Christ judges the souls and spirits of every human immediately following their physical deaths. Hebrews 9:27. Christ is the only Judge. Christ allows the souls and spirits of those saved by grace to go to heaven. Christ consigns all those not saved by grace, called by the Bible "the dead," to one of three regions of the dead called the Sea, Death, or Hell. Revelation 20:13. Although these judgments belong solely to Christ and whatever He decides is right, one could speculate that moral unbelievers He will consign to the region of least punishment called the Sea. Christ could consign the immoral to the middle region of punishment called Death. But the cruel and the atheists, He could consign to the fires of Hell.
At the end of the world, God will effect a general resurrection of all the dead from their graves, and their souls and spirits from all three regions of the dead. God will separate the living part of each dead person which He created in His image to be recreated into new, righteous humans to live on His recreated earth. John 5:28-29; Revelation 20:5; Revelation 21:5. God will then consign the separated dead to the lake of fire forever. Revelation 20:15. God will also destroy Hell and Death by casting them into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:14. God will also eliminate the Sea by a means not specified. Revelation 21:1.
Jesus preached about this Sea when He walked the earth. He also sometimes used the Sea of Galilee as a symbolic reference to this region of the dead.
The first reference to this Sea occurs in Micah 7:18-19. These scriptures teach that God will forgive the sins of a group of Hebrews called "the remnant" and will cast their sins into "the depths of the Sea." The Old Testament term "the remnant" always refers to that group of Old Testament saints who will possess some faith that their coming Messiah will in some way suffer for them to take away their sins. When these Old Testament saints died, God consigned their souls and spirits to a place called Paradise next to Hell under the earth. They waited there until Jesus descended into Hell to preach the gospel to them. At that time, they believed in Jesus and were saved by His grace. The moment they believed, Jesus washed their sins away by His shed blood into this Sea. Jesus then raised them from the dead when He resurrected and transported them all, and Paradise itself, to heaven when He ascended to live there with Him forever. Luke 23:42-43; Matthew 27:52-53; Ephesians 4:7-10. Christ separates all His believers from their sins by washing them away with His blood into this Sea. Having been thoroughly cleansed by Jesus' blood, His believers are then fit to be filled with the perfect righteousness of Christ by means of which God can accept them into heaven. II Corinthians 5:21.
Jesus' walk on the Sea of Galilee symbolized His power over all sin contained within the Sea of separation from God. Peter demonstrated his faith in Jesus when he walked on the sea. But when he became afraid and began to sink, he cried out to Jesus to save him. This event symbolized salvation by grace. When a repentant sinner cries out to Christ for salvation from separation from God, believing that only Christ can save him, then Christ lifts him above the Sea of separation from God and leaves his sins of doubt and fear behind in the Sea. Matthew 14:22-33; Romans 10:13.
Thursday, May 31, 2018
Tuesday, May 29, 2018
Some Logic about God's Salvation
In John 12:47, Jesus taught that He came "to save the world." Since God's Word must mean exactly that which it states, then Jesus must actually save the whole world. All who love their children would do everything within their power to save them if they were in danger. God could never put into men's hearts to do that which He would not do Himself. God loves mankind with an infinite and all-powerful Love. Therefore, God must exert the full force of His infinite Love in order to save mankind in danger of being lost from Him forever. So how could God fail to save all of mankind? The answer is that the Bible teaches that God saves all people who ever lived, only with different levels of salvation and recreation. Isaiah 45:22-24.
Jesus' Teachings about Life and Death part nine
In John 11:26, Jesus taught that those who had received spiritual life from Him through faith would never die. Jesus simply ignored physical death when He said this. Jesus also ignored physical death by His statements in John 6:50 and John 5:24. Jesus had to have meant that because Lazarus was a believer, his physical death meant nothing eternal to Jesus. Christ proved that He had power over spiritual death by raising Lazarus from physical death.
But according to verse 25, Jesus also taught that He held power over spiritual death. Jesus taught that He can raise those who are spiritually dead while alive in the flesh to spiritual life again if they simply believe in Him.
But God has put His life and goodness into every human He has ever created. Genesis 1:27. God can never lose anything He has ever created. Ecclesiastes 3:14. Every human retains some of that life and goodness no matter how evil and spiritually dead he may become. The Word of God prophesies that there will come a time when "every knee should bow....and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:9-11. True worship without faith is impossible. The life and goodness which God has put into every human will awaken to faith and worship in that great event prophesied in Revelation 5:11-14. Every human confined within the three regions of spiritual death which are the sea, death, and hell will worship God and display faith on that day. Revelation 20:13 proves that these are three separate places. Jesus also proved that hell and death are separate places by His statement in Revelation 1:18. Jesus had one key for hell and another for death which can only be true if these are separate places. All of this means that Jesus' prophecy in John 11:25 has a double meaning. Christ will raise to life those who believe in Him while still alive in the flesh to the highest level of salvation and a home with Him in heaven. John 5:24; I Peter 1:3-4. But Christ will also raise those within the regions of the dead to a lower level of life by recreating them to live on His recreated earth. Revelation 20:5; Revelation 21:3-5.
I John 3:8 teaches that Christ came "to destroy the works of the Devil." Everything God does, He does thoroughly and completely. God will absolutely destroy every work of the Devil including every spiritual death. The project of Satan has always been to so thoroughly corrupt the creations of God with sin and evil that God will lose them forever. Should the Devil succeed, he will prove that God is not Almighty and thus begin the destruction of God. The Devil means to hold the spiritually dead within the regions of death forever and thus also forever ruin God's spiritual life and goodness that He has put into every man. God must rescue all of His life and goodness that He has put into every human within the regions of spiritual death in order to completely destroy all of the works of the Devil. Revelation 20:5. Christ gained this complete victory over the Devil through His death, burial, and resurrection. John 12:31-32. Jesus had to have meant by His teaching in John 11:25 that He can raise to spiritual life all who will believe in Him while still in the flesh, but also that He can raise the life and goodness that still remains within those within the regions of the dead to be recreated to live on His recreated earth. This means God will rescue the whole human race from spiritual death. Revelation 21:5; Colossians 1:15-20.
But according to verse 25, Jesus also taught that He held power over spiritual death. Jesus taught that He can raise those who are spiritually dead while alive in the flesh to spiritual life again if they simply believe in Him.
But God has put His life and goodness into every human He has ever created. Genesis 1:27. God can never lose anything He has ever created. Ecclesiastes 3:14. Every human retains some of that life and goodness no matter how evil and spiritually dead he may become. The Word of God prophesies that there will come a time when "every knee should bow....and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:9-11. True worship without faith is impossible. The life and goodness which God has put into every human will awaken to faith and worship in that great event prophesied in Revelation 5:11-14. Every human confined within the three regions of spiritual death which are the sea, death, and hell will worship God and display faith on that day. Revelation 20:13 proves that these are three separate places. Jesus also proved that hell and death are separate places by His statement in Revelation 1:18. Jesus had one key for hell and another for death which can only be true if these are separate places. All of this means that Jesus' prophecy in John 11:25 has a double meaning. Christ will raise to life those who believe in Him while still alive in the flesh to the highest level of salvation and a home with Him in heaven. John 5:24; I Peter 1:3-4. But Christ will also raise those within the regions of the dead to a lower level of life by recreating them to live on His recreated earth. Revelation 20:5; Revelation 21:3-5.
