Scripture references are from the New King James Version of the Bible unless stated otherwise. Psalm 103:8-11 8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. 9 He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. 10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities. 11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him. Psalm 136:1 Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. 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 that merciful Father God would torture people, whom He created in His own image, in hell forever. Don't 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, it is God’s mercy that 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 real meaning of the Lake of Fire and the Second Death to be experienced by all unbelievers in the Great White Throne Judgement Age. We shall prove that God’s judgements are corrective and always flow out of His loving and merciful nature. Ultimately, in God’s time and His order, everyone without exception will believe and be reconciled to God because Jesus Christ died for the sins of the whole world. Everyone will enter the Eternal Kingdom of the New Heaven and the New Earth where there will be no more death and no more pain and no more sorrow. The Great White Throne Judgement Age is the Sixth Age in God’s Plan for All, which He is working out in biblical Ages. This Sixth Age will be ushered in immediately at the end of the thousand-year Millennial Kingdom of God on this earth. 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 expectantly to God ushering in the Great White Throne 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 of God before the Great White Throne Judgement can begin. These events are the Second Resurrection and the release of Satan from his prison. The Second Resurrection Revelation 20:4-6 4...And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. These verses clearly demonstrate that there are only two resurrections spoken of in the Bible, the First Resurrection and the Second Resurrection. The First Resurrection will take place at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The First Resurrection is only for the Bride of Christ, who will live and reign with Christ for the thousand-year Millennial Kingdom of God. The Bride of Christ will consist of relatively very few people who are called and chosen during their earthly lives according to the Election of Grace, from the nation of Israel and the Gentile nations. The Bride of Christ, also referred to as the Firstfruits, has a special calling with a special salvation. (1 Timothy 4:10) 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. The First Group will be billions of believers who will have lived in their physical bodies during Christ’s glorious Millennial Age, and who 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 from the First Resurrection. The Second Group will be probably even larger than the first group. It will 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 adult bodies. The Release of Satan from his Prison The second important event, which will occur simultaneously with the Second Resurrection at the beginning of the Great White Throne Judgement Age, is the release of Satan from his prison. Revelation 20:7-9 7 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. 9 They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. The important question we need to ask is who are the nations of Gog and Magog, which Satan will so easily deceive after he is released from his prison? Satan could not possibly go out to deceive Christ’s Millennial people alive in their fleshly bodies at the end of the thousand-year Millennial Age, as mistakenly believed by most 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 possibly 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 is transformed to be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea? In any case, when Satan is released, there will not be any people left in their fleshly mortal bodies on this earth to deceive, as the Second Resurrection occurs exactly at the same time as the release of Satan from his prison. So who then are the nations that Satan will so easily deceive to cause a rebellion? Gog and Magog were the vast army of Gentile unbelieving nations who, under the deception of Satan during the Great Tribulation, invaded the land of Israel, just prior to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. This is the prophesied battle of Armageddon when Jesus Christ destroys the whole army of Gog and Magog. (Ezekiel 38, Zechariah 14, Revelation 16:13-16) It is clear that the nations, which Satan will so easily deceive to lead a 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. The vast army of Gog and Magog, under the deception of Satan, will once again attempt to war against God’s people, but this time they will be in their resurrected immortal unsaved bodies. They were Satan’s children as unbelievers before they died at Armageddon, and they will be resurrected as unbelievers, still open to Satan’s deception. God’s devouring fire coming out of heaven will easily crush this rebellion led by Satan. Revelation 20:9-10 9 They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. 10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever (aion) and ever (aion). The Greek word aion means an age and not forever. Satan will be cast into the Lake of Fire where he will be ‘tormented’ for an age and an age, i.e. for the Great White Throne Judgement Age, which is the Sixth Age and following that for the final Seventh Age, before the creation of the New Heaven and the New Earth. In the next chapter, we give a detailed explanation of the scripture above. The Great White Throne Judgement Revelation 20:11-15 11 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. 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. 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 at the Second Resurrection. At the time of the Great White Throne Judgement, the earth with its heaven (the sky, the 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. 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. Just imagine the picture of a vast sea of humanity, multiple billions of human beings standing before God on the Great White Throne Judgement Day. 