Video Transcript: Lesson 11 Exploring Further

Hi, welcome to Christian basics exploring further in less than 11 on what the Bible says about  the future. The material is written by Dr. Ed Roels and I'm David Feddes presenting those  thoughts and adding some of my own question one, almost 2000 years have passed since  Jesus ascended to heaven. Why is Jesus taking so long to return to Earth? The Lord may  have many reasons for waiting, including some reasons he hasn't told us. The Bible tells us to keep at least two things in mind First, what seems like a long time to us is almost nothing to  the eternal God to him. 1000 years are like a day. Second, God is not slow, but patient by  waiting. He gives more time for the gospel to spread, and more time for people to repent. All  of that made clear in II Peter 3:8-9. Question two, will believers get a glorious new body  immediately after they die? If so, will this body be different from the body believers will receive at the time of the resurrection? Many believers seem to have the impression that a Christian  who dies will immediately receive a glorious new body, like Christ's resurrection body. The  Bible, however, does not teach that believers will not receive the body described in I  Corinthians 15, or Philippians 3 until Christ returns and the dead in Christ shall arise. Until  that time, our souls exist in the presence of Christ in glory. But the Bible does not say that we  will have a body during the time between death and final resurrection. Rather, II Corinthians  5:8 seems to indicate that we will not have a body during that time that will be away from the  body and at home with the Lord. The book of Revelation does refer to believers during the  time between their death and the time of resurrection, that much of the language in this book  is figurative, rather than literal. For example, the picture of Christ presented in Revelation one  has a sword coming out of his mouth and, and other such things which are surely not literal.  We read in Revelation 6:9-11, about the souls of martyrs who have been killed for Christ's  sake, these souls described as being under the altar, were given white robes to where there is no reference in this passage to any kind of bodies which believers have at that point. For  those of us who live on Earth in our physical bodies, it's difficult to understand how souls can  be seen or how they can wear robes. Most believers their most readers, therefore understand this language to be figurative rather than literal. Although it's hard for us to understand what  our life with Christ will be like during the interim period, between death and resurrection. The  Bible does clearly teach that believers souls or also called spirits will be with Christ, and will  not receive their immortal glorious spiritual bodies, until the time of the final resurrection is  sometimes called the intermediate state. The time between death and resurrection the soul or spirit goes to be with the Lord in a manner that's hard for us to picture imagine, and for a  while, that spirit is without a physical body. Question three, Will everyone receive a new body  of some kind at the time of the resurrection? Yes, since everyone will arise from the dead at  the time of Christ's return, everyone will receive a new post resurrection body. The new  bodies of believers will be glorious, immortal, and spiritual. The new bodies of unbelievers will be subject to suffering and pain, and will in no way be glorious. However, since the Bible does not describe the post resurrection bodies of unbelievers in any detail, it would seem best not  to speculate too much on what these bodies will be like. There is much we will not fully  understand until the time when Christ returns. Question four, what does it mean that believers will receive a spiritual body when Christ returns? The apostle Paul uses that phrase in I  Corinthians 13, or I Corinthians 15. It's raised a spiritual body. When Jesus arose from the  grave, it clearly was the natural physical body of Jesus which arose, it wasn't just a spirit, his  friends could touch him. He ate fish and bread with them. And so it was definitely a very real  physical body. Now, before his resurrection, the body of Jesus was lying lifeless and immobile in the tomb. After he arose, Jesus body was no longer there in some miraculous way. The  body of Jesus Jesus had been transformed by the power of God into a glorious new body, it  was still physical in the sense that it could be seen and identified as the body of Jesus. But  there were some wonderful new dimensions to that body. It was not restricted or limited in the 

