“Then I saw a great white throne and One seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them. I also saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works by what was written in the books. Then the sea gave up its dead, and Death and Hades gave up their dead; all were judged according to their works. Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And anyone not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:11-15 HCSB)
I’ve mentioned that there are several key items in Revelation that get most of the attention: the Battle of Armageddon and the Rapture. There’s one more item that not only needs to be on the list of attention-grabbing topics but also stirs up a lot of controversy—the final Judgment. That’s probably not surprising, right? In every trial there are always two sides: the prosecution and the defense, the accused and the accuser. In human courts, the outcome of any trial is never certain. There have been many who were completely surprised by their conviction and most who still maintain their innocence. There are those who have been falsely accused and even those who were wrongfully convicted.
We have a good justice system, but it is still a flawed system because we are flawed. We are flawed in our judgment, limited in our knowledge, and wrong in our understanding. While we can and often do get it wrong, God’s judgment is never flawed, and He cannot be unjust. Why? Because of His divine nature, His perfect and unlimited knowledge, and His righteous and holy character. He is not like us or made in our image; we are like Him and made in His image.
Before we talk about this passage and its implications, we need to go back to the beginning. To understand this passage, we have to understand the underlying groundwork of our story with God’s Word and God’s will—and our rejection of His Word and rebellion against His will. Notice how our passage begins with John’s vision of a “great white throne and One seated on it.” Everything about this story comes back to that vision of a throne and the One seated on it.
In the Genesis account of creation, God creates a good and perfect world. Every act of creation was capped off with a statement declaring its inherent goodness: “God saw all that He had made, and it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31a HCSB)
The story goes on to relate how God provided a garden full of the things He had made for man, the one creature He had made in His own image. The garden was not only beautiful, but it was filled with good things for man to eat and enjoy. Then it tells us God made every kind of tree that was pleasing in appearance and good for food to grow in that garden. In the middle of that garden God placed two more trees: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He then gave them His Word: “You may eat from every tree in the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Don’t eat from it because if you do, you will die.”
Our story begins and ends at that throne and with personally dealing with God’s promise regarding life or death. We either bow before the One who is seated on it, believe His Word, and obey His will, or we don’t. The Genesis story tells us that Adam and Eve were confronted with the choice of trusting God, believing His Word, and obeying His will—or not. They could either bow before His throne and submit to His wisdom and authority, or they could believe the lie they’d been told and rebel against Him.
You know the story. They believed the lie and chose rebellion. They rejected life and chose death, and we continue to make the same choice every day. We live in a world filled with the results of those choices.
“Certain new theologians dispute original sin, which is the only part of Christian theology which can really be proved.” — G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy
We needed that background to fully appreciate and understand the breadth and depth of what John is seeing in this vision. Why? Because we question the validity of God’s judgment, its scope, and its consequences. The question I often hear today from unbelievers is directly related to John’s vision: “Why would God judge and put someone in Hell for an eternity of suffering for one little lie or stupid choice?”
The answer may be simple, but its scope is SO much larger than we often realize, and it all comes back to that one tree—the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
If you think judgment really is about one little lie and your guilt in it, then you’re missing the point. Scripture says that if we are willing to confess our sin, then God is faithful, He is righteous, and He is willing to forgive our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness through the blood of Jesus His Son. But it also says, “If we say, ‘We have no sin,’ then we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (see 1 Jn. 1:7-9).
That’s really the crux of this entire problem: we’ve rejected God’s Word and His authority to define good and evil for His creation. We’ve taken on the role of god in our own lives and insist we have the right to define good and evil, right and wrong, for ourselves. We’ve ejected Him from His throne, rejected His Word, eaten the fruit, and declared, “We have no sin.”
Judgment isn’t about one little lie; it is about our wholesale rejection of God’s authority. It’s about His absolute and authoritative Word of Truth. It’s about God’s right to rule over us and define what is good and what is evil in our lives. Judgment isn’t about one little lie or sin, but it is about the depth and breadth of our rebellion against Him and the eternal consequences of those actions. It is about us standing defiantly in His garden and saying, “I don’t believe You. You’re lying to me. I have the right to decide this for myself. You’re not the boss of my life. I am!”
THAT is what this judgment is all about…
So, John sees this great white throne and One seated on it. Earth and heaven have fled from His presence, and no place was found for them. He also sees all the dead, both great and small, standing before the throne.
