Author: tdwenig

Tom is the Senior Pastor of the Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer in Evansville, IN. He has served his congregation since 2000. He has a Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, MO

Judgment Day for the Redeemed

There is a passage of Scripture that has captured my imagination. It is 1 Corinthians 3:10-15. I call it the “Three Little Pigs” passage, because verse 12 is reminiscent of that nursery rhyme. The passage gives a unique insight into what Judgment Day is like for somebody who has been saved by Jesus. I have written snippets about this topic in the past. In this blog I would like to give a more complete treatment. Here is the passage:

 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

1 Corinthians 3:10-15 (ESV)

It surprises people when they here that Judgment Day is a judgment of our deeds. This is said in several places in Revelation and is correctly stated in the Athanasian Creed, if you are familiar with that. What throws people off is the assumption that Judgment Day is about whether we are saved or not. For people who don’t have the forgiveness of their sins through Jesus, it is about that. But for those who have forgiveness, their salvation has been known for a long time. In fact, people could have been in the Heaven for millennia by the time Judgment Day rolls around. They are not going to be kicked out of God’s presence at that time.

So why should redeemed people go through the Judgment Day process at all? And what is “the process”? 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 tells us quite a bit. Let me set the stage.

Jesus returns from Heaven with all those who had previously died that were connected to Him (“in Christ” is a phrase frequently used in the Bible to describe that relationship). Everybody (living and the dead, saved and the unsaved) is resurrected or transformed into a new body as described in 1 Corinthians 15. The Redeemed are collected to be near Christ (this is the real Rapture) and are then seated on Christ’s right as described in Matthew 25:31f. Throughout this process the universe has been unraveling as God is changing everything. The Earth is eventually consumed by fire. It is not clear of where we are relative to this. The judgment of Judgment Day then proceeds.

Matthew 25:31-46 gives a general overview of the judgment. I’ll write about this next time. While is seems like a group judgement in that passage. Paul shows that it is very individualistic in the passage above. What happens?

It seems that we all will experience this “fire” that essentially reveals and evaluates everything that has happened in our lives here on Earth. I say “everything”, but it is actually everything minus what has been forgiven through our connection to Christ. The process shows whether we have “built” on the foundation of Christ with a life that is “gold, silver and costly stones” or “wood, hay and straw.” What constitutes “gold, silver and costly stones”?

These precious things are obviously metaphors. Paul urges us to live lives “worthy” of Christ. People who still have sinful natures will never truly be worthy of Christ’s sacrifice or of His presence and glory. But what we are asked to do is to be active being good stewards of everything God gives us in life (time, talents, money, body, the planet, our knowledge of God, etc.), to carry our the “good deeds prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10), to grow in the characteristics of God’s nature (2 Peter 1:4, et al)and to do all of this by the power of the Holy Spirit and with a humble and loving nature (Luke 17:10, 1 Corinthians 13:1-3)

Wood, hay and straw would constitute living as Christian and treating grace as cheap, straying into an attitude of self-righteousness and entitlement, ignoring the work of God’s kingdom, being a selfish steward and the like. The Day will reveal God’s evaluation of all of this. The fire referenced here, as well as by John the Baptist (Matthew 3:11) and Jesus (Mark 9:49), destroys the remembrance of such things and leaves only what God considers to be rewardable, if anything.

We are saved by grace. Without Jesus nothing we do can eclipse our sin. For some, even with Jesus, they have no reward; but they still have eternal life. They enter the New Heaven and Earth, but “only as through fire”. For the wiser disciple their life was not meaningless. They too are saved by grace, but they will also have a reward. What is the reward? Not much is said, but you can put a general idea together. I’ll save that for another blog.

