Unfulfilled Prophecies Series

The New Testament makes it clear that Jesus came into the

world the first time, not to condemn the world, but that the world

through Him might be saved. It is equally clear that when He comes

the second time, He will come to end the day of grace and judge all

men who have not taken advantage of the good news. This day of

judgment is necessary because God is just, and He cannot allow

those who have rejected and cruelly treated His Son to go

unpunished. The exception, of course, is if they too receive Him

before He comes again. Paul was a persecutor of believers, but he

received Christ, and so he will not experience God’s tribulation.

This final judgment when Christ returns is not only necessary from

God’s point of view, but from the point of view of Christians who

suffer for Christ. They can only endure to the end if they know it

will be worth it, and if they know that the opposition will be dwelt

with justly.

If the universalists idea of all being saved in the end were true,

the suffering Christian would soon be asking himself what am I

doing suffering for Christ, and paying such a cost, when it does not

make any difference in the long run anyway? If all are going to

eventually redeemed, one just as well be on the most favorable side

meanwhile, and for Christians like the Thessalonians that would

mean siding with the opposition. In other words, if you can’t beat

them, join them. This would be the logical conclusion for them to

reach. If they are going to persecute us, we just as well give in, for

all will be the same in the end.

Paul makes sure no such thoughts go through the minds of

these people. He praises them for enduring persecution. He assures

them that it makes an eternity of difference. Those who are putting

them through tribulation will experience the tribulation of God and

eternal destruction. In verse 9 Paul just states the fact that

punishment will be dealt out to the unbeliever when Christ returns.

The fact that it is called punishment reveals that eternal damnation

is not for innocent people. There will be no one punished by God

who does not deserve it. Paul does not elaborate, or paint any

pictures of horror. This is the only place in all of Paul’s writings

where he mentions everlasting destruction, and here he just states

the fact of it. He was not a hell-fire and brimstone preacher if we

can judge him by his letters. He believed in eternal punishment,

however, and he makes it clear.

Neil writes, “The most notable feature is the reticence of the

description. What in normal apocalyptic literature would have

included a lurid picture of the torture of the damned and the bliss of

the righteous, in Paul’s hands becomes a restrained background of

judgment with a light focused on the Person of Chris as Judge.” It is

horrible enough without detail for Paul says it is eternal destruction.

A piece of paper could not be destroyed forever, but persons are

made in the image of God, which is eternal. The context only tells us

one thing about this punishment, and that is that it is to be an

exclusion from the presence of God. It will be eternal life without

that which gives life meaning, and so could be better called eternal

death. The first death separates us from physical life, but the second

death separates us from spiritual life.

As history began with the exclusion of Adam and Eve from

God’s presence, so it will end with the exclusion of all from His

presence who have not taken advantage of God’s plan of

reconciliation. Just as the believer will be caught up to be ever with

the Lord, the unbeliever will be cast out to be never with the Lord.

When Christ comes again the line is drawn once and for all. As in

the days of Noah you are either in the ark or out of it, and where you

are determines your eternal destiny.

In verse 10 Paul says that this awful day of judgment and

exclusion from the glory of Christ is the very same day of great joy

for the believer. Not only is the battle done and the victory won, but

he has rest, for the glory of Christ will be manifested in all its

fullness in them. Once we get it into our heads that the Day of the

Lord is both a day of judgment and joy we will be able to fit all

Scripture into a simple pattern. Sometimes an author will write of

the Day from the point of view of judgment, and then another will