Foundations, Part 7 - Death: Not As Permanent As You Thought

Hebrews 6:1-3 "Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits."

If you've been following along, we've already laid three of these five foundations:
1 - Repentance from Dead Works and Faith Toward God
2 - Baptisms (All three of them)
3 - The Laying on of Hands

All of these foundations concern issues in the here and now. But the next two layers are directly connected to faith in future events. But understanding these two future events, you'll see, will still impact the way you live in the present.

An Actual Event To Come

"Your dead shall live; together with my dead body, they shall arise. Awake and sing you who dwell in dust; for your dew is like the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead." Isaiah 26:19

History is not going to keep marching on forever. Life will not always continue with the status quo. 

No, there is a time coming when everything that's been occurring for 6,000 years will wrap up and be concluded. And the Eternal One (who started it all) has told us everything He has planned out - and what a grand finale it will be!

One part of this epic conclusion of the ages is something that is referred to in Scriptures as "the resurrection." Already - just from the name itself - we can tell two things about this event:

1 - The resurrection is just that...the complete defeat of death! When the resurrection is over, NO ONE will stay dead!

2 - The resurrection is a real thing, not a metaphor. A lot of times, in order to make people feel better during a time of loss, believers tend to speak to their emotions instead of their faith. We end up saying things like, "They may be gone, but they'll live on in our hearts." OR "One day, we'll all go to Heaven to meet them."

But how many people (even believers) can speak of the glorious things to come? 

(If I die before we're caught away,....I want my message titled "Future History" to be made available to everyone who gathers at my funeral - along with this note, "When these things happen, I'll be wherever Jesus is - will I see you there?")

The First Resurrection

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

There are two components to the First Resurrection - both of them described in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 "And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air." The First Resurrection is when dead saints are raised and/or when living saints are raptured.

This passage in 1 Thessalonians is, of course, referring to the catching away of the church. But there are actually seven phases of the First Resurrection listed in the pages of Scripture. Three of these are events in the past. The remaining four will occur in the future.

1. The catching away of Enoch
   Genesis 5:24
2. The catching away of Elijah
   2 Kings 2:11
3. The Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus (along with all the saints who had died before His crucifixion)
   Matthew 27:52-53, Acts 1:9
4. The rapture of the church (along with the resurrection and rapture of the "dead in Christ")
   1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
5. The "departure" of the Mid-Tribulation Multitude
   Revelation 7:14
6. The 144,000 Jewish men welcomed into Heaven
   Revelation 14:1-5
7. The Resurrection of the dead and the gathering of the saints on the final day of the Tribulation
   Revelation 11:11-12, Matthew 24:31

Obviously, there's a lot more details surrounding each of these phases of the First Resurrection.

But for now, it's enough to know that all of these events can effectively be called a "rapture". That is to say, one or more of God's people were either resurrected,  or "caught up" to heaven without dying, or both.

The First Resurrection climaxes with the final "rapture" at the end of the Great Tribulation. In this moment (described earlier in Revelation 20:6), thousands of believers are raised back to life and then caught up in the air to meet Jesus, returning with His army. (This army will include me...and hopefully you as well!)

After a brief battle on earth, all of those who took part in the seven phases of the First Resurrection will rule and reign with Jesus for a thousand years!

The Second Death

"But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished..." Revelation 20:5

"...there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust." Acts 24:15

A thousand years after the First Resurrection is complete - the rest of the dead will be raised to life as well. These people were not godly during their lifetime. They didn't have a part in any of God's covenants, and they rejected His Word in unbelief. This resurrection is called "the Second Death". Why? Because they were raised up only to enter back into eternal death.

Revelation 20:12-15 "And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire."

This is an eternal judgement. It will be final and complete.

Once the resurrection is over - there will be two groups of humans:

    - Those who are entering eternity with God...who have made Jesus Christ their hope.

    - Those who will spend eternity in the Lake of Fire...to be tormented forever.

Right Now Matters

You may think, "That's kind of harsh, isn't it? How could God condemn millions of people to Hell like that - forever? How could He not give them a way back out?"

Let me give you a simple answer...that may not be easy to hear: God HAS given these people a way out! These people weren't doomed by God to spend eternity in the flames; they were doomed by their own decisions. 

God, in His mercy, has written these things thousands of years before they take place. He's made this warning available to anyone who will pay attention. And specifically....He's letting you know right now! He doesn't want this to happen. He said He made this as a place for the punishment of demons, not people. But anyone who would reject His word is actually deciding to take the Devil's side....and thus, to receive the same eternal destination

Death is only temporary....but eternity is a long time! And friends, there are only two ways eternity can turn out for you. Your destination then depends on your decision now.