Revelation 20:5-15 “But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. … (11) Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. (12) And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. (13) The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. (14) Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. (15) And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.”
All unbelievers will incur the judgment of God at the second resurrection. You will recall that we saw earlier that the saints’ judgement will take place at the first resurrection. The above quoted passage of scripture reveals to us that the rest of the dead will not be raised at the first resurrection, thus implying that they will be raised at the second resurrection. The context of this same passage reveals to us that the judgement of all unbelievers will take place after the thousand-year reign of Christ. And so it will be after the Lord’s millennial reign that all unbelievers, who are currently suffering torment in Hades, will be raised from the dead to stand before the great white throne of God, along with the rest of the unbelievers that will still be alive on the earth at that time.
John 5:28-29 “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice (29) and come forth-- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.”
In the passage of scripture quoted above our Lord refers to two resurrections. The first one He calls the resurrection of life, which is the resurrection of His saints. And the second one He calls the resurrection of condemnation, which is the resurrection of all the unbelievers. At this resurrection our Lord Jesus has taught us that all the unbelievers already stand condemned even before they are judged, for He called it the resurrection of condemnation. The reason that they would have already been condemned is because all who do not believe the gospel are condemned by default, for our Lord has taught us that they condemn themselves because they have not believed in Him (John 3:18).
Acts 13:46 “Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, "It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.”
In the passage of scripture quoted above the Holy Spirit speaking through the apostle Paul confirms the same truth to us that Jesus spoke about, for He tells us that the unbelievers who reject the gospel of Jesus Christ judge themselves unworthy of eternal life, not God. And so although the unbelievers will already stand condemned at this judgement, what remains to be judged will be their works in order to determine what the level of their eternal punishment will be. This is the reason why the books will be opened, for those books have recorded every detail of every unbeliever’s life.
Michael E.B. Maher
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