Judgment Day is a term that refers to the end of the world. In the Bible, Judgment Day is when God will bring all people to trial for their sins and decide whether they go to heaven or hell. It’s also known as The Last Judgment, The Final Judgment, and The Great White Throne Judgement.
There are many reasons why we must all be ready for Judgment Day. The Bible says that this is a time for us to turn from our sins and put our faith in Jesus Christ. Our sins will be forgiven, but only if we repent and accept Him as our Lord and Savior.
There are many signs that show we are getting closer to the end of the world as we know it. The Bible talks about how there will be wars and rumors of wars before the end comes, famines, diseases and false prophets. These things have been occurring more often than usual lately and they seem to be happening all at once instead of spaced apart over time like they usually do when these things happen on a smaller scale within one country or region at a time rather than globally across borders as well as inside countries too!
Jesus said that He would return when these things begin happening which means He could come back any day now! We can only pray that He will wait so long as possible because we know that no one wants anyone else suffering from starvation or illness when their loved ones pass away due to lack of food or access to medical care during times like these when there aren’t enough resources available for everyone’s needs!
We are living in the last days.
The Bible tells us that there will be a day of judgement, and it will be an awesome sight to behold. How do we know this? Because God has told us so. In fact, He’s told us more than once!
In the book of Revelation, John describes the events of the final judgment: “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.” (Revelation 20:11)
And then there’s Ezekiel: “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me to repay according to everyone’s work.” (Revelation 22:12)
Both men wrote about this same event, but from different perspectives—Ezekiel was standing outside the door of a temple when he saw these words written on a scroll in front of him. John saw these words in vision while on an island with other believers. Regardless of where they were standing or how they saw these things happen, God made sure both accounts were recorded for posterity.
Why? Because He wanted us to know that He is coming back one day soon!
Judgment day in the bible
The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday or The Day of the Lord (Hebrew: יום הדין, romanized: Yom ha-Dīn; Arabic: یوم القيامة, romanized: Yawm al-Qiyāmah or یوم الدین, Yawm ad-Dīn) is part of the Abrahamic religions and the Frashokereti of Zoroastrianism.
Christianity considers the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to be the final and infinite judgment by God of the people of every nation,[1] resulting in the approval of some and the penalizing of others. The concept is found in all the canonical gospels, particularly in the Gospel of Matthew. The Christian tradition is also followed by Islam, where it is mentioned in the 43rd chapter (Az-Zukhruf) of the Quran, according to some interpretations. Christian futurists believe it will take place after the resurrection of the dead and the Second Coming of Jesus, while full preterists believe it has already occurred. The Last Judgment has inspired numerous artistic depictions.
Contents
In Christianity[edit]
Main articles: Christian eschatology and Amillennialism
Print of the Last Judgment, made by Johannes Wierix in the 16th century.[2]
The Last Judgment by John Martin (1854)
The Last Judgment mosaic (14th-century), south facade of Saint Vitus Cathedral, Prague, Czech Republic.
Biblical sources[edit]
The doctrine and iconographic depiction of the Last Judgment are drawn from many passages from the apocalyptic sections of the Bible, but most notably from Jesus’ teaching of the strait gate in the Gospel of Matthew and in the Gospel of Luke.
Anglicanism and Methodism[edit]
Article IV – Of the Resurrection of Christ in Anglicanism’s Articles of Religion and Article III – Of the Resurrection of Christ of Methodism’s Articles of Religion state that:[3][4]
Christ did truly rise again from death, and took again his body, with flesh, bones, and all things appertaining to the perfection of Man’s nature; wherewith he ascended into Heaven, and there sitteth, until he return to judge all Men at the last day.[3][4]
Anglican and Methodist theology holds that “there is an intermediate state between death and the resurrection of the dead, in which the soul does not sleep in unconsciousness, but exists in happiness or misery till the resurrection, when it shall be reunited to the body and receive its final reward.”[5][6] This space, termed Hades, is divided into Paradise (the Bosom of Abraham) and Gehenna “but with an impassable gulf between the two”.[7][8] Souls remain in Hades until the Last Judgment and “Christians may also improve in holiness after death during the middle state before the final judgment”.[9][10]
Anglican and Methodist theology holds that at the time of the Last Day, “Jesus will return and that He will ‘judge both the quick and the dead’,”[11][12] and “all [will] be bodily resurrected and stand before Christ as our Judge. After the Judgment, the Righteous will go to their eternal reward in heaven and the Accursed will depart to hell (see Matthew 25).”[13] The “issue of this judgment shall be a permanent separation of the evil and the good, the righteous and the wicked” (see The Sheep and the Goats).[14][15] Moreover, in “the final judgment every one of our thoughts, words, and deeds will be known and judged” and individuals will be justified on the basis of their faith in Jesus, although “our works will not escape God’s examination.”[12][16]
Catholicism[edit]
The Last Judgment, Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo (1536-1541)
Belief in the Last Judgment (often linked with the general judgment) is held firmly in Catholicism. Immediately upon death each person undergoes the particular judgment, and depending upon one’s behavior on earth, goes to heaven, purgatory, or hell. Those in purgatory will always reach heaven, but those in hell will be there eternally.
The Last Judgment will occur after the resurrection of the dead and “our ‘mortal body’ will come to life again.”[17] The Catholic Church teaches that at the time of the Last Judgment Christ will come in His glory, and all the angels with him, and in his presence the truth of each one’s deeds will be laid bare, and each person who has ever lived will be judged with perfect justice. The believers who are judged worthy as well as those ignorant of Christ’s teaching who followed the dictates of conscience[18] will go to everlasting bliss, and those who are judged unworthy will go to everlasting condemnation.
A decisive factor in the Last Judgement will be the question, were the corporal works of mercy practiced or not during one’s lifetime. They rate as important acts of charity. Therefore, and according to the biblical sources (Mt 25:31–46), the conjunction of the Last Judgement and the works of mercy is very frequent in the pictorial tradition of Christian art.[19]
Before the Last Judgment, all will be resurrected. Those who were in purgatory will have already been purged, meaning they would have already been released into heaven, and so like those in heaven and hell will resurrect with their bodies, followed by the Last Judgment.[20]
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
1038 The resurrection of all the dead, “of both the just and the unjust” (Acts 24:15), will precede the Last Judgment. This will be “the hour when all who are in the tombs will hear [the Son of man’s] voice and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment” (Jn 5:28–29) Then Christ will come “in his glory, and all the angels with him. . . . Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left. . . . And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life (Mt 25:31,32,46).”
1039 In the presence of Christ, who is Truth itself, the truth of each man’s relationship with God will be laid bare (Cf. Jn 12:4). The Last Judgment will reveal even to its furthest consequences the good each person has done or failed to do during his earthly life.
1040 The Last Judgment will come when Christ returns in glory. Only the Father knows the day and the hour; only he determines the moment of its coming. Then through his Son Jesus Christ he will pronounce the final word on all history. We shall know the ultimate meaning of the whole work of creation and of the entire economy of salvation and understand the marvelous ways by which his Providence led everything towards its final end. The Last Judgment will reveal that God’s justice triumphs over all the injustices committed by his creatures and that God’s love is stronger than death. (Cf. Song 8:6)[21]
