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JESUS IS COMING TO JUDGE THE WORLD
A. Introduction: Jesus’ first message to His followers when He left this world was: I’ll be back (Acts 1:9-
11). Jesus is coming back to bring full, or complete, salvation to this world.
1. This world is not the way it is supposed to be, not as God created it to be, because of sin. God created
human beings to be His sons and daughters who live in loving relationship with Him. He made this
world to be a home for Himself and His family. Both have been damaged by sin.
a. When the first man, Adam, sinned, the entire creation (humanity and the earth) was infused with
corruption and death (Rom 5:12; Gen 3:17-19). None of this surprised God. He already had a
plan in mind to recover both the family and the family home through Jesus (John 3:16).
1. Jesus came to earth the first time to die as a sacrifice for sin and open the way for all who
believe in Him to be cleansed of sin and restored to God’s family. I Pet 3:18
2. Jesus will come again to cleanse the planet (the family home) of all sin, corruption, and death
(from everything that hurts and harms), and set up His visible, eternal kingdom on earth.
A. Heb 9:26-28—(Jesus) came once for all time, at the end of the age, to remove the power
of sin forever by his sacrificial death for us (NLT)…(He) will appear a second time, not
carrying any burden of sin nor to deal with sin, but to bring full (complete) salvation to
those who are (eagerly, constantly and patiently) waiting for and expecting Him (Amp).
B. Full salvation includes resurrection of the dead (the reuniting of the inward and outward
portions of our makeup that separate at death) and restoration of the earth (returned to
pre-sin conditions, with all corruption and death removed).
C. The Lord will then come to live with His family forever in the world He made to be our
home. Heaven and earth will come together. Heaven will be on earth.
b. However, before full salvation comes, hard times are ahead for this world. The Bible reveals
that prior to Jesus’ second coming there will be tribulation on earth, a time of great trouble unlike
anything the world has ever seen. Matt 24:21-22
1. The Bible tells us that before Jesus returns, Satan will offer the world a counterfeit of Jesus, a
ruler (commonly called Antichrist) who will seem to have the answer to the world’s
problems. He will preside over a global government, economy, and religion. Rev 13
2. The actions of this man and the responses of the world to him will cause the chaos,
catastrophe, and tribulation of these final years (lesson for another day).
c. Not long before Jesus left this world, His apostles asked Him what signs will indicate that His
return is near. Jesus listed a number of disturbing things (lesson for another day).
1. But He also told His followers: Now when these things begin to occur, look up and lift up
your heads because your redemption (salvation) is drawing near (Luke 21:28, Amp).
2. The Greek word translated look up has the idea of being elated in joyous expectation. You
can only respond this way if you know what is happening and why. We are taking time to
talk about what will happen and why to help us change our perspective.
3. It’s not what you see that makes or breaks you—it’s how you see what you see. What if,
instead of seeing the increasing turmoil and chaos coming on the world as everything is out
of control and it’s the end of the world, what if you saw it as full salvation is coming?
2. When we talk about Jesus’ return, people want to know about the Book of Revelation, the last book
in the Bible. But if that’s all you know, you don’t know much, because it’s just the end of the story.
a. The Bible is a collection of sixty-six books that together gradually tell the story of God’s desire
for a family and the lengths He’s gone to, to recover His family and the family home through
Jesus. God has been talking about the end of His plan since the beginning, when Adam sinned.
1. Jesus’ apostle Peter, in one of his first sermons, said that Jesus will return to earth when it is
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“time for the complete restoration of all that God spoke by the mouth of all his holy prophets
for ages past—from the most ancient time in the memory of man” (Acts 3:21, Amp).
2. The thirty-nine Old Testament books have numerous prophecies about the first and second
coming of Jesus. There are twice as many prophecies about His second coming as His first.
3. The prophets weren’t clearly shown that there will be two separate comings of Jesus, and
many of their prophecies refer to both the first and second coming in the same verse. Isa 9:6
b. Last week we looked at some of what Jesus’ first followers knew from these prophets. They
wrote centuries before Jesus came and before Revelation was written. They knew that:
1. The Lord will come to cleanse the earth of all wickedness and all those who refuse to
surrender to Almighty God, their Creator. Gen 5:21-24; Jude 14-15
2. God will establish his visible, eternal kingdom on earth and renew and restore the heavens
and the earth (the material universe). There will be peace and harmony in the animal world,
and nothing will ever hurt or harm anyone again. Dan 2:44; Isa 11:6-9; Isa 65:17
3. The dead will be resurrected, some to everlasting life and some to everlasting contempt.
And God’s people will live on earth again with their Redeemer. Job 19:25-27; Dan 12:2
4. There will be great tribulation before the Lord sets up His kingdom, and a final world ruler
who will defy God. But God will preserve His people for His kingdom and pour out His
Spirit on them. Dan 12:1-2; Dan 8:23-25; Joel 2:32
B. We need to understand that the second coming of Jesus will affect more that the people who are alive
when He returns. Jesus’ coming will affect the entire human race—every person who has ever lived.
