The end of sin and death
Death is one of the few realities we all face, yet it is also one of the subjects we tend to avoid. We use phrases like “passed away” or “gone to a better place”, but no amount of careful language changes the reality. Death confronts each one of us, and what we believe about death often shapes the way we live.
For Christians, death is not the end of our story. We do not face the grave with uncertainty – but with faith anchored in Jesus Christ. Our hope is not speculative, nor is it grounded in personal goodness, religious effort, or moral achievement. The Christian’s confidence for what lies beyond the grave rests on the historical fact that Jesus Christ rose from the dead.
The certain hope of Christians is that they will spend eternity in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ and with all the people of all time who have been brought into a relationship with God on the basis of Christ’s death and resurrection. It is a future of glory, peace, joy, righteousness and the absence of sin. The only way the Apostle Paul could describe that future was by saying, “to . . . be with Christ, which is far better”.
But what about Satan, sin and death?
Satan
Satan appears near the beginning of the Bible, in Genesis chapter 3, as the crafty serpent. He is humanity’s great deceiver, and God's adversary. Using deception, manipulation and half-truths, he leads humanity into rebellion against our Creator, setting the stage for the ongoing deception, temptation, and destruction that unfolds throughout the rest of Scripture.
Sin
Genesis chapter 3 also reveals how sin changed our world. A single act of disobedience by Adam and Eve, our common ancestors, fractured humanity’s relationship with God. The result was devastating: we were separated from God, every part of creation was stained by sin, and we were left spiritually broken and lost.
Death
Death was not part of God’s original design for humanity. We were created to live forever, in perfect harmony with God in paradise. Genesis shows us that sin and death were unwanted invaders that disrupted God’s perfect creation. All of humanity is in danger of experiencing three kinds of death: spiritual “death”, the separation from God which everyone inherits from Adam on entering the world; physical death, which is the inevitable end of life; and eternal death, the state of being separated from God forever when this life is over.
The Judgement of Satan
As a result of the death and resurrection of Christ, Satan has been defeated and will one day be judged by God.
“And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”
Satan will be justly punished for his lies and deception. Regardless of the power that Satan is permitted to have today, his future is one of judgement and torment.
The Judgement of Sinners
Unrepentant sinners will stand before the holy God and be subject to His judgement. Like Satan, they will have no case before God, because they have not accepted the provision He has made for them in Christ.
“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them; and they were judged, each one of them according to their deeds. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
God the Father has committed all judgement into the hands of His Son, Jesus Christ. Christ will sit on a great white throne that represents His power and holiness. He has perfect knowledge of every right and every wrong. He knows who has been redeemed (bought back from sin) by His blood, and who has not. He cannot be deceived. God has recorded in the “Book of Life” the names of those who belong to His family.
When the time comes, every sinner who has not repented and trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour will be judged. The terrible outcome is eternal punishment under the righteous judgement of God.
How can eternal punishment be reconciled with an eternally loving God? The answer is found in the perfect harmony of God’s righteousness and God’s love.
God’s justice is unbending: “All his acts are just and true”. The Psalms and the Prophets repeatedly affirm that God is just. The Bible promises that Jesus will judge the world with justice. To establish new heavens and a new earth God must finally remove sin and evil. Otherwise, He would be subjecting His new creation to an ongoing threat of sin.
The Bible makes it clear that the lake of fire was not prepared for people but for the devil and his angels. God does not want, “anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance”. Nevertheless, God will not allow Satan to spoil the new heavens and the new earth so He will cast him into the lake of fire. Those who remain under Satan’s rule by rejecting Christ will share in that judgement.
In amazing love, God provided the way for humanity to be reconciled to Himself on a righteous basis. The great price of that reconciliation was the death of His Son, Jesus Christ. Many have chosen to accept God’s great gift and are no longer subject to His judgement for sin. By contrast, the Bible gives no indication that Satan desires reconciliation with God. His eternal separation is both just and final. Those who enter eternity still rejecting God will justly share Satan’s eternal separation from God.