After the events of the Tribulation and the Battle of Armageddon, it would be tempting to think things couldn't possibly get any worse. For some, that will be true. Christians, including those who accept Christ during the Tribulation, will enjoy peace and prosperity during Christ's Millennial Kingdom and then throughout eternity. For others, things will become eternally worse.

No one can escape the judgment of God. The Bible describes two future days of judgment in which every human being who has ever lived will be judged by Jesus Christ. Christians will be judged at the Judgment Seat of Christ. Everyone else, those who does not know Jesus as their Savior, will be judged at the Great White Throne Judgment. Let's take a closer look at the details surrounding this event.

The People Before the Great White Throne

"As John views the great white throne, he sees the dead. All who died without a relationship with Jesus Christ."

Revelation 20:12–13 describes the people at the great white throne: "I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God.… The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them."

As John views the great white throne, he sees the dead—all who died without trusting Jesus Christ as their Savior. These people are spiritually dead because they died apart from Christ. Their bodies are summoned from their graves and from the sea. Their souls are called from Death and Hades to stand before the Judge of all the earth. And John says this group will be made up of both "small and great." That expression appears often in the Bible—over five times in the book of Revelation alone. It reminds us that there will be rich and poor, famous and obscure, powerful and weak.

Erwin Lutzer says this multitude is diverse in its religions.¹ There will be Buddhists and Muslims and Hindus and Protestants and Catholics and Baptists and Presbyterians. There will be those who believed in one God and those who believed in many gods. There will be those who refused to believe in any God at all. There will be those who believed in meditation or mindfulness as a means of salvation and those who believed that doing great deeds was the path to eternal life. We see the moral and the immoral, the priest as well as the minister, the nun as well as the missionary.

What will happen to the religious people and the humanitarians when they stand before God? The Lord Jesus answered that question. "Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!' " (Matthew 7:21–23)

Contrary to popular opinion, believing in your chosen truth does not make it true. There is only one truth, and that's the truth of Jesus Christ. He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6). There is only one way to the Father and one way to eternal life.

Where Will the Great White Throne Judgment Take Place?

"The Bible does not specify where the Great White Throne Judgment will take place. We do know where it will not be however."

Revelation 20:11 says, "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." The Bible does not specify where the Great White Throne Judgment will take place, but we do know where it will not be. It will not be in heaven, nor will it be on earth.

It cannot take place on earth because the earth and skies will have fled away at the appearance of the Lord. It cannot take place in heaven because no sinner can enter God's presence there. So, the Great White Throne Judgment takes place somewhere between heaven and earth. It may happen on a distant planet we don't even know about, but it will take place.

Perhaps its name is more important than its location. The word great speaks of the infinite One who is the Judge. The word white speaks of divine holiness, purity, and justice. And throne speaks of the majesty of the One who has the right to determine the destiny of His creatures.

The Judge of the Great White Throne

"The Millennium is a thousand–year reign of peace, and the Lord Jesus Christ will be King."

Revelation 20:11–12 provides the identity of the Judge: "Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it…. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God."

Who is the Judge on the Great White Throne? He is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. Some people like to imagine Jesus as nothing other than a mild–mannered teacher, but His own words confirm His role as Judge: "The Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son…. and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man" (John 5:22, 27). The only One who has ever been completely holy and yet completely human is the only One who will judge mankind.

Paul wrote to the Romans, "God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ" (Romans 2:16). In Acts, Peter declared that Christ "was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead" (10:42).

Christ will judge the living at the Judgment Seat of Christ when believers stand before Him after the Rapture, and He will judge the spiritually dead at the Great White Throne Judgment. Jesus Christ will conduct the trial, and no one is better qualified. He did everything possible to redeem mankind. Anyone who has accepted His redemption will receive grace and be judged mercifully at the first judgment. Anyone who rejects His offer will receive the full penalty due for every offense at the second and final judgment.

Blotted Out in the Book of Life

"The names of all of the people born into the whole world are originally entered into the Book of Life. But those names are subject to being removed."

Revelation 21:27 says only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life will be admitted into heaven—so what is that book? It tracks every person's birth. When we are born, our names go into the Book of Life, and we have our entire lifetime to accept Christ. If we come to the end of our lives and we haven't accepted Him, our names are blotted out of the Book of Life. No one can go to heaven whose name is not in the Lamb's Book of Life.

We can speculate that every person's name is written in the Book of Life with the time of conception and the time of birth. The age of accountability might be next to his name. And then, if he's a Christian, the date of his conversion to Christ as His Savior is there. If there are no entries for the last items by the time that person dies, the entry will be blotted out (Revelation 3:5). An awful blank space will be left in the book at the place where that name should have been. Displaying this blank spot in the book will be the final and conclusive evidence that the person being judged must be consigned to life forever without God.

What If I'm Not a Christian During the End Times?

"…the only way that you can be protected from the awful judgment… is to put your trust in Jesus Christ, today."

The One who spoke the world into being is the One who will ultimately make all things right. The Bible says we will be with Him forever because we put our trust in Him. Those who know Christ and are alive when He returns will be caught up into the air with Him and will be taken to heaven.

Those who die before He returns will rise from their graves before everyone else and be caught up together to be with Him. From then on, they will always be with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:17).

Christians can rejoice knowing they will not face God's condemnation (Romans 8:1). For everyone else, the only way to receive protection from the Great White Throne Judgment and from eternal punishment in the lake of fire is to trust Jesus as Savior and obey Him as Lord. Those living during the Tribulation will still be able to accept Christ, but why would anyone wait? Today is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2).

¹Erwin Lutzer, "Is God Unfair?" 2011, https://www.moodymedia.org/articles/god–unfair/, accessed on April 16, 2019.