1. Heaven is Our Eternal Home.
Heaven is real. it is not wishful thinking, a never-never land of childish dreams. In fact, Heaven is more real than Earth. Heaven is the eternal destiny and final resting place of all true Christians. It is sometimes described as a home (2 Cor. 5). It is home sweet home. There's no place like this home. We will be gathered together with the rest of our spiritual family, to live forever in our Father's home. We belong there because we are in the family. See John 14:2.
2. There is No Pain in Heaven.
There will be no physical, mental or emotional pain in Heaven. There will be no sorrow or tears there. There will be no regrets. Nobody will miss Earth. There will be no sad memories. There will be no worries. There will be no fatigue or fear, or any other negative emotion. All pain is in Hell, where there is no pleasure. Also, there will be no death in Heaven - only eternal life.
3. There is Full Pleasure in Heaven.
Heaven is the place of exquisite pleasures of all sorts. There will be perfect peace there. There will be overflowing joy. There will be rest from all tiring work. Even work in Heaven will be pleasurable. The internal spiritual pleasures will far outweigh the external physical pleasures of Heaven, great as they may be. "In thy presence is fullness of joy, at your right hand are pleasures forevermore" (Psa. 16:11). Earth is mixed with pain and pleasure. Earth is the closest that we will ever get to Hell. Pain will be only a distant memory in Heaven, and even the memory will not cause pain. It is irreligious to ask if there will be pleasurable things like baseball in Heaven. God Himself will be the source of Heaven's pleasure. We will truly enjoy God to the fullest, even to overflowing. It is pure and perfect joy.
4. Heaven is a Place of Holiness.
There is no sin in Heaven. That alone would make it a wonderful place. All sin is left outside. Christians are made sinless, not only legally but experientially. There will never be a "Fall Number 2". We will be made holy and pure and impeccable. The holiness of God will be revealed there and will transform everything and everyone there into living conduits of His holiness. Heaven is alive and pulsating with holiness.
5. We Will Receive Rewards in Heaven.
Just as there are degrees of punishment in Hell, so there are degrees of rewards in Heaven. This does not include salvation, which is by grace alone. But Christ will give rewards to all of us according to how we obeyed on Earth. They will be gauged by factors such as how much we sacrificed, how much we suffered, how we followed the will of the Lord as we knew it, etc. Some will have more than others (Apostles, prophets, martyrs, missionaries, etc). Some will have few because they lived only a short time after their conversions, like the dying thief. Others will receive large rewards because they were converted young and lived a long life of faithful service. But those with fewest will not envy those with more, for all are perfectly happy.
6. We Will Meet Other Christians.
We will meet the rest of the family, from Adam onwards. We will meet Old Testament believers, New Testament saints, great Christians from church history. We will be reunited with dear relatives and friends. We will meet those who witnessed to us briefly and never saw us again. We will meet our converted spouses, though we will not be married to them any more. We will recognize each other, even in our perfected bodies. We will share happy memories and testimonies of God's grace. We will see all those in heaven, including the holy angels. But we will also be able to view those in Hell. This will not frighten or worry us, however. Rather, it will cause us to thank God for saving us, and glorify God as He righteously punishes them. See Rev. 19:1-4.
7. Christ and His Bride Will Be United in Heavenly Marriage.
We were betrothed in election and engaged in conversion. One day the greatest of all marriages will happen. Each of us will be married to Christ and enjoy a full and perfect union with Him. But the Bride also consists of all true Christians, so this union will be between all them and us and with our beloved Jesus. It is spiritual, not physical. Sex will not be physical. The union will be far greater. It will produce a progeny of glory and bliss and eternal love. It will, of course, be permanent and indissoluable. We will know Christ deeper and deeper into all eternity.
