Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God

Daily Encouragement for the Family of God by Kenton Cheek

7 November 2024

Reading From Matthew 25

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 

Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

 –Matthew 25:31-46

     This passage in red letters is so helpful because it lays out part of what will happen at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.  Every human from every nation will come before Him for judgment.  The sheep will inherit a kingdom that God has been preparing for us since before our present reality came into being.  The reason given for the inheritance is that the sheep have genuine faith which produces good spiritual fruit which proves their salvation.  Showing compassion to others in practical ways shows that we truly are born again children of God.

     For those who do not trust in Jesus and their deeds show this, they must depart from the Presence of God and into the fire.  This fire was not prepared for mankind, but rather the devil and his demons, who are fallen angels.  Human beings go there not because that’s where they’re meant to go, but because they chose to go their own way rather than God’s which leads to destruction.  Hell is more than separation from God, it is also punishment.  Notice that punishment is eternal and the reward of the righteous is eternal.  There is no purgatory mentioned here or progressing from one place to the other.  Choose this day whom you will serve, for today is the day of salvation and it is appointed for human beings once to die and after that the judgment described here by Jesus.

“God, thank You that as we chose to follow You, You transformed our lives by Your grace.  It is because we love You that we obey You.  I pray that we will show our true faith by our deeds.  That we would bear good spiritual fruit in keeping with repentance.  Flow through us that we might be a blessing to others.  In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.”

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

 –Matthew 7:21-23