This new "creature" is REAL. It is alive. It bears the characteristics of its Father, who is God, and its human life, which is the human spirit inextricably linked to our physical brain.

God does not place His Spirit in mere carnal flesh.

God does not place His Spirit in our kneecaps, or our elbows, or our feet or hands. He places His Spirit in direct union with our human spirit, so that spirit life with Spirit life becomes a new, never-before spirit life!

Scientists know the human brain is divided into various segments, and that each performs different functions. We are all familiar with the fact that a blow on the head may produce memory loss, yet fail to impair any of the other functions of the brain.

They know that the process of thought—the ability of our minds to ponder, philosophize, imagine, wonder, contemplate, create, and decide—is in the frontal lobes, behind our eyes and forehead.

It is in this portion of our brain that the character resides; the ability to feel remorse, sadness, happiness, joy, shame, chagrin, anger, jealousy, lust, greed; the ability to repent, and feel sorrow over wrongdoing; the ability to think, plan, and reason. Our personality, aside from our ability to see, hear, walk, and talk, is controlled by these frontal lobes.

God's Holy Spirit does not affect our memory, or improve our athletic ability, or improve our hearing or eyesight. It unites with our human spirit to change our character, our very deepest and innermost psyche, our personality!

You and I did not get here by only one life, which begat non-living tissue! No, it required two lives, united together, to produce our one physical life. So it is with God's process of begetting children.

Now, notice the truth about this "new creature" which is begotten within the human mind. Paul wrote:

"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts [the "heart" spoken of in the Bible always means the character; the ability of our minds to think, reason, and to feel remorse] , to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us" (2 Corinthians 4:6, 7 ).

What is your most precious possession?

We deeply pity those who lost one, or two, or even all four limbs through an accident or in war. It is important we understand this. One may say, "I lost my arm." It was my arm; it belonged to me. It was part of my body, but it was not me. I am still here. I did not think, plan, reason, feel, or repent with my arm.

A person may say, "I lost both my legs in Vietnam." Perhaps he now moves about on prosthetic legs, and with canes, or crutches. But he is still here!

Carried to perhaps an ultimate, ridiculous conclusion, the human body is capable of losing all four limbs, several vital organs, eyesight and hearing, capable of being reduced to a piteous trunk of a body, yet the individual is still alive; the personality is intact; the conscious, thinking person is still there.

Paul said we have "this TREASURE," this priceless, precious, wondrous gift of eternal life, of salvation in "earthen vessels." We, our human bodies and minds, are the "earthen vessels." We are like clay pots, which contain something incalculably precious.

Paul continued:

"For which cause we faint not, but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man [the new creature in Christ; a newly-begotten spirit being] is renewed day by day. For our light affliction [tests and trials of life], which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. For while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:7-18 , excerpted).

The New Creature in Christ Dwells in a Temporary Body

Paul continued:

"For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" (2 Corinthians 5:1 ).

Notice the language. It is "our earthly house," but it is not "us." "We" dwell in this "earthly house," meaning our fragile, temporal human bodies. While our bodies are very much a part of us, they are not "us." We dwell inside our bodies, in the frontal lobes of our brains. The new creature in Christ is, in a sense, living in the host body, our physical "earthly house," our temporary, physical, chemical existence.

But the "house not made with hands" is a new, spiritual body, created of God, to be inherited at the resurrection, or at the time of the instantaneous change (1 Corinthians 15:50-52 ).

Notice what God says about this new body:

"But some man will say, How are the dead raised up?' and `With what body do they come?" (1 Corinthians 15:35 ).

Here, Paul anticipates many of our questions: "What if someone is buried at sea and eaten of sharks? What about cremation? What if someone is burnt up in a fire? What about those who are disintegrated in explosions or airplane crashes?"

God answers:

"Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened [renewed to life], except it die. And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased Him, and to every seed its own body . . . " (1 Corinthians 15:36-38 ).