Clearly, it is desirable to have a reward. So we want to keep this balance in our minds. We serve God because we love God and, as God’s nature seeps into our souls, we love people. We consider God worthy of our all and we do our best to give Him our all. None of this is done to save ourselves or to merit anything. We serve because we believe in the cause we are serving. We know that we are blessed to be saved by grace. We understand that if salvation rested on us somehow our sinful nature would mess it up. We leave this life expecting eternal life and no more. We receive more because God is good.

Can You Imagine a New Earth?

Today is a gorgeous fall day. There is bright sun and a warm breeze. It is wonderful. It is also just the remnant of the good things that God placed in the original creation. Sit outside long enough and you will notice the results of the “curse”.

Probably some insects will find you eventually and they will harass if not bite you. The sun might get too warm. Stay long enough and you will get sunburn. Discomfort, temperature change, hunger, thirst will all show up eventually. But what if the curse no longer existed? What if sin and Satan’s kingdom were no longer a part of your environment? Can you imagine it?

The Biblical description of the New Earth is pretty scant. All of the detail is left for us to discover in the future. Even a Near Death Experience is not a field trip to the New Earth. If it is not an illusion, it is an experience of Heaven during the “Intermediate Period”, the time between now and Judgment Day.

What can we say about the New Earth? First, it is not just for redeemed people, but it includes a redeemed version of the rest of creation. There will be animals, but a “no death” system of existence. Nothing will prey on you or anything else. A petting zoo of the grandest form.

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
    and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
    and a little child shall lead them.
7 The cow and the bear shall graze;
    their young shall lie down together;
    and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
    and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
9 They shall not hurt or destroy
    in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.

Isaiah 11:6-9 (ESV)

Can you imagine such a gentle and complementary relationship with nature? Never mind the food chain and the cycles that move energy or carbon. God can create sustainable worlds that work in many ways.

How about people? We are the most dangerous predator on this planet. What about on the New Earth?

But be glad and rejoice forever
    in that which I create;
for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy,
    and her people to be a gladness.

Isaiah 65:18 (ESV)

People will be one of the most enjoyable parts of the New Earth. No conflict, no unfriendly competition, just joyful relationships. We will not retain the relationships (like spouse) that we had here. That is not to say that we won’t know people from here. Our investment in helping others to know Jesus and be disciples is so that they will be a part of our “reward” in the New Earth.

Will we be bound to the New Earth? We are currently on the cusp of space tourism. Is our place restricted to the New Earth? One confusing aspect of God’s post-Judgment Day plans is that it appears to some that we either never go to Heaven or leave Heaven as Judgment Day commences. While I agree that we return with Jesus. I don’t think the Bible says we have to stay. Paul talks about “an eternal house in Heaven.”(2 Corinthians 5:1). What if an aspect of our resurrected bodies is that we can move between Heaven and this universe freely? What if we can move all over this universe and Heaven freely? Endless adventure, travel, investigating all that God will create.

Speaking of our resurrected bodies, what will we be like?

 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

1 Corinthians 15:42-44 (ESV)

A body that is no longer able to die, no longer sick or weak. Who knows what are its limits? I would understand “spiritual” in this context as that ability to move between and exist in parallel universes like Heaven and here. Will we be beautiful? I expect beauty will still be thing, but no one left out. Each person will have their unique and beautiful look.

One more thing to ponder. What about our relationship with God. We think of God being visible in Heaven, but He is able to be everywhere. I expect we will encounter Jesus in a face-to-face way every day in many settings. We will experience the Spirit and the Father in a multitude of ways, from seeing them take form, to being in God’s throne room, to experiencing their presence and power within us.

“Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Revelation 21:3b-4 (ESV)

Are you ready for this? This is the inheritance of those who are in Christ. God gets through to us so that we believe the promises connected to the death and resurrection of Jesus. We have eternal life from the time we are baptized in the name of Jesus, but it is ultimately and fully revealed when the New Earth begins.

Is Heaven a Destination for Humans?

