Part I
Understanding God's Plan of Universal Reconciliation for All
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Part I Understanding God's Plan of Universal Reconciliation for All |
CHAPTER 12 THE LAKE OF FIRE JUDGEMENT AGE - PART 1 The Great White Throne Judgement
Psalm 136:1 The doctrine of hell completely conflicts with and negates the merciful nature of God. If Christians really believed their Bibles, they would not feel comfortable in their spirits to believe that merciful Father God would torture people, whom He created in His own image, in hell forever. Do not misunderstand, God is not soft on sin, and He never condones it. Yes, sin brings God’s judgement for His Holy purpose, which we shall fully discuss in this chapter. However, God’s mercy prevails and endures forever. God’s mercy does not suddenly disappear after a person dies, as God’s nature is the same yesterday, today and forever. In this important chapter, we shall show you from the Bible the true meaning of the Lake of Fire and the Second Death, at the Great White Throne Judgement Day. Ultimately, in God’s time and His order, everyone without exception will believe the Gospel and be reconciled to Father God because His Son Jesus Christ died to forgive the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2, Luke 23:34). Everyone will enter the Eternal Kingdom of God of the New Heaven and the New Earth where there will be no more death, no more pain and no more sorrow. The Lake of Fire Judgement Age is the Sixth Age in God’s Plan for All, which He is working out in seven biblical ages. This Sixth Age will be ushered in immediately at the end of the thousand-year Millennial Kingdom of God. The whole population of the Millennial World, billions of people who will be alive at the end of the glorious thousand-year Millennial Kingdom of God, will be prepared and looking forward to God ushering in the Lake of Fire Judgement Age, as prophesied in the Bible. There are two important events, which will take place simultaneously at the end of the thousand-year Millennial Kingdom, before the Lake of Fire Judgement Age begins. These events are the Second Resurrection and the release of Satan from his prison. The Second Resurrection Revelation 20:4-5 The Second Resurrection will occur at the end of the thousand-year Millennial Kingdom of God, when the rest of the dead who are ‘sleeping’ will live again. The Second Resurrection will consist of two very large groups of people, whose number will be like ‘the stars of the heavens’. The First Group will consist of billions of believers who will have lived in their physical, fleshly bodies during Christ’s glorious Millennial Age. They will rise in their immortal saved bodies at the Second Resurrection. These resurrected believers, whose names are written in the Book of Life, will join the Bride of Christ, God’s Elect who rose in the First Resurrection. The Second Group will also consist of many billions of people, all unbelievers who have ever lived and died throughout the ages from Adam and Eve until the end of the Millennial Age. These unbelievers will rise in their immortal, yet still unsaved bodies, at the Second Resurrection to face God’s Great White Throne Judgement. What about the multiple millions of unborn babies, who die every year by either abortion or miscarriage? Life begins at conception. We can be sure that all unborn babies will also rise at the Second Resurrection in their new immortal, yet still unsaved bodies, which we believe will be adult bodies. The Release of Satan from his Prison The second important event, which will occur simultaneously with the Second Resurrection, is the release of Satan from his prison. Revelation 20:7-9 The important question is, ‘Who are these vast numbers of people of the nations referred to as Gog and Magog that Satan will so easily deceive, after his release from prison?’ Satan could not possibly deceive Christ’s millennial people alive in their fleshly bodies at the end of the thousand-year Millennial Age, as mistakenly believed by many Christians. It does not make any sense whatsoever for Satan to be able to undo Christ’s one thousand-year glorious work. How could Satan ever deceive Christ’s millennial people to whom Christ had given a new heart and a new Spirit, in the environment where the whole earth had been transformed to be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea? In any case, when Satan is released at the end of the Millennial Age, there will not be anybody left living in his fleshly mortal body on this earth for Satan to deceive. This is because the Second Resurrection occurs at exactly the same time as the release of Satan from his prison. So, who then are