8. We Will See God.
God is presently invisible and hidden. In Heaven, He will reveal Himself visibly to us. We will see Him with our very eyes. This is called the Beatific Vision. See Matt. 5:8, I Cor.13:12, I John 3:2. "And they shall see His face" (Rev. 22:4). We will also see God spiritually and mentally. We will understand more of what He had not revealed, and will understand more and more into all eternity, but will never understand everything about God. We will gaze upon our precious Savior in all His beauty and grace and glory. We will look at God looking at us, eye to eye, heart to heart, with nothing to block the vision. Even one glimpse of that glory would be worth spending a million years in Hell. And we will see God forever and ever.
9. We Will Love and Be Loved by God Forever.
God elected us so as to show us the glory of His grace (Eph. 1). We will receive this love in Heaven. Heaven is a world of love, an ocean without shore or bottom, in which we will swim and bathe forever. Romans 9:23 says that God elected and saved us so that we would become vessels of mercy - containers of His love and goodness and grace. He will fill us to overflowing, and increase our capacity so we may receive more. In turn, we will love Him for first loving us. He will never stop loving us, and we will never stop loving Him.
10. God's Glory Will Be Revealed.
The ultimate purpose for which God created all things is to display His glory. He does this at last in Heaven (in Hell in another way). He will reveal the beauty of His glory in all it’s splendor and radiance, transforming everything and everyone there into living mirrors that reflect glory to everyone else and back to God. He will reveal the glory of all He is, in His many attributes, like bright light in all its wondrous colors. We will be overwhelmed in awe. We will respond in love, humility, and worship. We will adore God forever. His being and glory are infinite, so He will be increasingly revealed forever and ever. And thus will be fulfilled God's plan of the ages.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Death
1. All of Us Will Die.
Death is an important and serious subject. It ought not to be ignored or laughed at. Everyone will die sooner or later. Some die young, some old. Some by accidents, some by illness. Death is no respecter of persons. Only 2 people entered this world in an unusual way (Adam and Eve), and only 2 people left it without dying (Enoch and Elijah). Even Mary and the Apostles all died. only Christians who are alive at the time of the Second Coming will escape death. The genealogies in Genesis frequently say, "So-and-so lived so many years and he died." People have devised all sorts of ways to avoid death; none have been successful.
2. Death is the Result of Sin.
"The wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23). We earned death. We have a death penalty on us. "The soul that sins shall die" (Ezek. 18:4). God told Adam that he would die if he sinned. If Adam had never sinned, he never would have died. Through him, sin and death entered the world (Rom. 5:10). Even Christians die, for we still have Original Sin in us. Sin brings death like conception brings life (James 1:15).
3. The Soul Leaves the Body at Death.
There are a variety of ways in which scientists and doctors have tried to define death. The most popular is that death is when all brain waves totally cease. That may be the best biological answer. But there is a more important definition. According to the Bible, death occurs when the soul leaves the body. "The body without the spirit is dead" (James 2:26). Jesus died by voluntarily yielding His spirit into the Father's hands (Luke 23:46). The body is either buried or cremated, but will turn to dust; while the spirit returns to face God (Eccl.12:7). The soul enters at conception and leaves at death.
4. There is No Reincarnation or Second Chance.
There are many false ideas about what happens at death and after death. The Bible alone is our only sure guide. One of the most popular errors about death is that it opens the door to a new life via reincarnation. The idea comes from Hinduism and Buddhism, not the Bible. Heb. 9:27 says that it is appointed for us once to die, and then Judgement Day follows. Our doom is sealed at death. There is no second chance after death. Sinners do not get to hear the Gospel in the next world, nor are they sent back here for another shot at being a good person. God has occasionally raised a person from the dead, but even they later died.
5. Death is Both an Enemy and a Friend.
Death comes as either an enemy or a friend, depending on whether that person is ready to meet God. I Cor. 15:26 calls death an "enemy". It is not friendly. It was not a part of the original Creation. Sinners may mock death, but when it arrives they will be terrified. The Death Angel will be sent by God to strike sinners dead at their appointed time. He will take no excuses or bribes; his errand is always accomplished. on the other hand, God sends angels to usher the souls of dying Christians to Heaven (Luke 16:22). All pain is past; only pleasure awaits us. In this sense, death is a friend to believers. Thomas Goodwin the Puritan said before he died, "He whom I feared as an enemy has come as a beloved friend." Psa. 116:15 says, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints."