Depending on your background the question in the title may seem strange to you. For many their understanding of eternal life is simply Heaven or Hell. There are others who come from the other side of this question. They would correctly note that Heaven was not promised as a human destination in the Old Testament. They would also note that we are promised a resurrection of the body and a place in a “new heaven and new earth.” If they wished, they could also note that “heaven” is oddly not capitalized in Greek like a proper noun, place name is in the rest of the New Testament.

Let’s start with the last point. Heaven is definitely a place and not a state of mind or physical condition. The problem is that for some reason Greek couldn’t come up with different words for atmosphere, universe and the place where God properly dwells. Sometimes the distinction is made 1st heaven, 2nd heaven and 3rd heaven, which corresponds with how they visualized these things spatially–like concentric circles. The fact that they have this wrong, doesn’t make God’s throne a non-place. Perhaps Heaven isn’t it’s proper name, just like “angel” might be more of a job description (messenger) than a name for a species (We could say the same for the title”God”) We use Heaven as a proper name, so I would argue that it should be capitalized regardless of what Greek did with it. Hebrew doesn’t capitalize, context is the key. The main point is that Heaven is a place and a future place for us.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in (H)heaven for you,

1 Peter 1:3-4 (ESV)

Our inheritance is in Heaven. You can have treasure in Heaven (Mt.9:21). Your citizenship is in Heaven (Phil. 3:20) Your hope is laid up in Heaven (Col. 1:5). And there are proofs that don’t use the word “Heaven.” The martyrs are under the altar (in Heaven) and before Judgement Day. Paul talks about us having a building from God…eternal in the heavens. Why the plural? I think it is because there is Heaven, the dwelling place of God and the redeemed now, and post-Judgment Day a new Heaven. My way of reconciling Heaven and eternity is to understand that we don’t abandon Heaven for the New Earth, but rather we add the New Earth.

The fact that Heaven is mentioned, but not as a destination for humans, in the Old Testament; certainly seems like a theological development. I suspect that it a change in conditions rather than human thought. Satan is expelled from Heaven (Rev. 12), and sin is atoned for by the victory of Jesus on the cross. The result is our ability to “reign” with Christ in Heaven right now.

There is a hymn that goes, “I’m but a stranger here, Heaven is my home.” The thought is a little sloppy but not wrong. I am of the Earth–not a stranger. But because of Christ, the Earth, Heaven, the new Heaven and Earth, are all home for me.

Judgment Day for the Damned

This is a topic that many would rather not think about. To be honest, I’d rather not write about it; but to be thorough it is a topic that concerns existence after death about which the Bible speaks. Judgment Day for the damned is something that you will observe in part. Hopefully, because of the grace that comes through Jesus, it is not something that you will experience.

Judgment Day as a damned person is something that people will experience. God is loving. He would rather this not be the case. But God is also absolute in His application of the Law. He can and will bring eternal judgment. The real disappointing fact is not that it happens at all, but that it seems that it will happen to most. My least favorite passage in the Bible says:

 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

Matthew 7:13-14 (ESV)

What is “destruction” in this sentence? Since it is put in opposition to “life”, I have to conclude that it is the final condition of those who are damned.

Why would anyone be damned? All of the human race demonstrates its rebellion against God through our daily sins. Maybe those sins aren’t particularly destructive or hurtful, but they are contrary to how we were initially created to be as humans, and they are offensive to a holy God. All of mankind’s sin flows from a sinful nature, which means that we inherited a distortion of how God created us. Sin is not just willful. For us, it is part of our being.

All of this would be rendered harmless, if only people would or could put their faith in Jesus. Jesus fixed it on the cross. If a person wouldn’t resist the Holy Spirit and be connected to Jesus, they would be fine. But the majority turn out to be not fine. So effectively, people are damned for rejecting Jesus as Savior.

