All human beings will be raised from the dead never to die again. Some will be raised to eternal reward. Others will be raised to eternal punishment.

The Story says, "but when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. And all the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left" (Matt. 25:31-32).

At that final event of history as we know it, one of two things will happen: perfect justice or perfect mercy. Perfect justice—punishment for everything you’ve ever done wrong, and God misses nothing...or, perfect mercy— forgiveness for everything you’ve ever done wrong, and God misses nothing. All who have accepted mercy in Christ will go on to eternal reward.

Then the King will say to those on His right, “Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 25:33-34).

All who have rejected God’s mercy in Christ—either actively or passively—will be judged by their works and punished. “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels…then they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life’" (Matt. 25:41, 46).

Important: The basis for that punishment will be their crimes against God (justice):

"And I saw the dead…standing before the throne, and books were opened…and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds…and if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:12, 15).

So the Story ends with everyone living forever. Those who continued in rebellion will be banished forever to a place of misery, darkness, and utter loneliness and ruin.

Those who ceased their rebellion, who surrendered to their King, who received His pardon will live with Him in a new world enjoying the perfect life He intended for us at the first.

If you’re a Christian, then this is your Story.

If you are not a Christian, then this is also your Story because this is the Story of the way things really are. This is reality.

The Story has five elements:

God, man, Jesus, cross, and resurrection.

It’s a Story that can be told in single a sentence.

God, the Creator of the universe, in order to rescue man from punishment for his rebellion, took on humanity in Jesus, the Savior, to die on a cross and rise from the dead so that in the final resurrection we could enjoy a wonderful friendship with our sovereign Lord, in the kind of perfect world our hearts have always yearned for.