6. The Souls of the Dead Are Conscious.
There are many false ideas about what happens after death. One is that the souls of the dead cease to exist. That is the Devil's lie. Another false notion is that souls are alive, but are unconscious. This is the theory called Soul-Sleep. It, too, is wrong. The souls of both saints and sinners are wide awake. The metaphor of sleep is applied to their bodies, not their spirits. Their bodies "sleep" in the grave, in the sense that they will one day be awakened at their future resurrection. The story of the Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke 16 clearly tells us that both Christians and non-Christians are wide awake and fully conscious after death. This is the mysterious realm of the Intermediate State, which is that place and period between individual death and final destiny.
7. Believers Go Immediately to Paradise.
The very moment a believer in Christ dies, his soul goes to be with Christ. The dying thief went to Paradise (Luke 23:43). Sometimes this place is called Abraham's Bosom (Luke 16:22) or the Third Heaven (2 Cor. 12:2,4). It is Heaven as it is now, not the New Heaven that is yet future. It is perfect bliss and peace, for we are with God. The Bible says that we go to be "with the Lord" when we die (2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23). Their bodies are still back on Earth, their souls in glory.
8. There is No Purgatory .
The Catholic Church teaches that believers first go to a place of preparation called Purgatory. It is a place of fire and torment in which sins are burned out of us to purge us of all Original Sin and its taint. People supposedly stay there for varying lengths of time, some running into the thousands of years. But all make it to Heaven, and so Purgatory is said to be a blessing. But none of this is taught in the Bible. Christians go immediately to be with Christ - is Christ in Purgatory? We go to immediate happiness - is there joy in torment? All sin and its effects are left in our bodies. Our souls are immediately freed from the presence of sin and we are made perfect in a moment (Heb. 12:23). Only the blood of Christ cleanses from sin.
9. Unbelievers Immediately Go to Hades.
Those who die in their sins go straight to Hades. This is the present state of Hell, not the future form called Gehenna. Sinners are there in their souls, not their bodies, which are still on Earth. Hades is a place of firey torment. But it is temporary, not permanent. It is the holding place for sinners until they go before God at the Last Judgement. This does not mean that their final doom is uncertain. No one in Hades will ever make it to Heaven, nor will anyone in Paradise make it to eternal Hell. The intermediate States match the final ends.
10. We Should Be Prepared to Die.
Since death is inevitable and can come at any time, it is vitally important that we all be ready to die. But because death leads us to God and judgement, sinners have devised many alternative theories. One popular one today is the nonsense of "out of body experiences", in which a person supposedly dies, sees a bright light, has great peace, then re-enters his body, never to fear death again. It is a lie of the Devil. Death is a rude awakening to reality. Believers need to get their houses in order, too. And we need to warn unbelievers of their doom and tell them the only way to escape the penalty for sin. We need to invite them to go to Heaven with us.
Death is an important and serious subject. It ought not to be ignored or laughed at. Everyone will die sooner or later. Some die young, some old. Some by accidents, some by illness. Death is no respecter of persons. Only 2 people entered this world in an unusual way (Adam and Eve), and only 2 people left it without dying (Enoch and Elijah). Even Mary and the Apostles all died. only Christians who are alive at the time of the Second Coming will escape death. The genealogies in Genesis frequently say, "So-and-so lived so many years and he died." People have devised all sorts of ways to avoid death; none have been successful.
2. Death is the Result of Sin.
"The wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23). We earned death. We have a death penalty on us. "The soul that sins shall die" (Ezek. 18:4). God told Adam that he would die if he sinned. If Adam had never sinned, he never would have died. Through him, sin and death entered the world (Rom. 5:10). Even Christians die, for we still have Original Sin in us. Sin brings death like conception brings life (James 1:15).
