The Day We Stand Before God

The Bible prophesies that each of us will one day stand before God. When our life on this earth comes to an end, the time will come when we must give an account of our deeds and faith before the judgment seat of God (Rev 20:11–15; Ro 14:10; 2 Co 5:10). How joyful will it be if we can give an account to God on that day for what we have done to please God? If we are able to offer an abundance of beautiful gospel fruit to God as a result of carrying out His command to “preach the gospel to Samaria and even to the ends of the earth,” it will truly be an overwhelming and glorious moment for us. On the contrary, if we fail to follow God’s will fully and our life on this earth comes to an end, we will have to give an account to God for that.

I believe that we, who have faith in God, should fill our lives with good deeds that please God. I hope that all of our Zion family members will stand before God with joy and hope on that day.

Be the salt and light of the world

After life on earth, all people will stand before God, being divided into two groups: those who will receive the glory and blessings of heaven, and those who will not. They are all given the opportunity to repent on this earth, but those who have lived an unrepentant life cannot escape God’s righteous judgment.

We live out our faith every day, but there are times when we fail to consider the future. If we focus only on the visible things of this earth, we tend to try to dominate others in higher positions than them, having thoughts and habits that can cause us to drift away from spiritual things. From this moment on, let us envision the day when we will stand before God and think about how we can all bring great glory and joy to Him.

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Mt 5:13–16

God has given us the mission to be the salt and light of the world. Light has the power to drive out darkness, and salt has the power to purify the world. God has endowed us with great qualities to be the salt and light of the world. However, if we live like those who are trapped in darkness and act against God’s will, or if we conduct ourselves improperly and live a life tainted with the filth of the world, we will be so ashamed on the day we stand before God.

There is a common reason for God to punish people: He brought a flood to the world in Noah’s time, and rained down sulfur and fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah. It’s because the world was corrupt, sin was rampant, and people lived ungodly lives. God punished the world by water in the days of Noah and destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah by fire in the days of Lot, and for the same reason He will judge this world by fire in the last days, as prophesied in the Bible (Genesis 6–7; 18–19; 2 Pe 3:6–7).

That is why God has taught us to let people see our good deeds and glorify Him. If we glorify God through good words and deeds and lead people into the arms of God throughout our lives, God will be so proud of us when we stand before Him, won’t He? How greatly will God rejoice over His children when they return to Him after having truly repented during the time of repentance? As God’s people, we should live holy, godly and sincere lives that are pleasing and acceptable to God.

God’s people are members of Christ’s body, the temple of God

Some misunderstand the truth and ask, “If we just keep the Passover and the Sabbath, we can be forgiven of all the sins and transgressions we commit in the world, can’t we?” However, those who are taught by God in Zion should take off their former way of life—the old self, which they have learned from the world—and put on the new self, created in true righteousness and holiness, in addition to keeping the festivals of God. As Elohists—God-pleasers in the last days—we should act differently than we did when we did not know God. We must not dishonor God through our ungodly deeds and words.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Ro 12:1–2

We must not accept the ways of people in this world as normal, but consider what God has taught us. Many people lament that today’s world is no different from the time of Noah’s flood and the time of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The world is filled with rampant immorality and ungodliness. The Bible teaches us not to conform to the pattern of this world, but offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. We need to remember why God judged the world by water in the days of Noah and punished Sodom and Gomorrah.

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit. Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. 1 Co 6:15–20

The Bible says that our bodies are the temple of God and we should honor God with our bodies. Therefore, we must not use any part of our bodies for worldly or fleshly things, but for displaying God’s glory. If we do so, we will be refined to become a holy temple pleasing to God and be transformed into heavenly people.

Beware of an ungodly life

Jesus called the people of His time a “wicked and adulterous generation” at His first coming (Mt 12:39), and He said that it would be the same at the time of His second coming, when Judgment Day is near. God has reserved judgment because the world is full of people living ungodly lives.

In the days of Noah, this earth was filled with wickedness and ungodliness, and God regretted that He had made human beings (Ge 6:5–7). He created humans as well as the earth for them to live on, desiring them to repent and return to heaven. However, the world became so evil that He regretted giving people the opportunity to repent and finally brought Judgment upon them.