1. Every human being, going back to Adam, known to and loved by God was. Every person is created
for relationship with their Creator. But all have failed in their moral obligation to obey the Lord,
and all are in need of the salvation that Jesus provided through His sacrificial death.
a. No one ceases to exist at death. Every person who has ever been conceived, but has died, is
somewhere now. Where they are depends on how each responded to the light of Jesus that was
given to their generation. They are either with God in Heaven or separated from Him in Hell.
b. The point for us in this lesson is that in connection with Jesus’ second coming, a Judgment Day
will take place—a day when the entire race of Adam will stand before their Creator.
1. The Jews knew from the prophets that a Judgment Day is coming, a day when wickedness
will be removed from the earth and righteousness will be rewarded—and that’s a good thing.
2. Note how they viewed the Lord’s coming to earth to judge: Shout to the Lord, all the earth;
break out in praise and sing for joy. Let the sea and everything in it shout his praise! Let
the earth and all living things join in. Let the rivers clap their hands in glee! Let the hills
sing out their songs of joy before the Lord. For the Lord is coming to judge the earth. He
will judge the world with justice, and the nations with fairness (Ps 98:4-9, NLT).
c. When Jesus was on earth, He revealed that He is the judge. Our Savior is also our Judge. Jesus
said: The Father leaves all judgment to his Son…he (the Father) has given him (the Son)
authority to judge all mankind because he is the Son of Man (John 5:22-27, NLT)
2. After Jesus returned to Heaven, the apostles began to preach Jesus’ death and resurrection. As part
of their message, they told people that a day of judgment is coming, and that Jesus will be the judge.
a. Note what Paul preached to people in Athens, Greece, a city that was given over to idol worship.
He said: Acts 17:30-31—God overlooked people’s former ignorance about these things, but
now he commands everyone everywhere to turn from idols and turn to him (repent). For he has
set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he appointed (Jesus), and he proved to
everyone who this is by raising him from the dead (NLT).
b. Peter preached to Gentiles in the city of Caesarea: Acts 10:41-42—We were eyewitnesses of
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Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, “And he (God) ordered us to preach everywhere and to
testify that Jesus is ordained of God to be the judge of all—the living and the dead” (NLT).
1. The purpose of this judgment isn’t to determine if people go to Heaven or Hell. That is
decided while they are alive when they either accept or reject the light of Jesus given to them.
2. No human being leaves this earth without an opportunity to respond to Jesus—(He) is the
true Light which gives light to every man who comes into the world (John 1:9, NKJV).
3. The purpose of this judgment is to reward those who believe in Jesus with full salvation, and
to show why it is right and just to forever separate those who have refused God’s offer of
salvation through Jesus from God’s family and the family home (lessons for another day).
3. Removing all that hurts and harms (including rebellious, wicked people) is part of restoring earth.
The Greek word translated judge means to separate and make a decision. From the beginning of
His ministry, Jesus said He will one day separate those who belong to Him from those who don’t.
a. Jesus’ message during His earth ministry was: Repent (turn from sin toward God), for the
kingdom of Heaven is at hand (Matt 4:17, NKJV). During His ministry Jesus told parables
about this separation to help prepare His followers for the kingdom He will bring to the world.
1. Jesus said: The Kingdom of Heaven is like a fishing net that is thrown into the water and
gathers fish of every kind. When the net is full, they drag it up on the shore, sit down, sort
the good fish into crates, and throw the bad ones away (Matt 13:47-48, NLT).
2. Matt 13:49-51—That is the way it will be at the end of the world. The angels will come and
separate the wicked people from the godly, throwing the wicked into the fire. There will be
weeping and gnashing of teeth. Do you understand? Yes, they said, we do (NLT).
b. Matt 13:24-29—Jesus compared the Kingdom of Heaven to a famer who planted wheat in his
field. But during the night, an enemy planted weeds among the wheat. As the wheat grew, so
did the weeds. His servants asked: Shall we pull out the weeds? The farmer said if you do,
you will hurt the wheat. Let them grow together until harvest time. At that time, the harvesters
will separate the weeds and burn them, and put the wheat into the barn.