Consider a single kernel of corn. When planted in the soil, the tiny germ that contains the microscopic design of the corn plant is fertilized by the decaying endosperm, which is made up of soft starch and hard starch. The germ begins to sprout, feeding on the starchy endosperm. A root appears, then more. Then, a sprout pushes aside the soil, and reaches for the sun. Eventually, the tiny germ grows into a stalk, perhaps as much as eight feet tall, producing two, three, four or more ears of corn. Each ear may have many hundreds of corn kernels.

The single kernel, planted in the soil, has now produced thousands of new kernels. These are new wealth. They have never existed before, and will never exist again.

In the cycle of life in plants, as in humans, each new living thing is new wealth from the soil; a first time ever, never to be again, living entity.

As the glorious eight-foot tall cornstalk, with perhaps four big yellow ears of corn containing hundreds of kernels each bears little resemblance to the tiny germ in a dying corn kernel, so it is that our decaying (or burnt, or disintegrated) human bodies will be incomparable to the glorious spiritual body which God will give us.

Notice:

"All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one [the glory of the stars and planets], and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory [in brightness, size, and beauty]. So also is the resurrection of the dead" ( 1 Corinthians 15:35-42).

Obviously, in the Kingdom of God, there will be spiritual beings of different glory, different splendor, brightness, and different responsibility.

This fits in exactly with Jesus' parables of the talents and pounds, where each person is given reward according to His own accomplishments. One is given rulership over ten cities, another over five ( Luke 19:11-27). See also 1 Corinthians 3:9-15, where a clear distinction is made between salvation, as God's free, loving gift, and "work," which results in various degrees of reward.

This helps us understand the difference between reward, which has to do with the degree of overcoming according to our natural individual abilities and God's help through the Holy Spirit, and salvation, which is the loving free gift of God, and has nothing to do with reward.

Reward is "according to their works," while salvation is free, the gift of God. As the stars differ, so will newly-born spirit beings differ in splendor and glory, and in degrees of responsibility, in God's Kingdom.

God clearly shows that David will be king over all Israel, while each of the twelve apostles (Matthias replacing Judas) will be lesser kings, under David, but judging the twelve tribes.

Paul continues:

"It [the human earthen vessel, or fleshly body] is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body" ( I Corinthians 15:42-44).

There is simply no question about the dogmatic, plain, obvious assertion of fact in these scriptures! There is a natural body; that is you and I, our physical bodies in this life. And there is a spiritual body, which is the spirit life, the new creation of SPIRIT which shall inherit God's Kingdom.

"And so it is written, the first man Adam was made a living soul [Greek: psuche, the same as the Hebrew nephesh, meaning "creature," or "living being"]; the last Adam [Christ] was made a quickening Spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth [physical, mortal, temporary, made of flesh], earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy" (1 Corinthians 15:45-47 ).

You and I are like carbon copies of our parents. We are fleshly, like them. We bear their characteristics. We are composed of the same materials. We have many of their proclivities, talents, and abilities.

Now, notice!

"And as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly" ( verse 48).

Is there any remote doubt in your mind about what you just read? This is plainly telling us we will be members of God's own Family, that we will "be like Him"!

John wrote:

"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear [in the resurrection] WE SHALL BE LIKE Him for we shall see Him as He is" (1 John 3:2).

Millions suppose that salvation means "souls" wafting up to "heaven." Millions assume we humans, in the resurrection, will be at a level far below our Father. Perhaps we will be like an old hound dog, who gazes adoringly up into the eyes of His master, then thumps his tail on the floor as he lolls before the fireplace. We will be, they think, on some level like angels, like spiritual drones or automatons.

No, we will be born of God, and we will be "like Him," for we shall "see Him as He is"!

Paul said:

"And as we have borne the image of the earthy [we are made in the image of our physical parents], we shall also bear the image of the heavenly" (1 Corinthians 15:50 ).

