| CHAPTER 8—THE END OF THE WAR Jesus Is Coming When everyone has made their choice for God’s leadership or Satan’s God can finally stop intervening in the natural process of sin. He can allow everyone to receive the natural results of their choices. Jesus will return to the earth, just as he promised. He will come in great power and glory, with all his holy angels. Often, this has been used to scare people into “giving their lives” to God. But force and fear cannot produce what God wants: our love, freely given. God says, “Let me be your God, and you be my people.”[498] This is all he has ever wanted. “If I could get you to love me and each other, then I would truly ask for nothing more.”[499] This is why Jesus waits until after everyone has made up their mind before coming[500]—he knows that if he came with power and glory before people have chosen, they would be overwhelmed and repeat the promises of Mount Sinai—”We’ll do whatever God says!”[501]—promises that do not last[502. Instead, he waits for us to decide on the basis of evidence and love—prompted only by the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit in our conscience. Those who have accepted Satan’s picture of God will be afraid. They will cry to the rocks and mountains, “Fall on us, and hide us from the One who sits on the throne, and from the Lamb [Jesus]!”[503] Because they believe the great lie, they will be afraid of the One who loves them the most, and fear the most loving and friendly face ever! A Second Chance In somewhat fearsome language, the Bible depicts the serious events to take place in the judgment and the final end of sin. “Then I saw a great white throne and the one who sits on it. Earth and heaven fled from his presence and were seen no more. And I saw the dead, great and small alike, standing before the throne. Books were opened, and then another book was opened, the book of the living. The dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. Then the sea gave up its dead. Death and the world of the dead also gave up the dead they held. And all were judged according to what they had done. Then death and the world of the dead were thrown into the lake of fire. (This lake of fire is the second death.) Whoever did not have his name written in the book of the living was thrown into the lake of fire.”[504] As the whole of humanity stand before God, a panoramic view of the history of the Great Controversy is shown in the sky. Every person the part they played in the drama of ages. “The heavens [will] declare His righteousness, and all the people [shall] see his glory [character]. Confounded [will] be all they that serve graven images, that boast themselves of idols.”[505] “The heavens shall declare his righteousness, for God is judge himself.”[506] “So you should not pass judgment on anyone before the right time comes; he will bring to light the dark secrets and expose the hidden purposes of people’s minds. And then everyone will receive from God the praise he deserves.”[507] “Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations... the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue swear.”[508] “As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God... every one of us shall give account of himself to God.”[509] Everyone, including Satan, freely admit (God does not use force) that God was right. Yet they still do not want to live in a universe run by God. The most damaging aspect of sin is that it eventually destroys the desire and even the capacity to do what is right. |
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| 498 Leviticus 26:12, Jeremiah 7:23, Jeremiah 11:4, Jeremiah 30:22, Jeremiah 31:33, Jeremiah 32:38, Ezekiel 11:20, Ezekiel 14:11 499 Deuteronomy 6:5, Leviticus 19:18 500 Revelation 22:11,12 501 Exodus 24:3 502 see Exodus 24:18, Exodus 32:7-25 503 Revelation 6:15, 16 504 Revelation 20:11-14 505 Psalm 97:6-10 506 Psalm 50:6. See also Ezekiel 21:24, Luke 12:2,3 507 I Corinthians 4:5 508 Isaiah 45:20-24 509 Romans 14:11, 12. See also Philippians 2:10, Psalms 22:29 |
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