the nations of Gog and Magog that Satan will so easily deceive to cause a rebellion against ‘the saints and the beloved city’? It is important to understand that Gog and Magog are mentioned twice in the Bible, in two different age-settings. The first mention of Gog and Magog is in Ezekiel 38, when the vast armies of these Gentile unbelieving nations, under the deception of Satan, invade the land of Israel in the last great battle of Armageddon, at the end of this present age. This is when Jesus Christ returns to earth and destroys the whole of these vast fleshly armies of Gog and Magog and ushers in His Millennial Kingdom, as explained in Chapter 10. The second mention of Gog and Magog is in Revelation 20:7-9 above, when Satan once again goes out to deceive the Gentile nations of Gog and Magog, but this time it is after Satan has been released from his prison, at the end of Christ’s Millennial Kingdom. It is clear that these nations, which Satan will so easily deceive to lead in rebellion against Christ and His Saints at the end of the Millennial Kingdom of God, can only be the same Gentile unbelievers referred to as Gog and Magog in Ezekiel 38. They were Satan’s children as unbelievers before they died at the battle of Armageddon, and they will still be Satan’s children as unbelievers when they rise in the Second Resurrection at the end of Christ’s Millennial Age. This time, the armies of Gog and Magog will be in their resurrected immortal yet still unsaved bodies. Gog and Magog, inspired by Satan, will once again go to battle, but this time it will be against God’s Saints, spiritually known as the Beloved Holy City, New Jerusalem, the Bride of Christ who rose in the First Resurrection. God’s devouring fire, coming out of heaven, will easily crush this rebellion of Gog and Magog led by Satan. Revelation 20:9-10 In this verse, the correct translation of the Greek word aion is an age and not forever, for the reason we explain in Chapter 17. Satan will be cast into the Lake of Fire where he will experience purifying judgement (basanizo) for an age of the ages, meaning for the age of the Lake of Fire Judgement in God's Plan of the Ages. Full details of God’s judgement of Satan and all fallen angels are given in the next chapter, Chapter 13. The Great White Throne Judgement Revelation 20:11-15 These verses describe God’s awesome judgement of both believers (from Christ’s Millennial Kingdom) and unbelievers (from throughout the ages) when they will be resurrected in the Second Resurrection. At the time of the Great White Throne Judgement, the earth with its heaven (earth’s atmosphere) as we know it will no longer exist (fled away), as the whole earth and its atmosphere will become a ball of fire, which we will discuss in detail shortly. Please understand that Jesus Christ paid the price on the cross for the resurrection of everybody, believers and unbelievers. Resurrection, whether it is the First or the Second Resurrection, is in itself a victory over physical death. Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:13, 'But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen'. Jesus Christ has risen, and the risen Christ will make sure that Adam and Eve and all of their descendants will be resurrected, in either the First or the Second Resurrection. We believe that all people, including all unborn babies who die either by abortion or miscarriage, will be resurrected in their new immortal adult bodies, as Adam was created in an adult body, and Jesus Christ was resurrected in an adult body. In the Second Resurrection, all believers who lived during Christ’s Millennial Age will stand before God’s Great White Throne to be judged, alongside all unbelievers who ever lived throughout the ages. As the believers’ names are written in the Book of Life, they will join the Bride of Christ, God’s Elect who rose in the First Resurrection. However, all unbelievers will be cast into the Lake of Fire as their names are ‘not found written in the Book of Life’. Imagine the picture of the vast sea of humanity, multiple billions of resurrected unbelievers who rise in the Second Resurrection, standing before God on the Great White Throne Judgement Day before they are cast into the Lake of Fire. God flooded and destroyed the whole of Noah’s world and millions upon millions of men, women and children were drowned. They will stand before God at the Great White Throne Judgement. Most of the world’s population in Asia, Africa and many other nations die without ever hearing of Jesus Christ, let alone His Gospel; they will stand before God at the Great White Throne Judgement. The majority of God’s chosen nation, the Israelites, die as unbelievers; they will be