The Resurrection and Gathering to the Judgment Seat of Christ

All the great promises of the Old Testament depend for their fulfilment on the resurrection of the faithful to receive their reward. There will therefore be a gathering, both of the living and those who have died and been raised to life again, to appear before Jesus Christ for judgment at his return to the earth. This is referred to in many places in the Bible. The following quotations speak of this resurrection and judgment:

• “I charge thee [Timothy] therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick [Greek zao, ‘living’] and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom.” (2 Timothy 4:1)

• “There shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever.” (Daniel 12:1–3)

Daniel foretold the time of resurrection and gathering to judgment. He stated that the resurrection will be “at that time” (Daniel 12:1), referring to “the time of the end” when “the king of the north” and his confederate powers sweep down into Israel (Daniel 11:40). In the midst of this terrible “time of trouble” for the nations of the world, the resurrection and judgment will take place.

There will be rewards given at the time of judgment; some will receive immortality and will enter into the Kingdom to assist Jesus Christ to establish God’s ways upon the earth. However, the unfaithful will be dismissed from his presence in shame, to die again forever.

This appearing before the judgment seat of Christ is referred to in the following quotations:

• “We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ… every one of us shall give account of himself to God” (Romans 14:10–12).

• “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10).

• “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation” (John 5:28–29).

“Many that sleep shall awake” - Who are the “Many”?

The question has often been asked: “Shall every person that has ever lived since Adam and Eve be raised to be judged?” The simple answer is, “No”. Only those who are responsible to God among the dead and the living will be taken to give an account before Jesus Christ at his return. When Jesus commanded his apostles to go forth and preach the gospel, he said: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptised shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be condemned” (Mark 16:15–16).

Here we have two classes of people. There are those who believe and have been baptised. They will stand before Christ to give an account of their service and if they have remained faithful they will be given immortality. Jesus made this clear in some of his parables; eg the five wise and five foolish virgins

(Matthew 25:1–13); the faithful and wicked servants (Matthew 25:14–30; cp Luke 19:11–27). Here we see that there will be a division at the judgment seat between faithful servants and those who proved to be unfaithful in their service to God.

However there is another class of people who are responsible to God for they heard and understood the Gospel message, but rejected God’s offer of salvation. They will be raised and condemned at the judgment seat of Christ for refusing to obey. They heard but did not believe. An example of this class is to be seen in Annas and Caiaphas who heard and spoke with Jesus, but rejected him and did not believe. They will be raised to account for their unbelief and wickedness at Christ’s return (Matthew 26:64).

There is yet another class of people - those who have never heard the Truth of God’s Word. This embraces the vast majority of people. They have lived their lives in ignorance of God and His Son. They will not be raised to be judged, for God will not raise people to punish them for their ignorance of Him. Of this class we are told: “They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise” (Isaiah 26:14); and again: “Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish” (Psalm 49:20).

Immortality and the Reward of the Faithful

Though many believe they have an ‘immortal soul’, we have seen that the Bible clearly shows that man is mortal; he dies and returns to dust. Among the vast number of the dead there are those who are said to “sleep”, for though dead, they will be awakened by the call of Jesus Christ at his return. In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul contrasts the mortality common to us all as descendants of Adam with the wonderful hope for all who have “put on Christ” through baptism, saying, “In Adam all die—in Christ shall all be made alive… at his coming” (v22–23)

Paul describes the change of nature that those judged faithful will receive: “This mortal shall have put on immortality”, for “death is swallowed up in victory” (v51–56). Thus, those “who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality” will receive “eternal life” (Romans 2:7).

Reigning with Christ

The faithful servants of Jesus Christ will rejoice to be involved in the glorious work of establishing the Kingdom of God under his guidance. They will reign as kings and priests on the earth (Revelation 5:10). Their role will be twofold. The function of a king is to rule, in this case with divine authority. A priest mediates between God and man, educating people in God’s laws and showing them how sin must be put away. Thus the saints will reign as kings to establish the law and order of the Kingdom, and officiate as priests to instruct the mortal population of the earth in the ways of God.

One of the first works to be performed by the faithful saints, then immortal and “equal unto the angels” (Luke 20:36), will be to go forth with the Lord Jesus Christ to take control of the nations, who will be invited to submit willingly to Christ or be conquered by force (Psalm 2; Psalm 149:5–9; Revelation 2:26–27; 17:14).

Adapted from “The Exploring the Bible Course” by David Evans