And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
It is appointed for every human being, men and women alike, to die once, with no exemption and no escape from death. After death comes judgment before a just God, in which lives and characters are reviewed and each person is dealt with and rewarded according to works and deeds, so death is not the end of existence. The dead sleep unconscious in the grave until the resurrection, when the righteous are raised to immortal life, so that future judgment is real and not decided at the moment of death. This present life is the only probation and time to prepare for the future life, with no second trial or opportunity after death to make up for neglected lessons and lost chances. In contrast to men dying once and then facing judgment, Christ offered Himself once to make atonement for sin, and God has provided redemption to life and salvation only through the sacrifice of His only begotten Son.
Death Then Judgment
The word men in the appointment to die once means human beings generally, including women, since women also die. It is appointed for every person to die once, with no exemption, and death is certain. No reputation gained in this life, no wealth secured by scheming, no rank or titles, and no God-given skill can purchase peace and joy, secure God's favor, cure oneself, or save anyone from sin's results and from that appointment to death. Many know they must die and that judgment is coming, yet remain unconcerned about its outcome, while a course of disobedience ends in eternal death.
After death comes judgment before a just God, so death is not the end of existence. The judgment does not happen at the moment of death, for the dead sleep unconscious in the grave until the resurrection, when the righteous are raised to immortal life, so the future judgment is meaningful and not a repetition of a judgment already completed. While reason remains the present time is to be used to form characters fit for heaven and immortality, because once unconscious and unable to act nothing can be done to secure salvation. In that judgment human lives and characters are reviewed and each person is dealt with and rewarded according to works and deeds. This judgment includes an investigative work in heaven, begun at the end of the 2300 days in 1844 when Christ entered the most holy place as High Priest to carry out the final acts of His ministry and make atonement for those entitled to its benefits, considering the cases of professed followers of God, while the judgment of the wicked is a distinct work at a later time.
Although the race is appointed to death, God has provided redemption to life and salvation only through the sacrifice of His only begotten Son. Christ, who was one with God, became the author of complete salvation to all who receive Him, who are cleansed, sanctified, and ennobled through God's great gift to the world. The Christian hope is bright because of the prospect of living again beyond the grave. By contrast, the belief that death ends all existence leaves a person without hope of living again, without comfort, and facing a grave future.
Christ's Single Sacrificial Ministry
Christ's death was the one great offering that fulfilled what the Jewish animal sacrifices, types, ceremonies, and ordinances foreshadowed, and when type met antitype at the cross those sacrifices lost their value. Those types and ordinances had been divinely appointed to keep faith alive, unlike the enduring reality of the Ten Commandments. He is man's mediator in the heavenly sanctuary in whom all the Old Testament sacrifices centered, and through His atoning sacrifice transgressors of God's law may find peace and pardon. Those who teach unpopular truths are to exalt Christ in this office with watchfulness, prayer, faith, and courage.
In contrast to men dying once and then facing judgment, Christ offered Himself once to make atonement for sin and now serves as High Priest and intercessor, and His appearing is awaited as the blessed hope. Having offered Himself once, He carried the blood of His own atonement into the holiest of all, sprinkled it upon the mercy seat and upon His own garments, and blessed the people. The humanity hidden on earth in humiliation as a man of sorrows will at His descent appear robed in glory, triumphant and exalted, revealing His priestly character. He appears the second time to declare there is to be no more sacrifice for sin.
After rising and ascending, for eighteen centuries Christ ministered His blood in the first apartment of the heavenly sanctuary on behalf of penitent believers, presenting their prayers, repentance, and faith before God through His merits and securing pardon and acceptance, yet their sins still remained upon the books of record. As in the typical service there was a work of atonement at the close of the year, so before Christ's work for redemption is completed there is a work of atonement for the removal of sin from the sanctuary and its cleansing. It began at the end of the 2300 days in 1844, when Christ as High Priest entered the most holy place to perform the last division of His solemn work, finish the atonement, and carry out the final acts of His ministry for those entitled to its benefits. This includes placing confessed sins upon the scapegoat to be borne away.