there standing before God too. Almost all people who call themselves Christians are Christians in name only; they will also rise in the Second Resurrection to stand before God as unbelievers on the Great White Throne Judgment Day. The overwhelming majority of the world’s population die as unbelievers, who will all be cast into God’s Lake of Fire on the Day of Judgement to die the Second Death. Revelation 20:14-15 What does this scripture mean by ‘then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire'? Hades is the Greek word for grave. In the Lake of Fire Judgement Age, there will not be any physical deaths or graves (hades) because all people will be in their new resurrected immortal bodies. The Lake of Fire will engulf all of the earth’s crust. Therefore, all graves (hades) of all people buried throughout the ages will be consumed by the Lake of Fire. Let us now fully understand what the Lake of Fire and the Second Death are, and their significance in fulfilling God’s Plan for the redemption of all. The Lake of Fire On the Day of Judgement, the earth with its heaven, the earth’s atmosphere, will become a ball of fire. The whole earth will become a literal Lake of Fire as the elements melt with fervent heat, and the earth’s atmosphere will become full of intensely hot flames arising from the molten surface of the earth, resembling the burning sun. 2 Peter 3:7 In this verse, please note that the Greek word ouranos is incorrectly translated by the NKJV translators into its plural form ‘heavens’ instead of its singular form ‘heaven’. ‘Heaven’ and ‘heavens’ are translations of the Hebrew word shamayim and the Greek word ouranos. Both of these Hebrew and Greek words can be translated into the singular form ‘heaven’ or the plural form ‘heavens’ depending on the context in Scripture. There are three distinct meanings of heaven/heavens in the Bible, which are:
In some verses, Bible translators of the NKJV and some other versions of the Bible have confused the plural form with the singular form and vice versa, as in the case of 2 Peter 3:7 above, and 2 Peter 3:10-13 given below. On the Day of Judgement, only the earth with its heaven (singular-earth’s atmosphere) will be on fire and not the whole universe (plural heavens) as mistranslated in these NKJV scriptures. 2 Peter 3:10-13 Here, Apostle Peter once again confirms that the elements will melt, meaning the whole earth will become a ball of fire resembling the burning sun. The earth’s crust will become a literal lake of fire, as molten lava, and the earth’s atmosphere will be full of flames rising up from this Lake of Fire. All unbelievers in their resurrected immortal, yet still unsaved, bodies will be cast into and confined to this physical, literal Lake of Fire to be judged by God. However, it is important to realise that they will not be burnt up, as their resurrected bodies are immortal bodies, which cannot be damaged by physical fire. It is very important to understand that the Lake of Fire is not only physical fire, but it is also Spiritual Fire. This is because Scripture says that God Himself is consuming fire, and Jesus Christ’s eyes are described as flames of fire and His countenance as the sun burning in all its brilliance (Hebrews 12:29, Revelation 1:14-16). Hebrews 12:29 The Lake of Fire represents both God’s physical and spiritual cleansing in the Lake of Fire Judgement Age. The literal fire will cleanse the earth physically by melting the elements, and God’s Spiritual Fire will cleanse the earth spiritually by consuming the dross, scum and filth of wickedness and unbelief from the hearts of resurrected unbelievers who are confined in the Lake of Fire. The Bible explicitly says that God is like a refiner’s fire; He purifies people spiritually so that they become righteous. Malachi 3:2-3 This prophecy about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ is given to God's chosen people, the Israelites. Please note that God is like a Refiner’s Fire. In the Millennial Kingdom, God’s refining, consuming, purifying spiritual fire will cause the Israelites to accept God’s Righteousness through His New Covenant of Grace. We know that God’s character never changes. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. God’s Spiritual Fire will also be a refining, consuming, purifying and redemptive fire for all unbelievers in the Lake of Fire during, the Lake of Fire Judgement Age. Ultimately, God's Spiritual Fire leads to acceptance of God’s Righteousness through the work of the cross for all people, in God’s time and order. Mark 9:49 Jesus Christ spoke these words in the context of the future fiery judgement of unbelievers. In the Lake of Fire judgement, every unbeliever will be seasoned with Fire and Salt. Fire purifies and salt preserves. God is Consuming Fire, and He consumes away man's self-righteousness and pride, and the Word of God preserves us from falsehood. This means that every unbeliever will come to know the truth of Christ. They will repent by the gift of God given faith and come to accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. The Bible says that the Day of Judgement will test everyone’s work by fire. 1 Corinthians 3:11-14 On the Day of Judgement, everyone’s work will be tested by God’s Fire. Unbelievers’ works of wood, hay and straw will be burnt up because they cannot stand the test of God’s Consuming Spiritual Fire, as they are works based on self-righteousness. However, believers’ works of gold, silver and precious stones will stand the test of God’s Consuming Spiritual Fire, being works of faith based on God’s Righteousness built on Jesus Christ, their foundation. 1 Corinthians 3:15 Please accept and believe the very important truth given in this scripture. It is clear that although unbelievers’ works will be burnt up, they themselves will be saved but through fire. As already discussed, the Lake of Fire is both God’s physical and spiritual cleansing in the Lake of Fire Judgement Age. God’s physical Lake of Fire is an age-lasting fire, and it will not be quenched until every unbeliever and every fallen angel has been refined and purified by God’s Spiritual Fire, which of course, is eternal and unquenchable. Let us now understand the biblical meaning of the Second Death, and why all resurrected unbelievers must die a Second Death in the Lake of Fire before their names get registered in the Book of Life, so that they may enter the Eternal Kingdom of God. The Second Death Revelation 20:14-15 Revelation 21:8 We can see from these scriptures that all unbelievers will have to die the Second Death in God’s Lake of Fire. Let us now fully understand the tremendous spiritual significance of the Second Death. We all come into this world with an Adamic nature, which the Bible calls the ‘old man'. Our ‘old man’ is our fallen, sinful, self-righteous human nature, which all of us are born with because of Adam’s sin. All of humanity, being descendants of Adam, is born in spiritual darkness, separated from God as children of Satan. All people remain in this state until God saves and reconciles them through Jesus Christ, each one in his own order. Ultimately, all people will become adopted into God’s family as children of God through the work of the cross. We must all go through two deaths and two births before we can literally enter the Kingdom of God. We are familiar with physical birth and physical death, but few people understand that there is also spiritual death and spiritual birth. 1 Corinthians 15:22-23 In Adam, all people are born into this world, and after a period of time they die; physical birth is followed later by physical death. However, in Christ, the order in which birth and death occurs is reversed. In Christ, there is first spiritual death of the ‘old man’, which is immediately followed by spiritual birth of the ‘new man’. Since the same all people who are born in Adam will be made alive in Christ, this means that all people without any exceptions will go through spiritual death followed by spiritual birth, but each one in his own order, as stated in the scripture above. Romans 6:5-6 Please understand what Apostle Paul is saying in these verses. He says that a person must be united with Jesus Christ in the likeness of His death, and he should know that his sinful ‘old man’ was crucified with Christ. The acceptance of this truth, ‘that our old man was crucified with Him’, is the spiritual death of the sinful ‘old man’, which is the gateway to spiritual birth in Christ. Like Apostle Paul, it is vitally important for each one of us to personally identify ourselves in the likeness of Christ's death and His resurrection. We must all come to believe by faith that our sinful Adamic 'old man' was crucified with Christ, and that our righteous 'new man' is now resurrected with Christ. This is the only way we can have the full assurance of our salvation, our born again life in Christ. Jesus Christ sacrificially and lovingly took with Him the Adamic sinful ‘old man’ of the whole of humanity when He died on the cross for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2). Jesus Christ, who knew no sin, became sin for all of us so that all people will receive the gift of God’s Righteousness in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21). It is only through the gift of God given faith that each person will come into the blessing of his or her salvation in God’s timing. God’s