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No course on the topic of Hell is complete without discussing what is known as Judgment Day. The Greek word for judgement is “krino” which means decide, evaluate, hold a view, make a legal decision, judge, or condemn. My thesis in this series has been that the narratives, which are controlled and given by religion, are not always in clear alignment with the biblical revelation. The Bible contains nuances which are often missed or ignored by those who teach it because it’s just easier to align with tradition and few parishioners would ever notice. These nuances however, do matter, as they relate directly to message of the Gospel, or Good News, and how it is presented to the world. Let me remind you of a powerful verse which comprises the Gospel. This statement is way bigger than most doctrines.

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

The Bible does mention a great day of judgment in a couple of explicit descriptive passages, but it also has a lot of supplemental texts that refer to humanity being judged by God according to our work or deeds. These passages are mostly forward looking, implying a future time, a day of reckoning, when God judges all who have ever lived.

Before I share the core passages, I’d like to ask you: What do you know and believe about Judgment Day? Are you able to back that belief up with what the Bible says? Or are you just taking the “party line?”

“As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire. A stream of fire issued and came out from before him; a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened.” (Joel 7:9-10)

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ (Matthew 25:31-39)

Verses 40-45 say the same thing in the negative to the other grouping followed by these words in v. 46…

“And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

The other explicit text is as follows:

“Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Revelations 20:11-15)

So how do these verses line up with your assumptions? As you read them, does anything jump out at you?

Now consider the teaching I offered last week where I went into great detail reflecting on those passages which spoke about “cutting people into two pieces”, or where the emphasis of the text is upon “that part of them“, clearly indicating a division between the sinner and their sin. There is strong biblical justification to sustain the thesis which states the basis of all sin and evil is falsehood, believing a deception, a lie, or what is called the kardia (inner self) or pseudo…the false self. I proved last week that everything false, will be consumed in the Lake of Fire, the second death or where all the falsehood goes to cease existing since it cannot exist in the light of truth. As such God does not know it. (Matthew 7:21) “I never knew you..”

Now we come to Judgment Day. The book of Revelations depicts as a courtroom drama with a scroll, Greek word “biblion” (certificate of divorce, legal document) and only “the lion from the tribe of Judah” (Rev 5:5) (Christ) could open it. Only Christ could issue the certificate, he alone had the right and the authority. One narrative within revelation is the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple and this plays well into the idea that Jesus is divorcing Israel, or religion. Here are some verses where this comes through:

“Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back…” (Revelation 5:1)

“For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son…” (John 5:22)

“Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world…” (John 9:39)

It’s really important to understand that Christ is not Jesus’ last name, but the title of “Anointed One” he is the promised Messiah of Hebrew scripture. As such Christ is the office and Jesus is the person who held the office. He is the central figure for the judgement of all peoples, nations, tribes, and tongues. His claim to be the Son of God means that God is not judging humanity except as one in likeness to us.

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.“ (Hebrews 4:15)

To summarize, the Day of Judgment’s central figure is Jesus Christ, he is the one to whom judgment is given. Now we can see the fundamental question: Is Jesus’ judgment of all people based in RETRIBUTION or in RESTORATION? Go back to your assumption about judgment day, is it about retribution?

This is the fundamental difference between the narrative of religion or church history and that of the biblical revelation of the Gospel. Religion reads these passages and sees Jesus standing authoritatively, arms crossed, with a cosmic “stink-eye” throwing out all people (all of which are sinners) but who didn’t bow to his Lordship and make the institutional church their spiritual mother.

“…so 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.” (Philippians 2:10-11)

Contrary to this militaristic, dominating, overpowering image, the Gospel seems to offer another version. A version where the same Jesus who said to the woman caught in adultery “Neither do I condemn you” (John 8:11) or the Good News of Jeremiah’s vision expounded in the book of Hebrews: “I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”

I have explored this nuance extensively and I have compiled a list of nearly every verse in the Bible which alludes to the fact that God’s justice is now based in restoration, due to the work of Christ, and is no longer based in retribution. This means that because of Christ and his sacrificial death, the sins of all humanity are no longer held against us. See list HERE.

The Christian Religion offers salvation in one of two ways: The classic Armenian teaching is that Christ made humanity savable and man chooses to receive or reject salvation. The other is the Reformed perspective which says Christ saves only a select few, everyone else is created for destruction. The Gospel as revealed in the Link above, is far more nuanced, clearly teaching that God has removed the sin of all humanity through the sacrificial work of Christ.