People ask “where is Jesus” in the following Judgment Day passage:

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Matthew 25:41-46 (ESV)

God’s grace through Jesus is actually found in where the people are seated. In this account, those on the right have had their sins covered by Jesus’ death, and those on the left have not. Those on the left are judged for their lack of concern for others. These people may have done many charitable things, but their errors overwhelm their good. The people on the other side may have been qualitively worse, but Jesus has covered their many sins and only the good shines out.

This is not grading on a curve or saving based on what percentile of good you achieve. This is perfection versus imperfection, and the only way to be perfect is by connection to Jesus.

So what happens next? Prior to this moment of judgment, everyone has been physically resurrected from the dead. Many of the damned have been in Sheol, possibly for millennia. They have suffered a physical torment, but how? Their bodies were buried or burned or eaten or something. Either you acquire a body for the time-space of Sheol or your soul can suffer the torment of this space.

Now with a resurrected body built for this time-space, they experience the following:

4  “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. 3 And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.”

Malachi 4:1-3 (ESV)

Their resurrected bodies are destroyed to ash. Is this the destruction mentioned above in Matthew 7? In part it is. I also think this is the moment referred to in Revelation 14 as it applies to a certain subset of the damned.

9 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.

Revelation 14:9-11 (ESV)

Does destruction mean total destruction to non-existence? A lot of people want to say “yes”. It reconciles the idea of Hell to the idea of a loving God. But we can’t ignore the phrase “eternal judgment” seen above in Matthew 25 and several other places in the Bible, including these passages in Revelation 20:

and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Revelation 20:10, 13-15 (ESV)

Again, the lake of fire does not imply destruction to non-existence. It speaks of a permanent miserable and hopeless existence alongside of Satan and his demons who will suffer as well. The main difference between this and the description of Sheol, which also includes fire, I would surmise from the suffering of Christ on the cross. This phase includes being forsaken by God. Being forsaken proves to be the worst part. Jesus being forsaken on the cross is Jesus taking the judgment of our sins on himself. He is forsaken, probably from noon until three, so that we would never experience it.

The damned then slip from description as they will slip from our memory. While we undoubtedly know people who will be among the damned, they will not remain a source of grief for those who are saved. As God forgets about them, so will we. What is important is that we remember them now. Perhaps there is hope that someone will respond to the Gospel and be saved.

The Cup of God’s Wrath

In studying the topic of existence after death in the Bible, we would all much rather focus on Heaven and the New Earth. It is easy to go into complete denial about God’s judgment. But information about God’s judgment is there for a reason. We should know it. In this article, I will focus on just three verses and they are frightening.

Revelation 14:9-11 reads like this:

 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”

Revelation 14:9-11 (ESV)

The context of this passage is the confrontation of the Church with the two beasts of Revelation 13. These “beasts” likely represent a strong demonic presence in a political form and a religious form. When will or did this happen? I think the most reasonable answer is that these beasts exercised their power during the Roman Empire. This doesn’t leave out the possibility that they are something still to be seen in the future. For our purposes, when they exist is irrelevant. The warning is not to receive their “mark”, which is something willingly and knowingly received, shows loyalty to the beast and rejects loyalty to Christ.

God is not soft on those who make such a choice. God’s wrath against such people is poured “full strength” into the cup of His anger. How does this fit into “God is love” and John 3:16? Jesus is given to us out of love and a desire to save people. His death is sufficient to save everyone. Outright rejection of such a heroic and costly act brings God’s wrath in full form. You experience what is known as the “alien” nature of God. God is not normally a wrathful being, but He can be.

When is this wrath revealed? It could be during the lives of the people in question, but it is definitely also a part of Judgment Day for them. While this group may find Judgment Day less tolerable than Judgment Day for others who are not saved, others will definitely also experience an eternal form of God’s wrath for basically the same reason–rejecting Christ.