timing for His Elect to become born again believers (spiritual birth in Christ) is before their physical death. However, God’s timing for non-elect, all those who die as unbelievers, to become born again is after their physical death, when they are resurrected in the Second Resurrection. So then, what is the Second Death? The Second Death is the spiritual death of the sinful Adamic ‘old man’ of all resurrected unbelievers in the Lake of Fire. God’s Spiritual Fire will enable unbelievers to die the Second Death through belief in the finished work of the cross so that they become born again believers. Every resurrected unbeliever, in God’s time and order, through the gift of faith, will believe and accept the truth of the cross that his ‘old man’ was crucified with Jesus Christ. The Second Death is only applicable to those who die as unbelievers, because their first death is the physical death of their fleshly bodies. It is only later, when they are resurrected in the Second Resurrection that unbelievers will die the Second Death (the spiritual death) in the Lake of Fire. Just think about it! The Second Death cannot be spiritual separation from God as hell believing Christians think, because resurrected unbelievers would already be in a state of spiritual darkness separated from God. Also, the Second Death cannot be annihilation because unbelievers will be resurrected in their immortal bodies, and therefore, they cannot be annihilated. The glorious truth of the Second Death is that it is the spiritual death of the sinful Adamic ‘old man’ with Christ for all resurrected unbelievers so that they become born-again believers, through God’s refining yet merciful Lake of Fire judgement. All people who die as true believers will ‘not be hurt by the second death’ (Revelation 2:11). On the Great White Throne Judgement Day, they will not be cast into the Lake of Fire to die the Second Death as they are already born again, made alive in Christ with their names written in the book of Life. All true believers acknowledge the crucifixion of their sinful Adamic ‘old man’ (their spiritual death) through belief in the finished work of the cross during this life, before their physical fleshly death. The Fear of God An unbeliever does not fear God because he is born with a sinful nature, which is self-righteous and proud. Therefore, God must soften and humble his proud heart before he is able to hear God. The judgement of God in the Lake of Fire is designed to do exactly that - to put godly fear into the hearts of unbelievers so that they are willing to listen to and accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Hebrews 12:28-29 Let us now understand why Jesus says that He will destroy both soul and body of those who do not fear God in gehenna, meaning in the Lake of Fire. Matthew 10:28 Please note that in this verse ‘hell’ is a mistranslation of the Greek word gehenna, as we explain in detail in Chapter 16. In this scripture, Christ says that we must not fear men who at worst can only kill us physically, but they cannot ‘kill the soul’, meaning they cannot take away the resurrected immortal life, which God will grant to all people. However, we need to fear God because if we do not fear Him in this life before we die, then there is judgement awaiting us in gehenna, meaning in the Lake of Fire on God's Great White Throne Judgement Day. In Matthew 10:28 above, Christ is speaking in spiritual terms referring to the Second Death of unbelievers. Of course, a resurrected unbeliever in his immortal body cannot be annihilated or destroyed out of existence. In the Lake of Fire, God’s consuming and refining Spiritual Fire will put the fear of God into the hearts of unbelievers so that they can hear God to receive the Gospel. God will destroy unbelievers’ sinful Adamic ‘old man’ completely, 'both soul and body' (the Second Death) in the Lake of Fire so that they become born again believers to enter the Kingdom of God. Death, the Last Enemy is Destroyed 1 Corinthians 15:26 God will destroy the last enemy of mankind, which is death. Yes, all death will be destroyed, the First Death and the Second Death. Truly, death will be swallowed up in the victory that Christ won on the cross for the whole world. 