Every Person Will Stand Before Jesus On Judgment Day

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” —2 CORINTHIANS 5:10

The above verse may be the most challenging verse in the New Testament. The injustices of life on earth demand that there will come a day when right is vindicated and wrong is condemned. There is a judge to which all of us are accountable. “For God has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed” (Acts 17:31). The judgment seat, of course, will be occupied by our Lord Jesus Christ.

The obvious question that arises is by what criteria will we be judged? Is it guesswork on our part to work out what is right and good? The answer is, “No, it is not guesswork.” God the Judge is God the Creator and He created in our world a moral law that is not only revealed to us in Scripture, but is also naturally evident to us. Inherent in all of us is a moral consciousness that is not a result of conditioning, but of creation. The basic requirements of the moral law of God are within our own hearts.

This moral law eventually leads to a climax of history that is called the Judgment Day in which wrong will be fully righted. This is a necessary end, and is what gives dignity to us as human beings; the fact we’re not just cogs in some machine, but we are given the dignity of displaying integrity, kindness and compassion in the way we live and behave. 

In this life, and this life alone, we have opportunity and time to prepare for the judgment. Hebrews 9:27 says, “A man is destined to die once, and after that the judgment.” The nature of that judgment will be in terms of our relationship to Jesus Christ. There are two possible destinies; present with the Lord and at home with Him, or absent from the Lord. There is no middle ground. That is why the Gospel of Jesus Christ is so urgent and vital. 

Revelation 21:27 tells us, “Nothing impure will ever enter it (heaven).... but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” The Lamb is the Lord Jesus Christ, and His Book of Life has the names of all those who are beneficiaries of His shed blood. The sole grounds on which we are in that book is that we have come humbly to Christ in recognition of our sin, and have been forgiven and cleansed.

Dear Lord, thank you for giving us the opportunity of redemption. Help me to know Jesus better and to live in a deeply committed relationship with Him. Amen. 

Am I prepared for Judgment Day?