Say the words “judgement day” and most people picture the end of the world, an apocalyptic scene borrowed straight from Hollywood.
Films like Terminator, Don’t Look Up, Independence Day, Children of Men, and Bird Box each offer their own version of the end times. With so many competing pictures on screen, it’s no surprise judgement day feels confusing.
The Bible tells a different story. It describes not one judgement day, but two – each for a different group of people, at a different time.
This world will not run forever. Its design is far too intricate for that. Look closely at the universe, and the case for a creator is hard to escape.
If we exist by design rather than by accident, one question follows every other: what happens when we die?
Two judgements, one choice
The Bible teaches that every soul has an eternal destiny, and that destiny follows one of two paths.
We are all accountable to God. The same standard applies to each of us when we meet Jesus face to face. Whether we believe it or not, we will each give an account of our lives:
So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. (Romans 14:12 NIV)
The choice we make now decides which judgement we face. The choice is simple: believe you are a sinner in need of restoration, that Jesus Christ died for your sins and rose again, and begin a relationship with Him. Do that, and you are saved, part of the body of Christ.
Followers of Jesus are judged at the “Bema Seat.” Those who reject Him are judged at the “Great White Throne.” Both believers and unbelievers face a judgement day:
Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment (Hebrews 9:27 NIV)
You who are young, be happy while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. (Ecclesiastes 11:9 NIV)
Every action, thought, and motive will be examined:
For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:14 NIV)
Let’s look at both judgements in turn.
Judgement day one – The Bema Seat
The word “Bema” comes from the Greek for “judgement seat.” In ancient times, a bema was a raised platform used for speeches and awards.
This judgement is for believers only. It has no bearing on salvation – that’s already settled. Instead, it determines the rewards for the work believers have done for God:
For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. (2 Corinthians 5:10-11 NIV)
The Bema Seat judgement takes place after the rapture of the church, when believers – living and dead – are caught up to meet Jesus as judge. He judges fairly, but He does not overlook disobedience. Every part of a believer’s life is weighed. Anything without eternal value is burned away:
For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building. By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved–even though only as one escaping through the flames. (1 Corinthians 3:9-15 NIV)
Paul’s analogy is fire testing a builder’s materials. Gold, silver, and precious stones survive; wood, hay, and straw do not. Works that further God’s kingdom endure the test, everything else is burned up.
Every believer who stands before the Bema Seat is saved. What’s decided here is the level of responsibility each believer holds in the millennial kingdom:
His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ (Matthew 25:21 NIV)
Judgement day two – The Great White Throne
Die without accepting Jesus, and your fate is sealed at the Great White Throne judgement, an outcome worth avoiding at all costs.
The apostle John recorded this vision in Revelation:
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. (Revelation 20:11-12 NIV)
This judgement takes place after the thousand-year Millennial Kingdom. Anyone who died without believing in Jesus is held in a place of torment until this point, when they are resurrected to stand before God. Jesus is again the judge. The books recording every deed, thought, and word are opened.
Every word we’ve spoken:
A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgement for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:35-37 NIV)
Every thought we’ve had:
Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God. (1 Corinthians 4:5 NIV)
Every secret thing we’ve done:
This will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares. (Romans 2:16 NIV)
Imagine everything you’ve ever said, thought, or done laid bare before a heavenly audience. It’s a horrifying prospect for anyone:
For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. (Luke 8:17 NIV)
This is a judgement to be feared. The Bible does not shy away from warning us about both heaven and hell. Our culture may have dropped this kind of language, but the fact remains: if your name is not written in the book of life, there is only one destination, the lake of fire:
Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:15 NIV)
It’s a terrible fate, and one that’s easily avoided. At the very least, take these passages seriously and explore the life of Jesus Christ. He is the only remedy.
Heaven or Hell?
Two judgement days, two destinations, and one choice to make.