I think those statements are very telling. The created order and all that is in it—earth and heaven—have fled from His presence. It recognizes its brokenness and the corruption man’s sin has brought upon it. It knows it is unworthy to be in God’s presence. But man, still believing the serpent’s lie and rejecting God’s truth, stands defiantly in all of his sin before the throne of the Holy One.
Now the scene shifts slightly, but just enough to cause us to squirm a bit. Books are opened.
Books? What books?
While God doesn’t need a book to record and recall the details of your life, the books contain the evidence regarding the truth of our rebellion and our rejection of God’s Word. God may not need them, but we do. We will be confronted by the reality of our brokenness and depravity.
Some scholars see two distinct judgments in Scripture, one for believers and one for unbelievers. I think there will be one judgment, and this is it. I do think Christians will give an account of themselves before their Lord—not a reckoning of our faith, but a review of our obedience and the rewards promised.
So, the books are opened and our lives are laid out—bare before God. Hebrews puts it like this:
“For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the ideas and thoughts of the heart. No creature is hidden from Him, but all things are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give an account.” (Hebrews 4:12-13 HCSB)
Nothing is hidden from Him. All is laid out before Him—every thought, motive, intent, and action.
There’s a scene in the movie A Few Good Men in which Lieutenant Kaffee, played by Tom Cruise, is questioning Colonel Jessep, played by Jack Nicholson, about the death of Private Santiago while under the Colonel’s command. As the Colonel testifies and dodges questions regarding the circumstances surrounding Private Santiago’s death, the scene reaches a crescendo when Lieutenant Kaffee demands, “We want the truth!” Filled with rage and defiance, the Colonel screams back, “You can’t HANDLE the truth!”
In this scene of divine judgment, we are confronted by the truth. The books are opened. Everything is laid bare before God.
We want the truth! Can we handle it?
We expect God to judge us based on the overall results of our lives. Have we done more good than bad? We’re hopeful, maybe even optimistic, that the scales of justice will tilt in our favor. We’re hopeful God will say we’ve been good enough to deserve heaven.
Ah, there it is.
The eternal question: “Will I get what I deserve?” Will God give me what is rightfully mine or not? We’re right back in His garden standing at that tree again, aren’t we? We want to define good and evil for ourselves.
But there is one more book in this judgment scene. It’s called the Book of Life.
We’re not just judged based on our actions, our thoughts, our dreams, or our intentions. We’re also judged based on what is written in the Book of Life. If it were just a question of whether we’ve told the truth more than we’ve lied, we might stand a chance. If judgment were just based on whether we’ve done more good than evil, the scales might tilt in our favor.
This type of judgment is what is often seen in Jesus’ parable of the sheep and goats (see Matt. 25:31-46). Did you feed, help, care for, and minister to those in need? Did you do more good than bad? But they miss a key part of Jesus’ parable: the Shepherd separates the sheep from the goats before He judges their actions. Their actions don’t define whether they’re a sheep or a goat. They’re either a sheep or a goat, and the Shepherd knows them. Their actions don’t determine their identity; their identity determines their actions.
This scene closes with the sea giving up its dead, and Death and Hades giving up their dead, and all being judged according to their works.
Don’t miss this part: Death and Hades are thrown into the lake of fire. They are judged and thrown into the lake of fire, which already holds the Devil, the Beast, and the False Prophet. Death and its domain, Hades, have no place in the eternal kingdom of our God.
If you’re not catching it, there’s another stark contrast in this scene. Death and Hades have no place in God’s kingdom, and we are ultimately judged by what is found written in the Book of Life.
Go back for just a minute to that garden again. Listen to the Word of God:
“And the LORD God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.’” (Genesis 2:16-17 HCSB)
Death and its domain have no place in God’s kingdom.
“And anyone not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:15 HCSB)
The only way to be a part of His kingdom is to have eternal life. Eternal life can’t come through good actions because our good actions are still plagued by death because of our rebellion against God and His Word. The only source of eternal life is through spiritual birth and faith in Jesus Christ and His resurrection.
You may be judged by what’s in the books, but life comes only through the Son and what is written in the Book of Life.
Physical life and death have no place in God’s eternal kingdom. The only source of eternal life is the eternal Son who gives life through the power of His resurrection.
Be careful. God’s judgment of your life may not turn out as you expect.
Check the Book—the Book of Life.
Make sure your name is written there in the blood of the Lamb. The books reveal the truth about what we have done; the Book of Life reveals where our life is found.
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