Revelation 20:15

‘And if any was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.'

Thus all men are involved in this judgment. It is an all-embracing scene into which all other pictures of the judgment have to be fitted. And fitted they can be if we recognise that what is important is the spiritual lessons and not the physical descriptions. The significance of the book of life is that it contains the names of those who have been cleansed from sin, who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 7:14). It is revealing that only those who are hidden in Christ and covered with His righteousness can face the judgment without fear for all their sins have been borne by another. But as Paul constantly stressed, while our works cannot justify us, they can certainly condemn us, and those who are not His will be found doubly guilty, for they have not only broken God's law but they have also rejected His mercy. For them there is no future. There is only the lake of fire.

So briefly is the fate of the wicked depicted. But now they are left behind. Now that man's final judgment has been described, and the destruction of all that is evil revealed, we move on in the remainder of the book to the destiny of the righteous. For this in the end was the aim of book and is the aim of God. And what a transformation it is. A few verses previously it was all doom and gloom, but that is now behind and we are to see the glorious vision of the future. One can but feel sorry for those who see in this new picture a future that will be tarnished and fail, for it is rather a picture of complete triumph and full blessedness for all who are His.