3. The Soul Leaves the Body at Death.
There are a variety of ways in which scientists and doctors have tried to define death. The most popular is that death is when all brain waves totally cease. That may be the best biological answer. But there is a more important definition. According to the Bible, death occurs when the soul leaves the body. "The body without the spirit is dead" (James 2:26). Jesus died by voluntarily yielding His spirit into the Father's hands (Luke 23:46). The body is either buried or cremated, but will turn to dust; while the spirit returns to face God (Eccl.12:7). The soul enters at conception and leaves at death.
4. There is No Reincarnation or Second Chance.
There are many false ideas about what happens at death and after death. The Bible alone is our only sure guide. One of the most popular errors about death is that it opens the door to a new life via reincarnation. The idea comes from Hinduism and Buddhism, not the Bible. Heb. 9:27 says that it is appointed for us once to die, and then Judgement Day follows. Our doom is sealed at death. There is no second chance after death. Sinners do not get to hear the Gospel in the next world, nor are they sent back here for another shot at being a good person. God has occasionally raised a person from the dead, but even they later died.
5. Death is Both an Enemy and a Friend.
Death comes as either an enemy or a friend, depending on whether that person is ready to meet God. I Cor. 15:26 calls death an "enemy". It is not friendly. It was not a part of the original Creation. Sinners may mock death, but when it arrives they will be terrified. The Death Angel will be sent by God to strike sinners dead at their appointed time. He will take no excuses or bribes; his errand is always accomplished. on the other hand, God sends angels to usher the souls of dying Christians to Heaven (Luke 16:22). All pain is past; only pleasure awaits us. In this sense, death is a friend to believers. Thomas Goodwin the Puritan said before he died, "He whom I feared as an enemy has come as a beloved friend." Psa. 116:15 says, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints."
6. The Souls of the Dead Are Conscious.
There are many false ideas about what happens after death. One is that the souls of the dead cease to exist. That is the Devil's lie. Another false notion is that souls are alive, but are unconscious. This is the theory called Soul-Sleep. It, too, is wrong. The souls of both saints and sinners are wide awake. The metaphor of sleep is applied to their bodies, not their spirits. Their bodies "sleep" in the grave, in the sense that they will one day be awakened at their future resurrection. The story of the Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke 16 clearly tells us that both Christians and non-Christians are wide awake and fully conscious after death. This is the mysterious realm of the Intermediate State, which is that place and period between individual death and final destiny.
7. Believers Go Immediately to Paradise.
The very moment a believer in Christ dies, his soul goes to be with Christ. The dying thief went to Paradise (Luke 23:43). Sometimes this place is called Abraham's Bosom (Luke 16:22) or the Third Heaven (2 Cor. 12:2,4). It is Heaven as it is now, not the New Heaven that is yet future. It is perfect bliss and peace, for we are with God. The Bible says that we go to be "with the Lord" when we die (2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23). Their bodies are still back on Earth, their souls in glory.
8. There is No Purgatory .
The Catholic Church teaches that believers first go to a place of preparation called Purgatory. It is a place of fire and torment in which sins are burned out of us to purge us of all Original Sin and its taint. People supposedly stay there for varying lengths of time, some running into the thousands of years. But all make it to Heaven, and so Purgatory is said to be a blessing. But none of this is taught in the Bible. Christians go immediately to be with Christ - is Christ in Purgatory? We go to immediate happiness - is there joy in torment? All sin and its effects are left in our bodies. Our souls are immediately freed from the presence of sin and we are made perfect in a moment (Heb. 12:23). Only the blood of Christ cleanses from sin.
9. Unbelievers Immediately Go to Hades.
Those who die in their sins go straight to Hades. This is the present state of Hell, not the future form called Gehenna. Sinners are there in their souls, not their bodies, which are still on Earth. Hades is a place of firey torment. But it is temporary, not permanent. It is the holding place for sinners until they go before God at the Last Judgement. This does not mean that their final doom is uncertain. No one in Hades will ever make it to Heaven, nor will anyone in Paradise make it to eternal Hell. The intermediate States match the final ends.