1 Corinthians 15:54-55 When a seed is planted in the ground, it must first die before it produces life. Similarly, when death is destroyed, the only thing that can burst forth is life, the glorious, resurrected, immortal, forgiven, sinless, righteous life in Christ Jesus for all of humanity, for Adam and Eve and every one of their descendants past, present and future, without any exceptions. If there were to be even one single person who could not be saved and reconciled through the blood of Christ, it would mean that God had failed and that the Word of God, which says that Jesus Christ is the Saviour of the world, would be a lie. Let us believe the truth of the Bible that God is indeed the Saviour of the world, and He is not a torturer or an annihilator of anyone, no, not even one single person. Various Levels of Judgement Also, please understand that there will be various levels judgement in the Lake of Fire. As Christ says, it will be more tolerable in the Day of Judgement for some, more than others, and that harlots and publicans will enter the Kingdom of God before many of the Pharisees. Christian churches have many ‘self-righteous Pharisees’ who think that they will be first in line to enter the Kingdom of God. However, on the Day of Judgement, they will be shocked to find out that many sinners, whom they condemned to a hell of eternal torture, will enter the Kingdom of God before them (Matthew 21:31, Luke 13:30). When the last rebellious unbeliever has repented and accepted Jesus Christ, the scripture ‘For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive: But each one in his own order’ will be totally and completely fulfilled. The Holy City, New Jerusalem Are there any clear scriptures which show that unbelievers, who will be judged in the Lake of Fire, will receive salvation and ultimately enter the Holy City, New Jerusalem, and hence the Eternal Kingdom of God of the New Heaven and the New Earth? Our answer is a definite yes. The last two chapters of the Bible, Revelation Chapters 21 and 22, and Psalms 86 and 87 provide biblical proof to show that ultimately all nations will become believers and enter into the Holy City, New Jerusalem. The first thing we need to understand is that the Holy City, New Jerusalem is a spiritual name for the Bride of Christ, the Lamb’s Wife, God’s Elect who will rise in the First Resurrection. Revelation 21:9-10 This scripture makes it clear that the Holy City, New Jerusalem, is a spiritual name for the Bride of Christ, the Lamb’s Wife. Please note that the scripture above (and also Revelation 21:2) says that the Holy City will descend out of heaven. It will be at the end of the Lake of Fire Judgement Age that the Holy City will descend out of heaven (earth’s atmosphere) from God having the very glory of God Himself. During the Lake of Fire Judgement Age, the Holy City is portrayed as a 'satellite city' located within the earth's heaven above the earth, which will be the Lake of Fire below. It is only after the earth with its heaven has been cleansed and refined by God's Fire that the Holy City will descend onto the renewed earth with its renewed heaven. This is when the glorious Seventh Age of the Eternal Kingdom of God of the New Heaven and the New Earth begins. We need to have a clear picture in our minds of the biblical sequence of events that will take place during the Sixth Age, the Lake of Fire Judgement Age, in God’s Plan of Universal Reconciliation. So, let us recap on what we have described so far in this chapter. The Lake of Fire Judgement Age begins at the end of Christ’s Millennial Kingdom when two important events take place. These two events are the Second Resurrection and the release of Satan from his prison. In the Second Resurrection, all of humanity (except the Bride of Christ, who has already been resurrected in the First Resurrection) will be resurrected in their new immortal bodies. The Second Resurrection will consist of believers from the Millennial Kingdom who will be resurrected in their saved immortal bodies, and unbelievers from throughout the ages who will be resurrected in their unsaved immortal bodies. Satan will deceive billions of resurrected unbelievers and lead them in a rebellion against Christ and His Bride (the Saints). Christ will easily defeat this rebellion by bringing fire from heaven, and plunging the whole earth into a literal ball of fire, the Lake of Fire. This is when the Great White Throne Judgement takes place. The names of all believers from Christ’s Millennial Kingdom are written in the Book of Life. Therefore, they will ascend to join the Lamb’s Wife, the Holy City, now located in heaven (earth’s atmosphere) as a 'satellite city'. All resurrected unbelievers will be cast into the Lake of Fire (the melted, molten earth) and confined there to be judged by God, along with Satan and all of his fallen angels. The Lake of Fire Judgement Age represents both God’s physical cleansing of the earth and its atmosphere (its heaven), and God's spiritual cleansing of all unbelievers and all fallen angels. This is all in preparation for the glorious Eternal Seventh Age of the Kingdom of God of the New Heaven and the