The Second Coming of Christ will put an end to the power of sin and destroy all sinners living on Earth. All the righteous dead will be resurrected and taken to Heaven, and the living righteous will be transformed and caught up to the cloud upon which Christ is seated. The wicked will watch these events in fear. Those whom they hated, mocked, refused to hear, persecuted, beat, and killed for their faith—all these people proved to be right and became victors. The realization of lost opportunities and missed blessings, together with fear of the future, will tear the hearts of many sinners apart in despair. They will look upon the reality of these events and understand that it is too late to change anything. The glory of God’s presence will kill many of the wicked, and those who hide in fear from the face of God will be destroyed by a consuming fire.
The time will come when not a single living human being will remain on our planet. All nature will breathe a sigh of relief and enter into its rest.
Satan and his angels will be bound by the circumstances of their new position. Throughout all the time from the beginning of the rebellion in Heaven until then, he devised plans and schemes against God’s government. But the hour will have come when there is no one left whom he and his army of fallen angels can lead astray.
The devil will be given another thousand years so that he may have ample time to consider what his sin has brought him to and how much evil he has committed.
The whole Earth lies in ruins; death and chaos are everywhere. And in the midst of this chaos is the enemy of the human soul, who can no longer deceive people because there are none.
Knowing how much time has been allotted to him, Satan will pass through a most difficult period of reflection upon his fall.
Who could have imagined what sin would do to the anointed cherub? From a loving angel radiant with pure joy, he became a fallen being who sows disease, suffering, and death.
During this time, the saints undergo Heavenly rehabilitation. Their minds are renewed under the influence of God’s presence and the Eternal sciences that will be taught to them by unfallen Heavenly beings. Jesus Himself will reveal the mysteries of the Universe and explain the Eternal Laws, clarifying every detail. At last, the righteous will see their dream fulfilled—to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to His words. God the Father will reveal His Eternal Agape Love to us and tell us about its influence upon fallen humanity. We will look on in wonder at how it was available to all sinners, yet only a few were able to taste it while living on Earth and abide in it, rejoicing before the Lord.
The Heavenly banks will open their doors, and we will marvel at the incorruptible treasures we were able to lay up for ourselves in Heaven. What a return our earthly possessions and good deeds will have brought when we invested them by faith in God’s enterprises! We will be amazed at how much good fruit came from the seed that we scattered everywhere with tears and prayers, and what an influence our deeds, words, and letters had upon thirsty and weary hearts.
The good angels will show us our entire journey and reveal how many temptations and deadly dangers they protected us from, how many plans for our destruction they thwarted, and what a great and invisible ministry they performed for humanity, especially for God’s children.
Our gratitude will know no bounds. All our blessings and thanksgiving will be directed to the One Who redeemed us from the power of sin.
Although all sinners have perished, sin itself has not yet been destroyed. It has done far too much evil throughout the Universe. All the saints will be given authority to examine the cases of the people who lived on Earth and to understand why they lost their right to Salvation. The deeds and life of every person will be carefully examined, weighed, and discussed. We will be convinced that God did everything possible to save every soul, but people chose death.
All the evil deeds of humanity will be studied in a special way, and every criminal will be sentenced to just punishment according to his deeds.
I believe that the cases of many people who suffered greatly while living on Earth—who were in a wretched condition, in cruel bondage to wicked people, or under the power of sin, without an opportunity to learn and accept the truth—will be considered with great mercy, and they simply will not be resurrected for judgment. They will be declared lost forever. Their cases will be eternally closed.
After one thousand years, the Heavenly City and all its inhabitants will descend to Earth. All wicked people will be raised in the Second Resurrection, and the outward appearance and sinful power of thought with which they left this life will be restored to them. Satan will once again gain power over the minds of fallen humanity and, seeing this immense host of all his captives, will begin to deceive them again. Everyone will be urged to seize the Heavenly City; a plan of attack will be drawn up, and a time will be appointed. At a certain hour, the armies of all ages and nations will advance against the City of the saints.
But God will intervene for His people and reveal His glory. The vast host will be stopped by God’s presence. Then the most solemn and momentous event, known as the Last Judgment, will begin.
All the wicked will stand before God at the same time, experiencing fear and the agony of conscience. The whole life of each person will be presented in detail, and a just sentence will be pronounced upon everyone. All sinners will be cast into the lake of fire. I believe that the measure of punishment will be determined by the length of time they burn in this fire. Some will perish immediately, while others will suffer a little longer for their crimes.
The justice of the punishment will be revealed equally to everyone, and lesser offenders will not share the same fate as hardened evildoers; rather, everyone will receive according to his deeds.
Every sinner will meet his Creator face to face. His entire life will pass before him in a brief moment. Everyone will see all the opportunities he had for a better life and for Salvation. All will understand that they voluntarily forfeited their right to Eternal Life and chose the right to die.
God will perform His strange work and destroy every sin and every sinner. Before their destruction, all wicked people will experience the agony of the second death—the very agony Christ endured in the Garden of Gethsemane and while hanging upon the Cross. All who refused to accept Salvation will have to learn by personal experience the meaning of the words, “The wages of sin is death.” The prophecy of Malachi 4:1 will be fulfilled: “For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.”
The sins of all the righteous, which they committed under the influence of the spirits of darkness, will be placed upon Satan, and he will have to endure his deserved punishment longer than anyone else.
The second death is an Eternal sentence upon all wicked people and angels, and it will hold Eternal authority over these justly condemned souls. No one will ever be able to change the court’s decision, no destroyed sinner will ever rise again, and sin will never again appear in the Universe.
Sin and the originator of sin will be eternally destroyed, and nothing will remain to remind us of it except the scars in the hands of our dear Savior.
Questions for Reflection
Please read Revelation 20:1–15; 21:1–5; 22:14–15; 1 Corinthians 2:9; 6:2–3; Jeremiah 4:23–26; Ezekiel 28:18–19; Malachi 4:1; Isaiah 51:6; 2 Peter 3:9–12; Psalm 96:13; 98:9; 94:1–2; Revelation 1:8; 11:18; Romans 2:6; Malachi 3:2; 1 Corinthians 15:26 in the light of this chapter. What did you understand from this chapter? Does the account of the end of sin bring you joy? Do you understand how much it means to live forever? How do you picture the Last Judgment? Why will sinners be destroyed forever rather than forgiven and taken to Heaven? Is Satan’s repentance possible? How can one prepare for the events of the last days? Is Eternity worth fighting for and, for its sake, giving up everything that prevents us from entering it? Would you be interested in hearing the history of our planet firsthand from God? Will the love I am learning now give me any advantage in Heavenly life? What must I do to inherit Eternal Life? Why would it not be better to let sinners suffer for their crimes and then, once they repent, take them into the Heavenly dwellings and teach them love? Are you prepared to become closely acquainted with all the saved? May I visit you after we move to the Heavenly Jerusalem?