| DEATH, DYING
and SIN, and RESURRECTION
Section
Four
Resurrections
Though death removes a person
from existence, where God's revelation is concerned, death is NOT
the end of the story. It is merely the suspension of each person's
story, of his experiences up to that point.
God's creation of humanity
is not for nothing. It is not an exercise in futility. He wills it
that all mankind will be saved from such a nothingness and oblivion to
a life of glory and fulfilment.
1Tim.2:4-7
Who wills that all mankind be saved
and come into a realization
of the truth.
For there is one God, and
one Mediator of God and mankind, a Man, Christ Jesus,
Who is giving Himself a
correspondent Ransom for all (the testimony in
its own eras),
for which I was appointed
a herald and an apostle ...
This is a part of God's grand
objective of reconciling to Himself all that He has brought into
being, both the creating and the reconciling effected through His Christ,
and every step of the operation in accord with His set schedule!
Col.1:15-17
Who is the Image of the invisible God, Firstborn of every creature,
for in Him is all
created,
that in the heavens and
that on the earth, the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones, or lordships,
or sovereignties, or authorities,
all is created
through
Him and for Him,
and He is before all, and
all has its cohesion in Him.
This necessitates a bringing
back to life of those who have died - resurrection!
Scripture speaks of a number
of resurrections, such as that of Lazarus (Jn.11) and of the
widow's son at Nain (Lk.7:11-17), to mention a few. But all
of these people were resurrected to mortal life, to a life where
death still held sway, to a dying condition. Scripture does not say that
they had become forever free from the tentacles of death.
Scripture speaks of another
type of resurrection, one in which each one who is resurrected receives
vivification.
It
is a bringing back to a life beyond the reach of death!
And, Scripture
declares
that out of the totality of humanity there is only ONE Who has
come out of the clutches of death, never to die again, vivified,
immortal - Jesus Christ, the Firstborn from among the dead. For now, ONLY
Jesus Christ is in heaven in His place at the right hand of God! He ALONE
of all mankind possesses immortality! No one else out of humanity is in
heaven now - popular teaching notwithstanding!
1Cor.15:22,23a
For even as, in Adam, all are dying,
thus also, in Christ, shall
all be vivified.
Yet each in his own class:
the Firstfruit, Christ;….
1Cor.15:20 Yet
now Christ has been roused from among the dead,
the Firstfruit of those
who are reposing.
Col.1:18 Firstborn
from
among the dead, that in all He may be becoming first,
1Cor.15:3,4
For I give over to you among the first what also I accepted,
that Christ died for our
sins according to the scriptures,
and that He was entombed,
and that He has been
roused the third day according to the scriptures,
Rom.6:9 …Christ,
being roused from among the dead, is no longer dying.
Death is lording it over
Him no longer,
1Tim.6:15,16
....
He is King of kings and
Lord of lords, Who ALONE has immortality,
making His home in light
inaccessible,
Whom not one of mankind
perceived nor can be perceiving,
to Whom be honor and might
eonian! Amen!
Jn.3:13
And no one has ascended into heaven
except He Who descends
out of heaven, the Son of Mankind Who is in heaven.
Peter could declare with confidence
on the day of Pentecost, about fifty days from Christ's resurrection and
ten days after His ascension, that the faithful dead of Israel, with David
as an example, have not ascended into heaven.
Act.2:29
Allow me to say to you with boldness concerning the patriarch David,
that he deceases also and
was entombed, and his tomb is among us until this day.
Act.2:34 "For
David
did not ascend into the heavens,…
Heb.11:13
In faith died all these, not being requited with the promises,
but perceiving them ahead
and
saluting them,
and avowing that they are
strangers and expatriates on the earth.
Heb.11:39,40
And these all, being testified to through faith,
are not requited with
the promise of God concerning us
(the looking forward
is to something better),
that, apart from us,
they
may not be perfected.