Can anything be plainer?

The glory that we are to inherit, the spiritual bodies we are to inherit, will be made in the image of our spiritual Father, and we shall be CHANGED!

Notice:

"Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep [again and again, the Bible characterizes the state of the dead as a deep, profound, consciousless sleep!] , but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed" ( 1 Corinthians 15:50-52).

The "corruptible" body is no more. Instead, God gives each one of His children a new, brilliant, incorruptible, eternal SPIRIT body.

Peter also spoke of the new "creature in Christ" dwelling in a temporary "booth," or "kiosk," or "tabernacle." He wrote:

"Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth. Yea, I think it meet [fitting], as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance" (2 Peter 1:12, 13 ).

Peter knew that he was a new creature in Christ, a begotten son of God, who was only temporarily dwelling in an "earthen vessel," a human, physical body, which he called a tabernacle, which means "temporary dwelling place."

He continued:

"Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shown me" (verse 14 ).

Peter knew the time of his martyrdom was approaching, that he would be killed for the sake of Christ. He had faith, however, to know that it was only like "putting off a garment," or "putting off a tabernacle," it was not the end. Peter himself would survive, though remaining in a deep, profound "sleep" for an indeterminate period of time.

But since "the dead know not anything," the new creature in Christ, the converted son of God that Peter had become, would be completely unaware of the passage of any time!

When he is resurrected at the Second Coming of Christ, it will be to Peter, as to thousands of others, as if it all happened "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye."

He concluded, speaking of his approaching death:

"Moreover I will endeavor that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance" (2 Peter 1:15 ).

Our human bodies are but temporary dwelling places, subject to aging, to injury, sickness, and death. While we are alive in the flesh, we have a "window of opportunity" to repent of sin; to become convicted of having broken God's holy laws; to receive baptism, and the laying on of hands to receive God's Holy Spirit.

When our human spirit is begotten by God's Holy Spirit, a "new creature in Christ" is begotten. It is REAL. It is as real, as absolute, as certain, as factual as your own human existence!

The Reality of Our Spiritual Life

You are real.

How did you get here? By the uniting of your father's life-giving cells with your mother's fertile egg. At the instant of conception, you began! Only a second earlier, and you did not exist! Millions of potential brothers and sisters could have been conceived. They were not. They failed. But you succeeded! You are the result. You are here because two lives came together to produce your one life.

Your parents did not sit down on the couch one day, take out a note pad, and begin drawing up the requirements for a baby.

"Let's see now," your father did not say, "It should be a boy, and we would like it to have blond hair, blue eyes, and ten fingers and ten toes. Oh yes, and eyes, and ears, and all the vital organs…." Your mother did not say, "Oh, I'd rather have a girl—let's make it a girl." They did not then go to the baby bureau downtown, put in their application, and wait for the stork!

Yet, many deceived persons believe, by a casual assumption, that they can inherit the Kingdom of God by just such a nonsensical fashion!

They hear a message about God, about doctrine. Perhaps they come across seeming irrefutable proof that Easter is pagan. So they study, and read, and take notes, and do some research. Little by little, they become convinced, through painstaking study and research, that Easter is indeed pagan.

So they then add that knowledge to their repertoire of truth, their storehouse of belief. Then, they might, with a great deal of skepticism and begrudging reluctance, study for months to prove to themselves that God's Ten Commandments have not been done away, that sin is the breaking of God's laws (1 John 3:4), and that repentance is shame and deep remorse over having been a lawbreaker! Then, they add that bit of truth to their growing storehouse of knowledge.

Eventually, they have amassed a very impressive amount of biblical knowledge. They know a good bit about biblical history, about prophecy, about doctrine.

Sometimes, especially when they come face to face with the seventh-day Sabbath, they become cynical, reluctant, even resentful, of the "new truth" they are learning. Finally, after months, or even years, of "proving" things to themselves, they believe they must accept the things they have learned.