It was the same with Sodom and Gomorrah in the days of Lot. The Bible says that Lot, the righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard (2 Pe 2:6–8). Whenever Lot saw the increasing wickedness of people on this earth created by God’s will, he was distressed and said to himself, “Why do they provoke God’s wrath with such shameful behavior?”

Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done. Heb 12:14–17

Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. Heb 13:4

An ungodly life can be considered the greatest enemy of faith in God. When people stand before God, they will be judged for every deed they’ve done. God specifically said that He Himself would judge the sexually immoral, calling them godless like Esau.

We are living in a time when the new heaven and the new earth—the kingdom of heaven—is near (Rev 21:1). Many people are troubled and distressed by the ungodly behavior of the world. No matter how corrupt and depraved Sodom and Gomorrah were, Lot who was a righteous man never followed their corrupt ways. Through various examples of life recorded in the Bible, let us examine ourselves to see if we are lighting up and purifying the world as light and salt. We, God’s people, should always live holy and godly lives, so we can bring about change in our homes, workplaces, and communities.

Take off the old self and put on the new self

In his letter to the believers in Ephesus, the Apostle Paul emphasized that they should not live in debauchery like the Gentiles, but live with faith in God, looking forward to the kingdom of heaven, to receive a rich welcome into the kingdom of God in the end.

So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. . . . Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed. That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Eph 4:17–24

There is a clear difference between the people we used to be before receiving the truth and the people we’ve become after receiving the truth. Baptism, our first step of faith, signifies that we bury our old self in water and are raised with Christ to a new life—the new self (Ro 6:1–4). If we have not yet put off our old self, following our old bad habits, even after having started our journey of faith, it means that we do not understand the true meaning of baptism. What if we stay the same as before, although it’s been a long time since we started going to church, and if we do not apply the Bible to our practice at all, though we have read and studied the Bible hundreds of times? The life of faith is completely meaningless to us, isn’t it?

Zion is the place where those who will enter heaven are gathered. Therefore, we should completely change our behavior, speech, and mindset according to God’s commands. Many of us once followed the wrong ways like other people, but since we received Christ Ahnsahnghong who came with the new name and New Jerusalem our Heavenly Mother, we have been taught by Them and come to realize how many wrongs we committed before. We must throw off our old way of life with all its bad habits. As God’s children, let us put into practice what we have learned from God.

Christ has already taught us what role we must play in this world. We are God’s people who must light up the dark world as light and purify all corruption in the world as salt. So, it is wrong for us to follow the evil practices of the world. We must take off the old self and be born again to put on the new self, following the teachings of Christ fully, so we can set afresh on our journey toward heaven. Let us make efforts to change ourselves completely, so that people may see our good deeds and glorify God.

Lead the world in the right path

Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Eph 5:1–5

Those who are immoral, impure, greedy, and idolatrous will never inherit the kingdom of God. The fact that they cannot inherit the kingdom of God means that they cannot enter heaven. God has clearly stated it in the Bible.

We should always live holy and godly lives. What the world pursues is different from what we pursue. Zion must be a place where God’s teachings are always active and living, as well as a place where those who obey and follow the teachings of God, who are the salt and light of the world, are gathered. Only then can we purify the world and transform the world of darkness into a world of light.

Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. . . . For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope. Ro 15:2–4

Goodness can be simply described as a state of being good or a good deed. Let us always do good to our neighbors, coworkers, and fellow believers first, building them up. When Sodom and Gomorrah were full of corruption and immorality, the people there considered that kind of life as normal, but Lot was grieved and tormented in his soul every day. God never wants humans, His creation, to live in corruption and depravity in the world He made. Let us, too, have the heart of God. By sharing the truth with our neighbors and spreading it worldwide, let us lead the world in the right path, so that all people can come to God and live godly lives.

When the gospel of the new covenant is preached to Samaria and to the ends of the earth, some will accept the gospel gladly and others will reject it. I believe that the work of salvation will certainly occur to those who receive God’s truth and live upright lives, just as it was in the days of Noah and Lot. So, I hope that the day will surely come when we stand before God and boast about our countless gracious achievements joyfully and thankfully in the presence of God. I earnestly ask you all to live each day with the fact in mind that the day will come when we stand before God, and to lead people in the arms of God, being the salt and light of the world.