The resurrection of Jesus, however,
is the first in a series of resurrections that will eventuate in
the bringing to life of all who have ever lived and died!
Act.26:23
… He, the first out of a resurrection of the dead,…
1Cor.15:23a
…the Firstfruit, Christ;
This will be followed, sometime
in the near fiture, by a resurrection of members of the ecclesia which
is the Body of Christ at Christ’s coming with His ‘shout of command’.
Then we, the members of this ecclesia still living at that time, will be
transfigured and will rise in clouds to meet Him IN THE AIR. (His feet
will not touch the earth at this time. He cannot - for ‘the times of restoration’
are scheduled for a little later. See Act.3:21) We shall stand before
the dais of Christ to receive our dues.
1Cor.15:23
Yet each in his own class:
the Firstfruit, Christ;
thereupon those
who are Christ's in His presence;
1Thes.4:13-17
Now we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren,
concerning those who
are reposing,
lest you may sorrow according
as the rest, also, who have no expectation.
For, if we are believing
that Jesus died and rose, thus also,
those who are put to repose,
will God, through Jesus, lead forth together with Him.
For this we are saying to
you by the word of the Lord,
that we, the living, who
are surviving to the presence of the Lord,
should by no means outstrip
those who are put to repose,
for the Lord Himself will
be descending from heaven with a shout of command,
with the voice of the Chief
Messenger, and with the trumpet of God,
and the dead in Christ shall
be rising first,
Thereupon we, the living
who are surviving, shall at the same time
be snatched away together
with them in clouds, to meet the Lord in the air.
And thus shall we always
be together with the Lord.
Phil.3:20,21
For our realm is inherent in the heavens,
out of which we are awaiting
a Saviour also, the Lord, Jesus Christ,
Who will transfigure the
body of our humiliation,
to conform it to the
body of His glory,
in accord with the operation
which enables Him even to subject all to Himself.
1Cor.15:51-53
Lo! a secret to you am I telling!
We all, indeed, shall not
be put to repose, yet we all shall be changed,
in an instant, in the twinkle
of an eye, at the last trump.
For He will be trumpeting,
and the dead will be roused incorruptible,
and we shall be changed.
For this corruptible must
put on incorruption, and this mortal put on immortality.
Eph.2:10 For
His
achievement are we, being created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God makes ready beforehand,
that we should be walking in them.
1Cor.3:10-15
Now if anyone is building on this foundation [ Jesus Christ ]
gold, silver, precious stones,
wood, grass, straw,
each one’s work will become
apparent, for the day will make it evident…
the fire, it will be testing
each one’s work…
if anyone’s work will be
remaining… he will get wages….
2Cor.5:10 For
all of us must be manifested in front of the dais of Christ,
that each should be requited
for that which he puts into practice through the body, whether good or
bad.
2Tim.4:7,8 I
have contended the ideal contest. I have finished my career.
I have kept the faith..…
there is reserved for me the wreath of righteousness,
which the Lord, the just
Judge, will be paying me in that day;
yet not to me only, but
also
to all who love His advent.
Between this vivification, the
resurrection to immortality and incorruptibility of the members of the
ecclesia which is body of Christ, and the grand finale, when everyone
else of humanity is vivified (1Cor.15:24-28), there will be two intervening
resurrections. Those involved in these, however, do not receive vivification.
The First will be
the resurrection of the others who also came under the auspices of Christ's
earthly ministry - the faithful of Israel - from the patriarchs right down
to the twelve apostles (and the believers of their time), and on to those
who are to be martyred during the 'Great Tribulation'.
This will take place only,
after
Christ has come down to assume His rightful place as King of kings and
Lord of lords;
after
He
has vanquished ‘the wild beast and the false prophet’;
after
He
has Satan bound (for a thousand years);
after
preparations
have been made for the establishment of the Kingdom of God!
See Rev.19 and Rev.20.