New Earth. Let us now look further into the spiritual significance of the Holy City, and its glorious purpose in God's Plan for the reconciliation of all. The Holy City is spiritually described in Revelation 21:11-24. It is made of gold and other precious stones, with twelve gates and twelve foundations, and written on them are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel and the twelve apostles of the Lamb. It is a huge city, a perfect cube in the dimension of approximately 1400 miles. There will be no temple in the Holy City because Father God Himself and His Son Jesus Christ are the temple (Revelation 21:22). The City has no need of the sun or the moon to shine because the glory of God will fill it and illuminate it. The Holy City will be absolutely gleaming with gold and all manner of precious stones (the works of faith of the redeemed Saints). The glory and the presence of Father God and Jesus Christ shining out of the Holy City will totally outshine the sun and the moon, and the flames rising up from the Lake of Fire. All unbelievers who are being judged in the Lake of Fire will be absolutely awestruck and they will tremble with fear when they look up to see the very presence, power and glory of God emanating from His Great White Throne, located in the Holy City. We shall soon see that the Bible gives a beautiful picture of the Lamb’s Wife, the Holy City, evangelising and helping unbelieving fellowmen, who are being judged down below in the Lake of Fire. Ultimately, all unbelievers will become believers, and each and every one of them in God's time and order, will leave the Lake of Fire and ascend to enter into the Holy City above. We now come to a wonderful scripture in Revelation describing the nations entering the Holy City before it descends onto the cleansed and refined New Earth with its New Heaven. Revelation 21:24-26 Please note that the nations shall walk in the light of the Holy City. Who are these nations? These nations are none other than those who have died the Second Death and become born again believers through God’s Lake of Fire Judgement. The gates of the Holy City are never closed, which means that the offer of salvation remains open throughout the Lake of Fire Judgement Age. The kings of the earth bring their glory into the Holy City as they become birthed (born again) in the Bride, the Lamb’s Wife. The only way the kings of the earth can bring their glory into the Holy City is for them to become Righteous with God’s Righteousness through repentance and God given faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to the glory of God the Father. This is a wonderful and glorious picture of a continuous flow of people from the nations ascending from the Lake of Fire to enter through the gates of the Holy City to be born into the Bride of Christ, the Lamb’s Wife, as they repent and accept Jesus Christ as their Saviour. They leave behind them the Lake of Fire where the wicked are still being judged until they too, in their time and order, come to repentance and enter the gates of Righteousness of the Holy City to accept Jesus Christ as their Saviour. The Lamb’s Wife will be evangelising and helping fellowmen, including loved ones who died as unbelievers, to leave the Lake of Fire and rise up to enter God’s Holy City. The Lamb’s Book of Life is not a closed book, such that new names cannot be added to it. God will continue to register new names in it as unbelievers repent and accept Jesus Christ as the Saviour of the world. Revelation 22:1-2 (NIV) This is a continuation of John’s vision of the Holy City, the Lamb’s Wife. The River of Life and the Tree of Life together are none other than Father God with His Son Jesus Christ, and they are ‘the leaves of the Tree’, which are ‘for the healing of the nations’. Note that the nations still need to be healed spiritually, and that the offer of salvation remains open to the nations who are being judged in the Lake of Fire below, outside the walls of the Holy City. Revelation 22:14 (NIV) This is a glorious picture of people entering the gates of the Holy City, the Lamb’s Wife, after having washed their filthy rags of self-righteousness in the blood of the Lamb. These people are none other than the unbelievers who were judged in God’s Lake of Fire. Once they have washed their filthy robes they become clean and blessed with the robes of God’s Righteousness so that they can enter the gates of the Holy City to have the right to the Tree of Life. Revelation 22:17 (NIV) The Spirit and the Bride (the Holy City) are encouraging people to come (evangelising) to take the free gift of the Water of Life. The gates of the Holy City, New Jerusalem, remain open and all unbelievers