Do the words of this passage suggest that God sits over these people and takes satisfaction in making them suffer eternally? While it does say that the “smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever”, I reject the idea that God and the angels are observing it or making it happen eternally. In fact, the worst part of being in the final form of Hell (The Lake of Fire) is not the fire but the abandonment by God. It is better to have God actively punishing you than to have Him forsake you. The forsakeness (God completely abandoning you) that Jesus experienced on the cross was Jesus taking the worst punishment of Hell for us.

One last thing to note about this situation is to ponder why “fire and Sulphur” doesn’t consume these people. Some “theologians” have tried to soften the idea of Hell by assuming than you burn up and are gone. That would be nice. The emphasis on the eternal nature of Hell, seems to refute that idea.

The resurrection of the dead is something that happens to all people, including the damned. The nature of the resurrected body may be why they don’t burn up. The resurrected body suffers but remains even in such a harsh environment.

By this passage we are duly warned about God’s alien nature. It is not to be trifled with. Praise God that we can experience only His love. Jesus specifically took on our forsakeness so that we never have to experience it. Thinking about God’s wrath can remain an academic topic for us.

Time and Eternity

I recently stumbled across an article with this title, “Scientists Create a State of Matter that Has Time in Two Dimensions.” In the common experience of our universe everything can be described by three spatial dimensions and the fourth is time. What would be described in that article would certainly bend the mind as most quantum mechanics does. I read only a short distance into the article before giving up. Their observation was that a second dimension of time was “borrowed” from another spatial set of dimensions “that did not exist”. I’m not sure how you arrive at that conclusion.

I share this brief synopsis to introduce the idea that time is not as straight forward as we might think. It seems to be something definitely tied to creation. It does not transcend creation. One fallacy that I have seen in some theological thinking is that we will transcend creation and time at our death. For instance, one common view is that when we die, we move forward directly to Judgment Day because we transcend time. Revelation 6:9-11 puts a hole in that theory:

9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. 10 They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

Revelation 6:9-11 (ESV)

Here people who have been martyred, so they are definitely dead, are asking how long it will take to get to Judgment Day. They are asking a time question. They are told to wait (a time answer). Nobody is transcending anything.

I do believe in the possibility of transcending all time, space, and physical laws. That is what God does. He is the Creator of all of these things and is “outside” of the constrains of time-space. People do not become like God in this regard. This may explain why to God a “day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like a day.”

In the study of our universe, it was theorized and later proved that time changes as you approach the speed of light. From our experience it would seem like time is a constant. Would time remain the same if you moved into a different time-space continuum? This is what I theorize happens when we die. Heaven isn’t a distant part of our universe. It is a parallel universe that does exist. The passage of time there and the passage of time here may not be in lockstep. What would this mean for our experience? I’m not sure. I believe that post-Judgment Day we will have a resurrected body that will be movable from this renewed universe to a renewed Heaven. The Bible hints that we have an eternal inheritance in both. If time doesn’t move the same in both, that might lead to an interesting experience.

The final “time” topic I have is that of the word “eternal” itself. Is eternal a straight-line unending stream of experience? In the description of the new Earth in Isaiah 65 the length of our existence is compared to the lifespan of a tree. It doesn’t seem unending there. This dissonance with later revelations which use the word “eternal”, could be attributed to the limited revelation given to Isaiah who lives before Jesus’ victory.

God certainly had at least the ability to know that Jesus would succeed in His mission to atone for the sins of the world. He might just be not letting on to Isaiah that a place in Heaven was in the future for redeemed humans and that life in the New Earth was more than long but rather eternal. It also might be true that we just don’t know what it is like to transcend time as God does.

While I expect the meaning of “eternal” might be more complex than our minds can comprehend, I think the message is that our existence will be pleasingly unending. We will not return to beginning as some views in Eastern religions suggest.

While eternal joy sounds great, eternal suffering and damnation is another story. The Bible definitely portrays a majority being damned. It does not leave room for a damnation that consumes a being and leaves them non-existent. I suppose a possibility is that the experience of time might be vastly different in the time-space of Hell. This might mitigate the horror in some way.