I John 3:8 teaches that Christ came "to destroy the works of the Devil." Everything God does, He does thoroughly and completely. God will absolutely destroy every work of the Devil including every spiritual death. The project of Satan has always been to so thoroughly corrupt the creations of God with sin and evil that God will lose them forever. Should the Devil succeed, he will prove that God is not Almighty and thus begin the destruction of God. The Devil means to hold the spiritually dead within the regions of death forever and thus also forever ruin God's spiritual life and goodness that He has put into every man. God must rescue all of His life and goodness that He has put into every human within the regions of spiritual death in order to completely destroy all of the works of the Devil. Revelation 20:5. Christ gained this complete victory over the Devil through His death, burial, and resurrection. John 12:31-32. Jesus had to have meant by His teaching in John 11:25 that He can raise to spiritual life all who will believe in Him while still in the flesh, but also that He can raise the life and goodness that still remains within those within the regions of the dead to be recreated to live on His recreated earth. This means God will rescue the whole human race from spiritual death. Revelation 21:5; Colossians 1:15-20.
Monday, May 28, 2018
Jesus' Teachings about Life and Death part eight
While Jesus walked the earth, He seldom spoke about physical death. When Jesus spoke about death, He almost always meant spiritual separation from God. In John 11:4, Jesus taught that Lazarus' sickness was "not unto death" even though He knew that Lazarus would physically die. In John 11:14, Jesus seemed to contradict Himself by stating the plain fact that He knew Lazarus was physically dead. But Jesus did not contradict Himself because by His statement, "This sickness is not unto death,..." Jesus meant that because Lazarus was one of His believers, then His Father would not judge his spirit and soul to be consigned to one of the three regions of spiritual death following his physical death. Hebrews 9:27; Revelation 20:13. God, the Father, would hold on to Lazarus' spirit and soul until Jesus restored him to physical life. In this regard, Jesus' teachings about Lazarus' death and restoration to life proved to be consistent with His teachings in John 11:26; John 6:50; and John 5:24. These verses show that Jesus' attitude about life and death explains why He spoke about the little girl's and Lazarus' deaths as being merely "asleep." John 11:11; Mark 5:39. Christ's teachings about death also explains why God considers His Church to be merely "asleep" preceding its Rapture. I Thessalonians 4:13. Jesus spoke of spiritual death as being God's only punishment for sin, never physical death. John 8:21-24. On those rare occasions when Jesus did speak about physical death, He seemed to consider it to be quite natural. John 11:14.
Jesus reported Lazarus' physical death as a mere fact with no teachings attached to it. Christ displayed this same attitude toward Adam and Eve in the garden when He commanded them not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When Christ told Adam that he would die if he disobeyed, God meant spiritual death only. Genesis 2:17. God proved that He meant spiritual death only when He cast Adam and Eve out of the garden on the same day that they sinned. Their souls and spirits died when they lost fellowship with God. They did not physically die until over 900 years later. In Genesis 3:19, God merely instructed Adam that after a life of toil, he would simply physically die and return to dust. Whether Adam and Eve sinned or not, God had always meant for them to live over 900 years and die a quite natural and painless death. Had they not sinned, then God would have recovered their sinless souls and spirits, created spiritual bodies for them, and allowed them to live with Him in heaven forever. Through the sacrifice of Christ, God has prepared a similar system for all humans saved by grace. For this reason, God often gives dying grace to His believers when their time comes to die.
Punishment only works when one is conscious of it. No consciousness whatsoever exists in physical death. Therefore, physical death can be no punishment for sin.
God creates only good systems. God created every human to be a spiritual and physical system comprised of some of His basic elements. God holds the right to dissolve any of His systems down to its basic elements and reuse those elements to recreate new systems. This fact means physical death symbolizes God's power to reduce a living system to its basic elements and reuse those elements to create new systems. Humans die and return to dust and the elements of that dust feeds plant life which constitutes new systems. Spiritual death was man's own fault. Man holds no power whatsoever to restore that good system. God had to intervene in man's history in order to restore the good system of spiritual life through the death, burial, and resurrection of His Son. I Corinthians 15:1-4.
Jesus reported Lazarus' physical death as a mere fact with no teachings attached to it. Christ displayed this same attitude toward Adam and Eve in the garden when He commanded them not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When Christ told Adam that he would die if he disobeyed, God meant spiritual death only. Genesis 2:17. God proved that He meant spiritual death only when He cast Adam and Eve out of the garden on the same day that they sinned. Their souls and spirits died when they lost fellowship with God. They did not physically die until over 900 years later. In Genesis 3:19, God merely instructed Adam that after a life of toil, he would simply physically die and return to dust. Whether Adam and Eve sinned or not, God had always meant for them to live over 900 years and die a quite natural and painless death. Had they not sinned, then God would have recovered their sinless souls and spirits, created spiritual bodies for them, and allowed them to live with Him in heaven forever. Through the sacrifice of Christ, God has prepared a similar system for all humans saved by grace. For this reason, God often gives dying grace to His believers when their time comes to die.
Punishment only works when one is conscious of it. No consciousness whatsoever exists in physical death. Therefore, physical death can be no punishment for sin.
God creates only good systems. God created every human to be a spiritual and physical system comprised of some of His basic elements. God holds the right to dissolve any of His systems down to its basic elements and reuse those elements to recreate new systems. This fact means physical death symbolizes God's power to reduce a living system to its basic elements and reuse those elements to create new systems. Humans die and return to dust and the elements of that dust feeds plant life which constitutes new systems. Spiritual death was man's own fault. Man holds no power whatsoever to restore that good system. God had to intervene in man's history in order to restore the good system of spiritual life through the death, burial, and resurrection of His Son. I Corinthians 15:1-4.
Thursday, May 24, 2018
Jesus' Teachings about Life and Death part seven
In John 12:46, Jesus taught that He had the power to bring all of His believers out of spiritual darkness and into the light of His salvation by grace. His power to do this still continues in the Church Age.
