Are You Listening? ~Judgment~

   Do you believe there will be a final Day Of Judgment on which God will judge all mankind based on how they lived their lives on this earth?  Many people either discount the concept altogether, or they view the possibility as being of little consequence.  Many see God almost totally as a God of grace.  They either cannot, or refuse, to see God also as a God of judgment.  The two characteristics are not mutually exclusive.  They are simply different aspects of God’s nature.

   Opposites facilitate understanding.  We want to be healthy because we know what it’s like to be sick.  We long for happiness because we’ve experienced sadness.  We cherish love, friendship, togetherness because we know what loneliness is like.
   Put frankly, the lives of a great many people are not focused on getting to Heaven.  One big reason is probably because they don’t have a realistic concept of how awful eternity in Hell will be. Why strive to live a righteous life if living an unrighteous life is of no consequence?
   The opposite of Heaven is Hell.  Eternal life in Heaven is precious because the only alternative is eternal condemnation in Hell.  Neither ignorance, disbelief, denial nor anger changes reality.  Reality is not a matter of negotiation or popular acceptance.  Reality is reality!  There is, in the eternal realm, a real place of eternal life and blessing called Heaven and a real place of eternal condemnation and punishment called Hell.  Every person who has ever lived, who is alive now and who ever will live on this earth will spend eternity in one of those two places.  That is reality.
   Further reality, much the opposite of what a great many people want to believe, is that most people will spend eternity in Hell (Matt. 7:13-14).  The final Day Of Judgment will be the day on which each person will learn their eternal destiny.  It will be a day of reckoning, a day on which we will all “give account” of how we lived our lives on this earth (Matt. 12:36-37; Rom. 14:10-12; 2 Cor. 5:10).  God has already appointed, and guaranteed the certainty of, that day by raising Jesus from the dead (Acts 17:30-31; Heb. 9:27).
   The final “Day Of Judgment will be a terrible day for the unbelieving and unprepared (2 Thess. 1:7-9).  On that day the lost- and remember that Jesus said most will be lost- will face the reality of eternal condemnation (Rev. 21:8).  Most will be lost not because of any shortcoming on God’s part.  God’s will is that all will come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9).  The gospel call is to everybody (Matt. 11:28).  God graphically demonstrated His love and desire for our salvation in sending His Son to the cross on our behalf (Rom. 5:8).  Many will be lost because they don’t believe.  But most will be lost either because they ignore the call, or they simply do not want to conform their lives to God’s teachings. 
   There will be a final Day Of Judgment!  All need to be ready, and all can be ready by following the teachings of the gospel (Mk. 16:15-16).  Are you ready?  That day is coming.  Are You Listening???