With our limited experience and our limited revelation, there are more questions than answers. It is a topic that challenges the mind and leaves room for our imagination. We can be certain that whatever we experience, because of Christ, it will be good.

And This Is Eternal Life

When you think about eternal life, what do you imagine it is like? Many of us think of loved ones that went before us. We might think of having new abilities or being in beautiful surroundings. I don’t think that is wrong. But Jesus gives us something to ponder about eternal life.

In Jesus’ “high priestly prayer” He says:

3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

John 17:3 (ESV)

What does this mean? Let’s start with something simple. Eternal life is not the same as eternal existence. We have been created to be eternal creatures. There is nothing that can stop that. Having our bodies fail does not mean we cease to exist. Part of us is temporarily gone, but we continue on. It is more of a move.

The Bible reserves the word “life” for something worth having. Existence in Sheol or the final lake of fire (Hell) is not worth having. Paul even casts a little dispersion on this “life”.

17 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

1 Timothy 6:17-19 (ESV)

Apparently, this life isn’t “truly” life. Paul not only was a conduit of revelation from God, he had an out-of-body experience that he refers to in 2 Corinthians. He speaks from experience. So the best this life has to offer doesn’t quite deserve the title “life”. It is damaged by sin, sinful nature, the curse, and the presence of Satan.

In Revelation 7, the inhabitants of Heaven have a term for this life. Referring to the people now in Heaven, an elder says:

“These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

Revelation 7:14 (ESV)

“Great tribulation” may refer to a specific period of world history or it may refer to it all. At very least, any other time is the usual “tribulation” and not life.

What does it mean to “know God” in this context. God is the source of every good thing. It is not that being with God is doing churchly stuff and being with Satan is having a raucous party with your friends. The ability to enjoy a party comes from God. Friends comes from God. Even alcohol comes from God. This doesn’t provide a reason to abuse it. Being known and not forsaken by God means that God will continue to fill your existence with good things. Many of which you have never conceived.

The second part about knowing “Jesus Christ whom You have sent” has a combination of meanings. Jesus will be a daily part of our existence. We will enjoy a wonderful, face-to-face relationship. But Jesus also is the only way to know the Father. Our connection with Jesus fulfills God’s Law for us and pays for our sinfulness. Without Jesus there will be no “life”.

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

John 14:6 (ESV)

There are many smaller ways to make a person’s life better and we should pursue doing them if we can. Things like providing the basic necessities of living. But the deepest, most important way to give life is to give Jesus. My other blog http://givingchrist.com talks about various aspects of sharing the story and promise of Jesus, and what can stand in the way of real life. May nothing stand in your way, because truly having life is the most important asset we can have.

The Seventh Trumpet

The Book of Revelation gives us many of the pictures we have about life after death. In this article, I want to look at short passage with plenty of content. This is part of a series of revelations that starts with seven seals being broken on a critical scroll, is then followed by seven trumpets sounding, and finally seven incense burners being poured on Earth. These visions are not to be understood as being in chronological order, but rather each set of seven run parallel between the time of Jesus re-entering Heaven and His return to Earth.

The section I will write about today is Revelation 11:15-19:

15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” 16 And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying,

“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
    who is and who was,
for you have taken your great power
    and begun to reign.
18 The nations raged,
    but your wrath came,
    and the time for the dead to be judged,
and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints,
    and those who fear your name,
    both small and great,
and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”

19 Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.

Revelation 11:15-19

The seventh trumpet is sounded in the midst of Judgment Day. Perhaps it is the trumpet spoken of in Matthew 24:31 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16. It marks the transition from the Earth being Satan’s kingdom to it being God’s Kingdom once again. Once this happens there will be no more falling away again, for it says that He will reign forever and ever. “Forever and ever” is a bit redundant, but it emphasizes the point and makes for great music lyrics.

