The Day of Judgment

GOD HAS SPOKEN OF JUDGMENT

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth (Romans 1:18).

ERV: God’s anger is shown from heaven. God is angry with all the evil and wrong things that people do against God. They have the truth, but by their evil lives they hide the truth.

You may remember that Romans 1:19-20 told us that God reveals Himself through nature. We see in verse 18 that something else is also "being revealed"—the wrath or anger of God. This anger is against all of man’s sinful ways. Some, of course, doubt that God is really angry. They do not see or feel all His anger right now. Paul goes on in the second chapter of Romans to explain that there will come "the day of God’s wrath" when God’s anger and judgment will be fully revealed. Until then, it is being stored up (Romans 2:5).

"THE DAY OF JUDGMENT"

Many of God’s prophets gave this same warning. Jesus spoke often of "the day of judgment" (Matthew 11:22,24; 12:36; etc.). He spoke often of the unending pain and fire of "hell" (Matthew 5:22,29; 25:41,46; Mark 9:43-49; etc.).

In fact, every time this "hell" is mentioned in the New Testament (except for James 3:6), it is from the lips of Jesus Himself.

He knew that terrible punishment was waiting for sinful people. That is why He gave such strong warning—even to His own followers.

I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! (Luke 12:4-5)

Jesus Himself will have a part in judging us (John 5:22,27; 2 Corinthians 5:10).

He has fixed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom He has appointed; and of this He has given assurance to all by raising Him from the dead (Acts 17:31).

ERV: God has decided a day when He will judge all the people in the world. He will be fair. He will use a man to do this. God chose this man long ago. And God has proved this to every person; God proved it by raising the man from death!

How can we be sure that the day of judgment is coming? This verse says that the proof is Christ’s resurrection!

There were many eyewitnesses who saw Jesus alive after His death. His victory over death is well known, proving to all people that death is not the end. All will one day be resurrected from death (John 5:29). And if all will be raised, they all will meet God. Then they will answer to God for the choices they made on earth! 

WHY GOD IS ANGRY

Looking closely again at Romans chapter one, we find these reasons for God’s anger:

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him… (1:21).

[They] exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things (1:23).

… they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator… (1:25).

ERV for Romans 1:23, 25: They gave up the glory of God who lives forever. People traded that glory for the worship of idols made to look like earthly people. People traded God’s glory for things that look like birds, animals, and snakes… Those people traded the truth of God for a lie. Those people worshiped and served things that were made. But people did not worship and serve the God who made those things…

We humans treat the very things made by God as if those things can take God’s place! So the things that were meant to help us know and honor God (1:20), are used against God. They become weapons to destroy knowledge about God. Instead of honoring God, people try to cover up and hide ("suppress") the truth about God (1:18). They turn from God’s truth and accept the lie (1:25). 

MAKING A MORE PLEASING GOD

This lie, of course, comes from Satan. Remember that the spiritual struggle is about who should be worshiped (Matthew 4 and John 4). People, following Satan’s lie, take their love away from God. They give their worship to His enemy, the devil. Consider what happened at Sinai. God Himself spoke His Ten Commandments to the whole nation. The second commandment was this:

You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God… (Exodus 20:4).

However, the people grew tired of waiting at Mount Sinai. A God who could not be seen, and who took as much time as He wanted, did not please them. So they made a statue in the shape of a calf. They called it the ‘god’ who brought them out of Egypt. Aaron made an altar for offering gifts to it. He then announced, "Tomorrow will be a festival to the LORD (YHWH)" (Exodus 32:5).

They thought this worship would be for the true God, YHWH. But they wanted Him in a form that they could see and feel. (Such a god would also let them worship and live as they pleased.) They would worship the LORD through this image. 

THE WORSHIP OF DEMONS

Look at the result. They showed disrespect for God by breaking His commandments. They had seen the awesome power of God on Sinai. Yet they made the almighty Spirit seem like a brute beast.

They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox [cow] that eats grass (Psalm 106:20).

Far from worshiping God, they dishonored Him and insulted Him! In His anger, He had 3000 of the rebels killed and to the rest He made this promise:

In the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them (Exodus 32:34).

If their worship failed to honor the Lord, then who actually was honored by it? God gave the answer in Moses’ song (Deuteronomy 32).

They stirred him to jealousy with strange gods; with abominations they provoked him to anger. They sacrificed to demons that were no gods… They have made me jealous with what is no god (Deuteronomy 32:16-17,21).

Here God showed what really happened in the worship of idols. The idol itself was "no god" at all. It was a lie. Standing behind that lie was Satan and his helpers, the evil spirits called "demons." Therefore, sacrifices given to the false gods actually went to demons.