Jesus' teachings in John 12:47-48 lends support to His prophecy in John 12:31-32. In John 12:47, Jesus taught that He did not come to judge the world while He was in it. But He did say that He came "to save the world." Jesus meant in John 12:31 that the world would be judged through His death, burial, and resurrection. Jesus further taught that the purpose of His judgment of the world would be that "the prince of this world be cast out." In other words, Jesus taught that His judgment of the world would be that he would rescue the world by purging it of all evil. Jesus shed His blood and water on the cross to save by His grace all who would believe in Him. But He also saved the rest of mankind by His descent into hell where He left behind there all of the sins and spiritual deaths of all men to be burned by God's consuming fire which is hell. Through His death, burial, and resurrection God will recover and recreate all of the life and goodness that He has put into every man. I Corinthians 3:12-15. Since God's Word must be pure and true, then God must provide some form of salvation through recreation for all mankind and not just those saved by grace. In fact, Isaiah 45:22-23 prophesies that God will do just that. Since Jesus said that He came "to save the world," then He must do exactly that because God cannot fail to do whatever He has determined to do. Psalm 12:6-7; Luke 20:38; I Corinthians 15:22; I Timothy 4:10, and many other scriptures.
Jesus' teaching in John 12:48 provides further support for His prophecy in John 12:31-32. God will save all men by Jesus' judgment of the world on the cross, but Jesus also prophesied in John 12:48 that all those who reject Him will be judged "in the last day." Jesus said that they will be judged by the Word of God. Jesus' prophecy will be fulfilled as recorded in Revelation 20:11-15. Those who are totally dead and evil, which are the same as those who have rejected Christ, will be judged by God's Word and cast into the lake of fire. But according to Revelation 20:5, God will have already resurrected the life and goodness that he put into every one of them before their final judgment. God will use their recovered lives and goodness to recreate a new, righteous human race to live on His recreated earth. Jesus rescued them by His descent into hell, but their salvation will not be made active until this final, general resurrection. They will be saved by a test of fire which Jesus had already accomplished by His descent into hell. I Corinthians 3:12-15. In a similar way, all those saved by grace were saved by Jesus' shed blood and water on the cross, but God did not make their salvation active until they were spiritually born into the family of God. John 5:28-29; Revelation 21:1-5; Revelation 22:11-12.
In John 11:25, Jesus taught that He is life itself, and more than that, He is the restoration to life from all spiritual death. All of the resurrections in the Bible were to restore life. That constitutes the very definition of resurrection. Revelation 20:5 speaks about the resurrection to life of all those who have been punished with a temporary spiritual death and separation from God. The life and goodness that God put into them will reactivate their faith as recorded in Isaiah 45:22-24; Romans 14:9-11; Philippians 2:10-11; and Revelation 5:13. Revelation 21:11-15 speaks about God's judgment of the dead, not their resurrections. Jesus did speak about the resurrection of the dead in John 5:29, but He meant that in the context of them being brought out of their graves.
Jesus' teachings in John 12:47-48 lends support to His prophecy in John 12:31-32. In John 12:47, Jesus taught that He did not come to judge the world while He was in it. But He did say that He came "to save the world." Jesus meant in John 12:31 that the world would be judged through His death, burial, and resurrection. Jesus further taught that the purpose of His judgment of the world would be that "the prince of this world be cast out." In other words, Jesus taught that His judgment of the world would be that he would rescue the world by purging it of all evil. Jesus shed His blood and water on the cross to save by His grace all who would believe in Him. But He also saved the rest of mankind by His descent into hell where He left behind there all of the sins and spiritual deaths of all men to be burned by God's consuming fire which is hell. Through His death, burial, and resurrection God will recover and recreate all of the life and goodness that He has put into every man. I Corinthians 3:12-15. Since God's Word must be pure and true, then God must provide some form of salvation through recreation for all mankind and not just those saved by grace. In fact, Isaiah 45:22-23 prophesies that God will do just that. Since Jesus said that He came "to save the world," then He must do exactly that because God cannot fail to do whatever He has determined to do. Psalm 12:6-7; Luke 20:38; I Corinthians 15:22; I Timothy 4:10, and many other scriptures.
Jesus' teaching in John 12:48 provides further support for His prophecy in John 12:31-32. God will save all men by Jesus' judgment of the world on the cross, but Jesus also prophesied in John 12:48 that all those who reject Him will be judged "in the last day." Jesus said that they will be judged by the Word of God. Jesus' prophecy will be fulfilled as recorded in Revelation 20:11-15. Those who are totally dead and evil, which are the same as those who have rejected Christ, will be judged by God's Word and cast into the lake of fire. But according to Revelation 20:5, God will have already resurrected the life and goodness that he put into every one of them before their final judgment. God will use their recovered lives and goodness to recreate a new, righteous human race to live on His recreated earth. Jesus rescued them by His descent into hell, but their salvation will not be made active until this final, general resurrection. They will be saved by a test of fire which Jesus had already accomplished by His descent into hell. I Corinthians 3:12-15. In a similar way, all those saved by grace were saved by Jesus' shed blood and water on the cross, but God did not make their salvation active until they were spiritually born into the family of God. John 5:28-29; Revelation 21:1-5; Revelation 22:11-12.
In John 11:25, Jesus taught that He is life itself, and more than that, He is the restoration to life from all spiritual death. All of the resurrections in the Bible were to restore life. That constitutes the very definition of resurrection. Revelation 20:5 speaks about the resurrection to life of all those who have been punished with a temporary spiritual death and separation from God. The life and goodness that God put into them will reactivate their faith as recorded in Isaiah 45:22-24; Romans 14:9-11; Philippians 2:10-11; and Revelation 5:13. Revelation 21:11-15 speaks about God's judgment of the dead, not their resurrections. Jesus did speak about the resurrection of the dead in John 5:29, but He meant that in the context of them being brought out of their graves.
Wednesday, May 23, 2018
Jesus' Teachings about Life and Death part six
Jesus' teachings in John 12:31-32 are especially significant. In verse 31, Jesus taught that his crucifixion would amount t0 His judgment of the world. Jesus meant every human who would ever live in the world. Every human possesses two aspects of his existence. Every human retains the life and goodness that God put into him when He created him in His own image. In accordance with Ecclesiastes 3:14 and Romans 11:29, as well as many other scriptures, God can never lose anything He has ever created. On the cross, Jesus judged the world in man's place. On the cross, Christ liberated the world by gaining victory over Satan, the prince of this world. By His loving sacrifice, Jesus demonstrated His power to separate total evil from all His creations and cast out only total evil from His world.
The other aspect of human existence consists in original sin within its being inherited from Adam's fall. Every human possesses an inner spiritual death that causes him to commit sins. Satan's goal has always been to use this spiritual deadness to so overpower God's life and goodness within man that Satan will be able to hold man within the regions of death forever and thus destroy a part of God's creations. Should the Devil succeed, he would prove that God's love and creative powers are not almighty. By such a proof, the Devil would succeed in killing God and taking over His universe. Jesus met the Devil's challenge on the cross. Jesus proved that His love for mankind cannot fail when He suffered man's eternal death and separation from God in man's place on the cross and by His descent into hell. Then, by His resurrection, Jesus gained a tremendous victory over the Devil's goal to destroy both God and man when He proved that God's love and life can never be destroyed.
