Introduction
Briefly review last week—Jesus returns to defeat evil and establish
God's kingdom. We come now to the final judgment, which John sees as a
vision of the Great White Throne (read 20:11-15). There is plenty of symbolism
in this vision as well. The throne signifies God's authority to judge.
The whiteness of God's throne signifies his perfect purity and righteousness.
The “books” and the “book” signify the bases or reasons
why God's judgment is just. The “lake of fire” signifies the
final state of those judged. Let's take a little closer look at some of
the features of this judgment.
Key Features
Who is judged at this judgment? The “dead” refers not to all
humanity, but only to those condemned by God. There is no mention of anyone
present at this judgment entering into God's eternal kingdom. All of those
people have evidently already been raised by this time, never to die again
(re-read 20:6). But those present at this judgment are destined for the
“second death.” The picture is one of a judge pronouncing a
guilty verdict at a criminal trial.
Some have been powerful by human assessment, while others have been weak—but
all of them will stand before God as their Judge and be comdemned..
What is the sentence of this judgment? The “first death” is
physical death. The “second death” is being sent to the “lake
of fire” or “hell.” Hell evidently does not exist yet,
because it prepared for the future judgment of Satan and his demons (Matthew 25:41).
The various New Testament descriptions of this state are figurative, but
they convey different aspects of a very literal reality.
The “lake of fire” and Jesus' synonym “Gehenna”
(Jerusalem burning dump) both emphasize the anguish of experiencing
God's retributive wrath. This is similar to 14:9,10, which says they
will “drink the cup of God's wrath”—they will experience
God's undiluted judgment (undiluted by his mercy, patience, etc.).
“Wailing and gnashing of teeth” probably refers (like wailing)
to the grunt of frustration when we blow it on something important (EXAM;
MEAL; SPORTS PLAY). In this life, we have the opportunity to reverse
our decision on this issue (as we will see), but in hell there is only
everlasting regret at having permanently blown this opportunity.
“Outer darkness” and “bottomless pit” probably
refer to banishment from God's presence (2 Thessalonians 1:9)
and other love relationships (THE GREAT DIVORCE). See the other
images of banishment (“Depart from me” . . . “I
never knew you” . . . “The door was shut”).
The damned will plunge ever deeper into the abyss of their own depravity
and the isolation that depravity brings.
How profoundly disturbing is this concept! I know it disturbs me; it
is the teaching of God's Word that I dislike the most. Even God regards
it as his “strange work” (Isaiah 29:21) in which he takes no
delight (Ezekiel 18:32). Yet God says it is necessary—that without
hell, God's kingdom would be hellish. Before we look more closely at this
passage, let's consider some of the most common objections to hell and
God's response to them . . .
Objections to God's judgment
“It isn't biblical.” Ironically, this view has been
popularized primarily by theologians and pastors. Many of them say the
Bible is simply the record of the evolution of human's thinking about
God. That's why (they say) the God of the Old Testament is full of wrath
and vengeance, but the God of the New Testament is more loving and forgiving.
Since we can see the direction this is headed and extrapolate it to its
obvious conclusion, the most “biblical” view is that hell doesn't
exist.
It should be obvious from this passage (at the end of the last
book in the Bible) that this objection is false. In fact, in both the
Old Testament and New Testament, God reveals himself as both
loving and judging (Exodus 34:6-7; 2 Peter 3:9-10, 7).
Jesus, who was God-incarnate, spoke about hell more than all the other
human authors combined (180+, including at least 34 references in Luke).
I think God did it this way on purpose. He saved the most difficult
issue for his Son (who dies to save us from hell) to talk about most,
so we wouldn't pass it off as a human invention.
“It isn't fair.” This is the most common objection.
The sentence simply sounds too harsh. Can any crime deserve being subjected
eternally to God's wrath?
But before you reject hell on this basis, consider the following:
First, the Bible teaches that God will mete out his eternal judgment
in degrees that are suited to the sins of each individual. For example,
Jesus warns that those who know the truth and deliberately distort it
to deceive others will receive “greater condemnation” (Matthew 23:14).
Those rejected less light from God will receive less punishment from
God than those who rejected more light (Matthew 11:22; Luke 12:47-48).
Second, can we trust our ability to judge what is fair for ourselves?
People tend to think that what they do is not very bad and does not
deserve much punishment. For example, most prisoners believe
that they are sentenced too severely. Because of our imperfect criminal
justice system, some of them probably are—but it is highly unlikely
that most of them are. Children demonstrate this same attitude.
This is why we don't let children or criminals choose their own punishments;
they tend to go too soft on themselves. But God's judgment is perfect.
He knows all the factors, every mitigating circumstance—and on
that day he will demonstrate that he has been absolutely fair in his
judgment.
