What Shall Immediately Follow After the Resurrection? The General and Final Judgment - WLC Question 88

In the previous catechism question, we considered the resurrection of the dead and the hope believers have in Christ. But that raises another question: what comes next? The 88th question of the Westminster Larger Catechism asks the question this way: “What will immediately follow after the resurrection?”

The answer is simple and clear: “The general and final judgment of angels and men will follow immediately after the resurrection, the day and hour of which no one knows, so that all may watch and pray, and always be ready for the coming of the Lord.”

That answer reminds us that history is moving toward a real and appointed end. Christ will come. The dead will be raised. And all will stand before Him at the final judgment.

The General and Final Judgment Is Certain

Scripture plainly teaches that after the resurrection comes judgment. This judgment is called general because it includes all who must be judged. It is called final because it brings this present age to its close.

The Bible tells us that even fallen angels will be judged. Peter says that “God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment” (2 Pet. 2:4). Jude says something similar. He writes that the angels who rebelled are “kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day” (Jude 6).

Men will also stand before God. Jude says, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousand of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and convict all the ungodly.” (Jude 14–15). No one will escape that day. No one will be overlooked. Every person who has ever lived will answer to God.

That truth runs against the thinking of the world. Many people live as though history has no final reckoning. But Scripture tells us something different. History is moving toward a courtroom. God has appointed the day, and His judgment will be perfectly righteous.

The General and Final Judgment Will Be Universal

The general and final judgment will be complete, public, and unavoidable. It will not be partial. It will not be hidden. Angels and men will be judged. The righteous and the wicked will be openly separated.

Jesus describes that separation in Matthew 25: “these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal” (Matt. 25:46). There are only two final outcomes. Eternal life for those who belong to Christ. Everlasting punishment for those who remain in their sins.

That means the final judgment will reveal the perfect justice of God. In this life, evil often seems to prosper. Righteousness often seems ignored. But on that day, everything will be set right. Nothing will be overlooked. Nothing will be misjudged. The Judge of all the earth will do what is right.

For believers, this is a comfort. Those who trusted Christ through suffering, weakness, and opposition will be openly vindicated. For unbelievers, it is a warning. The final judgment will be inescapable.

The Day of General and Final Judgment Is Unknown

The catechism also reminds us that no one knows the day or the hour. Jesus says the same thing in Matthew 24:36: “concerning that day and hour no one knows.” Then He applies that truth very directly. “Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.” (Matt. 24:42). And again, “you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Matt. 24:44).

God has not told us when that day will come. That is not a flaw in His revelation. It is part of His wisdom. The Lord has hidden the day so that His people would live in continual readiness.

This guards us from two errors. One is speculation. We often try to predict what Christ has chosen not to reveal. The other is carelessness. We push thoughts of judgment out of our minds and live as though there is no urgency at all. But Christ does not call us to either panic or laziness. He calls us to readiness.

The General and Final Judgment Calls Us to Watch and Pray

Since the general and final judgment is certain, and since its timing is unknown, Christ tells us how we should live. We are to watch and pray.

Luke 21:35–36 says that day “will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. But stay awake at all times, praying.” To watch is to live awake. It is to remember that this world is not permanent. It is to remember that our lives are moving toward an appointed end. To pray is to live dependent on God, asking Him for grace to remain faithful.

This makes the doctrine of judgment deeply practical. It is not given merely to satisfy our curiosity about the future. It is meant to shape the way we live right now. The coming judgment should make us serious about sin, serious about holiness, and serious about walking faithfully with Christ.

And readiness does not mean fear-driven obsession. It means steady obedience. It means living each day with a clear mind, a watchful heart, and a settled trust in the Lord.

The General and Final Judgment Drives Us to Christ

The doctrine of the general and final judgment is sobering because, left to ourselves, none of us could stand before a holy God. We have all sinned in thought, word, and deed. On our own, judgment would mean condemnation.

But the gospel gives hope. The Judge is also the Savior. Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, and all who trust in Him are forgiven and counted righteous in the sight of God. For the believer, the final judgment is no longer the terror of condemnation, because Christ has already borne that condemnation in our place.

That is what makes this doctrine both serious and hopeful. It is serious because judgment is real. It is hopeful because Christ is a sufficient Savior.

So question 88 calls us to live ready for the coming of the Lord. After the resurrection comes the general and final judgment. That day is certain. That day is universal. That day is unknown to us. Therefore, we must watch, pray, and be ever ready. And the only true way to be ready is to belong, by faith, to Jesus Christ.

Soli Deo Gloria