Believe it or not, such people are no more qualified for the Kingdom of God at that point than Satan the devil!

What a shocking statement! Why assert such? Simply because, when it comes to the Bible and doctrine, Satan KNOWS IT ALL!

Satan could quote Scripture to you forwards and backwards! Satan knows all the doctrinal truths of God! But he is in rebellion against God, and will never repent!

You can no more inherit the Kingdom of God by slowly, a step at a time, studying doctrine than you could make out a list, go to the "bureau," and have a baby!

It is only when we repent of sin (Acts 2:38 ), then are baptized, and then receive God's Holy Spirit that we become God's children, begotten of our spiritual Father, a "new creature in Christ"! Once this "new creature in Christ" is begotten within our minds, it is every bit as REAL as you were REAL when you were a developing fetus in your mother's womb!

Just as you were nourished by your mother's bloodstream, so the "new creature in Christ" must be nourished by the Word of God, by Bible studies, by sermons, by studying and reading, by Christian fellowship, and by overcoming hurtful attitudes and non-Christian thoughts.

We must "grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" until the moment when we reach the point of spiritual rebirth!

Jesus said: "Ye must be born again," and showed that the new birth is a spirit birth—being changed from flesh to spirit, from human to divine!

The Third Resurrection

So far, we have seen there are two great categories of human beings who will be involved in the first and second resurrections.

The first resurrection ( Revelation 20:6) is at the moment of Christ's arrival into the clouds above this earth, the moment of Christ's angels catching up living Christians and the resurrected saints ( Matthew 24:31; 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17). This is the resurrection to life, the resurrection of Christ's saints, including the apostles, Abraham and the patriarchs, and all the converted Christians who have lived and died.

For one thousand years, Christ will reign as KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS on earth, with millions of other members of the God Family reigning with Him ( Revelation 2:26; 3:21; 10:5; 20:4; Isaiah 11: entire chapter; Isaiah 2; Micah 4).

The second resurrection is the greatest of all. It occurs after the one thousand years are finished, and is the resurrection to judgment ( Revelation 20:5), when God will allow each individual to live for one hundred years ( Isaiah 65:20).

Since God does not change, the millions who come up in this great resurrection will be judged "out of the Biblios," meaning the Word of God, in the same way God is judging you and me today! God says He "changes not." Therefore, they will be judged out of the revealed Word of God, the Bible, exactly as you and I are being judged.

It is very likely that the vast majority of all these teeming millions will accept God's rulership, believe the truth they will be taught, repent of their sins, and receive salvation!

Does this constitute a "second chance"? Absolutely not! These teeming millions never heard a single word of the gospel; they never heard the name of Jesus Christ. Or, at least, they never heard the true gospel; never truly had a full chance to understand the truth of God and respond to that truth in repentance.

This will be their first chance!

A "chance" for salvation is to hear the gospel preached. Being born in a pagan land, then dying in a few days of cholera, when your entire society has never heard the name of Jesus Christ, is not a chance for salvation!

Do you have loved ones who died, not being converted? They are dead now—completely oblivious to the passing of time. The Bible speaks of them as being in the very deepest sleep—completely unconscious. They are NOT LOST! They are merely dead!

God says: "It is given to men once to die, but after this the judgment."

But there is a third category of humans.

They are the incorrigibly wicked. They are the ones who have consciously rejected God's way of life; have rejected salvation. They are the ones who WILL not repent!

Notice:

"The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished: But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.

"Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord. But these, as natural brute beasts [like predatory animals, devoid of human feeling, like mercy, forgiveness, and compassion], made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not, and shall utterly perish in their own corruption" ( 2 Peter 2:9-12).

To "utterly perish" is to be completely destroyed by fire! Christ warned:

"And fear not them which kill the body [our temporary tabernacle], but are not able to kill the soul [the Greek word is psuche, which means psyche, or mind; innermost being, where the human spirit resides]: but rather fear Him [God the Father] which is able to destroy both soul [psuche] and body [soma] in hell [Gehenna, God's destroying fire]" ( Matthew 10:28).