In the second part of verse 31, Jesus prophesied that His victory over the Devil would be absolute and complete. Someday, God will cast Satan alive into the lake of fire to suffer torment there forever. In this way, God will create a good system by which the Devil will be so preoccupied with such terrible pain that he will never be able to infect God's future creations with sin again. Revelation 20:10. In the end of the world, God will also separate from man's life all of the total evil and deadness of mankind and cast it too into the lake of fire. God will recreate the recovered lives of men. Because the deadness of man means the loss of positive consciousness, man's deadness in the lake of fire will not suffer in the same way and to the same extent as the Devil will. Revelation 20:5; Revelation 20:15; Revelation 21:8.
In verse 32, Jesus prophesied that His crucifixion would cause all men to be drawn to Him. By His prophecy, Jesus did not mention the conviction of the Holy Spirit that happens when a person hears the gospel. John 16:7-11. When under conviction, a person has the right to accept or reject God's salvation by grace. But such a rejection cannot thwart God's will. If God's will could be thwarted, He would not be almighty. In accordance with II Peter 3:9; I Timothy 4;10; I Corinthians 15:22; I John 2:2; Numbers 23:19, and other scriptures, God will provide some level of salvation and recreation for all men. God's goal is to purge His creations of all sin and spiritual death, never to surrender any of His creations to the control of evil. I John 3:8.
Jesus' prophecy in verse 32 p0rtends an actual, future event. Isaiah 45:21-25; Philippians 2:9-11; and Revelation 5:13 records this future event. In this event, all creatures that God ever created, including all humans, will worship Christ as God and Lord. This worship will show that all mankind will recognize that Christ holds all power over sin and death. This worship service will demonstrate that God will liberate the life and goodness that He put into all men from ever being permanently confined within any of the regions of death. In fact, Isaiah 45:22 prophesies that God will save all mankind in this worship service.
However, this worship service will not result in the immediate salvation of all men. The Devil will be so frightened and appalled by this worship service that he will redouble his efforts to permanently ruin the life and goodness that God has put into all men. Satan's redoubled efforts will result in all of the horrors of the Tribulation period. The Devil will know that he has a short time until God casts him alive and fully conscious into the lake of fire. The Devil will become so desperate that he will actually invent an evil system to counter God's salvation plan. The Devil will put his mark in the hands or foreheads of many people to claim them as his own. Revelation 13:16. Those who receive this mark will become totally evil and dead even as they remain active on the earth. By doing this, the Devil will hope to trap the life and goodness that God put into these people so that it will be forever destroyed by the lake of fire when God casts them into it. Revelation 14:9-11. But Revelation 14:12-13 assures mankind that God will recover His life and goodness from all these people who have been so deceived by the Devil.
The other aspect of human existence consists in original sin within its being inherited from Adam's fall. Every human possesses an inner spiritual death that causes him to commit sins. Satan's goal has always been to use this spiritual deadness to so overpower God's life and goodness within man that Satan will be able to hold man within the regions of death forever and thus destroy a part of God's creations. Should the Devil succeed, he would prove that God's love and creative powers are not almighty. By such a proof, the Devil would succeed in killing God and taking over His universe. Jesus met the Devil's challenge on the cross. Jesus proved that His love for mankind cannot fail when He suffered man's eternal death and separation from God in man's place on the cross and by His descent into hell. Then, by His resurrection, Jesus gained a tremendous victory over the Devil's goal to destroy both God and man when He proved that God's love and life can never be destroyed.
In the second part of verse 31, Jesus prophesied that His victory over the Devil would be absolute and complete. Someday, God will cast Satan alive into the lake of fire to suffer torment there forever. In this way, God will create a good system by which the Devil will be so preoccupied with such terrible pain that he will never be able to infect God's future creations with sin again. Revelation 20:10. In the end of the world, God will also separate from man's life all of the total evil and deadness of mankind and cast it too into the lake of fire. God will recreate the recovered lives of men. Because the deadness of man means the loss of positive consciousness, man's deadness in the lake of fire will not suffer in the same way and to the same extent as the Devil will. Revelation 20:5; Revelation 20:15; Revelation 21:8.
In verse 32, Jesus prophesied that His crucifixion would cause all men to be drawn to Him. By His prophecy, Jesus did not mention the conviction of the Holy Spirit that happens when a person hears the gospel. John 16:7-11. When under conviction, a person has the right to accept or reject God's salvation by grace. But such a rejection cannot thwart God's will. If God's will could be thwarted, He would not be almighty. In accordance with II Peter 3:9; I Timothy 4;10; I Corinthians 15:22; I John 2:2; Numbers 23:19, and other scriptures, God will provide some level of salvation and recreation for all men. God's goal is to purge His creations of all sin and spiritual death, never to surrender any of His creations to the control of evil. I John 3:8.
Jesus' prophecy in verse 32 p0rtends an actual, future event. Isaiah 45:21-25; Philippians 2:9-11; and Revelation 5:13 records this future event. In this event, all creatures that God ever created, including all humans, will worship Christ as God and Lord. This worship will show that all mankind will recognize that Christ holds all power over sin and death. This worship service will demonstrate that God will liberate the life and goodness that He put into all men from ever being permanently confined within any of the regions of death. In fact, Isaiah 45:22 prophesies that God will save all mankind in this worship service.
However, this worship service will not result in the immediate salvation of all men. The Devil will be so frightened and appalled by this worship service that he will redouble his efforts to permanently ruin the life and goodness that God has put into all men. Satan's redoubled efforts will result in all of the horrors of the Tribulation period. The Devil will know that he has a short time until God casts him alive and fully conscious into the lake of fire. The Devil will become so desperate that he will actually invent an evil system to counter God's salvation plan. The Devil will put his mark in the hands or foreheads of many people to claim them as his own. Revelation 13:16. Those who receive this mark will become totally evil and dead even as they remain active on the earth. By doing this, the Devil will hope to trap the life and goodness that God put into these people so that it will be forever destroyed by the lake of fire when God casts them into it. Revelation 14:9-11. But Revelation 14:12-13 assures mankind that God will recover His life and goodness from all these people who have been so deceived by the Devil.
Tuesday, May 22, 2018
Jesus' Teachings about Life and Death part five
In Luke 20:33, the Sadducees asked Jesus a silly question about the resurrection because they did not believe in the resurrection. They were simply trying to trap Jesus into saying something foolish so that they could discredit Him. But their question was about a resurrection to a new life in a new world.
In Luke 20:34-38, Jesus answered the Sadducees direct question with a prophecy about a future resurrection into a new world created by God. Jesus spoke about the world, not heaven. Jesus taught that those who inherit this new world do not marry. By this statement, Jesus did not mean no marriage would exist in God's new world. He simply meant that there would be no marriage ceremonies like those in this world. God's new world will be a restoration of the paradise that Adam and Eve inhabited. God did not marry Adam and Eve with any kind of ceremony. God simply paired them together and told them they were man and wife. In God's new world, He will simply pair each man with one woman in marriage just as He did with Adam and Eve.