These will then take their
prepared places in the newly set up kingdom of God. Though these do not
come under the jurisdiction of the Second Death, Scripture does
not
declare them to be immortal. They will have their promised eonian life
- that quality which will allow them to experience the good things of the
kingdom, to the complete satisfaction of their souls, as promised in all
the revelations given to them over the millenia.
Rev.20:4-6 And
I perceived
thrones, and they are seated on them,
and judgment was granted
to them. And the souls
of those executed because
of the testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God,
and those who do not worship
the wild beast or its image,
and did not get the emblem
on their forehead and on their hand--
they also live and reign
with Christ a thousand years.
(The rest of the dead
do
not live until the thousand years should be finished.)
This is the former resurrection.
Happy and holy is he who
is having part in the former resurrection!
Over these the second
death has no jurisdiction,
but they will be priests
of God and of Christ,
and they will be reigning
with Him the thousand years.
Mt.19:28 "Verily,
I am saying to you, that you who follow Me, in the renascence
whenever the Son of Mankind
should be seated on the throne of His glory,
you also shall sit on
twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Rev.3:21 The
one who is conquering,
to him will I be granting
to
be seated with Me on My throne
as I, also, conquer, and
am seated with My Father on His throne.
Job.19:25-27 Yet as
for me, I know my Redeemer is living,
And after this He shall
arise on the soil;
And behind my skin I
will
stand erect, And from my flesh I shall perceive Eloah,
Whom I shall perceive for
myself, And my own eyes will see, and not an alien.
My innermost being is consumed
in my bosom.
Ps.17:15 As
for me, with justice done, I shall perceive Your face;
I will be satisfied,
when I awake to Your semblance (likeness).
Ps.104:29,30
You conceal Your face; they are filled with panic.
You gather away their
spirit; they breathe their last And return to their soil.
You send forth Your spirit;
they are created, And You renew the face of the ground.
Job.14:11-15
As waters depart from a lake, And a stream is drained and dries up,
So a man lies down and shall
not rise;
Until the heavens
fail, they shall not awake,
Nor shall they be roused
from their sleep.
O that You would seclude
me in the unseen,
That You would conceal me
until Your anger turns back,
That You would set a statutory
time for me and then remember me.
If a master dies shall he
live again?
All the days of my enlistment
I
shall wait until my relief comes.
You shall call, and I
shall
answer You; You shall long for the work of Your hands.
Dan.12:11-13
"From the era when the continuous ritual is taken away,
and to the setting of the
abomination of desolation,
is a thousand two hundred
and ninety days. Happy is he
who will tarry and attain
to the thousand three hundred and thirty-five days!
Now you, go on to the
end,
and you shall rest and stand
up for your lot at the end of the days."
The Second intervening
resurrection involves everyone who has ever been born but who has
not
until then experienced resurrection. These will be living in
the era under the jurisdiction of the Great White Throne. They will live
under, and be judged by, what is written in 'the scrolls'.
Rev.20:11-15
And I perceived a great white throne, and Him Who is sitting upon it,
from Whose face earth and
heaven fled, and no place was found for them.
And I perceived the dead,
the great and the small, standing before the throne.
And the scrolls were opened.
And another scroll was opened
which is the scroll of life.
And the dead were
judged
by that which is written
in the scrolls in accord with their acts.
And the sea gives up the
dead in it,
and death and the unseen
give up the dead in them.
And they were condemned,
each
in accord with their acts.
And death and the unseen
were cast into the lake of fire.
This is the second death--the
lake of fire.
And if anyone was not found
written in the scroll of life,
he was cast into the lake
of fire.
The heavens and earth that we
know now, will be totally destroyed then, leaving no trace of their
former existence.
2Pet.3:10-13
Now the day of the Lord will be arriving as a thief,
in which the heavens
shall be passing by with a booming noise,
yet the elements shall
be dissolved by combustion,
and the earth and the
works in it shall be found.
