As we bring this series on biblical worldview to a close, we are spending the last couple broadcasts looking at our worldview on end times. We have already seen how the view we take regarding the future and things concluding in this life and beginning a new life determines everything about how we live now. No more important issue could possibly be faced in the eternal destiny of humanity. In the Scriptures, we are going to look at two basic destinies that await all human beings. We have seen in Hebrews 9:27 that Scripture tells us, “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment.” What happens at that judgment is determined by our relationship with Jesus Christ.
For those who do not know Christ, we are reminded in Hebrews 10:31 that it is terrifying. It says, “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Everyone who is not a believer. Everyone who has resisted Christ should take that verse very seriously. It is a fearful and terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. If God lives and exists and He is the holy God of Scripture who demands the righteousness that we cannot provide for ourselves and that can only be found in Christ, and if we have resisted that righteousness, we will one day face a terrifying prospect of being in the presence of God and being judged by Him.
When we think about that, it is very sobering, isn’t it? I think of Revelation 20. There is probably no more fearful passage in the Word of God than Revelation 20:11-15 that details for us the eternal destiny of the lost. For the unbeliever, this should be a terrifying thing to consider what they face because they have rejected Christ. For the Christian, we will shun this passage sometimes. We hate this passage in one way because we don’t want to see our loved ones and friends and people that so desperately need Christ and have rejected Him facing eternal judgment. This is a passage of Scripture that we do not gravitate toward. However, we know it is in God’s Word and part of His revelation, so we know it is perfect in the will of God, yet it is a fearful thing to consider.
What is the eternal destiny of the lost? In Revelation 20:11-12, it says, “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sits upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. Then 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.” We have this judgment that these unsaved individuals are judged based upon how they lived their lives. There is a degree of punishment, we might say, in hell . . .
