Tuesday, April 10 2007

Awaken To The Light

"Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light"

Everyone that has ever lived will come to see the truth of the Gospel, sooner, or later. Some have awakened from the dead, as in the deadend lives that they were living, sometimes even as supposed "Christians" (see I Did It My Way) when they, by means of the Holy Spirit, came to see the truth, while others will literally rise from the dead at a future time when they will be able to see what they couldn't before.

The Holy Bible plainly describes two major resurrections of all humanity that are coming, the first resurrection at the time of The Return Of Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17), the second resurrection 1,000 years later (Revelation 20:5), after Christ has ruled the earth during the "millennium" along with those of the first resurrection (Revelation 20:6). The time of the two major resurrections is not their only difference, or their most significant difference. Those in the first resurrection will be to spirit life, while those in the second resurrection will be back to physical life, which means that their time of Judgment is also different.

The purpose of each individual's Judgment is to decide whether they will be granted eternal spirit life (only the proven righteous and obedient will be granted spirit life - there will be no more "Satans"), or whether they will be cast, physically, into the lake of fire where they will be completely obliterated to ashes forever (Malachi 4:3, see also Planet On Fire!).

Those of the first resurrection will have made it at that instant, based on the Judgment of how they responded to the Truth during whenever it was in human history that they lived their lives - their Judgment will have been made prior to their resurrection, otherwise they would not be resurrected as spirit. Those of the second resurrection will awaken to physical life, and face their judgment after that time.

The first resurrection at the return of Jesus Christ, to spirit, over whom "the second death has no power" i.e. they can no longer be condemned:

"For this we declare to you by the word of The Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of The Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. For The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God [see also The Feast Of Trumpets]. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air." (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 RSV).

"This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and they shall reign with Him a thousand years." (Revelation 20:5-6 RSV)

The second resurrection 1,000 years after the return of Jesus Christ, in which the Spirit of God will bring them back to physical life:

"The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended." (Revelation 20:5 RSV)

"the bones came together, bone to its bone. And as I looked, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them ... and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet ... And you shall know that I am The Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people" (Ezekiel 37:7-8,10,13 RSV)

The obedient from all times, from both resurrections, will be granted glorious eternal spirit life, while the disobedient from all times (including those who could have been awakened at the first resurrection but weren't because they refused to repent when they had the knowledge and opportunity to do so), will be cast into the lake of fire where they will be completely destroyed forever:

"Then I saw a Great White Throne and Him who sat upon it [see also The Throne Of God, From Heaven To Earth]; from His presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the Throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, by what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead in them, and all were judged by what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire; and if any one's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God [see The City To Come], prepared as a bride adorned for her husband; and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be with them; He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away."

"And He who sat upon the Throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." Also He said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true." (Revelation 20:11-21:5 RSV)

Fact Finder: Who or what is God's "Light"?
See The Light Of Life

Today's Word
The Holy Bible was primarily written in Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic. Today's Word examines the pronunciation and literal meaning of one of those actual words of the Holy Scriptures and how it is usually translated into English-language Bibles.

The Hebrew word pronounced tsed-aw-kaw means right or virtue. It is most often translated for use in English language Bibles as justice.

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This Day In History, April 10

1512: James V of Scotland, who allied his country with France against the English, was born. He became king at the age of 17 months.

1790: The U.S. patent system was established.

1741: Frederick II of Prussia defeated Maria Theresa's forces at Mollwitz and conquered Silesia.

1809: Austria declared war on France.

1814: Napoleon was defeated by the British and Spanish at the Battle of Toulouse. It resulted in his abdication and exile to Elba.

1864: Archduke Maximilian of Austria accepted the throne of Mexico.

1912: The Titanic set off on its first, and only, voyage.

1919: Revolutionary leader Emiliano Zapata was ambushed and killed by government troops in Mexico.

1922: The Genoa Conference opened to discuss the reconstruction of Europe after the First World War.

1932: In Germany, Paul von Hindenburg received 19 million votes in the presidential elections, beating, for the time being, Adolf Hitler's 13 million votes.

1938: In a referendum, 99.75% of Austrians voted for a merger with Germany.

1941: U.S. troops occupied Greenland to prevent German infiltration.

1944: A British mini-submarine entered Bergen harbor in Norway and sank the German ship Barenfels.

1945: The Allies liberated the Nazi concentration camp, Buchenwald. It is estimated that nearly 57,000 people (mostly Jews) were killed in its gas chambers during its 8 year existence.

1947: Jackie Robinson became the first black to play major league baseball when he took the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

1963: The U.S. submarine Thresher sank off Cape Cod in the Atlantic with a loss of 129 lives.

1974: Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir resigned over differences within her Labor Party. She was succeeded by Yitzhak Rabin.

1980: Britain and Spain agreed to reopen the border between Gibraltar and Spain, closed in 1969.