Judgement Day

There was an elderly gentleman on the public transit today at the front of the bus. I noticed him speaking to himself out loud, saying something along the lines of “Death… death is not something to be afraid of… Judgment Day… Judgment Day…”. He had a long white beard, bigger than my hand and had light brown hair that was slowly greying. There wasn’t anyone in particular he was talking to, so he must have been just thinking aloud.

First, I will address the part he mentioned about death. Death, or any sort of concept, is not something to fear. In fact, there is no need to even be in a state of fear when your faith is in the Lord.

Psalm 56:11

In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid.

What can man do to me?

After all, it was through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection that paid the wages of sin for all of humanity and that allows us all to be saved. Everyone will come to believe that truth, that Jesus Christ died for the sins of the whole world, so there’s no need for anyone to be afraid when God is right there waiting for them with open arms to accept Him so He can give them comfort.

Psalm 27:1

A Psalm of David.

The Lord is my light and my salvation;

Whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the defense of my life;

Whom shall I dread?

In terms of judgement specifically, mercy triumps over judgement. The Lord’s ultimate plan is to save everyone and His grace, His promise to bring everyone to Heaven through Jesus Christ, surpassess all judgement.

James 2:13 "Mercy triumphs over judgment"

I’ve noticed some people think of Judgement Day with unnecessary worrying and anxiety. But, knowing God’s guarantee, that we will all be saved, wipes away all of those fears.

An excellent resource on Judgement Day is the following book from the Tentmaker site:

https://www.tentmaker.org/books/Judgment-Eby.html

Here is a segment I took from the book that captures the essense of “Judgement Day” very well in a Universal Reconciliation sense:

Through the cunning of the adversary, both the world and the popular church have been robbed of the blessed assurances of the time when God's RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENTS break forth in the earth. Most people know that the Bible tells of a "judgment day," but the average person, believer or unbeliever, regards it only with a certain sense of fear and dread. Because of this fear there is, to them, no more unwelcome tidings than that the Lord is coming to JUDGE THE EARTH. Many tremble inwardly at the thought of God's judgments, and in this mind put them far from them, preferring not to even hear the subject mentioned. They have absolutely no idea of the wonderful blessings in store for a sin-weary world under the glorious reign of the sons of God filled with all the nature, wisdom, glory and power of God!

Now we must examine this word 'judgment,' the Greek word, as used in the New Testament, is KRISIS, and with the letter 'K' changed to the letter 'C' it is brought directly over into our English language as CRISIS. All of the pressures and trials which produce these times of 'crisis' in our life are simply a working out of God's corrective measures, His judgments. The root from which KRISIS comes is KRINEIN meaning, 'to separate.' And so it is, a crisis is a critical period of time, a decisive moment, a turning point; hence, a separating, choosing, deciding, judging. The very purpose of judgment is to separate you from the old, that you might come into the new. To separate you from selfhood's rebellion, giving you a TURNING POINT, and heading you in the right direction, in the will of God.

Thanks to J. Preston Eby and Ray Prinzing for those wonderful writings. It’s an excellent read and I highly recommend it to any Universalist curious about Judgement Day.

This Turning Point to salvation is faith alone in Jesus Christ. Once someone is saved, they are always saved. Everyone will believe in the truth, that Jesus Christ died for everyone’s sins, and they will all believe it, that is guaranteed.

Thus, I will draw attention to a Bible verse the authors mentioned in particular.

I Chron. 16:31-34

"Let the heavens be glad And let the earth rejoice; And let men say among the nations, the Lord reigneth! Let the sea roar, and the fullness thereof; Let the fields rejoice, and all that are therein.

Then shall the trees of the wood (people of the earth) sing aloud at the presence of the Lord

Because He cometh to judge the Earth. O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good; For His mercy endureth forever!"

Some people look at Judgement Day with anxiety and worrying. But the truth is that Judgement Day represents a turning point in humanity. A day which represents Christ Jesus’ promise of universal salvation becoming fufilled.

It’s unfortunate that so many of God’s blessings are perceived as negative by the general populace, when they really are wonderful! I hope, by writing this, there may be some people that come to realize the glory of God and the goodness that comes from Him and all His ways.