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Life presents us with difficult questions and painful circumstances. The Bible never pretends otherwise or offers easy answers. Yet through it all, followers discover that Jesus is our anchor, and we learn to face life's complexities knowing that our lives are part of God's much bigger story—a story that stretches from Genesis to Revelation and beyond this life into eternity.
Many of us work with people facing enormous challenges: poverty, disease, violence, and unemployment. Yet in and through it all, the answer is often this: we don't just live on this earth for the comforts we have now. We know that one day we will be with Jesus, so we live for eternity, having an eternal perspective. That eternal perspective changes everything.
Our culture is suspicious of judgment. Yet at the same time, we long for justice. When we see abuse, oppression, trafficking, and wars, something within us cries out: something must be put right. The Bible ends with exactly that promise. Revelation points us towards a day of ultimate justice—a day when God will finally put everything right.
No abuser, no tyrant, no oppressor will ultimately escape God's justice. No act of faithfulness will be forgotten. Revelation 20 promises a coming day of reckoning, a day of judgment. At one level, that sounds incredibly unsettling. But at another level, it's profoundly good news.
If God were indifferent to evil and injustice, he would not be worthy of our worship. If he had no plan to defeat evil once and for all and unite heaven and earth, there would be little hope beyond death.
Judgment is not about punishment. It's about God restoring his creation, establishing perfect justice, and making all things new. And today is our opportunity to prepare for that day.
The word "revelation" comes from the Greek word apocalypsis, meaning "an unveiling" or "the pulling back of a curtain." During a time of worship and intimacy with God, God gives John, the writer of Revelation, a glimpse beyond what we can normally see. It's full of imagery, symbolism, prophetic visions, and powerful pictures that point to a spiritual realm.
Revelation doesn't always immediately make sense. When we read the Psalms alongside Revelation, we're brought back to God's character and nature. Andrew Ollerton himself said that this was the most difficult chapter of his book to write. His encouragement to us is not to be consumed with speculation, conspiracy theories, or trying to decode every meaning, but to keep our eyes firmly fixed on Jesus.
From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible is ultimately about Jesus. Jesus is the center of God's story. He created us, pursued us, died for us, rose again for us, and invites every one of us into relationship with him.
This is not an exclusive club or for a select few. The invitation is open to everyone. In John 3:16, it says, "For God so loved the world." Many of us have been transformed by Jesus, forgiven, and welcomed into God's family.
Like every one of us, I know what it means to fall short. Scripture tells us in Romans 3 that we have all fallen short of the glory of God. But what follows is beautiful:
We are all justified freely by grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Jesus has made a way. The invitation is extended to every person, but the choice remains with us: to either receive him or reject him.
In Matthew 25, Jesus teaches about the coming judgment through the parable of the sheep and the goats. It begins:
When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him. And he will separate the peoples one from another as sheep are separated from the goats.
Revelation 20 reminds us that one day every person will stand before God. In verse 12, it says:
I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne.
Everyone who has ever lived, regardless of status, wealth, influence, or obscurity, will stand before God. No one can hide. No one will be excused or absent on that day.
John tells us that books were opened—the first being the book of deeds, which symbolizes God's complete knowledge of every life: every thought, every word, every action, every motive. Nothing escapes his attention.
Yet this should not fill us with fear. God's judgment is not harsh or arbitrary. He sees the whole picture. He knows our circumstances, our opportunities, our upbringing, and he knows the intentions of our hearts. His judgment is perfectly impartial, completely righteous, and utterly fair. No one will be treated unjustly or wrongly.
The wonderful news is that once we've turned from our sins and turned to Jesus, our hope does not rest on our achievements, good works, or religious performance. We don't have to feel guilty for what we got wrong, because our confidence rests totally in what Christ has done for us.
Those whose names are written in the second book—the book of life—belong to him. Not because they've earned their place, but because they have received outrageous, scandalous grace.
That truth invites us to live every day with eternity in view, knowing that one day we will stand before God who knows us completely and loves us perfectly.
One of the most striking themes in Jesus's teachings is that God's kingdom turns our expectations upside down. Our judgments are frequently superficial. We judge by appearance, reputation, status, and success. Social media certainly promotes that.
But Jesus repeatedly taught that on the day of judgment, there will be remarkable reversals of fortunes. In Matthew 25, the sheep are surprised they made the cut, while the goats are shocked they didn't. Why? Because God's judgment is not based on what we have done, but on our response to Jesus and what he has done for us.
