The Second Coming and the battle of Armageddon
As we have already discussed, The King of kings, the Lord Jesus Christ is going to eradicate ALL evil and usher in the eternal Kingdom of God. It’s about the total crushing of all rebellion and the final demise of all evil and sin. There is only kingdom going forward from here – one that is ruled by God Almighty and by the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Seven terrible years of unrestrained evil and the wrath of God have passed.
Just in the last 3 1⁄2 years, those that took the mark of the beast have suffered with a foul and loathsome sore that has caused them such pain, that they gnawed their tongues. The sea and the rivers have turned to blood. All sea creatures have perished. The sun has become so hot that without protection, your skin is scorched. A large part of the earth, where the Anti- Christ’s kingdom is, is in darkness. The mighty river Euphrates, the longest river in Western Asia has dried up completely.
In the last while ‘demonic Ambassadors’ from the Anti-Christ have gone across the world, performing signs, to coerce the kings of the world to join him in battle against Israel and so armies have been converging around Israel, bringing their troops into Israel and gathering a mighty allied force at the place called ‘Armageddon’ – the valley of Megiddo.
But we have news for them! It is time for the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and He is coming to take vengeance on those who have rejected God as well as those who do not obey the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is coming to kill them and to liberate Israel once and for all from their enemies as well as those who fled with them into the mountains.
This time He is not coming in secret to catch away His bride. No, He is coming in all His fearsome power!
Armageddon
In righteousness He judges and makes war
2 Thess.1:3-10 – We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other, so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure, which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer; since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you (Israel), and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus Christ is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed.
V11-12 Therefore we pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power, (why?) that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Rev. 19:11-16 – Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: King of kings and Lord of lords.
Rev. 19: 17-21 – Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, ‘Come and gather together for the supper of the Great God, that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great.’
And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone (Sulphur). And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh.
Zech. 14:3-4 – Then the Lord will go forth and fight against the nation, as He fights in the day of battle. And in that day (the day of battle) His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east (just as He ascended from the Mount of Olives, so He descends on the Mount of Olives). And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley; half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south.
The Result of Armageddon
- The Anti-Christ (the beast) and the false prophet have been captured alive and are
cast alive into the lake of fire. - Every other being that gathered against the Lord Jesus Christ at Armageddon has
been killed by the Lord Jesus Christ. These will remain in Hades until the second resurrection where they will receive their just rewards at the Great White Throne judgment. - An angel comes down from heaven and lays hold of the Devil, Satan and casts him into the bottomless pit where he is kept bound for 1000 years Rev. 20:1-3.
The Millennium – the 1000 year reign of the Lord Jesus Christ
The Lord Jesus Christ has come to establish His kingdom on the earth and there will be a rule of righteousness for a thousand years.
The Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ – Ruler of the earth
Dan. 7:13-14 – I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.
Isa. 9:6-7 – For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace, there will be no end. Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this.
Luke 1:30-33 – Then the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob (Israel) forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.
Isa. 24:21-23 – It shall come to pass in that day that the Lord will punish on high the host of exalted ones, and on the earth the kings of the earth. They will be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and will be shut up in the prison; and after many days they shall be punished (at the Great White Throne Judgment) Then the moon will be disgraced and the sun ashamed; for the Lord of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem and before His elders, gloriously.
The Redeemed who reign with Him
We will all return with Him, the church, the Old Testament saints, the tribulation saints, the 144000, the two witnesses and the martyrs. These will all have come from the Marriage Feast of the Lamb.
All those who truly love Him and serve Him, will reign with Him (Rev. 5:9-10).
We will have our glorified bodies.
Rev. 5:9-10 – And they sang a new song, saying, ‘You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.
Rev. 20:1-6 – Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a 1000 years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the 1000 years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.
V4And I saw the thrones, and they who sat on them, and judgment was committed to them.
(The 12 disciples- Matt.19:27-30).
Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for 1000 years. But the rest of the dead did not live again (those whom the Lord had killed at the battle of Armageddon) until the 1000 years were finished.
This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him for 1000 years.
Rev. 11:15 – Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!’
Survivors of the Tribulation
The people who made it through the tribulation will be in their natural bodies.
