The Doctrine of Resurrection

      Rev. 20:11-15 likewise fasts forward to the end of the last Day to summarize what happens to all the rest of the people left on the earth. You may have heard this final event in God’s prophetic plan of redemption called the great white throne judgment.
       Verse 11 makes it sound as if the earth and heavenlies above it disappear, and no place was found for them. But this will be explained in the next chapter and post. It has to do with Jesus, the Son of Man, turning over the earthly kingdom to God. The Creator then makes the earth and the heavens new again, restoring them back to their original design. Adam and Eve’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden brought sin into God’s created world—a world He had declared good. That sin then brought decay, destruction, and death into this world.
       Thankfully, Scripture reminds us that “The first man Adam became a living being. The last Adam [Jesus Christ] became a life-giving spirit” (1 Cor. 15:45). Just as death came through one man (Adam), resurrection shall come through one Man, Jesus Christ. This is why the only criterion for judgment is whether or not a person has accepted Jesus, the One who makes reconciliation with God and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit possible.
            To understand the rest of the summary concerning the end, we need to understand the elementary or first principles of resurrection and judgment (Heb. 6:1-2). It is interesting that we hear sermons about repentance, grace, faith, baptisms, and healing. But how often have you heard a series on the resurrection of the dead or of eternal judgment?
            It is likewise interesting that all but the last two principles listed in the passage have been restored to the Church throughout its history. So as God’s prophetic plan of redemption winds down, it is time that we understand these two terms.
         First, we need to distinguish between being raised from the dead as Lazarus was, back to a mortal body, only to die again, and Jesus being raised from the dead, having received an immortal body that shall never die again. The latter is resurrection, which is also called “being born from the dead.” Jesus defined it in Rev. 1:18. “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore.”
           End-Time Lesson: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live (John 5:24-25). It is a reality now because Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father in Heaven and shall come again and take us back with Him to reign over the earth from Heaven.
            When Jesus says that believers “shall not come into judgment,” He means they won’t be condemned. All people will be judged based on whether or not they have received salvation through Christ. Those who believed in Jesus before His second coming at the rapture, were immediately judged as being “in Christ.” They then appear before the bema seat, the throne of Jesus, to receive their ruling rewards as described in the parable of the talents.
          When Jesus says “the hour is coming, and now is,” He is referring to the last Days, the latter part of God’s prophetic great week, which corresponds to the New Covenant. Jesus explained that there are two types of resurrection. Each type is based on what we have chosen—the same two choices seen in the Garden of Eden.  That is, life in Jesus as the Savior of the world or the knowledge of good and evil, apart from God. Those who have accepted Jesus as their Savior receive the resurrection of life. Those who have not, receive the resurrection of condemnation (Jn. 5:29). John 3:17 reminds us that Jesus did not come into the world to condemn it but to save it. Our choices determine our fate. “By your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Mt. 12:37).