1. “Then the King will say to those on His right hand...inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world...He will say also to those on the left, Go away from Me...into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels...And these shall go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matt. 25:34, 41, 46).
When the living nations are judged before Christ’s throne of glory, some will enter into eternal life, and others will go away into eternal punishment. Those who enter into eternal life are those who treated the least of the Lord’s brothers well. They will be the righteous sheep. Those who go away into eternal punishment are those who treated the least of the Lord’s brothers evilly. They will be the evil goats. The righteous will enter eternal life, that is, the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world. Eternal life will be a realm to them. Entering eternal life is different from the believers obtaining eternal life. Eternal life is not simply a realm to the believers; it is also a life. But to the righteous eternal life is only a realm. Obtaining eternal life means that, on the one hand, God’s life enters into us when we believe in Christ, and on the other hand, we enter into eternal life when the Lord returns; that is, we will inherit eternal life in eternity (Mark 10:30; Matt. 19:29). However, for the righteous to enter into eternal life is merely an entrance into a realm of eternal life to inherit the kingdom that God has prepared for them. This kingdom is earthly, and its blessings are earthly. God prepared this for them from the foundation of the world. It is different from the kingdom we obtain. The kingdom we obtain is heavenly, and its blessings are heavenly. Our kingdom was planned by God before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:3-4). The righteous will enter into a realm of eternal life to inherit the earthly blessings of the kingdom that God prepared for them from the foundation of the world. These are the blessings that God prepared for man to enjoy on the earth when He created him. These blessings were lost when created man sinned and fell. In the millennial kingdom, however, all things will be restored (Acts 3:21), including these blessings. Thus, God will enable the righteous, earthly people to enjoy these earthly blessings. The kingdom that God prepared for them is the earthly part of the millennial kingdom. These righteous ones will be its inhabitants.
The evil ones will enter into eternal punishment, that is, the lake of fire (Rev. 20:15). The lake of fire is clearly a realm of eternal punishment. This matches the fact that eternal life for the righteous is also a realm. Both eternal life and eternal punishment are realms for these people. One will be a realm of eternal enjoyment, and the other will be a realm of eternal punishment. Both are realms that can be entered. The righteous people, the sheep, who enter into eternal life, will be God’s blessed subjects in His kingdom; the evil people, the goats, who enter into eternal punishment, will be the suffering companions of the devil in the lake of fire. These are the result of the judgment before Christ’s throne of glory. The parable of the net in Matthew 13:47-50 that we studied in chapter 48 also speaks of this judgment. The good sea life, spoken of in that parable, equals the sheep, and the foul sea life equals the goats.
The sixth judgment of God upon man is His judgment at the great white throne. This is God’s last judgment upon man; therefore, it is a great matter in God’s administrative government over man. Although the fifth judgment deals with the living nations, the dead from all the ages still need to be judged. Thus, there is the need for a final judgment. This is the judgment before the great white throne. All the dead unbelievers from every age will come before the great white throne to be judged to determine their eternal destiny.
1. “The rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were completed...And when the thousand years are completed” (Rev. 20:5, 7).
The judgment at the great white throne will take place after the millennial kingdom and before the new heaven and new earth. Therefore, there will be one thousand years between this judgment and the judgment that occurs at Christ’s throne of glory. After the millennial kingdom all the dead, that is, all the unrisen dead, will rise and be judged.