10. We Should Be Prepared to Die.
Since death is inevitable and can come at any time, it is vitally important that we all be ready to die. But because death leads us to God and judgement, sinners have devised many alternative theories. One popular one today is the nonsense of "out of body experiences", in which a person supposedly dies, sees a bright light, has great peace, then re-enters his body, never to fear death again. It is a lie of the Devil. Death is a rude awakening to reality. Believers need to get their houses in order, too. And we need to warn unbelievers of their doom and tell them the only way to escape the penalty for sin. We need to invite them to go to Heaven with us.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Future Events
1. Good and Evil Will Continue.
God foreordained the future and knows what will happen. He has revealed some of these events to us in advance. The Parable of the Weeds in Matthew 13 tells us that weeds will grow in the field with the wheat until the harvest. That is, there will be unbelievers and believers in the world until the end. Some Christians optimistically think that Christianity will be so successful that there will be virtually no unbelievers left when Christ returns. Others think the opposite - there will be almost no Christians left. The truth is that both will continue.
2. There Will Be a Great Revival of Jews Coming to Christ.
Romans 11 describes a significant aspect of how the world will continue until the Second Coming. God promised that many of Abraham's descendants would be blessed and through them the whole world would be blessed. The primary fulfillment of this is through Christ (Gal.3). Then there is the way in which the Church fulfills this as the spiritual children of Abraham. There is yet a third way this will be fulfilled. One day, God will stir up large numbers of Jews to a kind of jealousy as they reclaim Jesus as their Messiah. Many, perhaps most, Jews will become Christians. In turn, this will stir up the Gentiles at large to come to Christ in large numbers. This has not yet happened, but must happen before Christ returns. In this way, the Abrahamic Covenant is fulfilled through Christ and the New Covenant. Israel will not be specially blessed merely because of race, but by faith in Christ.
3. There Will Be a Time of Great Persecution.
Various texts predict that persecution will continue to the end. We have seen periods of greater and lesser persecution. Many scholars interpret some of these texts as predicting a time of Great Tribulation, in which Christians are severely persecuted right before the end. Much of the question revolves around Matt.24. Some think this refers to the seige of Jerusalem in 70 AD; others see it as all future; still others as both; and yet others as symbolic of church history in general. The best answer is that there was great tribulation for Israel in 70 AD. There has been recurring tribulation for the church throughout history. But there will yet come a time of one last major tribulation right before the end.
4. Antichrist Will Be Revealed.
Christ said many false prophets and false messiahs would come. 2 Thess. 2 predicts a special one called the Man of Sin. I John 2:18 says there will be one main Antichrist and many lesser antichrists. Some would identify this person with the Beast of Rev. 13 and other figures. Others say he is not an individual but a system, like the Papacy. It would seem that he is the Satanic counterpart of Christ: a sort of incarnation of Satan. Much of the world will follow him in his assault on God's people, but he is doomed to be defeated by Christ at the Second Coming.
5. Christ Will Remove Christians from the World.
Right before He returns to Earth, Jesus will take living Christians to Heaven without dying, like Enoch and Elijah. We call this the Rapture. See I Thess.4, I Cor. 15, John 14. It is an instantaneous transformation and glorification. Some think this will happen 7 years before Christ returns (i.e., before a future 7-year Tribulation), but that would mean 2 Second Comings. Christ does this immediately before He comes.
6. Dead Christians Will Be Raised from the Dead.
Moments before He takes living Christians from the Earth, Christ will raise up all dead believers, including OT believers. They receive new bodies that are perfect, immortal and without sin. Their resurrection and the Rapture of living saints both happen in a split-second. Just as angels assist in our deaths, so they will assist in this great event as they announce His coming and come with Him. No Christian will be left out, regardless of whether he was buried, cremated or eaten by lions. We will enter eternity with those new bodies. We will not marry or procreate, nor feel pain or death in them. They will be like the perfect body in which the Lord Jesus was raised. I Cor. 15 describes this.
