“And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes the judgment…”

Death is the penalty of sin. Sin caused mankind to lose the right to the tree of life. Without the tree of life, mankind will die. All of them will die barring the intervention of God. When God moved Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden for their disobedience, He placed guards to bar their returning in this life. The Garden is not lost forever, however. Just in man’s physical state, his physical lifetime. Mankind’s path leads to personal physical death because when sin entered the world, death entered the world.

So, man will die once in this physical life and then wait for the last day. The last day will see the graves empty as mankind will come back for the judgment. At that time, judgment will be given by the Son and death and life will be handed out based on that judgment. These will not be physical appointments but spiritual ones. Those who have taken advantage of the blood of Jesus will be rewarded with everlasting life in the presence of God, and those who have not will be rewarded with everlasting death away from the presence of God. One will know joy and one will know torment.

Task for Today: See the judgment coming because it surely is. Ask yourself if you are washed clean in the blood of the Lamb. Did Jesus take His blood to the throne of God for you? Are you listed in the Book of Life? Don’t wait for tomorrow.