Eternal Judgement (2): Man's Judgment at Physical Death

God’s Eternal Judgment starts after death and it’s vital we are ready for it. He will judge us all individually & seal our eternal destiny, based on our response to Him in this life. We go through 3 Phases of Existence. *(1) THIS LIFE, where our inner man lives in a mortal body - a temporary state, for when we die our spirit leaves our body. *(2) The INTERMEDIATE STATE, when we continue to exist as a disembodied spirit. This is also temporary, ending with our resurrection. *(3) The ETERNAL STATE starts at our resurrection, when our spirit puts on an immortal body. All men are ultimately divided into 2 groups, with 2 opposite eternal destinies, either everlasting glory in God’s Presence, or everlasting separation from God in Hell. This is decided at death, when a permanent separation between the saved & unsaved takes place –Stage 1 of man’s Eternal Judgment. The condition of each soul at death determines its destiny for eternity (Ecc 11:3). Only in this life do you have the chance to get right with God. After you die, your eternity is fixed forever (Rev 22:11). A man either dies under condemnation or in grace. Man is born in a state of sin & guilt before God (John 3:17-18, Eph 2:1-3). Jesus is our only hope of salvation (Acts 4:12). We have a choice to accept or reject Christ & His salvation. Those in Christ will be with Him forever in Heaven. But those who reject Him will die in their sins & be lost forever in Hell (John 8:24). So, Stage 1 of man's Eternal Judgment happens right after death (Heb 9:27). When his spirit leaves his body, he faces a private judicial sentencing from God. If he dies in his sins, (1) he is found guilty and sent to a place of punishment in Hades. Then later, at his resurrection, (2) he’ll stand before God a 2nd time for final sentencing at the Great White Throne & dismissal into the Lake of Fire, the degree of his punishment determined by the degree of his rebellion (Rev 20:11-15). But, Christ made another eternal destiny possible. Those who trust in Him don’t face damnation when they die, for Jesus took it for us. They’ll be found to be righteous in Him & go to Heaven. So, at death, God sends a man to one of 2 locations - a place of punishment or a place of blessing (Paradise). At this point his eternal destiny is fixed. When God reunites man's spirit with his body in the resurrection, we’ll stand before God for the 2nd & final stage of Eternal Judgment, when we’ll be released into our final Eternal State, either in glory or in the Lake of Fire. He who dies in his sins will be sent to a place of initial punishment in Hades, to await his resurrection to his final Eternal Judgment. But he who dies in the Lord has passed from death to life (John 5:24-25, Rom 8:1). So, when we die, we’ll be released to go to Paradise to await our resurrection, when we’ll stand before Christ’s Judgment Seat, to receive our eternal rewards and be released into our eternal state, with a corresponding measure of glory. God’s Eternal Judgment operates like our court-system: in 2 Stages. Stage 1 at death determines guilt or innocence. At death, God separates mankind into 2 groups. Saved spirits go to Paradise, but the wicked go down to a place of punishment in Hades, a holding cell, where they’re kept until their final judgment. Then Stage 2 after his resurrection, decides his sentencing (degree of punishment or reward), based on his works. (1) The righteous will stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ to be judged to determine the degree of their eternal rewards of glory, according to their works, and then be released into their eternal state of glory. (2) When the unsaved are resurrected at the end of time, they’ll stand before the Great White Throne for final sentencing & dismissal into their eternal state & place of punishment, the Lake of Fire (Rev 20). They’ll be judged according to their works, to determine the degree of their everlasting punishment. We have 2 appointments with God we can't miss, which determine our eternal future. (1) After our death, to determine if we go up to Heaven or down to Hades. (2) After our resurrection, to determine the degree of our eternal reward or punishment. Before Jesus’ resurrection, the departed spirits of all men went down to an invisible realm under the earth (SHEOL or HADES), a holding cell, where all men awaited their final judgment. The true story of the rich man& Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) describes life after death in Hades, for the saved & lost, before Christ’s resurrection. It proves men’s souls are conscious after death. All went down to HADES, but to different compartments. The saved went to PARADISE (Luke 23;43) or ABRAHAM’S BOSOM, but the wicked to TORMENTS, a place of punishment. By His resurrection Jesus overcame the power of Hades for His Church (Matt 16:18), and when we trust in Him our spirits are born again & made perfect by our union with the resurrected Christ (1Pet 1:3), so at death our spirits no longer go down to Hades, but up to Heaven.