7. Christ Will Rule on Earth for 1000 Years.
Rev. 20 is the classic place in the Bible on this. While some Christians think this period is symbolic of church history at large, or maybe the great revival of Jews and Gentiles toward the end, the plain meaning of the text is straightforward. Christ returns, defeats His enemies, reigns personally with His people for 1000 years, then defeats an enemy uprising, followed by the resurrection of the lost and the Last Judgement. The key is the two separate resurrections. The resurrection of Christians (the First Resurrection) is explicitly said to be separate from the resurrection of unbelievers by 1000 years. Since both are future events, the conclusion is that the interval is also future.
8. Unbelievers Will Be Raised from the Dead.
John 5:25, Dan. 12:2, Rev. 20 and other passages say that all people will be raised up one day, including unbelievers. Those who die in their sins will be taken out of Hades, reunited with their bodies, and stay in those bodies forever in Hell. Their bodies will be different than those of Christians. Their bodies will be corruptible, filled with pain and ugliness, always dying but never ceasing to exist. They used their bodies for sinful pleasure, therefore it is fitting that they pay for those sins by physical torment. None will be excluded.
9. All Will Appear Before the Last Judgement.
After the Millenium, all people will have been raised and will appear before God. Everyone who has ever lived will be there. All history has been recorded and will be replayed as evidence. Believers will be exonerated, not because they are innocent, but because their names are in the Book of Life: elected, redeemed, saved. They will receive extra rewards according to how they served Christ. Unbelievers, however, will be damned. Their names are not in the Book of Life. They have no excuse or escape, no second chance or higher appeal. Before they are executed, they will be forced to bow before the Lord Jesus and confess that He is Lord after all. Then they will be sent to Hell forever. The Last Judgement is predicted over and over in Scripture, such as in Matt. 25 and Rev. 20. Christ will be the Judge, Jury and Executioner.
10. God Will Refashion the Universe.
Immediately after the Last Judgement, God will cleanse the universe of the effects of sin. The curse on Creation will be lifted. It will be a sort of cosmic resurrection. 2 Peter 3 describes it like a great meltdown, after which it will be re-molded into something even greater. Rev. 21 and Isa. 66 describe it as "New Heavens and New Earth". Other texts call it the "reconciliation of all things". It is the last main event in time as such, and the beginning of the eternal state. The glory of God will shine through this Creation as never before.
God foreordained the future and knows what will happen. He has revealed some of these events to us in advance. The Parable of the Weeds in Matthew 13 tells us that weeds will grow in the field with the wheat until the harvest. That is, there will be unbelievers and believers in the world until the end. Some Christians optimistically think that Christianity will be so successful that there will be virtually no unbelievers left when Christ returns. Others think the opposite - there will be almost no Christians left. The truth is that both will continue.
2. There Will Be a Great Revival of Jews Coming to Christ.
Romans 11 describes a significant aspect of how the world will continue until the Second Coming. God promised that many of Abraham's descendants would be blessed and through them the whole world would be blessed. The primary fulfillment of this is through Christ (Gal.3). Then there is the way in which the Church fulfills this as the spiritual children of Abraham. There is yet a third way this will be fulfilled. One day, God will stir up large numbers of Jews to a kind of jealousy as they reclaim Jesus as their Messiah. Many, perhaps most, Jews will become Christians. In turn, this will stir up the Gentiles at large to come to Christ in large numbers. This has not yet happened, but must happen before Christ returns. In this way, the Abrahamic Covenant is fulfilled through Christ and the New Covenant. Israel will not be specially blessed merely because of race, but by faith in Christ.
3. There Will Be a Time of Great Persecution.
Various texts predict that persecution will continue to the end. We have seen periods of greater and lesser persecution. Many scholars interpret some of these texts as predicting a time of Great Tribulation, in which Christians are severely persecuted right before the end. Much of the question revolves around Matt.24. Some think this refers to the seige of Jerusalem in 70 AD; others see it as all future; still others as both; and yet others as symbolic of church history in general. The best answer is that there was great tribulation for Israel in 70 AD. There has been recurring tribulation for the church throughout history. But there will yet come a time of one last major tribulation right before the end.
