Thy Will be Done
Paul outlines in the letter we know as Romans more than anywhere else in his writings, a picture of the final day of judgement. Reading Romans, it is simply untrue to characterise the Old Testament as portraying judgement fairly exclusively, in contrast to the New Testament which portrays mercy fairly exclusively. Having said that, we recognise the New Testament does highlight the extraordinary love of God revealed in the death of Jesus, but a death constantly predicted in the Old Testament.
If people insist on rejecting God’s love, and part of the logic of love is that it can always be rejected, there is no merciful alternative. God is committed as the truly good God He is, to bringing justice and righteousness to the earth. That means confronting humanity. Those who live in dehumanising ways are courting disaster. Those who persist in evil, despite having every chance to turn back, are facing God’s judgement. There is no alternative.
As C. S. Lewis noted, ‘There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God “Thy will be done” and those to whom God says in the end “thy will be done.”’ Those who end up on judgement day finally and completely separated from God will suddenly see perfectly clearly that their decisions on earth determined their heavenly future.
On judgement day no one will be able to accuse God of being unjust. We will see ourselves and our God with a clarity never known in life on earth. God gives Himself until judgement day to put things right and on that day, every wrong will be made right, from the beginning of time to its end.