Q: After judgment, will we go to heaven or the new earth? Also, will the aborted babies be judged? —Daniel
A: The Bible speaks of a final judgment where every human person will stand before God’s “great white throne” (Revelation 20:11-12). Those who do not know Jesus, “anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life” will be sentenced to eternal punishment in “the lake of fire” (v.15). Jesus too warned of this final judgment in John 5:27-29.
Christians will be judged too, for we “will all stand before the judgment seat of God . . . each of us will give a personal account to God” (Romans 14:10,12). The believer doesn’t need to fear this judgment, for “there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Jesus has assured us that we “have eternal life . . . [and] will never be condemned for [our] sins, but have already passed from death into life” (John 5:24). Believers will be evaluated to determine the degree of rewards for how well we have lived out life in Christ (1 Corinthians 3:12-15; 2 Corinthians 5:10).
Following this final judgment, God will bring human history to a close and usher in eternity. God will create “a new heaven and a new earth” for all whose name is in the Book of Life (Revelation 21:1-2). This is God’s home, and God’s people will live with Him forever (v.3).
Every embryo, every unformed body, every aborted baby is uniquely created by God, and a precious person before God (Psalm 139:13-16). Aborted babies too have a sinful nature (Psalm 51:5, Romans 5:12), although they didn’t wilfully sinned against God since their lives were prematurely terminated. As we have seen, every human being will be judged, including aborted babies. But, based on who God is (Genesis 18:25; Deuteronomy 32:4; Job 34:10), and because Christ paid for their sin by His death on the cross (1 John 2:2, 4:14), many Christians believe that aborted babies will be in heaven. When King David’s 7-days-old son died, David said, “I will go to him one day, but he cannot return to me” (2 Samuel 12:23). It would seem that David believed that one day he would see his baby boy in heaven. While this is not conclusive, it certainly lends support since David seemed to be comforted by this thought. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” (Matthew 19:14 NIV).
The predominant view is that aborted infants come under a special dispensation of God—that although the unborn child dies as a sinful person (Romans 3:23), God in His grace, will bring that child into heaven with Him. —K.T. Sim
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Mike Wittmer on May 31, 2014 at 2:12 pm
This is a very good answer to a difficult question. We don’t have a promise from God that all babies go to heaven, and I think I know why. Imagine how many well intentioned Christians would kill babies to make sure they would go to heaven! So while I don’t have a slam dunk promise, I do rest in the knowledge that God loves my child even more than I do, and I can trust Him with her.
daisymarygoldr on June 3, 2014 at 7:29 pm
God does not judge us for our sinful nature because we are not responsible for being born in sin. Pain, sickness, suffering and death (including the abortion of babies) are consequences of our own sinful nature and are not God’s judgment.
God will judge everyone for what they have ‘done’ (Romans 2:6). Hence, judgment does not apply to aborted babies because they never got the chance to be born into this world or do any works.
The judgment of the church will take place first—right after Jesus returns and takes us back to heaven. All believers will appear before the judgment seat of Christ. And each will either receive rewards or suffer loss for the works we did in this body (2 Corinthians 5:10).
The useless will be thrown into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 25:30). The faithful will be given many more responsibilities in the millennial reign of Christ on this earth.
When the thousand years come to an end, the final judgment before God’s “great white throne” will take place. The dead, both great and small, will be judged according to their deeds (Revelation 20:12-13).
Since Christians already appeared before the judgment seat of Christ, we will not stand in the final judgment. We will judge the world and also the angels. (1 Corinthians 6:2-3)
According to Revelation 20, once the new heaven and earth appears, the New Jerusalem i.e. God’s people will come down from heaven. And it is on the new earth, God will dwell among His people forever.