At these all, then, dissolving,
to what manner of men must
you belong in holy behavior and devoutness,
hoping for and hurrying
the presence of God's day,
because of which the
heavens, being on fire, will be dissolved,
and the elements decompose
by combustion!
Except for a few particular
instances where God has intervened in the affairs of world, man has been
allowed to do as he decides from Creation even until now. This is still
Man's
Day with its injustice and selfish violence (1Cor.4:3).
But the time is soon coming
when He will intervene to destroy man's inequitable systems and impose
His kingdom rule - and that will be the Day of the Lord. It will
begin with the 'Great Affliction' and will culminate in total destruction
of the old creation.
With the complete destruction
of the old sin-tainted system, the way will be clear for the creation of
the
new heaven and the new earth in which nothing evil will
find a place (Rev.21). This introduces the Day of God.
During this period of the
new heaven and new earth a special condition will prevail. During this
‘day’, though no one will die, there will be those who have been cast into
‘the lake of fire’ which is the ‘second death’. These will not experience
the privileges of the ‘paradise of God’ (Rev.2:7). Though death will exist
in that there will be those who are dead, nobody who lives
during this eon of the Day of God will succumb to death. During this period
there will still be rule and authority - which indicates that the
consummation has not yet arrived (1Cor.15:23-28)!
Rev.21:1
And I perceived a new heaven and a new earth,
for the former heaven and
the former earth pass away, and the sea is no more.
Rev.21:3,4 And
I hear a loud voice out of the throne saying,
"Lo! the tabernacle of God
is with mankind, and He will be tabernacling with them,
and they will be His peoples,
and God Himself will be with them.
And He will be brushing
away every tear from their eyes.
And death will be no
more, nor mourning, nor clamor, nor misery;
they will be no more, for
the former things passed away."
Rev.21:8 Yet
the timid, and unbelievers, and the abominable, and murderers,
and paramours, and enchanters,
and idolaters, and all the false--
their part is in the
lake burning with fire and sulphur, which is the second death."
When
will this penalty be removed from the rest of humanity?
The final phase of deliverance
from the embracing tentacles of Death will take place at the close of the
Day of God (the duration of which is not revealed in Scripture), when even
those in the second death will be brought to life again, only this
time to immortality and incorruptibility! This is because Death will be
abolished.
It will cease to exist. No one can be dead! This is the glorious
Consummation, the finish to God's schedule of vivifying ALL!
1Cor.15:23,24
Yet each in his own class:
the Firstfruit, Christ;
thereupon those who are
Christ's in His presence;
thereafter the
consummation,
whenever He may be giving
up the kingdom to His God and Father,
whenever He should be nullifying
all sovereignty and all authority and power.
1Cor.15:26-28
The last enemy is being abolished: death.
For He subjects all under
His feet.
Now whenever He may be saying
that all is subject,
it is evident that it is
outside of Him Who subjects all to Him.
Now, whenever all may be
subjected to Him,
then the Son Himself also
shall be subjected to Him Who subjects all to Him,
that God may be All in
all.
At this point in time, at the
consummation of the eons, the purpose of the eons (Eph.3:11), determined
by God before He made the eons (Heb.1:2; 1Cor.2:7), is realised
completely. All rule and authority will have been nullified and made redundant.
Death, the last enemy, will be abolished; the dying-factor becomes inoperative
and is permanently removed from the make-up of the humanity. Not a SINGLE
person who has ever been born will be dead! Every single
one will be alive - vibrantly alive! ALL mankind will receive God’s gift
of immortality!
1Cor.15:42-49
Thus also is the resurrection of the dead.
It is sown in corruption;
it is roused in incorruption.
It is sown in dishonor;
it is roused in glory.
It is sown in infirmity;
it is roused in power.
It is sown a soulish body;
it is roused a spiritual body.
If there is a soulish body,
there is a spiritual also.