In verse 36, Jesus taught that the inhabitants of God's new world would be immortal and equal to the angels. God created the angels, and He will recreate the humans who inhabit His new world. Many believe that the angels are sexless, but nowhere does the Bible state this. In fact, the Bible often states that angels who visited earth were men, which has to mean they were men in every sense of the word. The Bible does not mention female angels, but probably because God seldom sends female angels as messengers. Angels are probably male and female, and God pairs them one male to one female in marriage.
In verse 37, Jesus imparted some new information to the Sadducees. Jesus informed them that in Exodus 3:6 when God told Moses that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were still alive waiting for a physical resurrection that Moses responded by agreeing with God. Jesus proved to the Sadducees that their great patriarch Moses believed in a resurrection even if they did not.
In verse 38, Jesus imparted even greater information to the Sadducees. Jesus told them that just as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had always been alive to God, all people that God had ever created were alive to Him. In light of such scriptures as Revelation 21:3-5; John 5:28-29; Revelation 4:11; Romans 11:36; Colossians 1:15-20, and many others, Jesus' statement can only mean that following the resurrections of the Old Testament saints, the Church Age saints, and the Tribulation saints; God will effect a general resurrection of all the living from the dead in the end of this world. God will recover the lives of all humans He ever created within the regions of the dead and recreate them to be righteous humans to live on His recreated earth. God will use His consuming fire to separate their deadness from their lives and cast their deadness, which is totally evil, into the lake of fire forever. Revelation 20:5; Revelation 20:15; Revelation 21:8; Revelation 22:11-12.
In Luke 20:34-38, Jesus answered the Sadducees direct question with a prophecy about a future resurrection into a new world created by God. Jesus spoke about the world, not heaven. Jesus taught that those who inherit this new world do not marry. By this statement, Jesus did not mean no marriage would exist in God's new world. He simply meant that there would be no marriage ceremonies like those in this world. God's new world will be a restoration of the paradise that Adam and Eve inhabited. God did not marry Adam and Eve with any kind of ceremony. God simply paired them together and told them they were man and wife. In God's new world, He will simply pair each man with one woman in marriage just as He did with Adam and Eve.
In verse 36, Jesus taught that the inhabitants of God's new world would be immortal and equal to the angels. God created the angels, and He will recreate the humans who inhabit His new world. Many believe that the angels are sexless, but nowhere does the Bible state this. In fact, the Bible often states that angels who visited earth were men, which has to mean they were men in every sense of the word. The Bible does not mention female angels, but probably because God seldom sends female angels as messengers. Angels are probably male and female, and God pairs them one male to one female in marriage.
In verse 37, Jesus imparted some new information to the Sadducees. Jesus informed them that in Exodus 3:6 when God told Moses that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were still alive waiting for a physical resurrection that Moses responded by agreeing with God. Jesus proved to the Sadducees that their great patriarch Moses believed in a resurrection even if they did not.
In verse 38, Jesus imparted even greater information to the Sadducees. Jesus told them that just as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had always been alive to God, all people that God had ever created were alive to Him. In light of such scriptures as Revelation 21:3-5; John 5:28-29; Revelation 4:11; Romans 11:36; Colossians 1:15-20, and many others, Jesus' statement can only mean that following the resurrections of the Old Testament saints, the Church Age saints, and the Tribulation saints; God will effect a general resurrection of all the living from the dead in the end of this world. God will recover the lives of all humans He ever created within the regions of the dead and recreate them to be righteous humans to live on His recreated earth. God will use His consuming fire to separate their deadness from their lives and cast their deadness, which is totally evil, into the lake of fire forever. Revelation 20:5; Revelation 20:15; Revelation 21:8; Revelation 22:11-12.
Monday, May 21, 2018
Jesus' Teachings about Life and Death part four
In John 5:26, Jesus taught that the power of life belongs to His Father. His teaching can only mean that God can never lose any life He has ever created. Ecclesiastes 3:14; Romans 11:29. Jesus further taught that His Father had given this same power of life to His Son. This means that Christ holds the power to give His life for His believers so that He can miraculously birth them into the family of God. Because Jesus has absolute power over life, He also has gained absolute power over death. Galatians 4:4-7; Revelation 1:18.
In verse 27, Jesus taught that because He is the perfect man, He alone holds the authority "to execute judgment." The imperfect never holds power to make eternal judgments about anyone. This teaching means that all believers should refrain from making any final judgments. Matthew 7:1-2.
Jesus prophesied in verse 28 that a day will come "in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice,..." Jesus' prophecy can only refer to a general resurrection of the dead from their graves in the end of the world when God becomes ready to recreate absolutely everything He ever created in the first place, including the lives of all humans. Revelation 21:5. By this prophecy, Jesus had to have meant the lives all dead humans left in their graves. He could not have meant the Old Testament saints because God resurrected them when Jesus resurrected. Matthew 27:52-53. He could not have meant the Church Age saints because they will be resurrected at the Rapture of the Church. I Thessalonians 4:16. He also could not have meant the Tribulation saints because they will be resurrected at the beginning of the millennial reign of Christ. Revelation 20:4. Jesus' prophecy can only mean that in the end of the world God will resurrect the lives of all dead humans still in their graves for him to use to recreate a new, righteous human race to live on His recreated earth. All life belongs to God, and God created all life to be good. Therefore, God will reclaim the souls and spirits of all dead humans within the regions of the dead for Him to recreate. Revelation 20:5; Revelation 21:3-5.
In verse 29, Jesus prophesied that He will resurrect the goodness of those left in their graves to be recreated to a new life. In order to do this, God will use His consuming fire to separate the goodness in the dead from their total evil which has sullied their goodness. Christ regained His power over sin and death that holds the lives that He created within the regions of the dead when He descended into hell. The Old Testament burnt offerings were symbolic of Christ's power to use His consuming fire to separate and reclaim all the lives of the dead that he originally created. I Corinthians 3:12-15. Goodness and life are synonymous. God created man in His own image to reflect His goodness. Life can only be good and exists only within God's Love. God can never lose any life He has ever created. Only deadness causes sin in man. Life always causes man to do good. God will cleanse and recover by the use of His consuming fire all of His goodness and life that He ever put into man for Him to recreate. Romans 11:36; Revelation 4:11; Revelation 22:11-12; Isaiah 6:5-7. God will separate out and condemn only the total evil and deadness within the dead and cast it into the lake of fire forever. Revelation 20:15; Revelation 21:8.
In verse 27, Jesus taught that because He is the perfect man, He alone holds the authority "to execute judgment." The imperfect never holds power to make eternal judgments about anyone. This teaching means that all believers should refrain from making any final judgments. Matthew 7:1-2.
