Last week we began to address how the judgment of God begins with His own people (see I Peter 4:17). He could not judge the world for the things that His own people are doing, so there must be a purging and cleansing of His people. The Lord promised that He would remove the tares from among His people. Of this we can be assured.

As we are told in Ephesians 5:27, He will cleanse His bride with His word so “that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless.” Therefore, those who have not lost their first love, or allowed their love to grow cold because of the spreading lawlessness, will have a devotion to purity and holiness so that they might be prepared for Him when He comes.

In our times holiness has been made almost a repulsive word, even among Christians. This is due to the concept of holiness as being related more to legalism that is driven by a religious spirit, and the fear of punishment. However, the bride who has “made herself ready” (Revelation 19:7) does not do so because of either the selfish ambition of a religious spirit, or the fear of legalism. She is not a bride who is afraid that if she has a spot on her dress she will be punished by her bridegroom, but rather one that is so passionately in love with Him that she wants to be perfect for Him in every way. She is driven by a love for Him, not fear, or her own selfishness.

Before we proceed in our study about how God’s judgment is going to come upon the world, we need to understand a little more about the nature of His judgment. His judgment is often perceived in ways that are not truly biblical. First, His judgment does not necessarily mean destruction. It can also mean correction for the sake of redemption, reconciliation, and restoration as we often see in relation to Israel in the Old Testament. His judgments often come as the discipline that He gives to those that He loves.Also, sometimes His judgment is not even corrective, but rather He judges His people to be righteous and true, deserving reward rather than discipline. Like any fair court, often His judgment is “innocent” instead of “guilty.” God’s judgment should only be feared by those who are living in unrighteousness. For those who are living righteously before Him, judgment is not a thing to be feared, but rather sought, as we read in Psalm 96:11-13:

When the Lord’s judgments come upon the world His people do rejoice. His judgments are always righteous, true, and fair. If we are living righteously, which means living in right relationship to the Lord, then we will never fear the Lord’s judgments. As we come to understand His judgments and start to get free of the many dark age concepts that have been promulgated, we will be like the trees of the field, rejoicing that He is coming to judge the earth. It will mean punishment for the wicked, but as we will see, that is the greatest hope we should have for the salvation of the wicked.

There is a widespread concept among many Christians that the Lord is coming back to get even with those who persecuted Him and rejected Him. The Lord did not go to the cross so He could come back and get revenge. Certainly those who pierced Him will mourn, as will all that wasted this life and lived foolishly, but the Lord mourns for those who do not repent so as to be saved.

The Lord is not coming back to destroy the world or to get revenge; He is coming back for the same reason He came the first time—to save the world. The redemption of the world has been accomplished by the cross. When He returns what He began with the world’s redemption will be completed by the whole world being reconciled to Him, and restored by Him. As we have discussed, He will “restore all things” (Matthew 17:11) to the condition in which it was originally intended. For those who embrace His salvation now, in the most difficult and trying times, we become a part of a “new creation” (Galatians 6:15) that greatly transcends the original creation. We can actually take on the divine nature and become His own children. However, He still intends to restore the rest of the earth to its original purpose.

This age will end with the destruction of man’s futile works and his futile beliefs. Truth will come, and the works that were truly founded by God will remain as the foundation of the age to come. The goal of these teachings is so we will not only know what is to come, but be prepared for it. When we are truly prepared as we should be, we too will be rejoicing for the coming of His judgment, and actually even pray for it to come just as Elijah did. His judgment is a good thing, not something to be feared, unless we are not living right before Him.

So before we go into the details of what is going to happen, we want to lay a strong foundation for why they are going to happen. We want our own hearts to be in complete unity with the Lord and His purposes when they come. I believe as we proceed, many are going to be amazed at just how positive a thing His judgment is.