This closing sanctuary work is what the cleansing of the sanctuary in Daniel 8:14 concerns, namely Christ's closing work as High Priest, including the finishing of the atonement and preparation of the people to abide the day of His coming and to face His coming. His ministration in the great day of atonement is the work through which the truth is proclaimed and is now nearing its close. The judgment connected with this ministry includes an investigative work in heaven considering the cases of professed followers of God, while the judgment of the wicked is a distinct work at a later time. After completing His mediatorial work, Christ will come again in power and glory and establish His kingdom on earth.
Present Probation Only Opportunity
This present life is the only probation and the time to prepare for the future life and to meet God and secure preparation for heaven. There is no future probation after death, no second trial, no second opportunity to make up for neglected lessons or lost chances, and no other opportunity to become ready for heaven. Those who fail to overcome and appreciate this probationary time and pursue a course that closes the gates of the city of God against them will receive no new probation and no another chance. Everyone will face the final examination and great review of the probationary life, and all are judged and rewarded according to deeds.
The antitypical day of atonement is a solemn time with eternal results, when each person's case will come before the judgment. Each person must consider how their case will stand before God. In that time the church must seek purification through repentance, humility, deep heart-searching, and perfected Christian character.
Human life is brief and death may come before a person is prepared to face the judgment that follows death. Peace with God and turning from the world must not be delayed to a more convenient time while there is time and while people still have reason. The present time is to be used to form characters fit for heaven and immortality and to perfect Christian character now. Once unconscious and unable to act, a person can do nothing to secure salvation, and delaying can harden the heart and leave reliance on a false sense of readiness discovered too late to gain a secure hope.
The opportunity to be saved is limited to this present life. People who die unwarned and unready are in danger of being forever lost. Neglecting present opportunities brings eternal loss. Although people know they must die and that judgment is coming, many remain unconcerned about its outcome, and a course of disobedience ends in eternal death.
Dying once and then facing judgment is fixed for every person with no exemption, and no reputation gained in this life, no wealth secured by scheming, and no God-given skill can purchase peace and joy or cure oneself and escape that appointment. The verse presses for repentance now, because without repentance judgment brings the sentence of being joined to idols and left alone. The advantages Satan offers do not alter this appointment, and they must be turned back by appeal to Scripture as Christ turned them back with It is written.
Everyone must face the great review prepared to stand in the merits of Christ, having gained victory in His name.
It is appointed for every human being, men and women alike, to die once, with no exemption and no escape from death. After death comes judgment before a just God, in which lives and characters are reviewed and each person is dealt with and rewarded according to works and deeds, so death is not the end of existence. The dead sleep unconscious in the grave until the resurrection, when the righteous are raised to immortal life, so that future judgment is real and not decided at the moment of death. This present life is the only probation and time to prepare for the future life, with no second trial or opportunity after death to make up for neglected lessons and lost chances. In contrast to men dying once and then facing judgment, Christ offered Himself once to make atonement for sin, and God has provided redemption to life and salvation only through the sacrifice of His only begotten Son.
Death Then Judgment
The word men in the appointment to die once means human beings generally, including women, since women also die. It is appointed for every person to die once, with no exemption, and death is certain. No reputation gained in this life, no wealth secured by scheming, no rank or titles, and no God-given skill can purchase peace and joy, secure God's favor, cure oneself, or save anyone from sin's results and from that appointment to death. Many know they must die and that judgment is coming, yet remain unconcerned about its outcome, while a course of disobedience ends in eternal death.
After death comes judgment before a just God, so death is not the end of existence. The judgment does not happen at the moment of death, for the dead sleep unconscious in the grave until the resurrection, when the righteous are raised to immortal life, so the future judgment is meaningful and not a repetition of a judgment already completed. While reason remains the present time is to be used to form characters fit for heaven and immortality, because once unconscious and unable to act nothing can be done to secure salvation. In that judgment human lives and characters are reviewed and each person is dealt with and rewarded according to works and deeds. This judgment includes an investigative work in heaven, begun at the end of the 2300 days in 1844 when Christ entered the most holy place as High Priest to carry out the final acts of His ministry and make atonement for those entitled to its benefits, considering the cases of professed followers of God, while the judgment of the wicked is a distinct work at a later time.
Although the race is appointed to death, God has provided redemption to life and salvation only through the sacrifice of His only begotten Son. Christ, who was one with God, became the author of complete salvation to all who receive Him, who are cleansed, sanctified, and ennobled through God's great gift to the world. The Christian hope is bright because of the prospect of living again beyond the grave. By contrast, the belief that death ends all existence leaves a person without hope of living again, without comfort, and facing a grave future.