way our present bodies are Jesus could appear and then disappear at will, he could be in a  room where the doors were locked and suddenly be there with His disciples. And then he  could suddenly go away and be away from them, and out of their sight. When he was with two disciples at the village of Emmaus, he broke bread with them. And just at the moment, he was breaking the bread, they recognized him. And at that very moment, he was gone, after he had been walking with them and talking with them and explaining the scriptures to them. So he  had this capacity with his body to just go and then be somewhere else. He was no longer  subject to tiredness, hunger, thirst, disease, suffering or death, Jesus was still able to enjoy  some of the things which we presently enjoy, because we're physical beings, but he was  essentially a spiritual being just totally pervaded by the Holy Spirit of God, and His body, not  limited by anything that was not dominated by the eternal spirit, if you will, not limited, not  mortal, and in no way affected by sin, or any of the result of sin. Of course, Jesus never did  sin, but his body was affected by the result of sin because it was vulnerable to death. Now,  having risen, he's no longer vulnerable to the results of being sinned against or having a body that can be killed. So though, in some ways, it was a physical body, it was also much more  than that. And so it will be with our own spiritual bodies after our resurrection, those bodies  will still have physical characteristics, they'll still be real bodies. But there'll be much more  than what we know as physical today. They will never suffer from sickness or disease or  weakness or death. And they will be far more wonderful than anything we've ever known on  Earth. We may have the capacity as Jesus did, to walk on water, or to fly or to do other things  with our body. But the fact that it's a spiritual body may mean above all for us that the spirit  rules the body. Right now, there are some people whose bodily cravings are not ruled by their  spirit. And so they're prone to gluttony, or even some believers can't restrain their sexual  urges as they aren't. And so they're driven by those, and some have a very hard time, partly  for physical factors, leaving alcohol alone, for the spirit to rule the body. Now, a spiritual body  may mean among other things, that the Holy Spirit of the Living God is so controlling our spirit that never does our body, disobey our soul or spirit and in the new creation, the body will be  perfectly tuned to our perfect spiritual being. Question five, are we able to determine exactly  when Jesus will return? Are we able to determine the approximate time when Jesus will  return? Already in New Testament times, there were people who were very confident that  Jesus would return in their lifetime. One of the reasons for that is that many believers are very eager to have Christ's return. And other reason is that some of the signs given in the Bible  concerning the return of Christ can be interpreted in such a way that in any age, they prove  that Christ will return very soon. However, it's very unwise to make a prediction as many have  done, that Christ will come at a specific time we simply do not know exactly when Jesus will  return. At the same time, the Bible does give us a number of signs that will precede the  coming of Christ, so that we may look expectantly for his return. Some of those signs are an  increase in wars, rumors of wars, natural disasters, persecution, persecutions, false  teachings, and wickedness in Thessalonians. And in Revelation, we hear of the man of sin or  sometimes called the beast or Antichrist. And it seems that a very powerful and deceptive  figure may come who is an ultimate deceiver, before the end of the world and before Christ's  return. There's also a phenomenal increase in knowledge and information. Some believers  see this as a fulfillment of Daniel 12:4, which speaks of the increase of knowledge. These  signs are certainly all present today, but they've also been present in one place or another to  one degree or another in almost every other generation as well. Some believers therefore  focus on what they consider to be a unique sign the establishment of Israel in 1948 as an  independent nation, and the significant role that the tiny nation of Israel continues to play in  our contemporary world. Matthew 24:14 points to one additional sign, which is truly very  special. Here we read this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in whole world as a 

testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Today the gospel is reaching the world in  a way that has never happened before. With modern technology information can be spread  much more quickly and much more widely. Many believers are using this new technology to  translate the Bible, distribute the Bible, and make the gospel message available through  modern telephone technology, the internet, radio, TV, audio scriptures and in various other  creative ways. Those of you watching this are probably watching it on a computer, or a  telephone device or a tablet or a pad. And there are so many ways to communicate  nowadays. And some of us are using it to communicate the gospel of Jesus Christ, and  people throughout the world are getting more and more access to that gospel. We can't say  exactly when Christ will return, but the very least believers should be alert, expectant, diligent, and eager to share the gospel of Jesus with those people who have not yet heard it. Question six, how should we as Christians live as we wait for Jesus to return to Earth? We should be  humble, wise, holy, faithful, loving, and thoughtful. We should also eagerly be looking forward  to the return of Christ while making the best possible use of our time, energy resources. And  all that the Lord has entrusted to us were to be stewards of what God has given us now,  expecting Jesus return is not an excuse to drop everything and sit around. It's a reason to  work all the harder, and make all the more of the energy and resources we have for God's  glory. Right now. We should stay away from anything and everything that would dishonor  Christ, that would lead others astray or cause us to put our roots too deeply into the things of  this world, while neglecting the things of the kingdom of God. Remember, Jesus warned, in  his parable, the soils that there's certain kinds of soil where the cares of this world and the  pleasures of this world choke out the word. And so we can get too attached to our present life  and not be looking forward to the coming of Jesus and to his new creation. All of us should  continue to live faithfully, wisely and expectantly. As we eagerly look forward to the coming of  Jesus. Question seven Christians have different views of the millennium, the 1000 year reign  of Christ described in Revelation 20. What are some of those differences? How important are  those differences? And what's your view of the millennium? Well, there are basically three  different views of the millennium called amillennialism premillennialism. And post  millennialism. Amillennialism teaches that the 1000 years are not to be taken literally, any  more than some of the other things in the book of Revelation are, for example, in that  passage about the Millennium in Revelation 20, Satan is referred to as a dragon and a  serpent that is bound with a chain. Even though Satan is a spirit being which cannot be bound with material things. He's thrown into a pit. Those spirit beings are normally not thrown, he is  put in a pit without a bottom and the pit is locked and sealed. All of these things as well as the  1000 years are considered to be symbolic and are therefore not taken. Literally, there's a real  Satan, but he's not a literal snake, or having a literal chain on him as we understand chains.  According to the amillennial interpretation, Satan is bound or limited by God's power after  Christ's resurrection and ascension, so that he's now limited in what he's able to do remember Jesus saying, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven, or Jesus saying, a strong man  needs to be bow overpowered and bound. And he was speaking of his own coming and the  binding of the demons. And then he said, The reign of God of the kingdom of God is upon  you. So amillennialist believe that Christ is reigning now in his resurrection and ascension,  and that Satan is very limited now. And that Christ is able to advance his cause. The good  news of the gospel will be preached in the whole world and Satan will not be able to prevent  it. There will come a brief time, however, when Satan will again have great power and will  strongly oppose the church. But as Jesus taught in Matthew 16:18, the powers of evil will not  be able to prevail against his church, so many who are amillennialist believe that there is  coming at the near the end of time, and antichrist and we're Satan's power will grow much  greater for a time but then Christ will still preserve his church and then we'll come again and 