Jesus prophesied in verse 28 that a day will come "in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice,..." Jesus' prophecy can only refer to a general resurrection of the dead from their graves in the end of the world when God becomes ready to recreate absolutely everything He ever created in the first place, including the lives of all humans. Revelation 21:5. By this prophecy, Jesus had to have meant the lives all dead humans left in their graves. He could not have meant the Old Testament saints because God resurrected them when Jesus resurrected. Matthew 27:52-53. He could not have meant the Church Age saints because they will be resurrected at the Rapture of the Church. I Thessalonians 4:16. He also could not have meant the Tribulation saints because they will be resurrected at the beginning of the millennial reign of Christ. Revelation 20:4. Jesus' prophecy can only mean that in the end of the world God will resurrect the lives of all dead humans still in their graves for him to use to recreate a new, righteous human race to live on His recreated earth. All life belongs to God, and God created all life to be good. Therefore, God will reclaim the souls and spirits of all dead humans within the regions of the dead for Him to recreate. Revelation 20:5; Revelation 21:3-5.
In verse 29, Jesus prophesied that He will resurrect the goodness of those left in their graves to be recreated to a new life. In order to do this, God will use His consuming fire to separate the goodness in the dead from their total evil which has sullied their goodness. Christ regained His power over sin and death that holds the lives that He created within the regions of the dead when He descended into hell. The Old Testament burnt offerings were symbolic of Christ's power to use His consuming fire to separate and reclaim all the lives of the dead that he originally created. I Corinthians 3:12-15. Goodness and life are synonymous. God created man in His own image to reflect His goodness. Life can only be good and exists only within God's Love. God can never lose any life He has ever created. Only deadness causes sin in man. Life always causes man to do good. God will cleanse and recover by the use of His consuming fire all of His goodness and life that He ever put into man for Him to recreate. Romans 11:36; Revelation 4:11; Revelation 22:11-12; Isaiah 6:5-7. God will separate out and condemn only the total evil and deadness within the dead and cast it into the lake of fire forever. Revelation 20:15; Revelation 21:8.
Thursday, May 17, 2018
Jesus' Teachings about Life and Death part three
In the first part of John 5:21, Jesus taught that the Father "raiseth up the dead and quickeneth them..." Jesus prophesied in this statement that in the end of the world God will absolutely recreate everything that He originally created including all humans. Revelation 21:5. In order to do this, God must recover the lives of all the dead still in their graves to be recreated. Revelation 20:5. From the recovered, good elements of their lives, God will recreate a righteous human race to live on His recreated earth. Revelation 21:3. The separated dead that God will cast into the lake of fire will be totally evil. Revelation 20:15; Revelation 21:8.
In the second part of John 5:21, Jesus taught that "the Son quickeneth whom He will." By this statement, Jesus taught that He held the power to abolish spiritual death in His believers and replace it with spiritual life while they are still alive in the flesh. In this way, Jesus described the "born again" experience. But in order to be able to do this, Jesus had to shed His blood on a cruel cross so that His Spirit could wash the repentant believer's inner being clean of all sin so that His Spirit could recreate the believer's inner being with the gift of the righteousness of Christ. I Corinthians 6:11; II Corinthians 5:21; Revelation 1:5. This means that while still in the flesh in this world, God can cleanse and recreate the souls and spirits of any believer in Christ to a state of absolute purity that allows that person to enjoy fellowship with God as Adam and Eve enjoyed in the garden before they sinned.
In verse 22, Jesus taught that His Father had submitted all judgment to His Son. This means that only Christ holds the power and right to judge. God strictly prohibits believers from making eternal judgments. Matthew 7:1-2. According to Matthew 7:20, God allows believers to recognize sin in any one's life, but He does not allow believers to make final judgments about how Christ will judge that person. According to Hebrews 9:27, only Christ can judge every person who comes before Him as He wills.
In verse 23, Jesus taught that His Father desires that all people honor the Son as being equal with His Father. Jesus clearly taught here that He is God. Believers saved by grace always honor the Son as being God. Those who fail to do so cannot be believers saved by grace.
In verse 24, Jesus again describes the "born again" experience of the believer. For those who will believe in His equality with His Father and His power to save from sin, Christ will perform a miracle in their inner being that will transform them from spiritual death to spiritual life which is the eternal life of Christ Himself. Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:3-4. Christ will never condemn His believers, meaning He will never judge them to be separated from Him. God will certainly punish backslidden believers for their correction, but God will always accept the recreated souls and spirits of Christ's believers into heaven because of Christ's absolute righteousness which He has given them. Romans 5:17; I Peter 1:3-4.
Verse 25 has a double meaning. When Jesus said "the hour is coming..." He prophesied that in the end of the world, God will resurrect the lives of all the dead in their graves for God to recreate. When Jesus said "and now is..." He meant that all those alive in the flesh who hear and believe the gospel, He will raise from spiritual death to spiritual life, and they will always belong to him.
In the second part of John 5:21, Jesus taught that "the Son quickeneth whom He will." By this statement, Jesus taught that He held the power to abolish spiritual death in His believers and replace it with spiritual life while they are still alive in the flesh. In this way, Jesus described the "born again" experience. But in order to be able to do this, Jesus had to shed His blood on a cruel cross so that His Spirit could wash the repentant believer's inner being clean of all sin so that His Spirit could recreate the believer's inner being with the gift of the righteousness of Christ. I Corinthians 6:11; II Corinthians 5:21; Revelation 1:5. This means that while still in the flesh in this world, God can cleanse and recreate the souls and spirits of any believer in Christ to a state of absolute purity that allows that person to enjoy fellowship with God as Adam and Eve enjoyed in the garden before they sinned.
In verse 22, Jesus taught that His Father had submitted all judgment to His Son. This means that only Christ holds the power and right to judge. God strictly prohibits believers from making eternal judgments. Matthew 7:1-2. According to Matthew 7:20, God allows believers to recognize sin in any one's life, but He does not allow believers to make final judgments about how Christ will judge that person. According to Hebrews 9:27, only Christ can judge every person who comes before Him as He wills.
In verse 23, Jesus taught that His Father desires that all people honor the Son as being equal with His Father. Jesus clearly taught here that He is God. Believers saved by grace always honor the Son as being God. Those who fail to do so cannot be believers saved by grace.
In verse 24, Jesus again describes the "born again" experience of the believer. For those who will believe in His equality with His Father and His power to save from sin, Christ will perform a miracle in their inner being that will transform them from spiritual death to spiritual life which is the eternal life of Christ Himself. Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:3-4. Christ will never condemn His believers, meaning He will never judge them to be separated from Him. God will certainly punish backslidden believers for their correction, but God will always accept the recreated souls and spirits of Christ's believers into heaven because of Christ's absolute righteousness which He has given them. Romans 5:17; I Peter 1:3-4.
Verse 25 has a double meaning. When Jesus said "the hour is coming..." He prophesied that in the end of the world, God will resurrect the lives of all the dead in their graves for God to recreate. When Jesus said "and now is..." He meant that all those alive in the flesh who hear and believe the gospel, He will raise from spiritual death to spiritual life, and they will always belong to him.