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. The majority of Israelites from God’s chosen nation have died as unbelievers; they will be resurrected and stand before God too, including the millions of Jews who were tortured and killed in Hitler’s concentration camps. Most of the world’s population in China, Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe and other nations who died without hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ will stand before God at the Great White Throne Judgement. Those people, who claim to be Christians but are Christians in name only, will also be in this Second Resurrection. The overwhelming majority of the world’s population die as unbelievers. Can you imagine this amazing picture of old men and young men, old women and young women, teenagers, children and babies, including all unborn babies who died either by abortion or miscarriage? Multiple billions of people, a vast sea of humanity, from different races and cultures will be standing before God at the Great White Throne Judgement? However, all people will be resurrected in their new immortal adult bodies, as Adam was created in his adult body. On the Day of Judgement, many ‘Christians’ will be shocked to hear the words of Jesus Christ ‘I never knew you’. (Matthew 7:21-23) Note that these ‘Christians’ have been prophesying, casting out demons, and doing many wonders in the name of Jesus Christ, so we are not talking about nominal Christians here but committed zealous ‘Christians’. Yet shockingly, Jesus Christ will not recognise them as true believers. Revelation 20:14-15 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. All resurrected believers who lived during Christ’s Millennial Age will also be standing before God’s Great White Throne to be judged. As these believers' names are written in the Book of Life, they will ascend to join the Bride of Christ, God's Elect who rose in the First Resurrection. However, all resurrected unbelievers will be cast into the Lake of Fire to experience the Second Death. Therefore, the important questions facing us are, 'What is the Lake of Fire?' and 'What is the Second Death?'. Abraham asked, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Genesis 18:25) The answer is of course, yes, the Judge of all the earth will do right. We will now go on to show you that God’s Lake of Fire Judgement will be corrective and flow out of God's love leading to His Righteousness and Salvation for all. The Lake of Fire 2 Peter 3:7 But the heavens (ouranos) and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. Please note, in the verse above, that the Greek word ouranos is incorrectly translated by NKJV translators into its plural form ‘heavens’ instead of its singular form ‘heaven’. Plural ‘heavens’, in the Bible, refers to the whole universe, but singular ‘heaven’, depending on the context, refers to either the earth’s atmosphere or God’s current dwelling place, located somewhere in the universe. On the Day of Judgement, the Great White Throne Judgement Day, only the earth with its atmosphere will be on fire and not the whole universe. 2 Peter 3:10-13 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens (singular heaven) will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens (singular heaven) will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens (singular heaven) and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. For unbelievers, the Day of the Lord, which is the Day of Judgement will come like a thief in the night when they are suddenly ‘woken up’ out their ‘sleep’ at the Second Resurrection to face the Great White Throne Judgement. 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 the Lake of Fire as the elements melt with fervent heat, and the earth’s atmosphere will become full of intensely hot, white flames, arising from the molten surface of the earth, resembling the burning sun. All unbelievers, in their resurrected immortal but yet unsaved bodies, will be confined to the Lake of Fire and it is there that they will be judged and refined by God’s Consuming Fire. Hebrews 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire. As our God is Consuming Fire, then what does He consume? In the Lake of Fire into which all unbelievers will be cast, God’s Fire does not consume unbelievers to total destruction so that they cease to exist. This is because a resurrected body is an immortal body, which is not affected by physical fire. The only thing that God consumes is their wickedness and unbelief. It is clear that the Lake of Fire represents both God’s physical and spiritual cleansing on the Great White Throne Judgement Day. God’s consuming fire will cleanse the earth physically by melting the elements, and spiritually by consuming the dross, scum and filth of wickedness and unbelief from the hearts of the resurrected unbelievers. The Bible explicitly says that God’s refining fire results in His Righteousness. Malachi 3:2-3 2 But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire, And like launderers' soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, And purge them as gold and silver, That they may offer to the LORD An offering in righteousness. This prophecy speaks about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ given to God’s rebellious people, the Jews. Please note that God is like a Refiner’s Fire. His Refining, Consuming, Spiritual Fire will cause the Jews to understand and accept God’s Righteousness. We know that God’s character never changes. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. His Fire is always a consuming, refining and purifying corrective judgement. It ultimately leads to acceptance of God's Righteousness. Mark 9:49 For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt. 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, which consumes away man's self-righteousness and pride, and the Word of God preserves us from falsehood. This means that every unbeliever will repent and by God given faith will come to understand and 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 11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone's work, which he has built on, it endures, he will receive a reward. On the Day of Judgement, everyone’s work will be tested. Believers’ work of gold, silver and precious stones will stand the test of God’s Fire and they will receive a reward, whereas unbelievers’ work of hay, wood and straw will be burnt up and they will suffer loss. 2 Timothy 2:20-21 20 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. 