One never knows when their life will end, and we will meet Jesus as He takes us to heaven. I have had 4 near death experiences in the past 2 years and one happened about 30 minutes ago. I was driving down a 4-lane road and praying as I was driving. When suddenly, about 30 yards in front of me the 25 feet tall, 720-pound street light pole literally crashed down in front of me completely blocking both lanes.
I hit my breaks and sat there thinking if that had landed on my car, I would be in heaven right now. So, we never know when that time will be … but God does. In Psalm 139:16 we read;
“And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.”
I find that a number of Christians are afraid of what will happen when they show up in heaven. Most of that fear comes from a misunderstanding about what will happen in heaven.
Just two days ago I was asked about what will we do when we appear before God at the Great White Throne Judgment?
I can remember as a kid reading one of those Chick Tracks about me standing before this Throne and all the sins of my life being shown to everybody and then I would be thrown into hell because of all my sins.
However, if we read Revelations 20:11-15 we can know with certainty that is not going to be the case. Yes, there is going to be a Great White Throne judgment and yes we will be there but here is what happens.
“And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.”
And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.”
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.”
So, the passage tells us that there are “books” and then there is “The Book.” The “books” contain the deeds of everyone who is not born again and became a child of God’s through faith in Christ. All of these people are going to be judged from the things that were written down based on the deeds that they did.
Anyone whose name is recorded in “The Book” has been saved through faith in Christ. has been sealed with the Holy Spirit and are members of God’s family. They will NOT be judged but apparently will see the judgment of those who are found in the books and not in The Book.
Then everyone whose name “was not found written in the book of life will be thrown into the lake of fire.” Along with Death and Hades and I believe that includes satan and all of his demons as well. Signed, sealed and delivered. Over and done with and gone forever, never to be in existence anywhere but hell … forever.
If you know Christ as your Savior, you are not going to be judged according to your works because you have been saved by Grace through Faith. Your name has been recorded in The Book of Life and you will stay in Heaven with God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit, and every other believer … for eternity.
Now for all of us, there will be a place where our lives and deeds will be examined. 2 Corinthians 5:10 says;
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”
This judgment seat is not a place of punishment but a place where we will be rewarded for the things we have done that God determines were good or bad. We will be rewarded for the good things and He might have some choice words for us about the bad things … but wait a minute … I think He tells us that our sins and lawless deeds He will remember no more.
Plus we need to remember that … our punishment for all of our sins has already been paid for by Christ on the cross.
For us, it will be a rewards ceremony. Our works will be tested when we get to heaven. And here is what we read in 1 Corinthians 3:12-15;
“Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”
More on this tomorrow.