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Your Amazing Future! Some people think that death is the end. Others imagine life on a cloud, looking down on those they have left behind, or plan to enjoy 70 virgins in a heavenly garden.
The only source of true source of information on life after death is the handbook God originally provided with His product – the Holy Bible. Those religions that came later, we are warned about three times in the Bible at the beginning, middle and end, the last time being Revelation 22:18, ‘For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book.’ The Bible tells us that death is a sleep, Daniel 12:2-3, ‘And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine Like the brightness of the firmament, And those who turn many to righteousness Like the stars forever and ever.’ Some will be resurrected at Christ’s return for His Saints (verse 3), and most, in the 2nd resurrection , at the end of the millennium, Revelation 20:11-13, ‘ Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works’.
Click here to order your free copy of Hope of the Resurrection. Today however, I want to encourage you to aim for the First Resurrection, the one that those listed in Hebrews 11 have attained. Hebrews 11:33-35, ‘who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 35 Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection’. The first resurrection is special, and only for those whom God has called. You will know if God is calling you because only He can draw people to His words and the need to live by them, Romans 2:4 (last part) ‘not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?’ Once that calling is felt, we need to follow the instructions in Acts 2:38, making sure that the one baptising has God’s Holy Spirit himself. ‘Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’ Jesus said, Matthew 22:14 “For many are called but few are chosen."’ Only those who actually follow through on their repentance are chosen. Matthew 19:17. “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” Even then, we have a life-long challenge to overcome our human nature. When Jesus Christ returns with His Saints, it is said of them that they, during their lives, persevered, Revelation 17:14, last part. ‘Because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.’ There will be just 144,000 saints return with Christ, Revelation 14:1,3, ‘Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads…. 3 They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth.’ They have the Father’s name because after their resurrection they took part in a marriage as the Bride of Christ, the son of the Father, on the Sea of Glass before our Father’s Throne in Heaven, Revelation 19:7-9, ‘Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” 8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. 9 Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.” For those of us who may be alive at the first resurrection, our physical bodies will be changed, along with the resurrected dead, into glorious spirit bodies. 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, ‘ Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.’ Gone will be our imperfections and health problems , Romans 6:5, ‘ For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection.’ Philippians 3:21, ‘who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.’ Instead, we will have a glowing radiance, Revelation 19:8 ,‘And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.’ The word ‘white’ here is not the normal Greek word for white, but is ‘lampros’ meaning shining, bright, resplendent, and is only ever applied to the 144,000 in the 1st resurrection and the angels of God. Even the other 144,000 mentioned in Revelation 7, who “wash their robes” during the Great Tribulation, after the resurrection has taken place, never gain such splendour, for their robes are simply white (Greek leukos), though they too will serve God when they are resurrected, Revelation 7:14-15. ‘And I said to him, “Sir, you know.” So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. It will be the Bride of Christ who assists Christ at Armageddon, Revelation 19:14 ‘And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses.’ They are described as His ‘arm’ in Isaiah 40:10, ‘Behold, the Lord God shall come with a strong hand And His arm shall rule for Him; Behold, His reward is with Him, And His work before Him’. As His active ‘active arm’ they will be sent out from Jerusalem to gather in the scattered remnant of Israel, from their places of captivity around the world. Isaiah 40:11, ‘He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, And carry them in His bosom, And gently lead those who are with young,’ Ezekiel 20:34 ‘I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out.’ Their’s will be the responsibility to nurture and sustain those traumatised Israelites, as they finally bring them to Jerusalem with rejoicing, Isaiah 51:11, ‘So the ransomed of the Lord shall return, And come to Zion with singing, With everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness; Sorrow and sighing shall flee away.’ Once there they will settle their charges in allocated land, Micah 4:4, ‘But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, And no one shall make them afraid; For the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.’ And Luke 19:12, 17, ‘Therefore He said: “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. 17, And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.’ Theirs will be the privilege of teaching them God’s way of life, as both Kings and Priests, Revelation 5:10, ‘And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.’ What could be more wonderful, more fulfilling than to pass on the knowledge and experience of God’s way we have gained in this life and during the 3 ½ years spent on the Sea of Glass, the way of life that we know results in peace, prosperity and happiness. And so we will see those people God gives us, grow and live out their lives in what will become a model nation for the whole world. Zechariah 14:16, ‘And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.’ Isaiah 2:3 ‘Many people shall come and say,“Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.’ They in their turn will be changed and join God’s spiritual family over the 1000 years, as it grows, Romans 8:29, ‘For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.’ Ours will then be the privilege in helping them spread knowledge of God’s way over the whole earth. Isaiah 66:19 ‘I will set a sign among them; and those among them who escape I will send to the nations: to Tarshish and Pul and Lud, who draw the bow, and Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands afar off who have not heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they shall declare My glory among the Gentiles.’ At the end of that time there will be enough members of the family of God to deal with the resurrection of all who have ever lived in the Great White Throne Judgment, Revelation 20:11-13 ‘Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.’ Before that however, must be put in place all of the planning, all of the infrastructure that will be required for such huge numbers, as the earth is gradually returned to the pristine beauty and preparedness of the Garden of Eden. What an exciting and awesome challenge we have to look forward to, and we will need all of the Divine abilities we saw Jesus Christ use in His ministry to help us accomplish it – healing the sick, controlling the forces of nature, appearing or not as we will, travelling through space and time, are only some of those Divine attributes. Some might ask ‘Isn’t ruling over physical human beings the kind of dominion that Christ condemned, it being the Babylonian system instigated by Nimrod? Well, no – because there is one huge difference. Ruling others now, in this worlds political and religious systems does result in dominion and oppression because those rulers still advantage themselves, and all too often we see that power corrupts. This is because human leaders are still driven by human nature. God’s Divine family only make it into that family because they largely overcome their human nature with the help of God’s Holy Spirit. They prove in this life that they are genuinely only interested in serving their fellow men, so that God can trust them to both rule and judge fairly, which is their new role in His Kingdom, Revelation 20:4, first part ‘And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then, with those same Divine attributes that Christ displayed in His ministry, they will be able to read the hearts and minds of their subjects. Just as did Jesus Christ, John 4:16-18 , ‘Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here, The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.”Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.” That is why they are qualified to both rule and judge even the fallen angels, 1 Corinthians 6:2-3, ‘‘Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? 3 Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?’ Well, we have seen just a taste of what lies ahead for those who respond to God’s calling, but really little more than a glimpse of what lies ahead after the Millennium, for as the apostle Paul said, in 1 Corinthians 2:9, ‘But as it is written “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’
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