Not every human being on earth will be at the Battle of Armageddon. It will be the Anti-Christ (the Beast), the False Prophet, the kings of the earth and the allied armies of the Anti-Christ who are in the Valley of Megiddo that are defeated and destroyed.
Many will be at home in their countries and will come to stand before the Lord Jesus Christ at His coming (Matt. 25:31-46 – the judgment of the Gentile nations).
And of course, then there is Israel.
The Salvation of Israel
After the Battle of Armageddon, when the Lord Jesus has defeated all His enemies and Israel’s enemies, He will begin with a regathering of the Jews.
Matt. 24:31 – And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
We understand that when the Rapture happens, the focus of God is turned to the salvation of Israel. It is time for the Tribulation – the end of the world that we know. Time for the wrath and judgment of God upon His enemies and the enemies of Israel.
It is time to prepare Israel for her Messiah. It is Daniel’s 70th week as we have already taught. A time for Israel to bring an end to the transgression and to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up the prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy (Dan. 9:24).
It is the time of ‘Jacob’s trouble’ Jer. 30:7.
Dan. 12:1 – At that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book.
It is God’s intention to bring about the national salvation and forgiveness of the Jews. These will enter into the blessings of the kingdom and they will experience the fulfilment of all of Israel’s covenants.
Is. 59:20-21 – ‘The Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,’ says the Lord.
Matt. 23:37-39 – O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’
The Holy Spirit, who was the restrainer, and who has removed the restraint which held back the Anti-Christ, is still on the earth. He is omnipresent and will be doing the work of regeneration as He did when God was previously dealing with Israel, but without an indwelling ministry.
The two witnesses have preached to prepare Israel for the Second Coming of the Lord.
Rev. 11:3-13
The 144000 Jews are recipients of individual salvation – the first-fruits unto God in the Tribulation.
The individuals who will be saved in the tribulation will know the experience of salvation… yet they will look forward in anticipation of the completion of national salvation at the appearance of the Deliverer because it is part of the covenant promise the Father made to them.
Rom. 11:1-2 – I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I (Paul) also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew.
V26-27 ‘The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob (Israel); for this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.’
Joel 2:31-32 – The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the Lord has said, among the remnant whom the Lord calls.
This covenant promise will be realized in the millennial age.
The Judgment of Israel
Once He has regathered all the Jews in one place, there will be a reckoning. A time of judgment for the Jews.
He will reckon with the remnant of Israel (those who are living when He returns) to determine who shall receive the Kingdom blessing and who will be cast out.
Ezek.20:33-38 – ‘As I live, ‘says the Lord God, ‘surely with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out, I will rule over you. I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out. And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will plead My case with you face to face. Just as I pleaded My case with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will plead My case with you,’ says the Lord God.
Ezek. 20:37-38 – ‘I will make you pass under a rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant; I will purge the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against Me. I will bring them out of the country where they dwell, but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord’.
These that have been rejected by the Lord, who will not enter the land of Israel are no longer in covenant with Him and they will be cast out and there shall be gnashing of teeth.
Restoring the land of Israel
Micah 4:6-8 – ‘In that day’, says the Lord, I will assemble the lame, I will gather the outcast and those whom I have afflicted; I will make the lame a remnant, and the outcast a strong nation; (He is talking about Israel) so the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion from now on, even forever.
And you O tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, to you shall it come, even the former dominion shall come, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.’
The former dominion was the land according to the original boundaries made by God in
Gen. 15:18 – ‘To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates’.
Israel, the land, according to the Abrahamic covenant, must be restored to the boundaries as determined by God. This also entails the preservation of the nation. Israel (the people) must experience a national conversion, be regenerated, receive the forgiveness of sins and the implantation of a new heart. This takes place following the return of Messiah to the earth. Israel must experience the outpouring of the Holy Spirit so that He may produce righteousness in the individual and teach the individual so that there will be fullness of knowledge. – J. Dwight Pentecost.
This covenant promise was made by God as part of an unconditional covenant that He made with Abraham. This promise wasn’t hinged upon faithfulness. It was an unconditional promise that God made.