Christ's Single Sacrificial Ministry
Christ's death was the one great offering that fulfilled what the Jewish animal sacrifices, types, ceremonies, and ordinances foreshadowed, and when type met antitype at the cross those sacrifices lost their value. Those types and ordinances had been divinely appointed to keep faith alive, unlike the enduring reality of the Ten Commandments. He is man's mediator in the heavenly sanctuary in whom all the Old Testament sacrifices centered, and through His atoning sacrifice transgressors of God's law may find peace and pardon. Those who teach unpopular truths are to exalt Christ in this office with watchfulness, prayer, faith, and courage.
In contrast to men dying once and then facing judgment, Christ offered Himself once to make atonement for sin and now serves as High Priest and intercessor, and His appearing is awaited as the blessed hope. Having offered Himself once, He carried the blood of His own atonement into the holiest of all, sprinkled it upon the mercy seat and upon His own garments, and blessed the people. The humanity hidden on earth in humiliation as a man of sorrows will at His descent appear robed in glory, triumphant and exalted, revealing His priestly character. He appears the second time to declare there is to be no more sacrifice for sin.
After rising and ascending, for eighteen centuries Christ ministered His blood in the first apartment of the heavenly sanctuary on behalf of penitent believers, presenting their prayers, repentance, and faith before God through His merits and securing pardon and acceptance, yet their sins still remained upon the books of record. As in the typical service there was a work of atonement at the close of the year, so before Christ's work for redemption is completed there is a work of atonement for the removal of sin from the sanctuary and its cleansing. It began at the end of the 2300 days in 1844, when Christ as High Priest entered the most holy place to perform the last division of His solemn work, finish the atonement, and carry out the final acts of His ministry for those entitled to its benefits. This includes placing confessed sins upon the scapegoat to be borne away.
This closing sanctuary work is what the cleansing of the sanctuary in Daniel 8:14 concerns, namely Christ's closing work as High Priest, including the finishing of the atonement and preparation of the people to abide the day of His coming and to face His coming. His ministration in the great day of atonement is the work through which the truth is proclaimed and is now nearing its close. The judgment connected with this ministry includes an investigative work in heaven considering the cases of professed followers of God, while the judgment of the wicked is a distinct work at a later time. After completing His mediatorial work, Christ will come again in power and glory and establish His kingdom on earth.
Present Probation Only Opportunity
This present life is the only probation and the time to prepare for the future life and to meet God and secure preparation for heaven. There is no future probation after death, no second trial, no second opportunity to make up for neglected lessons or lost chances, and no other opportunity to become ready for heaven. Those who fail to overcome and appreciate this probationary time and pursue a course that closes the gates of the city of God against them will receive no new probation and no another chance. Everyone will face the final examination and great review of the probationary life, and all are judged and rewarded according to deeds.
The antitypical day of atonement is a solemn time with eternal results, when each person's case will come before the judgment. Each person must consider how their case will stand before God. In that time the church must seek purification through repentance, humility, deep heart-searching, and perfected Christian character.
Human life is brief and death may come before a person is prepared to face the judgment that follows death. Peace with God and turning from the world must not be delayed to a more convenient time while there is time and while people still have reason. The present time is to be used to form characters fit for heaven and immortality and to perfect Christian character now. Once unconscious and unable to act, a person can do nothing to secure salvation, and delaying can harden the heart and leave reliance on a false sense of readiness discovered too late to gain a secure hope.
The opportunity to be saved is limited to this present life. People who die unwarned and unready are in danger of being forever lost. Neglecting present opportunities brings eternal loss. Although people know they must die and that judgment is coming, many remain unconcerned about its outcome, and a course of disobedience ends in eternal death.
Dying once and then facing judgment is fixed for every person with no exemption, and no reputation gained in this life, no wealth secured by scheming, and no God-given skill can purchase peace and joy or cure oneself and escape that appointment. The verse presses for repentance now, because without repentance judgment brings the sentence of being joined to idols and left alone. The advantages Satan offers do not alter this appointment, and they must be turned back by appeal to Scripture as Christ turned them back with It is written.
Everyone must face the great review prepared to stand in the merits of Christ, having gained victory in His name.