1. When the apostles asked Jesus to explain the parable He said: I, the Son of Man, am the
farmer and the field is the world. The good seed represents the people of the Kingdom and
the weeds are the people who belong to the evil one. The Devil planted the weeds. The
harvest is the end of the world (the age), and the harvesters are the angels. Matt 13:37-42
2. Matt 13:42-43—(The angels) will throw them (those who belong to the evil one) into the
furnace and burn them (remove them from the family and the family home forever)…Then
the godly will shine like the sun in their Father’s Kingdom. Anyone who is willing to hear
should listen and understand (NLT).
A. A quick side note: People ask, if God is good, why does He allow all the wickedness in
this world? Salvation is not about providing temporary relief. It’s about permanently
fixing what it wrong with the world by removing the root cause (sin and the corruption it
produces) and renewing and restoring all people who acknowledge Him as their Lord.
B. Right now, God is gathering His family. As He does so, He allows the weeds to grow up
with the wheat, in the hope that the weeds will come to Him and be changed into wheat.
And He uses the hardships of life to further this purpose. But ultimate justice is coming.
4. In order for the world to be restored, not only must corruption and death be removed from the
creation, there is a counterfeit kingdom that must also be removed, along with its ruler and all who
refused come out of this kingdom and surrender to earth’s rightful King—the Lord Jesus Christ, the
Creator of all.
a. When Adam sinned, a counterfeit kingdom was established in the earth. God created Adam to
be His under ruler in this world. When Adam listened to the Devil, he turned his authority over
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to Satan who usurped or seized it. Satan became the god of this world. Luke 4:6; II Cor 4:4; etc.
b. This usurper and his counterfeit kingdom must be removed before the world can be restored.
Jesus began the process at the Cross. Just before the crucifixion He said: The time of judgment
for the world has come, when the prince of this world will be cast out (John 12:31 NLT).
c. Jesus, through His resurrection victory, broke the power of the Devil (Heb 2:14-15). The Devil
has been defeated, but he has not yet been subjugated (forced to submit and removed from
human contact). That will happen when Jesus returns to bring full salvation.
5. The Book of Revelation is a record of events immediately preceding the Lord’s return to take control
of this world. The information was given to the apostle John when Jesus appeared to him in AD 95.
a. John was shown the final world ruler (Antichrist) and other world leaders who will bring their
armies together to try to stop Jesus’ return. John saw Jesus defeat them with His Word. John
saw the Beast (Antichrist) and the false prophet (who led people to worship the Beast) thrown
alive into the lake of fire that burns with brimstone, which is the second death. Rev 19:19-20
b. John also saw all those who throughout human history rejected God’s offer of salvation stand
before God’s throne to be judged. “Anyone whose name was not written in the Book of Life
(was not part of God’s family) was thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev 20:15, NIRV).
1. John saw people in Heaven praising God for what was happening. They said: (It is time) to
reward Your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who revere (fear) Your name both
low and high and small and great; and [the time] for destroying the corrupters of the earth
(Rev 11:18, Amp),
2. Finally, John saw the completion of the plan: Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth…
Look, the home of God is now among his people…He will remove all of their sorrows, and
there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain (Rev 21:1-4, NLT).
6. Sincere Christians get nervous when the day of judgment is mentioned because we all fall short.
But the criteria for being in God’s family is not human perfection, it’s faith in and surrender to Jesus.
And, Jesus the Judge is the one who qualified us for the family and for the reward of full salvation.
a. Col 1:12-13—(We give thanks to the Father) who has qualified us to be partakers of the
inheritance of the saints in the light (NKJV). God rescued us from the dark power of Satan and
brought us into the kingdom of his dear Son, who forgives our sins and sets us free (CEV).
b. Now we live with a wonderful expectation because Jesus rose from the dead. For God has
reserved a priceless inheritance for his children. It is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled,
beyond the reach of change and decay. And God, by his mighty power, will protect you until
you receive this salvation (full salvation), because you are trusting in him (I Pet 1:3-5, NLT).
C. Conclusion: The first Christians expected Jesus to return in their life time, which would mean that they
would see the tribulation and calamity that will precede His return. Yet they were still eagerly
anticipating His return because they knew the end result. Titus 2:13; Phil 3:10; II Pet 3:12; etc.
1. Persecution against them did break out not long after Jesus left this world. Some were jailed, other
beaten; some lost property and had to flee their homes; some were martyred. Acts 7; Heb 10:32; etc.
2. Paul was one of those who was martyred. Note his mindset: II Tim 4:6-8—The time of my death is
near. I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race, and now the prize awaits me—the crown
of righteousness that the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that great day of his return.
And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his glorious return (NLT).
3. The crown of righteousness Paul anticipated is full, complete salvation. And all who believe on
Jesus will receive that same crown when He returns to renew and restore the world. Our future is
bright. We need to keep this in mind as the world gets darker. More next week!!