In what sense did God not reign? He is the Almighty. But operating under God’s own laws, Satan had seized control through Adam and Eve and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. That event changed the genetics of creation at a minimum. Now God’s Word will be coded in the flesh of all living things.

The inhabitants of God’s throne room give Him praise, for now Judgment Day will begin. What does it involve?

The list of those being rewarded is curious. First, anyone being rewarded on Judgment Day has to be someone forgiven through the death of Jesus (John 14:6) They are made clean by Jesus’ blood (Revelation 7:14b). Then building on that forgiveness people can have a reward. The list breaks out prophets, saints (literally holy ones, not the Roman Catholic definition of saint) and those who fear God’s name. This would seem to be overlapping categories. The point I would make is that it is a comprehensive description of God’s people, as opposed to Revelation 6 and 20 which only enumerate the martyrs. The reward is some aspect of living in the New Heaven and Earth.

The final bullet is the destroying of the destroyers. Who is this? People have defiled the planet through pagan worship and sin, but they would be included in the judgment of the dead. Judgment Day also brings the final destruction of Satan and the demons that follow him. They have been fundamental in ruining God’s creation for Him. Now they will get theirs.

In the final verse, God’s temple in Heaven is opened. This is to distinguish between the former earthly temple (gone since 70 AD) and the arrangement of the New Jerusalem which will have no temple. Within it is the ark of the Covenant. So it is not in a church in Ethiopia https://nypost.com/2021/02/20/at-least-800-ethiopians-killed-after-defending-ark-of-the-covenant/ , nor is it in a US government warehouse like in Indiana Jones. God’s most holy relic is His. Its unveiling is merely to show that God’s people will have direct access to God.

The Glory I Had with You

In Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer in John 17, Jesus speaks of returning to a “glory I had with you before the world existed”. What would Jesus consider to be glorious? Is it a glory that we will be able to see? Is it something that will be experienced in other ways?

The first thing to note is that “glory” is probably not the same in God’s eyes as in ours. We think in terms of power, praise, pleasure, and authority. I expect that such categories would also be a part of God’s definition. But God would add love to that list.

In His prayer, Jesus asks the Father to glorify Him. This request is focused on what would happen before Jesus ascended back to Heaven. Crucifixion is not glorious. Being forsaken by God is even more inglorious. Being crucified with the purpose of fulfilling God’s Law for others because you love them and honor the Father, that is very glorious. Paying the ultimate price when you didn’t owe it out of love, that is the pinnacle of glorious.

Prior to the crucifixion James and John and their mom went on a glory-seeking mission. Having been enculturated to see glory in terms of praise and power they approached Jesus about sitting on His right and left when He entered into His glory.

20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. 21 And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” 22 Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” 23 He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”

Matthew 20:20-23 (ESV)

James, John and mom definitely were thinking in terms of some sort of throne arrangement. Jesus indicates that this isn’t what you are thinking. His ultimate glory would be on the cross. The thieves to the right and to the left are the ones “chosen” for roles. These are not necessarily coveted positions. None-the-less, James and John would be chosen for the glory of suffering for the Gospel and, in James’s case, martyrdom.

This brings me back to the idea of heavenly glory. Is it all just bright lights, beautiful music and praise? I expect the glory of love will remain a big part of it. Will there be a necessity for sacrificial love in Heaven or the New Earth? Maybe. It will be nothing like the cross and nothing near forsakeness. The need to care for each other, to give to each other is not just limited to a world with sin and the curse in it. We will experience God’s love for us and a love for each other in many ways.

For me, this emphasizes the importance of our current life. Because sin, the curse, and the work of Satan are such influential forces, the need for genuine, sacrificial love is so important. The need and the opportunities abound. This won’t be so in Heaven or the New Earth. Living in a world that incorporates evil is terrible and I want no more of it than I have to take; but I am willing to stay as long as I can be useful and exercise my “glory” which is the love of God working in me.