21 Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. We see once again, in these verses, that there are two types of people in Christian churches. True believers who are vessels for honour made from gold and silver, and unbelievers who are vessels for dishonour made from wood and clay. Unbelievers’ work cannot stand the test of God’s consuming fire because their work is based on human efforts and self-righteousness. However, believers’ work will stand the test of God’s consuming fire because their work is based on God’s Righteousness through God given faith, and built on Jesus Christ as their foundation. 1 Corinthians 3:15 If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. Let us believe and accept the very important truth written in verse 15 above that, although unbelievers’ work will be burnt up, they themselves will be saved but through fire in God’s Lake of Fire. All resurrected unbelievers whose names are not written in the Book of Life will experience the Second Death in the Lake of Fire. Let us now clearly understand, the true biblical meaning of the Second Death, and why all resurrected unbelievers must die a Second Death before they can all enter the Eternal Kingdom of God. The Second Death Revelation 20:14-15 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. Do you know that we must all go through two deaths before we can literally enter the Kingdom of God? Everybody knows that sooner or later we come to the end of our earthly lives; this is our natural physical death. However, there is another type of death that the Bible describes as the death of ‘the old man’, which everyone must experience through God given faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, either in this life for believers or in the next life for unbelievers, before they can enter the Kingdom of God. Let us understand what ‘the old man’ represents and why it is so important to experience the death of ‘the old man’, before we can enter the Kingdom of God. The Bible says that the natural heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, and man does not know this unless God reveals it to him. Jeremiah 17:9-10 9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? 10 I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind…” It is only through God’s testing, judgement and revelation by the Holy Spirit that a person comes to understand the true state of his or her heart. We are all born with a sinful nature, which the Bible calls ‘the old man’. God detests the old Adamic man, ‘the old man’ which is proud, self-righteous, rebellious, sinful and unbelieving. Sin can be understood in several ways, but one good definition of sin is 'self-righteousness'. God absolutely hates the self-righteousness of man, and He will take severe measures to deal with it. Why? Because our self-righteousness stops us from repenting and accepting the true righteousness of God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. 'The old man’ is self-righteous, but 'the new man’ that God wants us to have is God Righteous. So what is God’s solution to deal with ‘the old man’? God does not re-educate ‘the old man’, He does not transform him, He does not ask ‘the old man’ to repent, nor does God try to change his nature. God has only one solution for ‘the old man’ and that is to crucify him. Yes, He kills and destroys ‘the old man’. Now the most glorious and powerful truth of the gospel (the full good news) of Jesus Christ is that everybody's ‘old man’ has already been crucified with Jesus Christ on the cross. Romans 6:5-6 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, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. Notice that believers are united together in the likeness of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Bible is clear that Jesus Christ died on the cross for ALL, and ALL died with him. 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 14 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and 15 He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. We had better believe what the Bible says. Jesus Christ has already earned everybody’s salvation from the foundation of the world because he died for Adam and Eve and ALL of their descendants. Remember, Jesus Christ died to forgive the sins of the whole world. 1 John 2:2 (NIV) He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. It is vital to understand and believe that when Jesus Christ died on the cross, not only did believers’ ‘old man’ die with Him, but all unbelievers' ‘old man’ died with Him too. Also, when Jesus Christ was resurrected after three days and three nights, not only was believers’ ‘new man’ resurrected with Him, but all unbelievers' ‘new man’ was resurrected with Him too. This is the true biblical meaning of what Jesus meant when He said that we must be born again in order to enter the Kingdom of God. (John 3:3) It is not sufficient to believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and Saviour of oneself in order to be saved, without believing that He is Lord and Saviour of all. Jesus Christ has already paid the price for everybody’s salvation but all people have not yet received it. We shall ALL receive the salvation, which Jesus Christ has already earned for us, either in this life or the next, in God’s time and in His order. 1 Corinthians 15:22-26 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. 23 But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming. 24 Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom (the Eternal Kingdom of the New Heaven and the New Earth) to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. 25 For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. Notice that all people who die in Adam (meaning every person) will be made alive in Christ but each one in his own order. When Adam sinned, the consequence for him and the rest of humanity was both physical death and spiritual death, meaning spiritual separation from God. All people are born with a fallen sinful nature inherited from Adam, which the Bible calls ‘the old man’. All of humanity, being descendants of Adam, are spiritually separated from God and born as children of Satan until God makes them alive in Christ as children of God. Therefore, in the scripture above, ‘in Adam all die’ means that all people die physically and spiritually because of Adam’s disobedience to God through sin. In Christ, the same all who died physically and spiritually in Adam will be made alive in Christ because of Christ’s obedience to God through His death on the cross, redeeming the sins of the whole world. Romans 5:18-19 18 Therefore, as through one man's (Adam’s) offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's (Jesus Christ’s) righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. 