Are you saying then that everyone goes into heaven? Isn’t this Universalism?

No….Remember the “Books” and the “Book?”

The Book (biblion-certificate)of Life records the name, the fundamental identity, the ontological truth, our true name found in God and written in God’s eternal wisdom before the foundation of the world (Psalm 139:16). If we were given life, it is because we were given an identity, as part of God’s own identity and omniscience, long before we were ever born. This is what it means to be an Image Bearer (Genesis 9:6). This true name, the representative identity/image cannot be erased. It is a legal document, essentially a birth certificate with our Father’s name upon it. The book of life is ontological, it is a record of Being.

The Books are differentiated from the Book. These too are legal records. They record all of our erga (works, deeds, workmanship). These books record every careless word, every malicious thought, every improper impulse, and action. The Books of Deeds is situational, it is a record of Doing.

“I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every carelessword they speak…” (Matthew 12:36)

Can you see the nuances emerging? Resist the urge to go into a binary. Let the tensions of competing ideas give way to the bigger thing.

The fundamental deception of our world is that we think our doing creates our being. This lie is propagated from every institutional power to create captives who will trade their true identity in exchange for the pseudonym offered by the world systems. This is what it means to take the Mark of the Beast, or to fall prey to the false prophet. The right hand and forehead in the Bible are metaphors for what we think and what we do. This deception is so convincing that people actually believe they are what is on their business card, or who their religion, government, company, family, or tribe tells them they are.

A person who has over-identified with falsehood, will not desire nor seek their true self found in God. Such a soul will insist upon their own autonomy, the name they have made fore themselves, or who they will themselves to be. Their true name lives under the mask of falsehood, unknown, and undiscovered, existing only in the fictional, temporal world. These souls cannot endure the light of Heaven. Like a cockroach they will run back under the fridge.

“For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.” (John 3:20)

Despite the Gates of Heaven being open continually (Revelation 21:25), inviting them to join, they will insist on this delusion of the only self they’ve ever known, loathing heaven as a burdensome torture because it requires their death. This is the existence in the “place of the dead” or Hades.

The Day of Judgment means there is a time, when that soul will be exposed to the Fire of God which is all consuming, a lake of complete immersion. Every bit of falsehood, will be tortured as it resists letting go of its illusion. Who can say how much of the true self is even left at that point? It may be so forgotten, they may have been so long propping up the illusion that there may be no longer any sense of their true self left. Since scripture says the river of life flows out of Heaven, with leaves on trees which will heal the Heathens (nations), there must be some allowance for healing (salvation/therapy) otherwise it would not be so. What I do believe is that if there is even a photon of ones true self remaining, that soul will survive the Fire of God and dwell in everlasting joy in union with God and all others. Yet, I have to allow for the possibility that some will forfeit their true name, their birthright, pursuing an illusion, and doing works in conformity to this deception. I don’t think we can know who this is, despite religions attempts at certainty. Once our falsehood is consumed, we could not know them any more than God could. This will not be even the smallest source of pain for us.

This biblical perspective may invite more questions than answers today…I hope it does. I recognize it’s not a convenient teaching for religions seeking converts, but it holds great fidelity to the revelation of scripture and stands up to textual criticism. Let’s begin a dialogue before you write me off.

So what are we to do? If there is no temple in heaven (Revelation 21:22) and religion doesn’t save us. The best we can do is learn all we can of Christ and humble ourselves to follow his teaching. This means we must discover him in order to know him and what has been said. Once we see that our very life is following his pattern of, form…deformation…reform, suffering…death…renewal, fall…winter…spring, then the Christ is no longer an Historical, theoretical, convention, but our very life within our unique context.

“When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” (Colossians 3:4)

The greatest discovery is that Heaven is not out there, but here on earth, right now and still increasingly so (Revelation 21:10), and that no journey, no recipe, no religion can get us there, Heaven comes to us, existing only in each present moment and this Presence (the present) is the Dwelling place of God and it is found with us. This moment of realization is more than just a moment of spiritual awakening, it is your Day of Judgment, and you are hidden in Christ, and found in God. Find this experience everyday and you never have to worry about living your life in way that gets you to heaven, because you will already live your life from there.