The New Testament also spoke of this fact in 1 Corinthians 10:19-20.

What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons.

It is wrong to think that God accepts all kinds of worship. Without knowing it, many give their worship to demons. They become partners ("participants") with demons.

1 Timothy 4:1 reveals that those who leave the true teachings of Christ are following false teachings from demons. Peter foretold that "many" would be fooled by false leaders who had once been Christians (2 Peter 2:1-2). Sadly, much of this has already come true. It explains why there are so many divided groups, and differing teachings, among those using the Lord’s name. Jesus warned that "many" use His name but disobey what He commanded. "On that Day" (the Judgment Day), Jesus will say to them,

”I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness!” (Matthew 7:15-23).  

 

MAN AS HIS OWN GOD

Are we to think that the only idols Satan uses are carved images? Scripture says that he offers many other kinds of "gods" to us. He will even put us and our desires into the place of God, if we let him! It is quite simple. Just get us to think mainly of what we can see.

Man’s fleshly eye sees that, among all the animals, he is the highest and wisest. That seems to make man the most important. What can compare with man’s great mind? What is to hold man back from fulfilling his own desires? As Paul said of some, "their god is their stomach" (Philippians 3:19). They are "lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God" (2 Timothy 3:4). Who can doubt that the idols of many today include pleasures, sex, money, careers, security, success and fame? They seek these things far more seriously than they seek the true God.

For the wicked [evil person] boasts of the desires of his soul, and the one greedy [hungry] for gain curses and renounces [turn from] the Lord. In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, ”There is no God” (Psalm 10:3-4).

Selfish desires and "pride" take the place God should have in their hearts. As Colossians 3:5 says, "Covetousness [greed]…is idolatry." Selfish people want more and more. They do not care when they hurt others. They think there is no Judge to punish them, so they take advantage of others. They are like the Babylonians of old, "guilty men, whose own strength is their god" (Habakkuk 1:11). To such proud people God says,

… you are but a man, and no god, in the hands of those who slay [kill] you (Ezekiel 28:9).

GOD MADE IN MAN'S IMAGE

Satan finds it hard to trick most of us into thinking that there is no God above us. The evidence for God is just too strong. So Satan works on changing truth about God. Satan wants God to be made in the image or likeness of man (instead of man being "in the image of God"). Some feel that God may be as weak as they are. They think God has little power to help them or make their lives better. Others, having been treated badly, view God as that kind of person. They think that God hates them and seeks their ruin. Others want a God who will never punish anyone. They make God out to be only soft and gentle, without any anger. Then there are those who think that God shares their dishonest ways. They do not keep their promises, and they feel that God may not keep His word. Although He has promised terrible punishment for sins (Revelation 21:8), they think He may let them off. Many on earth escape justice by hiding or by using gifts and bribes. They think they can also bargain with God, or hide from Him. To such people God has made these replies:

For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe (Deuteronomy 10:17).

ERV for Deuteronomy 10:17b: To the LORD every person is the same. The LORD does not accept money to change His mind.

God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind (Numbers 23:19).

You thought that I was one like yourself. But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you (Psalm 50:21).

When we make God seem like us, we open the way for false worship. The "God" we claim to worship may become quite different from the true God who has shown Himself. Our "God" turns into a lie. Worship given to this lie goes to "the father of lies." 

 

SERIOUSLY SEEKING GOD

The prophet Isaiah spoke out against lies about God. He could do this because God had shown His glory to Isaiah (Isaiah 6:1-4).

I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up… And one [angel] called to another and said: ”Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” (Isaiah 6:1,3).

God is "holy"—so pure that He is far above all that is wrong or false. God’s eyes are "purer than see at evil" (Habakkuk 1:13). Seeing God’s power and purity, Isaiah realized that he and his people would be destroyed (Isaiah 6:5). Isaiah himself stayed alive there only because God acted quickly to save him, taking his sins away (Isaiah 6:7). Only those whom God makes holy can live with Him.

Strive [work] for… the holiness without which no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14).

All of us fall short of God’s holiness and glory (Romans 3:10,23). So many tell lies, live lies, and follow lies that the Bible now calls Satan "the god of this world" (2 Corinthians 4:4).

The whole world lies in the power of the evil one (1 John 5:19).

All who love worldly things above God make themselves enemies of God (James 4:4; 1 John 2:15). Thus most people—whether they realize it or not—are on Satan’s side and must share the defeat and punishment that God plans for all His enemies.