19 For as by one man's disobedience many (all) were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many (all) will be made righteous. It is clear that ‘many’ in verse 19 refers to ‘all’ in verse 18. The wonderful truth of the gospel is that Jesus Christ conquered and destroyed both physical death and spiritual death (the death of ‘the old man’) for every person, through His death on the cross and then His subsequent resurrection to life. The scripture above confirms that God's Salvation is the free gift to all people. God is working out His Plan of Salvation for all in biblical Ages. No person who dies as an unbeliever is lost forever because the Word of God assures us that all people, without exception, will be made alive in Christ in God’s time and order. Death is the enemy of man, but paradoxically it is also the gateway to new Life in Christ. Everybody must experience two deaths, before he or she is ready to enter the Kingdom of God. The Second Death, in the Lake of Fire, awaiting all unbelievers when they face the Great White Throne Judgement is the spiritual death of their ‘old man’. All resurrected unbelievers in their immortal yet still unsaved bodies will have to experience the Second Death in God’s consuming, refining and merciful Lake of Fire judgement. All unbelievers must die the Second Death in order to be born again with new Life in Christ to enter the Eternal Kingdom of God. The Second Death in the Lake of Fire is only applicable to unbelievers who will rise in the Second Resurrection. This is because all true believers, who will rise in the First and Second Resurrections, will have already believed and accepted during their earthly lives the full work of the cross that their 'old man' and everybody else's 'old man' was crucified and died with Christ. However, God’s standard for entering His Kingdom remains the same, whether in this life or the next, which is repentance and God given faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The Fear of God Let us consider further how the Second Death, which is the death of ‘the old man’, is achieved in the Lake of Fire. Remember that our ‘old Adamic man’ must die first before the life of the 'new Jesus man’ can be born in us. An unbelieving proud person with a hardened heart does not fear God, and therefore God must soften and humble his 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 unbelieving people, to soften the hard heart of ‘the old man’ so that they are willing to listen and accept the gospel of Jesus Christ. Hebrews 12:28-29 ... we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 29 For our God is a consuming fire. God’s Lake of Fire judgement will instill the fear of God into the hearts of unbelievers leading them to godly repentance. Matthew 10:28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy (appollumi) both soul and body in hell (gehenna). Christ says that we must not fear men who at worst can only kill us physically, but they cannot take away the resurrected life, which God will give to all people. However, we need to fear God because if we do not fear Him in this age before we die, then there is judgement awaiting us in gehenna, meaning in the Lake of Fire on the Great White Throne Judgement Day. The destruction of both soul and body refers to the destruction of 'the old man', which is the Second Death. Also, please understand that there will be various levels or degrees of 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 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’ (1 Corinthians 15:22-23) will then be totally and completely fulfilled. The Holy City, New Jerusalem The important question we need to ask ourselves is “Are there any clear biblical verses, 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 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 of God, New Jerusalem. Revelation 21:1-2 1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Please note that the Holy City, which is also called New Jerusalem, is the Bride of Christ who will descend onto the New Heaven and the New Earth. It is called the New Heaven and the New Earth because God’s Consuming Fire will cleanse, refine and transform this earth and its heaven (the sky, the earth's atmosphere) both spiritually and physically. Revelation 21:9-10 9 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, "Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife." 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. These verses make it clear that the Bride, the Lamb’s Wife, is the Great City, the Holy Jerusalem, which is the same as the Holy City, New Jerusalem referred to in Revelation 21:2. Please note that the Holy City will descend out of heaven and, as we see in Revelation 21:2 above, it will descend onto the New Heaven and the New Earth. The construction of the Holy City is described in Revelation 21:11-24. It is made of gold and other precious stones, with twelve gates, and twelve foundations, having written on them 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 1,400 miles. There will be no temple in the Holy City because God the Father and Jesus Christ are the temple. The City has no need for the sun or moon to shine because the glory of God will illuminate it. Please keep in mind that this physical description of the Holy City portrays the spiritual Bride of Christ. It is evident that the Bride of Christ, the Holy City, will ascend to heaven (the sky, the earth's atmosphere) above the earth’s surface when this present earth undergoes God’s Lake of Fire judgement, during the Great White Throne Judgement Age. This has to be the case, because the Holy City will descend out of heaven down onto the New Earth with its New Heaven after this present earth has been cleansed and renewed by God’s Fire. We now come to a wonderful scripture in Revelation describing the nations entering the Holy City before it descends onto the New Earth with its New Heaven. Revelation 21:24-26 24 And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its (the Holy City’s) light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. 25 Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). 