Ages before His incarnation, Christ distinctly chose His position. He foresaw His life of humiliation, His rejection and crucifixion, His victory over satanic agencies, His victory over death and the grave. He saw the world flooded with light and life, and heard the song of triumph sung by the millions rescued from the hold of Satan. 1NL 41.7
Christ is our Deliverer. He exclaims, “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction.” Thrice in rapid succession He exclaimed, “I will raise him up at the last day.” 1NL 41.8
“Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment upon all.” And Solomon, when in the capacity of a preacher tried to present the strongest motive to holy obedience—the motive that was above all estimate in view of the judgment to come—said, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” 1NL 41.9
God places every action in the scale. What a scene it will be! What impressions will be made regarding the holy character of God and the terrible enormity of sin, when the judgment, based on the law, is carried forward in the presence of all the worlds. Then before the mind of the unrepentant sinner there will be opened all the sins that he has committed, and he will see and understand the aggregate of sin and his own guilt. 1NL 42.1
When the loyal overcomers are crowned, God would have present all who have transgressed His law and broken their covenant with Him. And not one of the righteous will be absent. They see, in the Judge, Christ Jesus, the one whom every sinner has crucified. The Son of man shall come in His glory, and before Him shall be gathered all nations. The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment to the Son. 1NL 42.2
But the trumpet is waxing louder and louder, and the wicked dead come forth to confront Christ. When the multitude of the lost, those whom God has favored with great light, shall look upon the goodness, mercy, and love of Jesus, when those who might have been saved if they had accepted the light and the blessings of God's Word, but who refused to obey His law, see the great sacrifice made in their behalf, they understand the unmeasured love of the Redeemer; they understand His incarnation, the sweatdrops of blood, the marks of the nails in His hands and feet, the pierced side; and they ask to be hidden from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. They see as in reality the condemnation of Christ, they hear the loud cry, “Release unto us Barabbas.” They hear the question, “What shall I do then with Jesus?” and the answer, “Crucify Him, crucify Him.” 1NL 42.3
The reign of appearance and pretense is over. The voice of the righteous Judge speaks with awful emphasis, as He utters the sentence, “Depart from Me: I never knew you.” 1NL 42.4
The division of the whole multitude will be made. “When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: and before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats; and He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.” Those who have done good and those who have done evil will receive a reward according to their works. Then shall Jesus say to those on His right hand, “Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Thus He welcomes them, to live hereafter in eternal communion with Himself. Every voice in the mansions of heaven echoes the welcome, “Come, ye blessed of My Father; inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”—Manuscript 77, 1906. 1NL 42.5