defeat all of those Wicked Powers. Premillennialism teaches that the 1000 year period as as  well as the binding of Satan in a bottomless pit and the other things mentioned in Revelation  20:1-5 are to be understood literally, Jesus will return to Earth on this view before or pre the  1000 years referred to the Millennium will be a period of great peace throughout the world, a  

time when righteousness will rule over the entire Earth, with Jesus himself serving as king  over the world, from His throne in Jerusalem. At the end of the 1000 years on this view, Satan will be released from the pit and will again have the power to deceive multitudes of people  who have banded together to oppose Jesus and His people. However, Satan will be defeated  and destroyed. Jesus will then reign forever with his people in glory, while Satan and his  followers will exist forever in the place of punishment, prepared for them. There are various  versions of the premillennial position, but the explanation presented here is a basic  component of each of them. Post millennialism teaches that before Jesus returns to Earth, the church will grow tremendously throughout the world and Satan will not be able to stop it. In  fact, the growth of the church will be so great that the teachings of Jesus and His kingdom will in some measure dominate most of the world. This period of phenomenal growth is referred to figuratively as the millennium, Jesus will return to Earth after or post the millennium, when he  returns, all people who have died will be resurrected, there will then be a final judgment of all  the people who have ever lived, resulting in eternal glory for the saved and eternal loss for  those who are not saved. Now, the differences among these positions are significant. But  almost all Christians are in agreement that Jesus will return to the earth. All those who have  left who have died will be resurrected, all those who have ever lived will be judged. Christ and His people will live forever and indescribable glory, and those who are not saved will be  banished forever, from the joy and glory of the saved. Although Christians differ about the  millennium, we must not emphasize the differences so strongly that we fail to recognize the  great truths on which we agree, Jesus wins, Satan loses Jesus is coming again. He has a  glorious new creation. These are things that we all agree on. And we may have some difficulty as to exactly how to understand Revelation Chapter 20, or some other things related to the  very end of history. But let us not overlook what we agree upon. Question Eight. How do you  understand the final judgment the Bible refers to will people will not know until the final  judgment whether or not they're saved. The Bible refers to a future judgment in various  passages. The judgment referred to in these passages is a judgment of our works. John 5:24, clearly teaches that if we truly believe in Jesus, we have eternal life, and will not be  condemned in John's first letter. I John 5:13, he says, I write these things to you who believe  in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life, so we truly  can know that we have eternal life. We read in John 5:28-29, that those who have done evil in their lives will be condemned. This passage teaches that a person's life will reveal whether or  not he's truly a child of God. Those who persistently do evil demonstrate that they were never  truly born again. At the same time, we should also recognize that a person can be truly saved  and still live in a way that is mostly not productive for the kingdom of God. I Corinthians 3  talks about being careful, even as a believer how you build in the kind of materials you use to  build your life with because it'll be tested with fire. And whatever is not of God will be burned  up. So the things of your life and the accomplishments that you pursued, that were not of God will all be burned out. But it says, Now, these people if they were true, believers will still be  saved, but as through fire, like somebody who managed to get out of a house that was set on  fire and had to hurry out and leave almost everything behind. In other words, most of their life  really was a waste. Even though they were saved, these people will not be lost, but on the  day of judgment, they will discover that very little they have done with their lives is worthy of  any reward from the Lord. When we sincerely repent of our sins and put our trust in Jesus to  save us, we can know with certainty, that we have eternal life. We do not have to wait until 

