All human beings have two future appointments that none of us can cancel. Hebrews 9:27 clearly sets forth both appointments. The first appointment is with death. The second appointment is for judgment. Related to this second appointment, Romans 14:12 declares: “Each of us shall give account of himself to God.” Last week the focus was upon the judgment of believers as to eternal rewards. This week the focus is on the judgment of nonbelievers as to their eternal fate.
Future accountability
A prophetic word in Daniel 12:2 puts it like this: “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt.” The Bible clearly and often envisions a judgment for the lost just as it does for a judgment of believers. Since no single Bible passage outlines the sequence of all last time events, some view divine judgment in terms of a general judgment that embraces both groups at the same time.
Others believe these two judgments do not occur at the same time but will be separated by intervening events. Theology 101 is not concerned at this point with attempting to settle the issue of a general judgment versus separate judgments. Rather we will seek to affirm that both believers and nonbelievers must live in awareness of future accountability to God and ultimately stand before Him in judgment at the last day.
Embodied eternity
The most vivid presentation of judgment for nonbelievers is Revelation 20:11–15. These verses attest to the bodily resurrection of the lost. Just as blessedness of Christians in eternity is to be an embodied future, so the future of the lost will be an embodied eternity of agony. One way of understanding the portrayal of this judgment is to see a double verification of the fate of the lost.
First their works witness against them, as the passage states: “The books were opened … and the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books” (v. 12).
Second since those who are saved have their names written in “the Book of Life” by virtue of having trusting Jesus as the one Way, Truth and Life, the Book of Life is checked to verify that the unsaved are not enrolled in it. Thus the accurate record of the deeds of unforgiven sinners is double checked against the accurate record of those who became believers in Jesus.
The result of the double verification is the doom of nonbelievers. The outcome will be an eternity in “the lake of fire” (v. 15). This vivid presentation of judgment for nonbelievers serves to amplify the warning given in Hebrews 10:31, which carries its own powerful impact for nonbelievers as it declares: “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
Motivation to share Christ
The reality and certainty of future judgment for nonbelievers becomes a significant part of the impetus for the Church collectively to give its best effort to cooperate as workers with God in the ministry of missions and evangelism. Likewise, a clear vision of the judgment awaiting those who die without Christ should motivate each Christian to give the maximum effort to living in the world as consistent lights shining in a dark place, seeking to bring the unsaved to faith in the Savior.
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