who have repented through God’s judgement in the Lake of Fire will ascend and come into the Holy City, and they will freely drink of the Water of Life, the Living Water, and they will never thirst again. This is an exciting prophecy of the Bride of Christ working with Christ, evangelising the nations during the Lake of Fire Judgement Age. Evangelism in this life, though very important, is only just the start of evangelism for believers, God's Elect, the Bride of Christ. The greatest evangelising work is yet to come, in the Millennial Age, and following it, in the Lake of Fire Judgement Age. This will be a tremendously exciting and thrilling work for all those who are the Bride of Christ, who have the Spirit of reconciliation, the Spirit of forgiveness; yes, the very same Spirit of forgiveness that Jesus had when he forgave His very murderers, those who crucified Him. The spiritual union of Jesus Christ and His Wife (the Firstfruits) will bear the fruits of billions of spiritual children of the Great Harvest of the rest of humanity. The Wonderful Prophetic Psalm 87 speaks about the Holy City Psalm 87 is a wonderful, glorious, prophetic Psalm clearly prophesying that ultimately every unbeliever will become a born again believer as they enter through the gates of righteousness into the Holy City of God. Psalm 87:1-7 (NIV) In this scripture, God specifically names peoples from several pagan unbelieving Gentile nations; Rahab, Babylon, Phillistia, Tyre, Cush and Ethiopia, who will be born in Zion, the City of God, and whose names the Lord will write in the register of the peoples. This scripture cannot be referring to the physical birth of these Gentile nations because they have already been born in their own home countries, and not in Zion. Obviously, this scripture is speaking about the future spiritual birth of these nations, when they will enter the gates of spiritual Zion, the Holy City, New Jerusalam. These unbelieving Gentile nations, who have already died a physical death, will rise in their unsaved immortal bodies in the Second Resurrection. and be cast into the Lake of Fire to undergo God’s refining, yet merciful judgement. They will all repent, believe in the work of the cross through the gift of God given faith and die the Second Death (the spiriutual death of the sinful Adamic 'old man'). They will then ascend up out of the Lake of fire to enter into the Holy City of Zion above, and be born again (saved) in her. Verse 2 above says, ‘the LORD loves the gates of Zion’, which are the gates of Righteousness of the Holy City, through which all nations will enter to acknowledge the Lord as their Saviour. The register of the peoples in verse 6 above is referring to the Book of Life, which remains an open book so that new names can be added into it, as and when the peoples of the nations become born again in Zion, the Holy City. Yes indeed, The Lord will write in the register of the peoples 'This one was born in Zion'. Psalm 86:9 Do we believe the Word of God? All nations will come and worship before God and they will all acknowledge Him, glorifying His name. At the name of Jesus, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:9-11 At the end of the Lake of Fire Judgement Age, after Father God has reconciled all fallen men and all fallen angels to Himself through His beloved Son Jesus Christ, the Holy City will descend from heaven (earth’s atmosphere) onto the cleansed and refined New Earth with its New Heaven. Revelation 21:1-2, 5 5 Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." And He said to me, "Write, for these words are true and faithful." 6 And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End...” When Father God proclaims, ‘It is done’, it will mark the fulfilment of God’s Plan for All, for the Universal Salvation and Reconciliation of the whole world, and the start of the glorious Eternal Seventh Age of the Kingdom of God of the New Heaven and the New Earth. In this chapter, we have dealt with God’s future fiery judgement of unbelieving humanity during the Sixth Age, the Lake of Fire Judgement Age. However, we must not forget that God will also judge all fallen angels in the Lake of Fire during this Sixth Age. The next chapter, Chapter 13, The Lake of Fire Judgement Age - Part 2 deals with God’s final judgement of Satan and his fallen angels.
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Part II Complete and Comprehensive Answers to Why, When, & How the Doctrine of Hell crept into Christianity Part III Additional Important Information for Understanding God's Plan for All |
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God's Plan for All |
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