"Then
said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and
foot, and take him away, and cast (eject) him into
outer darkness; there
shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. KJV
I was thinking of something I told my
daughter a couple of years before she died... We were talking about what happens to people when they die.
I told her it is like "jumping from one world to the next."
The Bible says that the "dead know not anything." So, that literally it would feel like closing your eyes and
only a split
second later you would be in a different world, even though in
reality, the time between the two could be 1000 years or more.
Little did I know that she would die in a car accident a couple
of years later. But I well remember that conversation.
The truth is, whether we die by growing
old, or due to an accident, or we perish from a fatal disease,
it is not over for us. We will all have to depart this world eventually. This
world seems like a permanent place, but it is far from it. In effect, we
can jump ship out of this world into
God's realm through a resurrection. A resurrection is like
a door or a gate into a different world, into a different time.
Christ in the New Testament spoke of the judgment, it is not a
mass condemnation, it is a time when men's eyes are opened and
they receive God's spirit, and they have a chance to learn to
live God's way. Many in this world have never even heard
the name of Jesus, many die as babies, are they condemned?
No, of course not. In the last part of the book of
Revelation we read of the Great White Throne judgment.
CHRIST SPOKE OF THE GREAT WHITE THRONE
JUDGMENT...
"The men of Nineveh will stand up with this
generation
at the judgment,
and will
condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of
Jonah; and behold, something greater
than Jonah is here. "The
Queen of the South will rise up with this generation at the
judgment and
will condemn it, because she came from the
ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon;
and behold, something greater than Solomon
is here.
The Great White
Throne Judgment is when all of mankind, small and great come up
all together in a massive resurrection after the millennium. The
books (Biblios, the Bible) are opened to them and they will be
judged (evaluated) out of the things written in the book.
In other words, they will have a real chance, a life where they
will be taught God's ways, and at the end of it, the book of
life will be opened to them and they will have a chance to
receive eternal life. But, there will be some who will
fully and knowingly reject God all the way. Not too many,
but what happens to them?
UNDERSTANDING OUTER DARKNESS....
The earth changes
constantly. It is not at all like it was 1 million years ago.
And, this earth in time will grow old and God will roll it up like an old discarded
housecoat. He will change the heavens and the earth up,
just like you would change your shirt.
"You will roll them up like a robe; like a
garment they will be changed."
Scientists and astronomers are well aware
that in time, even our sun will eventually explode and swallow up
the earth.
Hebrews 1:10-14 explains
the temporary nature of the earth and the heavens.
"In the beginning, O
Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are
the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they
will all wear out like a garment. You will roll them up like a
robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the
same, and your years will never end."
NIV
This is a
difficult concept for human beings. This exact world as we
know it is very old and it seems that it will be eternal, but it
is not. It will someday be dark and lifeless...the earth will perish
as we know it. But,
God will remain, and the people who accept God and learn His
ways will live forever. The earth will wear
out like an old pair of jeans... It will be a place of
desolate darkness...it will become the "outer
darkness" that Jesus spoke of. A lifeless dark world where
only the eternally
dead abide.
Matt 22:13 says, "Then
said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take
him away, and cast (eject) him into outer darkness; there
shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Because of this phrase, "cast him into
outer darkness", some teach that those cast into outer darkness
will be cast into outer space, but that is not what the word
darkness means...it simply means "shade, it means "a shadow...darkness"---but
it does not
mean outer space. This same Greek word which is translated
darkness, is also translated shadow in the example where Peter's
shadow passed over some people waiting to be healed. So
evidently, it is certainly not talking about casting someone
into space.
The word "outer" here means exterior,
like the exterior of a house. ...ON THE OUTSIDE. Can one be on the outside of what God is doing?
Yes they can. What does this mean? To find the
answer to that. (So we can avoid doing it.) We first have to
understand the concept of resurrections. Through a
resurrection, we can be moved into another realm...to the inner
realm of God, converted people will become eternal beings in the
first resurrection, which comes at the return of Christ and they
will rule the earth for a 1000 years with Christ. But, for the
unconverted, in other words, those who do not have the spirit of
God, they will come up as a physical human being in
their resurrection, they will receive a last chance to go into
the God
realm. If they are obedient, they will receive eternal
life, they will not rule with Christ, but they will live
forever.
The word resurrection is mentioned 41
times in the New Testament. It is important to understand
this concept. It is a foundational teaching of Christ,
listed in Hebrews 6. It was the teaching of the early church
that was rejected and hated the most. The early
Christians were killed for this belief,
thrown in jail, and beaten. It is for teaching about the
resurrection of the dead that Paul was arrested. He said
in court, "Touching the
resurrection of the dead I am called in question by you this
day." Acts 24:21
KJV
Acts 4:1-3 says that this hot
button issue, was what got the disciples thrown in jail. "And as they (the
disciples) spoke to the people, the priests, and the captain of
the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, Being grieved
that they taught the people,
and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead.
And they laid hands on them, and put them
in hold (jail) unto the next day: for it was
now eventide.
The apostle John in the book of
Revelation explains that there are in fact, two resurrections. In
Chapter 20:5-6 he says, "Blessed and holy are those who
have part in the first resurrection. The second death
has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of
Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years."
We already talked about this, but obviously, the
first resurrection is a better one. It is to instant eternal life.
It is for people who have already committed themselves to God's
system
and to Him and His government, they are already on the inside track with
God, and because of that, they will be made into eternal spirit
beings at the return of Christ to rule with him for a 1000
years. (The millennium)
At the return of
Christ, those that have God's Spirit and are converted will come
up in the first resurrection. And, obviously, if there is
a first resurrection, then there has to be a second one.
Revelation 20:12-15 describes the Great White Throne Judgment,
where every human being who has ever lived, small and great will
come up and live again, to learn God's ways, and recieve their
final chance to change their ways, and accept God's ways.
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God;
and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is
the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things
which were written in the books, according to their works.
13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and
death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them:
and they were judged every man according to their works.
14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is
the second death.
15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was
cast into the lake of fire.
God is so loving and so fair. Everyone will be given a
final chance to be
on the inside of God's permanent Kingdom, but the only way to
get there is to go through the natural process of death that all
human beings experience. In the meantime, we live our
human life out the best that we can, we learn a few lessons and
when God is ready, we go to His realm. We literally jump from one world into
the next. But, I'm like everyone else, I'm not in any hurry to
go. I have a lot to learn yet.
For sure, when we die, we will
come up in one of 2 resurrections as spoken of by the Apostle
John in Revelation, and, since the
dead know not anything, when we close our eyes in death, it will
truly seem as if we have jumped from one world into the next---in
a split second...in the twinkling of an eye.
We will all have
our opportunity to experience death, to know nothing, and then
to go through a door, a resurrection and to come up inside of God's
realm. The best way is for a person to choose to live by God's system now,
and
when our natural death comes or Christ returns, we will get
a better deal from God...the first resurrection, and instant
eternal life.
The rest will come up 1000 years later,
after the millennium. In the second resurrection, they
will have a final
opportunity to choose God's better way. The only other alternative is to reject eternal
life and to be cast outside of God's realm into outer darkness,
this is what the second death is about, which simply means to "permanently non-exist." God forbid.
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