God's purpose is the permanent destruction of sin. He is destroying sin now in the believer, but the time will come when the Lord will do "his strange work" (Isaiah 28:21) and eradicate both the perpetrators of sin and sin itself from His Kingdom. The Bible calls it a "strange act" because destruction is so contrary to God's character.

God desires to save every person, but those that have rejected Him have allied themselves with sin and selfishness. Those that wish to cling to their sin cannot be permitted to mar the universe forever. Sin has been the cause of all the grief and sorrow on this planet. In order to finally remove all pain and sorrow and ensure that it will never rise again to disturb the peace and harmony of the universe, sin will be destroyed. If people cherish sin and do not allow God to mold their characters into His divine nature, God has no choice but to allow their destruction with the very sin they cherish. 

 

The Process of Sanctification

The judgment is a serious issue. Because judgment begins with God's people, it is essential that we examine our lives. Christ wants to transform our characters through sanctification. Sanctification is the daily process of becoming like Christ in our characters.

 

God wants to give us hearts of flesh instead of hearts of stone (Ezekiel 11:19). We have nothing to fear from the judgment, unless we refuse to submit to the sanctifying power of God. As we are judged and sanctified, God reveals our character to us and chastens us, that we may be refined (1 Corinthians 11:32).

When we are refined through the daily process of sanctification, we become fit for heaven, where no evil thing or sin is permitted to enter to defile the place. Sin is the reason we have been separated from God in the first place (Isaiah 59:2), so it makes sense that God would have a process by which He would remove sin from our lives so that we can be with Him and speak again to Him face to face. 

Daniel saw a scene of the judgment in vision. He saw it as part of his complete vision of the kingdoms of the world and the Antichrist. It is important to note that this scene of judgment came in between the other scenes of Daniel's vision, showing that the judgment was taking place while other events were transpiring here on Earth:

I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened. I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame (Daniel 7:9-11).

The prophet then describes the coming of one “like a Son of Man” with the clouds of heaven to the Ancient of Days (Daniel 7:13). This coming of Christ is not the Advent of Christ with the clouds of heaven to this earth, but rather the coming of Christ to the throne of God in heaven. Christ's mediating ministry will cease, and He will put on His kingly robes prior to His return as King of kings.

And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed (Daniel 7:14).

Don’t be Caught Unprepared

Probation will cease when Christ’s mediating ministry ceases, but those who rejected God won't know. To those who refuse to allow the sanctifying Spirit of God to work in their lives, life will seem to carry on as usual. They will not have made the Scriptures their guide. When the time comes for Christ's return, they will be not be ready. Read more about Christ's mediating ministry      Believers are urged to study the Scriptures and the signs of the times so they will not be unprepared on that day:

For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, 'Peace and safety!' then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labour paints upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:2-9 NKJV).

Read more about end-time events