The Mosaic Covenant was a conditional covenant. If you do this then I will do that but everything that God had promised Abraham was unconditional. I will do this. I will do that. God warned that Abraham’s descendants would be enslaved for four hundred years but that He would bring them out and deliver them. He promises that He will establish His covenant with Abraham’s descendants and their generations. It is an everlasting covenant and the land is Israel’s everlasting possession (Gen. 17:7-8).
This promise has not yet been fulfilled and will be fulfilled in the Millennium.
The Father will also establish His New Covenant with them Jer. 31:31-34 / Hosea 2:18-20
Micah 4:9-13 – Now why do you cry aloud? Is there no king in your midst? Has your counselor perished?
For pangs have seized you like a woman in labour. Be in pain, and labor to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in birth pangs. For now you shall go forth from the city, you shall dwell in the field, and to Babylon (the stronghold of the enemy) you shall go, there you shall be delivered (free and safe); there the Lord will redeem you from the hand of your enemies.
V11 (At the very end – when the Devil is released and is gathering armies against Israel.) Now, also the nations have gathered against you, who say, ‘Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion.’ But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord, nor do they understand His counsel; for He will gather them as sheaves to the threshing floor.
Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion; for I will make your horn iron, and I will make your hooves bronze; you shall beat in pieces many peoples;
I will consecrate their gain to the Lord, and their substance (their spoil) to the Lord of the whole earth.’
Judgment of Israel
For Israel, there will be a further judgment. The Jews will come to stand before the 12 disciples to be judged. However, this time it is not about salvation but about rewards. Just as we have stood before the Judgment seat of Christ to receive our rewards, so now, the Jews will stand before the Judgment seat of Christ and be judged by the 12 disciples.
Matt. 19:27-30 – Then Peter answered and said to Him, ‘See, we have left all and followed You. Therefore what shall we have? So Jesus said to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me, will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. But many who are first shall be last, and the last first.
Judgment of the Gentile Nations
Jesus will judge the Gentile nations who are alive at the end of the Tribulation. Those who have either supported Israel or those who have not supported them. This will take place when the Lord has judged and restored the nation of Israel to their land which is at the Second Coming.
Joel 3:1-2 – For behold, in those days and at that time, when I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and bring them to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will enter into judgment with them there on account of My people, My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; they have also divided up My land.
The reason and the basis of the Judgment of the nations. God will curse or bless according to how men have dealt with Israel. He will forever respect and fulfil the Abrahamic covenant. The purpose of this judgment is to determine who (out of the living nations) shall enter the Kingdom. Some will be sent to the lake of fire and eternal punishment. These will make the first-fruits of the second resurrection, which is that of all the wicked dead. Due to their judgment and entrance into hell, they will not be resurrected and judged again. – Finis Jennings Dakes
So those faithful obedient believers who make it through this judgment are now inhabitants of the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ and they will continue to live on the earth during the Millennium. Those who despised the gospel and who never obeyed the gospel and never showed mercy to Israel will be judged and sent to the lake of fire.
Here (the judgment) is a simple and sole issue, which applies only to that living generation of all nations: how did you treat the King’s messengers when they preached this gospel of the kingdom before the end came? The end was now evidently come. The test was an open and undeniable fact; but it proved whether they had, or had not, faith in the coming King. Those who honoured the heralds of the kingdom showed their faith by their works; and so did those who despised them manifest their unbelief. The test was not only just but gracious, and the ‘King’ pronounced accordingly. – William Kelly
Matt. 25:31-46 – Judgment of the Gentile nations (the living nations at His Second Coming) ‘When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to visit Me.
Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to the least of these, My brethren, you did it to Me’.
V45-46 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
The Judgment of fallen angels
Jude 1:6 – And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day.
2 Pet. 2:4 – For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment.
Is. 24:21 – It shall come to pass in that day that the Lord will punish on high the host of exalted ones, and on earth the kings of the earth.
The Lord’s reign in Zion
What will the Millennium be like?
Micah 4:1-13 – Now it shall come to pass that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and the peoples shall flow to it. Many nations will come and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion the law shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the peoples, and rebuke strong nations from afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.’