In Luke 16, we see the poor welcomed while the religious legalists are excluded. The rich man, successful in this life, is unnamed in hell. Lazarus, a poor beggar overlooked by society, is honored in heaven.
That's because God's judgment is based on how much Jesus's life has transformed us, so that we are rewarded not because we deserve it, but because we belong to him. And that will be revealed then, but in the now too, in the simple everyday ways we have lived out his teaching.
Have we acted with compassion, humility, mercy, generosity, and faithfulness? Why? Because God sees beyond appearance and looks at the heart.
Psalm 96 gives us a wonderful picture of that coming day:
Let the fields be jubilant and everything in them. Let all the trees of the forest sing for joy. Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness.
What an extraordinary image. Creation itself rejoices at God's coming judgment. Why? Because when God comes to judge, he will set everything right. Every injustice will be addressed. Every wrong will be made right. Every hidden truth will be revealed. People will finally be seen and known for who they truly are.
So the big question for us is this: What are we building our lives upon? Are we relying on religious rules, hoping our good works or church attendance will be enough? Are we living to impress others and maintain our reputation? Or are we walking humbly with God, turning to his grace, allowing Jesus to shape our character, and living lives marked by compassion, obedience, and faith?
On that day, what will matter most is not how impressive we appeared or how well we kept up appearances, but whether we truly knew Christ and whether his life was evident in us.
Revelation highlights two books. The book of deeds records everybody's life. But there's another book: the book of life. And this is the one that matters most.
The book of deeds records everyone's life, but the book of life reveals our relationship with Christ. Our salvation is not based on our performance, but on our position in relation to Christ. The question is not so much "How much have I done?" but "Am I in Christ?"
Beloved, if your name is not written in the book of life, then no amount of good works, religious activity, or personal achievement written in the book of deeds can save you.
We are all sinners. Our confidence rests not in what we have done for God, but in what Christ has done for us.
After judgment comes a final separation. Those who belong to Christ enter life with him, while those who have continually rejected him face eternal separation from God—which Revelation describes using the symbolic language of a lake of fire. We must approach this subject with humility and care, avoiding speculation and caricatures, but we cannot ignore the clear warning that comes from Jesus himself.
Some people believe God simply sends people to hell. But Revelation presents a more sobering picture: God confirms the direction people have already chosen.
In Revelation 20:13, it says:
Each person was judged according to what they had done.
Throughout our lives, we make choices. This is a very important choice: we either receive God's invitation or we reject it. God will never force anyone into relationship with him. Love always allows for freedom. To compel someone into heaven against their will would be to violate the very freedom that God has given us.
Judgment day simply confirms the path we have chosen: to live with God or to live apart from him.
But even as we hear this warning, we must never lose sight of God's heart.
Last week, someone referenced John 8—that absolutely beautiful picture of justice and mercy. Here was a woman caught in adultery. The religious leaders stood around ready to condemn her, stones in their hands. Jesus challenged them:
Let anyone who is without sin be the first to throw the stone.
One by one, they walked away. Then Jesus turned to the woman and said:
Neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin.
In that moment, grace and truth met together. Jesus neither excused her sin nor condemned her to hopelessness. He offered her forgiveness and called her into a transformed life. What an incredible invitation. And this is still his invitation today.
Personally, this is quite a wakeup call. Life is not a dress rehearsal. None of us know how long we have. Jesus is coming soon. I don't know when, but I know he's coming soon. Our decisions echo through eternity.
Rather than drifting through life or presuming upon God's grace, today is the day to respond to him, to repent while we can, and to receive the life he freely offers. If you've fallen from first love, I want to encourage you: realign yourself, recalibrate.
As we come to the end of this series, we are reminded why Jesus matters so much. One day God will judge. But before he judges us, Jesus was judged for us. On the cross, Jesus received the judgment we deserved. He bore our sins, experienced our separation, and opened the way home to the Father. Darkness fell upon him so that we would never have to have that darkness fall upon us. He was shut out so that we could be welcomed in.
And that is why Jesus could say in John 5:24:
Whoever hears my word and believes in him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged, but has crossed from death to life.
What an incredible assurance. If we have trusted in Jesus, our names are written in the book of life. Not in pencil that can be erased—because we'll all trip and fall along the way—but because that precious blood of Jesus was shed for you and for me.
It's not a case of "Am I good enough?" but rather "Is he good enough?" And he is. The question is: Am I in Christ, and is Christ in me?
If so, when that day finally comes, every one of us can say with confidence: Maranatha. Come, Lord Jesus, come.
