Timeless Truths: What Christians believe about… #5 - The Afterlife (Part 1)
#15. Timeless Truths: What Christians believe about… #5 - The Afterlife (Part 1)
April 21, 2016
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 37“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ 41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ 44“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ 45“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ 46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Matt 25:31-46
All Scripture quotations are from the NIV.
This is the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats
Too often we would like be the judge of certain people. But, separating and judging are God’s jobs. Not ours!
Ultimately, who goes where is God’s decision. But, as the parable clearly shows, each person decides where (s)he will end up through the decisions the make about God and His commands. So, ultimately, God’s direction reflects each person’s decision.
Our end reveals our true judgment about God.
This passage directs us to examine our horizontal relationships. How we interact with and treat humanity proves to be as critical as our vertical relationship with God!
How we treat one another really matters!
In the parable both the sheep, called blessedin v34—the righteous—and the goats, called cursed in v41—the unrighteous ask the same question:
- Sheep: ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?
- Goats: ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
God does not allow any opportunity for explanation of why either group performed as they did. His answers to the questions above are eerily similar.
- Sheep: ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
- Goats: ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
In the end, the eternal end, the result of the choices made in life determine each groups fate.
46 “Then they [the unrighteous] will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Thanks to Rev. Scott Peterson for the central teachings used in this blog.
Next Thursday's Timeless Truths Series: What Christians believe about… #5 - The Afterlife (Part 2)
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