And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation. (Hebrews 09:27-28, NKJV).
There is nothing more repugnant to fallen human nature than the thought of final judgment. And there is nothing more inevitable, regardless of all the protestations, railings and blasphemous objections. To be brought before a superior authority and evaluated solely on the basis of our performance is the guaranteed climax of every human life. And without Christ it is equally guaranteed to go badly. Very badly.
Further, the Bible slams the door on the doctrine of reincarnation as a hope for second chances, as explicitly stated here: it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.
A personal Judgment Day is a concept embedded in the very fiber of our being. Every known culture has its particular version written large in mythology, archetypal stories, and societal expectations. It is as human as an opposable thumb.
It was put in our existential fabric by God Himself, as an act of both warning and mercy. We can attempt to deny it; by rebellion, try to purge it from our thinking, or we can do our best to attempt to "buy off" the judge by temporally bargaining against an eternal outcome. But it is a futile tactic doomed to failure.
Every word, every deed, every thought will undergo judgment in the fiery eyes of Christ, and nothing will escape notice. Every thought and intent of the heart will be brought to light. Nothing will remain hidden.
This should terrify every defendant (and we are all defendants), but in the majority of the cases, either because the outcome is so unthinkable, or the necessary submission to a higher authority is so repulsive, the modern strategy is to proclaim disbelief.
It doesn't work, though, especially in the "wee hours of the morning", alone, sleepless, steeped in guilt. We know, we just know, that judgment is coming, and for those who are not in Christ, whether they profess belief or not, the anxiety is virtually unbearable.
The "head in the sand" remedies abound. Compulsive eating, drinking, promiscuity, denial, outbursts of wrath, or any other profligate activity that distracts from the core revelation will do, as long as the thought, and attendant feelings, that "the judgment is coming" is, at least temporarily, overlaid.
Yet, as mentioned, this inherent, indomitable guilt is both mercy and culpatory evidence.
Mercy because it inflicts us with unease and motivates us, perhaps, to seek expiation.
Culpatory because even within our own God-bequeathed conscience we know we are inexcusably guilty.
Ignored, this double-edged impetus eventually diminishes in power and influence until our conscience is seared beyond any sensitivity, and we find ourselves saying or doing things that would previously have been unthinkable.
In the end, if left untreated, the patient not only dies, but enters into eternity defiled with guilt and iniquity.
At that point, there descends upon that immortal soul an infinite weight of hopelessness and despair. All that was possible before death - repentance, coming to real faith in Christ, forgiveness - becomes utterly impossible.
This stiletto-sharp warning in Hebrews is meant for those who have yet to admit their own sinfulness. It is especially directed at those who mistakenly consider themselves righteous before God. For know this, without receiving Christ as your Savior (truly and sincerely):
…“There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.” “Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit”; “The poison of asps is under their lips”; “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; Destruction and misery are in their ways; And the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:10-18, NKJV).