Our culture rarely takes heaven or hell seriously. Film and television turn them into entertainment: the devil as a cartoon with horns and a pitchfork, heaven as clouds and choirs – sometimes made to look less appealing than hell. The reality is very different. Heaven offers a fully restored existence, completely connected to God.
Paul described dying as gain, and being with Christ as “better by far” than life on earth:
If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; (Philippians 1:22-23 NIV)
We’re told we can’t fully grasp what heaven will be like:
However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”–the things God has prepared for those who love him– (1 Corinthians 2:9 NIV)
Still, scripture gives us some description:
Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:1-4 NIV)
This new home is called the New Jerusalem, the “city of peace.” No more pain, suffering, or death. According to Revelation 21:16-17, it measures roughly 1,500 miles wide, long, and high. Its walls are diamond, its foundations precious stone, and the city itself pure gold.
Hell is described with the same clarity. It is a real place:
This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 13:49-50 NIV)
Jesus is direct about it, so direct that He says it’s better to lose a limb than end up there:
If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where ” ‘the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is not quenched.’ (Mark 9:43-48 NIV)
Hell isn’t temporary. It lasts forever:
They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might (2 Thessalonians 1:9 NIV)
In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire. (Jude 1:7 NIV)
The Bible calls it the “second death”:
But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars–they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” (Revelation 21:8 NIV)
This is eternal separation from God, the final place of punishment for rejecting Christ. It’s not a decision you can revisit once you’re there.
Some Christian teaching suggests heaven lasts forever but hell does not. That view doesn’t hold up against the text: the same words describe both. If heaven is eternal, so is hell.
Why the need for hell?
Hell touches a nerve. Our culture works hard to avoid giving offence, and churches are often no different, favouring uplifting stories over the full picture scripture gives of heaven and hell.
Yet the reality of hell exists to provoke a response: to turn us toward God. As humans, we don’t cease to exist at death. Our existence continues – the question is where.
God is infinitely loving and merciful. He is also holy and righteous. His holiness means He cannot tolerate sin, and none of us can stand in His presence with any impurity – why is “sin” such a big deal? His righteousness means sin must be dealt with justly. God cannot simply overlook it.
Humanity, though, is corrupted by sin. None of us is righteous:
As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; (Romans 3:10 NIV)
God takes no pleasure in anyone’s judgement. He wants everyone to turn and live:
For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live! (Ezekiel 18:32 NIV)
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9 NIV)
Hell was created for Satan and his angels, not for people:
Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. (Matthew 25:41 NIV)
Satan denies judgement day exists (Genesis 3:4) and works to confuse and distract:
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Corinthians 4:4 NIV)
He knows his own destination is hell, and he’ll do everything he can to stop people from being saved, including trying to prevent God’s prophecies from being fulfilled.
God’s holiness makes hell necessary. Yet throughout history, He has kept reaching for us. He chose a people – the Jews, through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – and made a covenant with them, blessing those who blessed them and cursing those who cursed them, a pattern that continues to this day. He gave them a land, Israel, as a witness to the world, and ten commandments to live by. Even then, the people repeatedly fell into idolatry.
So God offered an easier way: His Son. Jesus died on the cross and rose again, defeating death and proving who He said He was. His death paid the debt for our sin; His resurrection proved that payment was accepted. All we need to do is believe:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16 NIV)
Hell exists because God is just, but He has given us the simplest way out. Before He puts a final end to sin, He will first remove believers from the earth in the rapture. Every sign points to that happening soon – are we living in the end times?
Jesus is the ONLY way
We have a choice. God made us free to choose Him – He knows everything about us, but He will not force Himself on anyone or override our free will.
We’ve all fallen short of God’s standards. That’s why God sent His Son to pay the price on our behalf. All that’s required is belief – Jesus is the only way into heaven.
The prospect of a coming judgement day is something to prepare for now. The choice is stark: eternal torment in hell, or eternal joy in heaven. Choose well, before it’s too late.
This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live (Deuteronomy 30:19 NIV)
Choose Jesus – How to Be Saved.