Judgment Day to find out whether or not we are saved. However, we will have to wait until  that day to learn how God has judged the way we've lived in some situations. People who  thought they were saved were never truly born again. And even those who were saved, we'll  find out that some of the stuff they were proud of God wasn't all that impressed by, and some  other things that maybe they were barely ekeing along, they'll find out that they were really  doing very well and it was God's Spirit working through them. in God's sight, their actions of  unbelievers, reveal the absence of true saving faith in their lives and they will suffer and  eternal loss. Question Nine will unbelievers have a second chance to believe in Jesus after  He returns? Hebrews 9:27, would appear to indicate that the answer to that question is  definitely no, this passage says that it is appointed for a man to die once and after that comes judgment. This interpretation would seem to be confirmed by Matthew 25, and by II  Corinthians 5 passages about the judgment, and once they are sent away either to glory or to  damnation, there is no second chance. However, some of those who teach a pre millennial  interpretation of Revelation 20 suggests that non believers who are living on earth at the time  of Christ's return will have a second opportunity to commit their lives to Christ during the  millennial period, or to some who believe in a certain kind of rapture where people disappear  from the earth and then unbelievers are left behind for a period of tribulation, and then during  that tribulation, they may have a chance to be saved. Again, there are certain views that some Christians hold where it does seem that after Jesus come, people will get a second chance.  But neither Revelation 20 nor any other passage in the Bible explicitly teaches that  unbelievers will be given a second chance to believe in Jesus as II Corinthians 6:2 teaches  Behold, now is the favorable time. The whole now is the day of salvation. I think it's unwise to  teach that people might get a second chance even after Jesus comes again, very often, that  seems to run contrary to what the Bible says that when Christ comes again, the wicked will be just looking for caves to hide in and and they will have no more chance. And so, let us not  offer hope, where the Bible does not. Question 10 What will life be like in the new heaven and the new earth? In Revelation 21, there are some references to streets of gold foundations of  precious stones and gates of pearl. In Revelation 22, we read some fascinating things about  the river of life, which flows from the throne of God and the tree of life. We also read about the throne of God and the the lamb and are reigning with our Savior forever and ever. However,  neither Revelation 21 or 22, tell us very much about daily living in our new home. Besides,  many people believe that the statements in Revelation may be more figurative, the literal,  we're not sure that the pictures of the city and that vision and the streets of gold and what the  gates are made of are, are literal or whether they're pointing to something even greater that  goes beyond anything that we can even envision. We may be sure, however, that in our  eternal home, there will be no more suffering, no more sorrow, no more pain, disappointments and frustrations will no longer exist. No pure desire will be unmet, no longing will be  unfulfilled. There will be no separation from loved ones, no more death, no more failures, no  sin. No night, Heaven will be a place to rejoice, to relish the Lord and His creation. It'll be a  place to succeed, where every task the Lord gives us in reigning over his creation, and  exploring and discovering fresh things, we will succeed in every one of those tasks, and  rejoice in every one of those discoveries. It'll be a place of love, where the love is perfect,  where there's no more misunderstanding, no more bickering, no more division, even among  people who love one another, but instead, perfect understanding, perfect love. On the positive side, we are confident that our future life with Jesus will be far more glorious and wonderful  than anything we have ever experienced on Earth. We anticipate unending joy and fellowship  with our Lord and Savior, meaningful activities that will always provide satisfaction and  pleasure, new discoveries, which we cannot presently imagine, we may just be exploring  various aspects about that new world and, like scientists do now only more successfully, we 

may be able to explore far galaxies that the Lord creates, we will certainly explore and  discover more and more of our Lord Himself. So new discoveries that we cannot presently  imagine fellowship with other believers from around the world, interaction with splendid  angels, and times of glory and blessing that will be richer than anything we have ever known  on Earth. Perhaps the Bible doesn't give us many details about our future life since the glory  and wonder of living in the new heaven and the new earth is so far beyond anything we can  imagine that no ordinary words can describe it. The Bible says, No eye has seen no hears  heard, no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him. But what's the  very next verse? It says, God has revealed it to us by His Spirit. So what we may not fully  understand by simply the pictures of great wealth, or great beauty or great wonder in heaven,  with the Spirit gives us some of those hands. But above all, the Holy Spirit himself is God's  downpayment on heaven. Right now, we begin to taste fellowship with God. Right now we  begin to see at least glimpses of who Jesus is and of His glory. And the apostle says, we see  only darkly or dimly, but then we shall see face to face. So the spirit has begun to give us just  a sense and a taste of fellowship with God, a sense of being loved and accepted by him at a  relationship with God, where we know that we belong to him, and that is the essence of  Heaven itself. Already, Heaven has come down to earth, in our hearts, by the Holy Spirit. But  of course, when heaven comes in all of its fullness, and the whole creation is made new, then  we won't see just darkly but perfectly, then we will have not just the downpayment of the Holy  Spirit, but the fullness of the Holy Spirit, then not just a few droplets from the river of life, but  the whole flood