justice in
not admitting into Heaven those who refused His
saving activity for them and continued in
destructive behavior.
• Judgment of evil angels and Satan.
God’s Universal Judgment in Seven Phases:
The Final Judgment
Eschatological/Post Cross Judgments
2
Pre-cross
Judgments
1
7
3
4
5
6
God’s Executive
Judgment
The Final Phase/7th Phase of Judgment
1.
2.
3.
4.
Time: The Last Judgment.
Nature: Executive Judgment.
Place: Earth.
Direct Beneficiaries: Whole Universe
including Redeemed.
5. Key Biblical Texts: Rev 20:7-15, John 12:48,
Acts 17:31.
• Revelation 20:7-15: “Now when the thousand years have
expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out
to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth,
Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose
number is as the sand of the sea. They went up on the breadth of
the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved
city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured
them. The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire
and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And
they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. 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.”
• John 12:48: “He who rejects Me, and does
not receive My words, has that which judges
him -- the word that I have spoken will
judge him in the last day.”
• Acts 17: 31: “Because He has appointed a day
on which He will judge the world in
righteousness by the Man whom He has
ordained. He has given assurance of this to
all by raising Him from the dead.”
Facts About the Final Judgment
• Condemnation, Executive, Annihilation
• Negative
• All Intelligent beings in the Universe will serve
God faithfully out of Love and gratitude because
they know the Goodness of the Lord
• The Overall judgment has very positive results
• God as the Surgeon eradicating the Problem of
Sin once and for all, totally undoing the damage
done by sin
• Salvation and life secured for all eternity
• Sin and Rebellion will never occur again.
The Last Judgment
• “Above the throne of God appears the
cross of Jesus” (GC 666)
• In the light of the cross the whole great
controversy between God and Satan, light
and darkness, truth and deceit is shown
(the best multimedia presentation!).
• Every individual will also see in the light of
the cross what God did for him/her.
Every Knee Will Bow Down
Before God
• Not only all redeemed, good angels, and the heavenly beings, but also
-The wicked people.
-The evil angels.
-Satan himself.
Phil 2:10-11
“That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and
under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the
glory of God the Father.”
Rev 15:3-4
“Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are
your ways, King of the ages... For you alone are holy… your righteous acts
have been revealed.”
Satan’s Total Capitulation and
Defeat
• After crystal clear demonstration of God’s love
and evidences of it, Satan admits that God is
JUST. His claims are refuted.
• But he is angry at himself that he testified to
God’s justice, and he leads his followers to the
final rebellion.
• Because it was demonstrated to the whole
universe what God had unselfishly done for
sinners and that even the best information could
not change the heart of the wicked (this is why
they are condemned and outside of the New
Jerusalem), the fire from heaven will fall down
and destroy/annihilate evil and everyone who
associates with it.
God’s Strange But Necessary
Act: Annihilation of Unrepented
Sinners, Evil Angels, and Satan
God has no pleasure in destroying the wicked.
Ezek 18:32
“For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the
Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!”
(see also Ezek 33:11)
Isaiah 28:21
“The LORD will rise up as … to do his work, his strange work, and
perform his task, his alien task.”
• God’s love and justice clearly
demonstrated.
• Nahum 1:9
“Whatever they plot against the LORD he
will bring to an end; trouble will not come
a second time.”
God’s Total Victory
• It is the VICTORY of God’s
- love.
- truth.
- justice.
Victory of His moral power (not His force).
He is the only Warrant of freedom,
harmony, peace, and order.
In the New Earth There Is No More
• Death
There Is No More
• Death
• Sickness, pain, disease
There Is No More
• Death
• Sickness, pain, disease
• Wickedness, crime, evil
There Is No More
• Death―no more need of cemeteries.
• Sickness, pain, disease―no more
hospitals.
• Wickedness, crime, evil―no more
prisons.
No more sin, sinners, evil angels,
Satan !!!
There Will Be There
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Love.
Peace.
Joy.
Security.
Creative work.
Meaningful lasting relationships.
Harmony.
Traveling in the vast universe to another planets.
There Is
• God with His people there.
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first
heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there
was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new
Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her
husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne
saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and
he will live with them. They will be his people, and
God himself will be with them and be their God.’”
Rev 21:1-3 (NIV)
All Eternity With
• God.
• Angels.
• Heavenly beings from all the different 120 billion
galaxies.
• Redeemed of all generations (from Adam to the
Second Coming of Christ).
The best fellowship ever!
Never ending growth in the LORD!
This is the Gospel according
to God’s Judgment!
Glory, Hallelujah to the Lord!
Amen!
Question:
Theology of the Divine Judgment:
What is it?
A Demonstration of God’s Wrath
Or
A Celebration of the Cross?
Of course, it is
A Celebration of the Cross, celebration of
the Person – Jesus Christ!
The Gospel according to God’s
Judgment:
• It is a perfect Gospel, because our God
is perfect in all His actions!
• He is God of LOVE!
• He is our beautiful Judge!
Toward a Biblical Theology of God’s Judgment:
A Celebration of the Cross in Seven
Phases of Divine Universal Judgment (An Overview
Of a Theocentric-Christocentric Approach)
(For more details, see my article in
Journal of Adventist Theological
Society - Spring 2004).
www.atsjats.org
click on my name:
Jiri Moskala