4. Antichrist Will Be Revealed.
Christ said many false prophets and false messiahs would come. 2 Thess. 2 predicts a special one called the Man of Sin. I John 2:18 says there will be one main Antichrist and many lesser antichrists. Some would identify this person with the Beast of Rev. 13 and other figures. Others say he is not an individual but a system, like the Papacy. It would seem that he is the Satanic counterpart of Christ: a sort of incarnation of Satan. Much of the world will follow him in his assault on God's people, but he is doomed to be defeated by Christ at the Second Coming.
5. Christ Will Remove Christians from the World.
Right before He returns to Earth, Jesus will take living Christians to Heaven without dying, like Enoch and Elijah. We call this the Rapture. See I Thess.4, I Cor. 15, John 14. It is an instantaneous transformation and glorification. Some think this will happen 7 years before Christ returns (i.e., before a future 7-year Tribulation), but that would mean 2 Second Comings. Christ does this immediately before He comes.
6. Dead Christians Will Be Raised from the Dead.
Moments before He takes living Christians from the Earth, Christ will raise up all dead believers, including OT believers. They receive new bodies that are perfect, immortal and without sin. Their resurrection and the Rapture of living saints both happen in a split-second. Just as angels assist in our deaths, so they will assist in this great event as they announce His coming and come with Him. No Christian will be left out, regardless of whether he was buried, cremated or eaten by lions. We will enter eternity with those new bodies. We will not marry or procreate, nor feel pain or death in them. They will be like the perfect body in which the Lord Jesus was raised. I Cor. 15 describes this.
7. Christ Will Rule on Earth for 1000 Years.
Rev. 20 is the classic place in the Bible on this. While some Christians think this period is symbolic of church history at large, or maybe the great revival of Jews and Gentiles toward the end, the plain meaning of the text is straightforward. Christ returns, defeats His enemies, reigns personally with His people for 1000 years, then defeats an enemy uprising, followed by the resurrection of the lost and the Last Judgement. The key is the two separate resurrections. The resurrection of Christians (the First Resurrection) is explicitly said to be separate from the resurrection of unbelievers by 1000 years. Since both are future events, the conclusion is that the interval is also future.
8. Unbelievers Will Be Raised from the Dead.
John 5:25, Dan. 12:2, Rev. 20 and other passages say that all people will be raised up one day, including unbelievers. Those who die in their sins will be taken out of Hades, reunited with their bodies, and stay in those bodies forever in Hell. Their bodies will be different than those of Christians. Their bodies will be corruptible, filled with pain and ugliness, always dying but never ceasing to exist. They used their bodies for sinful pleasure, therefore it is fitting that they pay for those sins by physical torment. None will be excluded.
9. All Will Appear Before the Last Judgement.
After the Millenium, all people will have been raised and will appear before God. Everyone who has ever lived will be there. All history has been recorded and will be replayed as evidence. Believers will be exonerated, not because they are innocent, but because their names are in the Book of Life: elected, redeemed, saved. They will receive extra rewards according to how they served Christ. Unbelievers, however, will be damned. Their names are not in the Book of Life. They have no excuse or escape, no second chance or higher appeal. Before they are executed, they will be forced to bow before the Lord Jesus and confess that He is Lord after all. Then they will be sent to Hell forever. The Last Judgement is predicted over and over in Scripture, such as in Matt. 25 and Rev. 20. Christ will be the Judge, Jury and Executioner.
10. God Will Refashion the Universe.
Immediately after the Last Judgement, God will cleanse the universe of the effects of sin. The curse on Creation will be lifted. It will be a sort of cosmic resurrection. 2 Peter 3 describes it like a great meltdown, after which it will be re-molded into something even greater. Rev. 21 and Isa. 66 describe it as "New Heavens and New Earth". Other texts call it the "reconciliation of all things". It is the last main event in time as such, and the beginning of the eternal state. The glory of God will shine through this Creation as never before.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