26 And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. Please note that the nations are saved and walk in the light of the Holy City. Who are these nations? These nations are those who have undergone the Second Death through the Lake of Fire judgement. The gates of the Holy City are never closed, i.e. the offer of salvation remains open. The kings of the earth bring their glory into the Holy City, New Jerusalem, as they become birthed in the Bride of Christ. 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 and to glorify God with their worship of Him. This is a wonderful and glorious picture of a continuous flow of people ascending from the Lake of Fire to enter through the gates of the Holy City to be born into the Bride of Christ 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 come to repentance and enter the gates of Righteousness to accept Jesus Christ as their Saviour. The Bride of Christ will be evangelising and helping our fellow human beings, including our loved ones who died as unbelievers, to leave the Lake of Fire and enter God’s Holy City. Jesus Christ working together with His Wife, the Bride of Christ, will give birth to the abundant fruits of the Great Harvest. These will be the billions of spiritual children 'Born Again' in her during the Great White Throne Judgement Age. 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 people repent and accept Jesus Christ. Revelation 21:27 But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. No one who remains wicked can have his or her name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, but as soon as a person repents and accepts the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, his name gets registered. Revelation 22:1-2 (NIV) 1Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. This is a continuation of John’s vision of the Holy City, New Jerusalem. The River of Life and the Tree of Life are none other than Jesus Christ Himself with His finished work of salvation on the cross. The leaves of the Tree 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 nations who are being judged in the Lake of Fire, outside the walls of the Holy City. Revelation 22:14 (NIV) Blessed are those who wash their robes that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. This is a glorious picture of unbelievers entering the gates of the Holy City after having their filthy rags of self-righteousness washed in the blood of the Lamb, through repentance and God given faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. These unbelievers are none other than those who will be judged in God’s Lake of Fire. Once they have washed their filthy robes they become blessed with the clothing of God’s Righteousness and are able to 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 say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life. The Spirit and the Bride are urging people to come and enter into them, the Holy City, and take the free gift of the water of life. The gates of the Holy City, New Jerusalem, remain open and all people will come in and they will freely drink of the water of life, the living waters, and they will never thirst again. This is an exciting prophecy of the Bride of Christ evangelisng the nations in the Great White Throne Judgement Age. As we have already established, the judgement of God flows out of His love, which leads to God’s Righteousness and Salvation. The end purpose of God’s judgement is always Reconciliation and Salvation. Surely the greatest evangelising work is yet to come, in the future Age of the Great White Throne Judgement. This will be tremendously exciting and thrilling for all those who are the Bride of Christ, who have the Spirit of reconciliation, and the Spirit of forgiveness; yes the very same Spirit of forgiveness that Jesus had when he forgave those who crucified Him. The spiritual union of Jesus Christ and His Wife will bear the fruit of billions of spiritual children. There is nothing more blessed and wonderful than to believe now before we die, so that we have a special salvation in the First Resurrection and have a glorious part in this great evangelising work for the salvation of ALL people. 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 into the Holy City of God. Psalm 87:1-7 (NIV) 1 He has set his foundation on the holy mountain; 2 the Lord loves the gates of Zion (Jerusalem) more than all the dwellings of Jacob. 3 Glorious things are said of you, O City of God: Selah 4 “I will record Rahab and Babylon among those who acknowledge me — Philistia too, and Tyre, along with Cush — and will say, ‘This one was born in Zion.’ ” 5 Indeed, of Zion it will be said,” This one and that one were born in her, and the Most High himself will establish her.” 6 The Lord will write in the register of the peoples: “This one was born in Zion.” Selah 7 As they make music they will sing, “All my fountains are in you.” Zion means Jerusalem and in these verses it is clearly referring to New Jerusalem, and also the City of God clearly refers to the Holy City. As we have already established, The Holy City and New Jerusalem are the Bride of Christ. In this exciting prophecy, God specifically names peoples from several pagan unbelieving Gentile nations who will be born in Zion, the City of God. Rahab, Babylon, Phillistia, Tyre, Cush and Ethiopia are all destined to be born in the City of God. Please note that God loves the gates of Zion, which are the gates of Righteousness of the Holy City, New Jerusalem through which all nations who are being saved will enter to worship the Lord and glorify His name as Psalm 86 below confirms. Psalm 86:9 All nations whom You have made Shall come and worship before You, O Lord, And shall glorify Your name. Do we believe the Word of God? All nations will come and worship before God and they will glorify 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) 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. We are sure that God inspired us to write God’s Plan for All, and we ourselves are amazed to read its contents. There are many wonderful, powerful and eye-opening truths revealed in this book. Truths, clearly explained with plain biblical texts. There has been no such book written in the history of Christianity. Click here to order your free paperback hard copy of God’s Plan for All. Please contact us if you have any comments to make or any questions to ask.     Copyright © 2005 All rights reserved GOD'S PLAN FOR ALL