Walking With Christ

Judgement day. Those words used to strike fear in me long before the movie of the same name briefly flopped itself on video. I grew up in a fire and brimstone church. More accurately, I played outside with the rest of the kids while the preacher yelled at the top of his lungs about how everyone was going to hell.

It took several years for me to stop cringing every time someone said those words. My understanding of that day was me having to stand before the creator of the universe and having to explain every single thought and action in the hopes that I would be good enough to be allowed into heaven. It didn’t take the enemy long to capitalize on my misunderstanding of what that day is. My self-image easily shifted from “I hope to one day be good enough” to “I know that I’ll never be good enough”. In my mind, if I will never be good enough to go to heaven then there was no point in trying. I knew that I couldn’t do it.

To my way of thinking, if there was no way for me to be good enough then there was no point in trying. If I couldn’t make it to heaven and was destined for hell then I might as well have every little bit of fun I could before I went. How messed up it that? How common is that?

The good news, that we all are called to share, is that I was mostly wrong what that day means. Yes, judgement will happen for everyone. Yes, hell is a very real place and a lot of people will be sent there by their own choices. Yes, I am not and cannot be good enough on my own to make it into heaven.

Where I was wrong is that it was on me to make that happen.

Here’s something about judgement day that a lot of people don’t understand. There are actually three different judgements. There is the judgement before the great white throne. Those who do not believe or believe but have not committed their lives to Christ will be judged. Sentence will be passed and they will be sent to hell for eternity. That still frightens me. The idea of so many choosing to go to hell out of fear or ignorance just weighs on me.

For believers, there is GREAT news. We received judgement on that day when Jesus died on the cross when He took on the punishment for all those who would believe. That was judgement day for all who believe. Sin itself was judged that day. Sentence was passed and the punishment was carried out. Only, He took the judgement and punishment for us so that we don’t have to. That was a judgement day. As believers, we do not have to face that sentence or punishment anymore.

Don’t misunderstand what I’m saying here. As Christians, we will still stand before the great white throne and a judgement will still be passed. We will stand before what in Greek is called the Bema seat. One of the two uses of bema seat could be where we step up before the judge and He gives us a verdict or passes sentence on a verdict.

The other? That’s for us. The other use of bema seat is still used in the Olympics when the athletes stand up on the podium and receive their rewards.

1 Corinthians 3:11-15 (11)For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. (12)Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— (13)each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. (14)If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. (15)If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.(ESV)

2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.(ESV)

This means that if we are saved by grace through faith then even if we have done nothing great for the kingdom we are still going to go to heaven. We just won’t receive the same richness in reward that others will.

Let’s wrap up with a summary. There are three judgements that people face. We get to pick which one we want. I would rather die once after being judged twice (Calvary and the bema seat) than die twice after being judged once at judgement day before the great white throne. We will stand before the great white throne. For non-believers it will be to receive punishment. For believers it will be to receive the rewards we built up with our service to the kingdom in this life.

This is an important message with a lot of depth that might require more context than I’m able to give here without making this message EVEN longer. Please feel free to reach out with questions, comments, or concerns. If I don’t have the answer, I know people who might. If they don’t know then we all know who does.