Furthermore, the alternative to hell—universalism—is definitely
not fair. Is it fair for people to never be called to account for their
actions? Is it fair that unrepentant wicked people have the last word
on evil (STALIN: safe to the end, clenched fist at the end)? Is it fair
for repentant people to have to spend eternity with an unrepentant STALIN?
Is it fair for God to allow this world to go on for so long if he will
send everyone to heaven? If people can't make a decision about where
to spend eternity during this life, what is the point? Ironically, universalism
raises more objections to God's fairness than it resolves . . .
“I don't believe in it, so I won't go there.” This is
a very recent objection. Not that people have only recently disbelieved
in hell. People have been doing that for many centuries. But until very
recently, when people said “I don't believe in hell,” they went
on to explain why their beliefs made more sense than the Bible's. But
today, everything has changed. In our postmodern culture, this is an irrefutable
response, because my belief creates reality—for me. “WHAT DREAMS
MAY COME” VIDEO.
This is certainly very appealing, but what basis is there for thinking
that it is true that our beliefs create our afterlife? Why is this any
different from what child-development experts call “magical thinking”
(EXAMPLE: small child who covers his eyes to make you go away) or adult
desperate denial (EXAMPLE: cancer-diagnosed mother who says she doesn't
believe it)? Why is this same kind of thinking, which we consider infantile
or insane in every other area, considered enlightened when it comes
to spirituality and the afterlife?
The value of our beliefs is not that they create reality, but
that they correspond to reality.
Why would you bet your afterlife on a way of thinking that you reject
in everyday life? Faith is not wishful thinking—it is a decision
to entrust yourself to someone who is trustworthy. There is abundant
and sufficient evidence that the God of the Bible exists and is trustworthy
(recommend Christianity: The
Faith That Makes Sense). Why not trust what he says about this
all-important issue? Let's go back to our text and ask one more question . . .
Who goes to hell?
“It is only for really bad people.” A fairly recent
survey shows that 82 percent of adult Americans believe in an afterlife
that includes both heaven and hell, but only 4 percent of those people
believe that they will go to hell!
In other words, most Americans believe that hell is only for really bad
people. George Barna's recent survey shows that over half of all Americans
believe that people earn heaven and avoid hell by being good.
Do you see the obvious flaw in this belief? How good is good enough
to earn heaven, and how bad is bad enough deserve hell? If Mother Theresa
is good enough to go to heaven, and if Stalin is bad enough to go to
hell, should we draw the line exactly halfway between them (CHARTS)?
What if you were one sin on Stalin's side of that line (that bad thought
you had about your mother when you were ten years old)? Is this fair?
No matter where you draw the line, you always have the same arbitrary
dilemma. This is the dilemma for all world religions (most of which
teach some form of hell--EXAMPLES), except Christianity . . .
God has a very different basis for his judgment, which we read about
back in Revelation 20:11-15. This is the significance of the two
sets of books.
The first "books" (20:12) evidently signify the record of
each person's deeds in light of God's perfect righteousness (CHART).
This record will testify in every case to their violations against God's
standard, and to their worthiness of his judgment. By this standard,
of course, we all deserve God's judgment (Romans 3:23).
But there is another, more tragic reason why these people are condemned.
Their names are not recorded in "the book of life" (20:15).
The “book of life” signifies the record of all who are exempt
from hell and guaranteed eternal life.
Revelation 3:5 implies that everyone's name got entered into the
book of life when Jesus died on the cross, because his death paid
for everyone's sins (2 Corinthians 5:19a). This symbol communicates
the incredible wideness of God's mercy through the Cross—that
Jesus death truly paid for everyone's sins and that God wants everyone
to be saved—while still preserving the necessity of our choice
to receive this gift.
But God won't force his forgiveness on you—you must freely choose
to receive it. If you receive it, your name goes permanently into
the book of life. But if you refuse to receive this gift of forgiveness
before you die, you are saying (whether you realize it or not) that
you don't need it and that you're ready to answer for your own sins.
Why would you want to do that, when you can receive full pardon by
simply asking Jesus for it? Why not make sure you have done this . . .
How should hell affect Christians? (Q & A)
As stated above, we should not be terrified because we know we will be
exempt from this judgment. Instead, the Bible teaches that hell should
affect Christians in a couple of ways.
It should comfort us to know that true justice will ultimately be done.
Although unrepentant evil people often evade justice in this life (EXAMPLES),
no unrepentant person will evade God's ultimate justice. This is why
we can forgive our enemies (explain Romans 12:19)—instead
of being embittered toward them and God.
It should motivate us to share the good news of Jesus' gift of forgiveness
with everyone, including those most unworthy of it!
Footnotes