Thus it is written also,
The first man, Adam, "became
a living soul:" the last Adam a vivifying Spirit.
But not first the spiritual,
but the soulish, thereupon the spiritual.
The first man was out of
the earth, soilish; the second Man is the Lord out of heaven.
Such as the soilish one
is, such are those also who are soilish, and
such as the Celestial One,
such are those also who are celestials.
And according as we wear
the image of the soilish,
we should be wearing the
image also of the Celestial.
1Cor.15:53-56
For this corruptible must put on incorruption,
and this mortal put on immortality.
Now, whenever this corruptible
should be putting on incorruption
and this mortal should be
putting on immortality,
then shall come to pass
the word which is written,
Swallowed up was Death by
Victory.
Where, O Death, is your
victory?
Where, O Death, is your
sting?
Now the sting of Death is
sin, yet the power of sin is the law.
The only and wise God has determined
a gloriously BETTER destiny for each and every one of His creatures than
the uninspired human mind can ever conceive of! Where it can only envision
suffering and destruction (for some, at least), God has designated fulfilment
and happiness for ALL His creation!
1Cor.2:9,10
That which the eye did not perceive,
and the ear did not hear,
and to which the heart of
man did not ascend -
whatever God makes ready
for those who are loving Him.
Yet to us God reveals them
through His spirit…
Isa.55:8,9 For
My thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways My
ways, saith the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher
than the earth,
so are My ways higher than
your ways,
and My thoughts than your
thoughts.
Rom.11:33-36
O, the depth of the riches
and the wisdom and the knowledge of God!
How inscrutable are His
judgments, and untraceable His ways!
For, who knew the mind of
the Lord? or, who became His adviser?
or, who gives to Him first,
and it will be repaid him?
seeing that out of Him and
through Him and for Him is ALL:
to Him be the glory for
the eons! Amen!
1Tim.4:9-11
Faithful is the saying and worthy of all welcome
(for for this are we toiling
and being reproached),
that we rely on the living
God, Who is the Saviour of all mankind,
especially of believers.
These things be charging and teaching.
1Tim.2:3,4 ...for
this is ideal and welcome in the sight of our Saviour, God,
Who wills that all
mankind be saved and come into a realization of the truth.
Eph.1:9,10 making
known to us the secret of His will
(in accord with His delight,
which He purposed in Him)
to have an administration
of the complement of the eras,
to head up all in the
Christ--both that in the heavens and that on the earth--
Col.1:20 and
through Him to reconcile all to Him
(making peace through the
blood of His cross),
through Him, whether those
on
the earth or those in the heavens.
1Cor.15:20-28
(Yet now Christ has been roused from among the dead,
the Firstfruit of those
who are reposing.
For since, in fact, through
a man came death,
through a Man, also, comes
the resurrection of the dead.
For even as, in Adam, all
are dying,
thus also, in Christ, shall
all be vivified. Yet each in his own class:
the Firstfruit, Christ;
thereupon those who
are Christ's in His presence;
thereafter the consummation,
[ Greek: to telos, the finish, when all are vivified ]
whenever He
may be giving up the kingdom to His God and Father,
whenever He
should be nullifying all sovereignty and all authority and power.
For He must be reigning
until
He
should be placing all His enemies under His feet.
The last enemy is
being abolished: death.
For He subjects all under
His feet.
Now whenever He may be saying
that all is subject,
it is evident that it is
outside of Him Who subjects all to Him.
Now, whenever all may be
subjected to Him,
then the Son Himself also
shall be subjected to Him Who subjects all to Him,
that God may be All in
all.)
It is ALL of God. So it has
always
been - in spite of all that may have seemed to the contrary. This
has been the goal God has moved everything inexorably towards. For
all that has been taking place through the eons, to God be the glory!
Truly, then, to each and every one of His creatures, God will be their
focus, their everything! God WILL be All in ALL!
February 2002
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