Judgment Result Number 2: Christ's Followers Are Vindicated
I was watching, and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them, until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High....The court shall be seated, and they shall take away his [the little horn's] dominion, to consume and destroy it forever. Then the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him. Daniel 7:21-27, NKJV.
I vividly remember my introduction to the topic of the pre-Advent judgment. One of my first visits to an Adventist church took place when I was an 18-year-old private in the army. I went because I wanted to be with my girlfriend, but what I observed astounded me. Up front stood an "old" woman (she was probably 40) who had an exceptionally long and bony finger that she utilized in pointing to each of us teenagers. Her message was that we had better lie awake at night and recall and confess each and every sin that we had ever committed, because if we missed one we would end up in the hot place. The judgment had begun, and who knew when our individual names might surface in it.
That is what I have come to see as the bad-news version of the judgment, a fear-laden approach that does not line up with Scripture. In the Bible the judgment is always for the saints. Unlike human judges, God is not neutral. He is actively on the side of those at whom the devil is pointing an accusatory finger. He so loved the world that He sent Jesus to die for us (John 3:16). But the Father went further than that; He has even given over the final authority of judgment to Jesus (John 5:22). That is the concluding aspect of His high priestly ministry in heaven. Jesus our Savior is also Jesus our Judge. And those who have accepted His redeeming work have nothing to fear in the final judgment. In fact, the Bible describes their judgment as gospel--good news.
Thus in Revelation 6:10 it is the saints who cry out "how long" before the beginning of the judgment that will set things right. Scripture pictures them as looking forward to God's judgment with joyful anticipation. And in Revelation 18:20 the judgment is for the saints and against Babylon.
Too many people have thought of the final judgment as a kind of medieval inquisition headed up by a vengeful God. Not so! Rather, God's purpose is to demonstrate that believers have accepted Jesus. The judgment does not seek to keep people out of the kingdom, but to vindicate as many as possible so that they can go home with Jesus when He comes again.
I was watching, and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them, until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High....The court shall be seated, and they shall take away his [the little horn's] dominion, to consume and destroy it forever. Then the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him. Daniel 7:21-27, NKJV.
I vividly remember my introduction to the topic of the pre-Advent judgment. One of my first visits to an Adventist church took place when I was an 18-year-old private in the army. I went because I wanted to be with my girlfriend, but what I observed astounded me. Up front stood an "old" woman (she was probably 40) who had an exceptionally long and bony finger that she utilized in pointing to each of us teenagers. Her message was that we had better lie awake at night and recall and confess each and every sin that we had ever committed, because if we missed one we would end up in the hot place. The judgment had begun, and who knew when our individual names might surface in it.
That is what I have come to see as the bad-news version of the judgment, a fear-laden approach that does not line up with Scripture. In the Bible the judgment is always for the saints. Unlike human judges, God is not neutral. He is actively on the side of those at whom the devil is pointing an accusatory finger. He so loved the world that He sent Jesus to die for us (John 3:16). But the Father went further than that; He has even given over the final authority of judgment to Jesus (John 5:22). That is the concluding aspect of His high priestly ministry in heaven. Jesus our Savior is also Jesus our Judge. And those who have accepted His redeeming work have nothing to fear in the final judgment. In fact, the Bible describes their judgment as gospel--good news.
Thus in Revelation 6:10 it is the saints who cry out "how long" before the beginning of the judgment that will set things right. Scripture pictures them as looking forward to God's judgment with joyful anticipation. And in Revelation 18:20 the judgment is for the saints and against Babylon.
Too many people have thought of the final judgment as a kind of medieval inquisition headed up by a vengeful God. Not so! Rather, God's purpose is to demonstrate that believers have accepted Jesus. The judgment does not seek to keep people out of the kingdom, but to vindicate as many as possible so that they can go home with Jesus when He comes again.
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