First, let us examine death. We are told that “The soul that sins, it shall die.” (Ezekiel 18:4) Also, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.” (Ecclesiastes 9:10) Thus the dead are asleep, just as Jesus described Lazarus’s dead condition before He raised him. (John 11:11) From God’s perspective, everyone is already considered dead, even though they are not yet in the grave. (Matthew 8:22)
Mankind has already been judged and sentenced to death through Adam. We “inherited” the fallen condition. But every individual person will receive an individual trial during the 1,000 year judgment day of the resurrection (2 Peter 3:7,8). Jesus said, “And he (God) has given him (Jesus) authority to execute judgment…all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.” (John 5:27-29 ESV)
What will Christ’s judgment be like? Christ is currently judging the nations. He is finding them guilty, and permitting man’s wrath to destroy the old order. (Psalm 76:10) He is establishing His righteous kingdom on earth. (Daniel 2:44)
Soon, God will open the eyes of the Jews and they will accept Jesus. (Zechariah 12:10-14) God will make a new covenant with Israel, forgive them, and teach them. “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people….they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” Jeremiah 31:33,34.
Then all mankind will seek the Lord in Jerusalem. “…in the latter days that the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains…And all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.” Isaiah 2:2-3.
Thus, during the 1,000 year judgment, mankind will be made alive, gradually educated and disciplined until they reach the perfection lost in the Garden of Eden. (See also Isaiah 35.) At the end, Satan will try to tempt people to sin again. (Revelation 20:7-9) Any who do sin will be judged unworthy of life. They will be destroyed in the second death.
For a more detailed study, download the free PDF: "The Day of Judgment"
