Jesus assures us that the resurrection is not only for those who “have done good,” for he says that all who are in the graves shall hear his voice and come forth. (John 5:28) However, as the next verse declares, only those who have done good will come forth to a “resurrection of life,” for those who have “done evil” come forth “to a resurrection of judgment,” as the Revised Version puts it. The Greek word used by Jesus is krisis, and the common version mistranslates it “damnation.”

The word krisis in the Greek language means the same as our English word “crisis.” It denotes a crucial testing time, or experience. This crucial test of Christians is in the present life, and if they pass it successfully they come forth to life in the resurrection. But all others come forth “to a resurrection of judgment,” that is to their judgment or trial day. For them, the great crisis in which their eternal destiny is decided will take place after they are awakened from the sleep of death.

The future thousand-year age of probation for the world will in a sense be the second judgment for the human race, the first one having been in the Garden of Eden. That was the judgment day of our first parents, and the result was shared by all mankind. In that trial, or crisis, Adam disobeyed divine law and was sentenced to death. Through heredity, his children shared his penalty. As the Apostle Paul wrote, “By the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation.”— Rom. 5:18

God enlightened Adam concerning his will, his law. “Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat,” the Lord said. (Gen. 2:17) This was a simple law. There was nothing complex about it, or difficult to understand. Adam’s condemnation was the result of his decision to take a course contrary to the truth revealed to him. Not only did his disobedience bring death, but it also resulted in a loss of understanding. Darkness pertaining to God and to his will was an inevitable result of his “fall,” and Adam’s progeny have also received from him this heritage of “darkness.” Isaiah describes this general condition of the world, saying, “Darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people.”—Isa. 60:2

However, God did not cease to love his human creation. Indeed, he “so loved the world” that he sent his beloved Son to redeem Adam and his race from death. He also made provision through Christ for the enlightenment of the world. So, after Isaiah described the “gross darkness” of the people, he added, “But the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.”—vss. 2,3

In keeping with this, Jesus announced, “I am the Light of the world.” (John 8:12) We are also informed that he is that true Light which “lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” (John 1:9) Not “every man” has yet been enlightened by the Gospel as it shines in the face of Jesus Christ. So far as the vast majority of man- kind is concerned it is still true as stated by John, “The Light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”— John 1:5

Certainly those who do not comprehend the light cannot accept and rejoice in it. This is why Jesus said, “If any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not.” (John 12:47) To his disciples Jesus said, “Blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.” (Matt. 13:16) When Jesus explained that he was not now judging those who heard his words and did not believe them, he gave as the reason a prophecy which he quoted and applied to himself and his work: “He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.”—John 12:40

Jesus said, “God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” (John 3:17) Belief in Christ, that true Light, is the only condition upon which any can be released from this condemnation. But, since, even now, the people as a whole do not comprehend the Light, the necessity for a future day of enlightenment and judgment is apparent.