Wednesday, May 16, 2018
Jesus' Teachings about Life and Death part two
In Mark 7:10, Jesus affirmed Moses commandment that a child who curses his parents should be put to death. But Jesus used a curious phrase for His statement: "let him die the death." "To die" means to go through a process by which one arrives at the condition called "death." But Jesus seems to have worded His phrase to mean that death somehow has a reverse effect which causes the process of dying. In this sense, Jesus seems to have equated spiritual death with sin itself. Romans 6:23.
Jesus phrase reminds one of Revelation 6:8 where the Holy Spirit uses a vision of a pale horse as a symbol for Death. This comparison seems to indicate that Death must be a real place and not just an empty condition. This verse also states that death possesses the power to kill which indicates that death causes spiritual death in humans. This verse also states that Hell follows Death which would further indicate that Death is a real place. This place called Death can only be the same place as the bottomless pit of Revelation 20:1-3 and the prison of Revelation 20:7. I Peter 3:19 informs us that after Jesus died on the cross, his Spirit went and "preached unto the spirits in prison." This can only mean that Jesus went to the place called Death and preached to the disobedient spirits held there.
To have a spirit is to have consciousness. The place called Death can be described as absolute nothingness, a place of total darkness and emptiness where one can be conscious of absolutely nothing except one's past life and sins. Job 10:21-22. All through the Bible, it equates sin with vanity; that is, total emptiness. Death is a place of total emptiness and evil. Somehow, in some mysterious way, Death had a reverse effect on Lucifer which caused God to dissolve his positive consciousness in order to recover all of God's goodness that he had put into him. Lucifer became an emptiness filled with a negative consciousness called Satan who is totally evil. Ezekiel 28:13-19. Cain was "cursed from the earth" in Genesis 4:11. God cursed the ground in Genesis 3:17. Death and Hell, which are in the ground, have had a reverse effect on man by the agency of Satan causing sin and death in man which is a condition of spiritual separation from God. All of this evidence can only mean that the Sea, Death, and Hell must be three separate places to which Christ sentences unrepentant sinners according to His judgment following their physical deaths. Hebrews 9:27.
In John 5:21-29, Jesus displayed the same attitude toward life and death that he had with Adam and Eve when He walked and talked with them in the garden. In such verses as John 8:51; John 11:4; John 11:26; John 6:50; John 8:21-24; Matthew 8:22; Matthew 9:24; Luke 9:60; and Luke 20:37-38, Jesus ignored physical death and concentrated His teachings on spiritual death. In Genesis 2:7, God created man to be a living soul, but He did not say that man would be immortal. In Genesis 3:22, God revealed that His purpose for the tree of life was that man should eat of it and become immortal. God would have had no need for the tree of life if He had created man to be immortal. God had to ban Adam and Eve from the garden because if they had eaten of the tree of life after they sinned, that would have been a curse since they would have been both sinful and immortal. This evidence can only mean that God's punishment for Adam and Eve's sins in Genesis 2:17 had to have been spiritual death only, not physical death. In Genesis 3:19, God simply informed Adam that after a life of toil, humans would physically die and return to the dust, but God did not say that physical death would be a punishment for their sins. They were punished by the spiritual deaths of being cast out of the garden that very day and losing fellowship with God. They did not physically die until over 900 years later. Whether they sinned or not, God had always meant for them to live that long. This evidence can only mean that since their punishment had to happen on the same day they sinned, then physical death cannot be a punishment for sin. Physical death either only delivers the souls and spirits of those saved by grace to God forever, or it delivers the souls and spirits of unbelievers to one of three different places of spiritual separation from God according to the judgment of Christ. II Corinthians 5:8; Revelation 20:13; Hebrews 9:27.
Jesus phrase reminds one of Revelation 6:8 where the Holy Spirit uses a vision of a pale horse as a symbol for Death. This comparison seems to indicate that Death must be a real place and not just an empty condition. This verse also states that death possesses the power to kill which indicates that death causes spiritual death in humans. This verse also states that Hell follows Death which would further indicate that Death is a real place. This place called Death can only be the same place as the bottomless pit of Revelation 20:1-3 and the prison of Revelation 20:7. I Peter 3:19 informs us that after Jesus died on the cross, his Spirit went and "preached unto the spirits in prison." This can only mean that Jesus went to the place called Death and preached to the disobedient spirits held there.
To have a spirit is to have consciousness. The place called Death can be described as absolute nothingness, a place of total darkness and emptiness where one can be conscious of absolutely nothing except one's past life and sins. Job 10:21-22. All through the Bible, it equates sin with vanity; that is, total emptiness. Death is a place of total emptiness and evil. Somehow, in some mysterious way, Death had a reverse effect on Lucifer which caused God to dissolve his positive consciousness in order to recover all of God's goodness that he had put into him. Lucifer became an emptiness filled with a negative consciousness called Satan who is totally evil. Ezekiel 28:13-19. Cain was "cursed from the earth" in Genesis 4:11. God cursed the ground in Genesis 3:17. Death and Hell, which are in the ground, have had a reverse effect on man by the agency of Satan causing sin and death in man which is a condition of spiritual separation from God. All of this evidence can only mean that the Sea, Death, and Hell must be three separate places to which Christ sentences unrepentant sinners according to His judgment following their physical deaths. Hebrews 9:27.
In John 5:21-29, Jesus displayed the same attitude toward life and death that he had with Adam and Eve when He walked and talked with them in the garden. In such verses as John 8:51; John 11:4; John 11:26; John 6:50; John 8:21-24; Matthew 8:22; Matthew 9:24; Luke 9:60; and Luke 20:37-38, Jesus ignored physical death and concentrated His teachings on spiritual death. In Genesis 2:7, God created man to be a living soul, but He did not say that man would be immortal. In Genesis 3:22, God revealed that His purpose for the tree of life was that man should eat of it and become immortal. God would have had no need for the tree of life if He had created man to be immortal. God had to ban Adam and Eve from the garden because if they had eaten of the tree of life after they sinned, that would have been a curse since they would have been both sinful and immortal. This evidence can only mean that God's punishment for Adam and Eve's sins in Genesis 2:17 had to have been spiritual death only, not physical death. In Genesis 3:19, God simply informed Adam that after a life of toil, humans would physically die and return to the dust, but God did not say that physical death would be a punishment for their sins. They were punished by the spiritual deaths of being cast out of the garden that very day and losing fellowship with God. They did not physically die until over 900 years later. Whether they sinned or not, God had always meant for them to live that long. This evidence can only mean that since their punishment had to happen on the same day they sinned, then physical death cannot be a punishment for sin. Physical death either only delivers the souls and spirits of those saved by grace to God forever, or it delivers the souls and spirits of unbelievers to one of three different places of spiritual separation from God according to the judgment of Christ. II Corinthians 5:8; Revelation 20:13; Hebrews 9:27.