This point-of-view can also illustrate why Sheol and Gehenna are so bad. Yes, the description of fire and maggots is mortifying. But the absence of the glory of God is worse. There is a growing absence of love.

In the one story about Sheol that we have, that of the beggar Lazarus, at least the rich man has compassion on his living siblings. He cares whether they arrive in Sheol. This indicates to me that being forsaken by God has not yet set in. In Gehenna, post-Judgment Day, I don’t expect any hope or unselfishness to be found. It is completely inglorious.

The glory of God, in Jesus’ crucifixion, enables the experience of the broader glory of God in eternal life. We will observe His glory in astounding beauty and power. We will live in the midst of the light of His glory in the New Jerusalem. We will experience and express His glory in a great love for each other. We can get a head start on it now.

That Can Never Perish, Spoil or Fade

When we do funerals at our church, we often start the service with a verse from 1 Peter 1. It reads, in part:

In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

1 Peter 1:3b-5 (NIV)

Keep in mind, that our existence past the grave is not just a simple Heaven or Hell https://wordpress.com/post/afterdeathsite.com/131. The wording of this passage does raise some questions. First, and this may surprise you, this is one of the few passages that suggests that Heaven is a destination for human beings. There is no promise of Heaven in the Old Testament. There is more mention of the resurrection and the New Earth even in the New Testament. This passage suggests that our inheritance is in Heaven. Does it mean that we go there to get it? Does it say that we must wait until Judgment Day to have it?

I conclude that we do go to Heaven upon our death and receive at least part of our “inheritance”. I back that up with a passage in Revelation 7:9 that speaks about the location of the victorious dead:

9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,

Revelation 7:9 (ESV)

They are standing before God’s throne which was shown to be in Heaven to this point in Revelation.

What is the “salvation that is ready to revealed in the last time”? Isn’t this something that happens on the last Day–Judgment Day? I always read it that way. I see it differently now. God’s plan of salvation for human beings was only partially revealed prior to Jesus. They knew about the resurrection of the dead. They might have had an inkling that God would provide a way of forgiveness of sins that was permanent. They didn’t expect to go to God’s throne room. It wasn’t promised.

That didn’t mean that Heaven wasn’t in the plan. Heaven wasn’t officially on the table until Jesus had atoned for sin with His completion of God’s Law, paying the penalty of forsakeness https://wordpress.com/post/afterdeathsite.com/2234, and the casting of Satan out of Heaven (Rev. 12:7f). You could really say that it was contingent on Jesus’ success. But now that Jesus has prevailed, God’s full plan of salvation can be rolled out. It does say “last time”, not last day. Now is the last time, not Judgment Day.

The good news is not only will we have a resurrection of our bodies in perfected form and a New Earth after Judgment Day, but we a have immediate access to Heaven and glorious things within it, because God has “given us new birth”, connecting us to Jesus.

When you think about the best things in life now, they all will perish, spoil or fade. A new car will eventually be a boring old car and then rust. Exciting experiences lose their excitement. Everything declines either physically or in our reaction to it or both. Not the stuff of Heaven.

Relationships remain exciting. Seeing God never gets old. Our adventures remain fresh.

In the mean time, all these will keep. We have a job to do here and a certain amount of time to do it. While here, we remain in a danger zone. In Revelation 7 the inhabitants of Heaven refer to our current world as the Great Tribulation. This is hard to appreciate unless you are in a war zone, are chronically ill, or are trapped in dysfunctional relationships. But even if things are good, they are not Heaven good.

While here we are exposed to sin and the curse. God protects our connection to Christ, but we can still walk away from it.https://wordpress.com/post/givingchrist.com/843 We may suffer quite a bit while here. But God will support us and transform us. God will use us in powerful and unique ways. All of the trouble associated with the Great Tribulation will seem small once we move to our home. The one thing that I expect will fade, will be our memory of our struggle here.