This week Captain America: Civil War was released on Blu-ray and DVD, and my preordered copy arrived on Thursday. I’m a sucker for the superhero movies. Even when stacked up against traditional action movies, there’s just something about the superhero genre that draws me in. However, if there is one drawback to superhero movies it’s that you know they will never kill off the main characters.
The idea of immortality is a funny thing. As we grow older, each of us longs for the days of our youth. Each of us desires to live on and to remain young. It’s like the farmer whose farm was right next to the train tracks. Each day the train would zoom past on the track at high speeds and each day the farmer’s dog would chase it. One day a friend asked, “What makes your dog do that?” “I don’t know,” replied the farmer, “but I often wonder what he’ll do with the train if he ever manages to catch it.”
Indeed, we all seek after a longer life, but what would we do with it if we ever able to achieve it? Jesus says that small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and that few will find it. This topic of heaven and hell, eternal life versus eternal damnation is one that our society increasingly doesn’t want to talk about. However, Christ makes it clear that he will return, and he will bring judgement with him.
In the Manual for the Church of the Nazarene, the last two articles of faith deal with Christ’s second coming and the judgment and reward that it will bring. Article #15 speaks to the second coming of Christ and details how we understand that it will happen. It states, “We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ will come again; that we who are alive at His coming shall not precede them that are asleep in Christ Jesus; but that, if we are abiding in Him, we shall be caught up with the risen saints to meet the Lord in the air, so that we shall ever be with the Lord.”
We’ve seen movies and read books about this topic. The Left Behind series has sparked much conversation about how it all will happen. While the details differ from what the fictional books present, the scriptural claim is the same. We know that Christ will return. In Acts, after Jesus ascends into heaven, two men from the Lord tell the people gathered, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11). Likewise, Jesus said, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:3).
These statements have cause the imaginations of Christians to run wild. What will it look like when we’re taken up with Jesus? What will become of those left behind? When will these events happen? Some have speculated the answers to these questions and have spun fantastical tales of what they believe it will be like. Others attempt to pinpoint an exact date. However, scripture clearly tells us, “for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.” (1 Thessalonians 5:2). We cannot expect to know when these events will take place, and anyone that tells you that they know is only fooling themselves. When asked this question by his disciples, Jesus responded, “the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” (Luke 12:40).
by Michelangelo
However, here is what we do know. According to 2 Peter, the end will be marked by scoffers who will follow their own evil desires and claim that Christ’s return will never come. They will cite evidence in an attempt to prove that those who trust in him are foolish. 1 Thessalonians tells us that when that day comes, those who are asleep in Christ, meaning those that have passed before us, will be called up before those that are still alive at the second coming of Christ. And on that day it will be said, “‘Look, he is coming with the clouds,’ and ‘every eye will see him, even those who pierced him’; and all peoples on earth ‘will mourn because of him.’ So shall it be! Amen. ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.’” (Revelation 1:7-8).
Likewise, Christ himself says, “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me, to repay each one for what he has done.” (Revelation 22:12). Along with Christ’s return, the message is clear that he will also bring judgement, rewarding each person according to what they have done. People inside and outside the church like to quote John 3:16, “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.” We’ll even go as far as to quote John 3:17, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” However, after these two verses, Jesus’ conversation still continues. He goes on to say, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. ” (John 3:18-20).
Our God is a loving God and he is a just God. Mankind already stands condemned. God did not condemn us. We condemned ourselves. He is a just God which is why when Abraham pleaded for the lives of the people in Sodom saying “Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25). God relented and said that he would not destroy the righteous with the unrighteous. That is why, when Christ comes again, he will judge each person based upon their own merits. For “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already.”
We’re given good idea of what this will look like. The apostle John writes in Revelation, “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. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. […] Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:12-13; 15).
by Stefan Lochner
Jesus’ return and judgement are coming, and he tell us that when that day comes he will separate the people, the righteous from the unrighteous. On that day, when he judges the earth, he will say to the righteous, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.” (Matthew 25:34). To the unrighteous he will say, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” (Matthew 25:41).
We don’t like to think or talk about questions or topics that make us feel uncomfortable, but these discussions need to be had. The question facing each one of us is this, to which side will he separate you? Will you stand with the righteous and receive the reward you are due, or will you stand condemned with the unrighteous.
“Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:15). Those who trust in Christ for their salvation have nothing to fear. “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” (John 3:18). Is your name written in the book of life? It’s not written there by default. If you don’t know for certain that your name is written in the book of life, I would encourage you to place your trust in Christ Jesus for your salvation and the forgiveness of your sins. Only those who trust in him on the day of judgement will hear the words, “you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance.” I encourage you today to make certain that you will be counted among the righteous.