That is why Jesus warns us:

Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few (Matthew 7:13-14).

How foolish to think that we cannot be among the "many" on the wide road to ruin! How foolish to think that we will enter that small gate by chance or by accident! There must be "every effort," that is, serious seeking for God’s way:

Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able (Luke 13:24).

Strive for… the holiness without which no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14).

This explains why the Bereans eagerly searched the Scriptures every day to learn God’s truth (Acts 17:11). We too should seek God’s way to holiness just as seriously. For God has spoken, showing that each of us must answer to Him, the Judge over all creation.

Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment (Hebrews 9:27).

LET'S SUM UP

The book of Hebrews sums up this subject best:

Our God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29; quoting Deuteronomy 4:24).

ERV: Because our God is like a fire that can destroy.

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:30-31).

God cannot stand lies, for He is completely honest, pure and holy. God’s majesty rejects all false worship. False worship and service ends up going to demons. God’s firm justice cannot let rebellion go on unpunished. He has spoken clearly of His anger. He has given warning that there will be final and full judgment against all His enemies. That is not an empty threat. It is time for us to take the coming judgment very seriously.

Almighty God and Judge of all, You have every right to be angry when we choose to follow your enemies. Teach us to have healthy fear of your just anger. Help us to respect You, to believe your warnings, and to find your "narrow door" that leads to life…

Satan the father of lies

GOD HAS SPOKEN OF HIS ENEMY

Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, ”All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, ”Be gone, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve'” (Matthew 4:8-10).

In the same passage where Jesus speaks of worshiping God alone, we see a great spiritual struggle. There is another person who wants to have the worship that belongs to God. He is called "Satan," which means "Enemy." What sort of enemy is this? How does he work? And why does the all-powerful God even let such an enemy continue to fight against Him?

THE FATHER OF LIES

Though the Bible speaks often of this enemy, it does not say much about how he began. Since God created all things, Satan must also have been made by God. However, the Bible clearly shows that God is good (Mark 10:18). All that God makes is good (Genesis 1:31; James 1:17). Therefore, it would seem that Satan, like any other creation, had a good beginning. If so, he turned from good to bad, from truth to lies. Jesus said,

He [the devil] was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44).

The description "father of lies" suggests that Satan was the first to lie. He did not "hold to the truth."

Satan tries to make himself look like an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). But he is the leader of the angels who rebelled against God (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6). They are part of his "kingdom" (Matthew 12:26). His rebellion can be clearly seen when he tries to take God’s place, seeking worship that belongs to God alone (Matthew 4:9). 

WAR IN HEAVEN...WOE TO THE EARTH!

Satan, of course, cannot get God to make a mistake.

"God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one" (James 1:13).

It has always been fully in God’s power to destroy Satan at any time. Indeed, the complete defeat of Satan has been foretold in passages like Revelation 20:10. But God has allowed Satan to continue to rebel for a while. Why does God allow this struggle? The reasons are not all clearly revealed. However, God has revealed that the struggle is very serious.

An example of this can be found in Revelation 12, which describes "war in heaven." God’s angels, led by the angel Michael, fought against Satan and his angels. God’s angels were much stronger. They threw their enemies out of heaven. Then the struggle continued on the earth.

And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world— he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him… But woe [great trouble] to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short! (Revelation 12:9,12).

"Woe" means "trouble." This is a warning to us that the earth has become the battleground. 

A STRUGGLE THAT CALLS FOR CHOICES

Yet man does not have to be a victim, trapped and crushed between these two powerful armies of angels. For God has made us "in the image of God" (Genesis 1:27; James 3:9). Each of us has a spirit or soul which lives beyond the death of the body (Matthew 10:28). We can also make real choices about which side we serve.

Joshua told his people that they had to make a choice between the true God and false gods.

Choose this day whom you will serve (Joshua 24:15).

Much later, Jesus said,

If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God… (John 7:17).

Mary was one person who chose the good (Luke 10:42). Pressure—called "temptation"—to do wrong is a necessary part of this world (Matthew 18:7). But 1 Corinthians 10:13 shows that the follower of God does not have to give in to temptation. These Scriptures show that people must make a choice between God and Satan, good and evil.

It is true that God commands us to worship Him. He demands our full love. But He does not force this love from us. Notice how the book of Deuteronomy, which commanded love for God (6:5), also makes it part of a choice (for our good):

I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him (Deuteronomy 30:19-20).

God is not interested in pretended love or in forced love from us. He could have made a machine for such kinds of "love." Instead He made people with spirits and hearts that can love Him freely and willingly. Jesus said that God actually "seeks" such "true worshipers," who "will worship the Father in spirit and truth" (John 4:23-24).   