Wednesday, May 9, 2018
Jesus' Teachings about Life and Death part one
In Genesis 2:17, God commanded the man He had created not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and if he did, he would die that very day. Before Adam and Eve sinned, they had enjoyed a joyful and loving friendship with God. God, in human form as the Lord Jesus Christ, had come to walk and talk with them in the cool evenings of every day. In other words, Adam and Eve enjoyed a spiritual relationship with God. When God told Adam that he would die if he disobeyed Him, He meant that that spiritual friendship would end. When Adam and Eve sinned, they knew that that friendship was broken, and so they tried to cover their shame with fig leaves and hide from God. When Christ came to talk with them, He called to them, but they did not come out of hiding. They were too ashamed to talk with Christ anymore face to face. In that very day, Adam and Eve had descended into a state of spiritual death.
In addition to spiritual death, God punished Eve with sorrow in childbirth and Adam with hard labor for life. God cursed the Devil, and He cursed the ground which contains Death and Hell, but God never cursed the good lives of Adam and Eve that He had created. Sin had sullied the lives of Adam and Eve and all future humans, but God determined that He would do all the work necessary to rescue mankind from the curse that had infected their lives and restore their lives to fellowship with Him. Genesis 3:15. The "seed" of the serpent was this eternal curse which had infected and sullied the lives of Adam and Eve but had not destroyed them. The "seed" of the woman was not only the Lord Jesus Christ who would save mankind but all of mankind itself. Genesis 3:20. Only God possesses the knowledge and power necessary to get rid of this curse within the good lives that He has created for all humans. God cannot lose anything He has ever created, certainly not to the Devil. Numbers 23:19; Ecclesiastes 3:14; Romans 11:29; Luke 20:38.
During Jesus' ministry on earth, He sometimes taught about Hell, Death. and the Sea. This account relates His teachings about life and death. Revelation 20:13.
In Matthew 16:28; Mark 9:1; and Luke 9:27, Jesus informed Peter, James, and John that they would not "taste of death" until they had experienced the Kingdom of God. Six days later they experienced the Kingdom of God with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. Jesus used the curious phrase "taste of death" instead of simply telling them they would not die. Taste is a temporary experience. One can taste food but for a few moments and then it passes away. Jesus deliberately used this phrase symbolically to indicate that His believers would always only experience a temporary death. The spiritual deaths of His believers until they become "born again" into His Kingdom amounts to but a temporary death. The physical deaths of His believers until they receive their new, spiritual bodies at the Rapture of the Church also amounts to but a temporary death. In addition, Jesus and the Holy Spirit always referred to the physical deaths of His believers as being merely "asleep." John 11:11; Mark 5:39; I Corinthians 15:51; I Thessalonians 4:13-14. In John 11:4, Jesus affirmed that Lazarus' sickness was "not unto death." But in verse 14, Jesus plainly stated that Lazarus was dead. No contradiction exists. In verse 4, Jesus meant that Lazarus, as a believer, could never be permanently separated from God by spiritual death. In verse 14, Jesus simply informed His disciples that Lazarus had suffered a temporary physical death. Since God is Almighty and has complete power over death, then Hebrews 2:8-9 must mean that Jesus suffered a temporary death in order to cause every man to suffer only a temporary death. Verse 8 can only mean that God will recover and recreate the lives of every human He has ever created to be put back into subjection to His control and rule. Verse 9 relates the means God will use to cause every person He has ever created to suffer but a temporary spiritual and physical death. In the general resurrection when God recreates the heavens and the earth, He will separate the living, who belong to Him, from the dead, who are totally evil, and consign only the dead to the lake of fire forever. John 5:28-29; Revelation 20:5; Revelation 20;15; Revelation 21:1-8; Revelation 22:11-12; Colossians 1:15-20; I Corinthians 15:22-23; Ecclesiastes 3:14.
In addition to spiritual death, God punished Eve with sorrow in childbirth and Adam with hard labor for life. God cursed the Devil, and He cursed the ground which contains Death and Hell, but God never cursed the good lives of Adam and Eve that He had created. Sin had sullied the lives of Adam and Eve and all future humans, but God determined that He would do all the work necessary to rescue mankind from the curse that had infected their lives and restore their lives to fellowship with Him. Genesis 3:15. The "seed" of the serpent was this eternal curse which had infected and sullied the lives of Adam and Eve but had not destroyed them. The "seed" of the woman was not only the Lord Jesus Christ who would save mankind but all of mankind itself. Genesis 3:20. Only God possesses the knowledge and power necessary to get rid of this curse within the good lives that He has created for all humans. God cannot lose anything He has ever created, certainly not to the Devil. Numbers 23:19; Ecclesiastes 3:14; Romans 11:29; Luke 20:38.
During Jesus' ministry on earth, He sometimes taught about Hell, Death. and the Sea. This account relates His teachings about life and death. Revelation 20:13.
In Matthew 16:28; Mark 9:1; and Luke 9:27, Jesus informed Peter, James, and John that they would not "taste of death" until they had experienced the Kingdom of God. Six days later they experienced the Kingdom of God with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. Jesus used the curious phrase "taste of death" instead of simply telling them they would not die. Taste is a temporary experience. One can taste food but for a few moments and then it passes away. Jesus deliberately used this phrase symbolically to indicate that His believers would always only experience a temporary death. The spiritual deaths of His believers until they become "born again" into His Kingdom amounts to but a temporary death. The physical deaths of His believers until they receive their new, spiritual bodies at the Rapture of the Church also amounts to but a temporary death. In addition, Jesus and the Holy Spirit always referred to the physical deaths of His believers as being merely "asleep." John 11:11; Mark 5:39; I Corinthians 15:51; I Thessalonians 4:13-14. In John 11:4, Jesus affirmed that Lazarus' sickness was "not unto death." But in verse 14, Jesus plainly stated that Lazarus was dead. No contradiction exists. In verse 4, Jesus meant that Lazarus, as a believer, could never be permanently separated from God by spiritual death. In verse 14, Jesus simply informed His disciples that Lazarus had suffered a temporary physical death. Since God is Almighty and has complete power over death, then Hebrews 2:8-9 must mean that Jesus suffered a temporary death in order to cause every man to suffer only a temporary death. Verse 8 can only mean that God will recover and recreate the lives of every human He has ever created to be put back into subjection to His control and rule. Verse 9 relates the means God will use to cause every person He has ever created to suffer but a temporary spiritual and physical death. In the general resurrection when God recreates the heavens and the earth, He will separate the living, who belong to Him, from the dead, who are totally evil, and consign only the dead to the lake of fire forever. John 5:28-29; Revelation 20:5; Revelation 20;15; Revelation 21:1-8; Revelation 22:11-12; Colossians 1:15-20; I Corinthians 15:22-23; Ecclesiastes 3:14.
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