But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. For all people walk each in the name of his god, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever.
Peace and no conflict
The promised kingdom, in which all the promises and covenants are fulfilled, will be inaugurated by the personal presence and reign of the King.
With Christ as our ruler, we will get to live in a perfect world. Justice, law and order will be according to the governance of our King. For a thousand years, there will be peace. Even the animals will live in peace. The devil will be locked up. There will be no war.
Even the Egyptians, the Jews and the Assyrians will all be allies. All of that conflict in the Middle East will be gone. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation (Is. 2:4).
Is. 19:23-25 – In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian will come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians will serve with the Assyrians. In that day Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria – a blessing in the midst of the land, whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, ‘Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.’
Death
Under the rule of our Lord, the universe will revert to the pristine condition it had before the fall. There will be no sickness, weakness, disease and infirmity because none of it can exist in His Presence. The people from the living nations who survived the Tribulation and the Judgments that followed will marry and have offspring and they will live for a very long time.
‘The crisis of death will be experienced only by those incorrigible individuals who rebel against the law of the Kingdom. The ordinary hazards of physical life will be under the direct control of the One whose voice even the winds and waves obey.’ – David Jeremiah
The Final sifting and destruction of all things evil
Sin in the Millennium
Everybody who goes into the Millennium will be righteous. Those of us who returned with
Christ as well as those faithful servants who survived the Tribulation. But during those 1000 years, people will be getting married, not those of us who have our new bodies, but those from the living nations who made it through the Tribulation. They will have children. Those children will live in the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. They will be raised in the ways of God but they are not automatically born again. They are not automatically Spirit filled. They will still have the sin nature and they will come to an age where they must choose the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour and their Lord. And of course these children will eventually have their own children and on it goes…
At this point, the devil is restrained and unable to interfere but when he is released, he is going to walk about and see whom he can devour. They for the first time will have an enemy who is stalking them, seeking to destroy them. Like Adam and Eve they will be confronted by such deception. Something they have never had to deal with.
Satan will stir up a final rebellion against God and many will be deceived.
Rev. 20:7 – Now when the 1000 years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city.
And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.
V10 The Devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the
beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
And so Jesus destroys these final enemies.
1 Cor. 15:24 – Then comes the end, when He (Jesus) delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He (Jesus) must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet.
This will be followed by the Great White Throne Judgment.
The Great White Throne Judgment
This is the final judgment and takes place after the millennial reign.
Rev. 20:11-15 – Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
Who will be at the Great White Throne Judgment?
Anyone whose name is not written in the Book of life. Why?
It is simple really, when we reject the Lord Jesus Christ as our means of salvation then we will have to pay the price for our sin ourselves. The only way into the Kingdom of God is by being sinless. Absolutely sinless. As that is absolutely impossible, we needed a substitute to pay the price for our sin, in full and that substitute was Jesus. Without Him, we don’t stand a chance.
When we do accept the gift that He bought for us with His life, then our names are written in the Book of Life. It is an exchange.
In His surrender, the Lord Jesus Christ chose to obey the Father. As our substitute, He took the judgment for ALL sin and bore the resulting wrath of the Eternal, Righteous Judge.
For mankind to be justified (just as if we had never sinned) the standard of a righteous God had to be fully satisfied.
God the Father is absolutely righteous. He is perfectly just and His judgment is according to truth (Rom. 2:2). He does not bend the lines because ‘He IS Love.’
NO! It is precisely this truth, because He is Love and at the same time absolutely righteous that God chose to pay the debt Himself. This was the ONLY way He could redeem us.
The mercy and grace that we experience was paid for in full by the Lord Jesus Christ. He was FULLY punished for ALL SIN. All righteousness had to be fulfilled. The judgment and penalty for ALL SIN was FULLY paid for.
Heb. 10:12-14 – But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.
Jesus, in His warning to the Church at Sardis in Rev.3:2 says, ‘Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before the Lord.
V4-5 You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels (John 3:1-21).
V14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up (crucified) that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
V16 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
V18 He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.’
I pray that you would consider carefully the gift of eternal life that has been offered to you. Amen.