A STRUGGLE OVER WORSHIP

When we compare Matthew 4 with John 4, we understand that the struggle is about worship. God—because He is the true God—deserves and rightfully seeks true worshipers (John 4:23-24). The enemy, Satan, seeks to take that worship away from God. Satan wants such worship for himself (Matthew 4:8-10).

The Old Testament story of Job is about worship. The devil could not accept the fact that Job was a true worshiper of God. The word devil means "accuser." Satan again earned that name. He accused Job of false, selfish reasons for worshiping God. Satan also accused God of protecting Job from any hard tests. Because the struggle is a serious one, with real choices, God allowed Satan to test Job (Job 1:12; 2:6). However, God stayed in control, always limiting Satan’s power to do harm. Satan took away Job’s wealth and family. Yet still Job "fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, … 'blessed be the name of the Lord'" (Job 1:20-21). Even painful illness could not change Job’s mind. Nothing could force him away from the choice to do right. Nothing could stop him from worshiping the true God.  

SATAN ATTACKS THE WORD OF GOD

Since Satan is not permitted to force us into wrong worship, he tries to fool us into it. He tries to deceive and mislead us. He knows that God is truly honored and loved when we obey God. For obedience treats God as the King He is. So Satan first attacks the word of God.

Notice how he lied to the first people. The snake told Eve that God was mistaken in saying that death would come to those eating the wrong fruit (Genesis 3:4). He also used Eve’s natural desires. The fruit looked "good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise" (Genesis 3:6). Eve, and then Adam, followed Satan into disobedience. As God had warned, their sin brought death into the good world, and with it much suffering (Genesis 2:17; 3:16-19).

"Death" for sin means more than the end of the body’s life. It means the end of the human spirit’s closeness and life with God. Thus Romans 5:12 says,

Sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned…

Why did death spread to all people? "Because all sinned"! Clearly, Satan’s lies have done terrible damage to all of us. As Revelation 12:9 says, he "leads the whole world astray." Among his many tools are leaders who claim to speak for God and for truth, but who mislead the people.

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world (1 John 4:1).

Though God has spoken very clearly, these false teachers turn people away from God’s word. Some try to stop the people from learning God’s word for themselves. Others pretend to teach it, but they "twist" or change its meaning (2 Peter 3:16).

They do this so that they can follow what their "itching ears" want to hear (2 Timothy 4:3-4). This reminds us that we should test every teaching by what the Bible actually says.

Why would anyone teach things that are against God’s word? Some may do it selfishly—for money and power. Others may be holding to old, respected "traditions" of their people. Whatever the reason, most do not fully realize the harm they are doing. As Proverbs 21:2 says, "Every way of a man is right in his own eyes." Satan can so blind us that we think we are right, when we are quite wrong. Jesus warned His apostles of just how far Satan would go.

Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God (John 16:2).

This shows how fully Satan deceives, and how fierce the spiritual fight is.   

THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS CHRIST

What hope do humans have against such a clever enemy? Our fleshly eyes cannot even see these spirits that hate us.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12).

ERV: Our fight is not against people on earth. We are fighting against the rulers and authorities and the powers of this world’s darkness. We are fighting against the spiritual powers of evil in the heavenly places.

Satan and his angels are powerful spirits. The truth of the matter is that, even with our power of choice, we would have no hope if God did not help us. In Ephesians 6:10, Paul says that the way to win the fight is to "be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power." In the same passage where the apostle John warned about false prophets, he went on to comfort and assure followers of Jesus:

He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4).

Satan cannot beat God. When God uses His great strength in us and for us, then Satan cannot defeat us either! Jesus came for this purpose.

The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8).

Jesus sent His apostles as special messengers to tell this Good News. As He sent the apostle Paul, Jesus said to Him,

… I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified [made holy] by faith in me (Acts 26:17-18).

ERV for Acts 26:18: They can have a share with those people who have been made holy by believing in Me.

LET'S SUM UP

Our world has become the scene of a great spiritual war between God and Satan. Because man is made in God’s image, he may choose whom he will worship and serve. Satan uses lies, deception, and our own desires. Through these he gets us to choose his own evil way—rebellion against God. However, God’s power is far greater than Satan’s. Through Christ God has made the way for us to join Him in victory over this enemy.

Our worship, and our full obedience, belong only to You, eternal King. Yet often we have failed to honor You. Turn us from Satan’s darkness to Your light. Help us to find forgiveness, and a place among Your own special people, through Jesus Christ…