When the life cells that became you united in the womb of your mother, what happened to the millions of potential brothers and sisters who could have been conceived? They perished. They died. They were never united with a fertile egg; they never became a "new creature."

What happens to each human being who refuses his or her "window of opportunity" for salvation? They perish! Notice:

"For behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Eternal of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name shall the Son of righteousness [Christ] arise with healing in His wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves in the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Eternal of hosts" (Malachi 4:1-3 ).

Now, notice how Peter concluded his statements about the wicked utterly perishing :

"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the Day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation [conduct] and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?" (2 Peter 2:9-12 ).

Many miles beneath our feet, our tectonic plates, with their mountains and valleys, "float" on a vast, seething, white-hot subterranean sea of "magma," or molten rock.

Several times in the past, God has submerged the continents beneath the waters of the earth. River deltas, coral atolls, and ancient seashores demonstrate that the earth experienced not just two continental inundations, but several.

The two of which we can come to know are those mentioned in Genesis 1 and Genesis 6 and 7. When we are ushered upon the scene in ancient history, the earth is completely covered with water, stygian black, with the sun blotted out by a Venusian-like atmosphere. God's first act is to "let there be light," or, to let the light shine upon the earth for the first time in who knows how many thousands, or millions, of years.

Then, He says: "Let the dry land appear." Thus, the continents were raised, with the waters roaring from their surface, gouging out valleys, forming lakes, cutting deep river channels.

But mankind became totally corrupt within about one-sixth of human history, resorting to every perversion, violence, and lawless act. Cannibalism was rampant. Murder was everywhere.

God then destroyed the world with a flood, saving only Noah and His family.

Notice how this ancient flood is used as a type of the coming destruction of the world by fire: "Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation."

These scoffers argue that all events, such as droughts, famines, wars, earthquakes, and the like are but "cyclical." They sneer at God's prophecies; they ridicule His servants. They say it is only a repetitious cycle, that all things continue as they always were.

But God says:

"For this they WILLINGLY ARE IGNORANT OF, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was [from Adam to Noah], being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth which are now [in the day in which you and I live] by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men" (2 Peter 3:5-7 )

. Notice that these verses precede the ones you read above, concerning the elements melting with fervent heat, and the whole earth being destroyed with fire.

Will God simply submerge the continents beneath the molten magma within the earth? It matters not how He accomplishes it, but, at the end of the human family on earth, and at the beginning of the next phase of God's creation, the remaining incorrigibly wicked (those who have WILLED to reject God's truth, who have WILLFULLY rebelled against His holy laws, who have refused to repent) will be burnt up.

Notice the famous parable of Lazarus and the rich man.

The parable shows that both Lazarus the poor beggar and the cruel, cold-hearted rich man, who refused to give Lazarus a thin dime, died. Lazarus is said to have been "carried by the angels" into "Abraham's bosom." This merely means a "close association with Abraham," a friendly, warm, intimate contact with this great man. The parable does not say "heaven."

Then, at the time of the third and final resurrection, the rich man, having died many years earlier,

"in hell [hades, meaning "the grave." This is not the Greek word Gehenna] he lift up his eyes [he becomes alive again, seeing] , being in torments [because of what he sees, not because, just yet, of what he feels], and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented" (Luke 16:19-31 ).

First, the parable says both the rich man and Lazarus died. This ultimate fact, their deaths, must be understood in the light of all the scriptures we have already read (and dozens more we did not) concerning the state of the dead.

The dead are completely oblivious. Unconscious. The "dead know not anything," and the dead are characterized as being in the most profound, black, unfeeling sleep. The human brain decays and returns to the dust. The human spirit, which has no consciousness apart from the brain, is completely comatose, "asleep." It is a hard and fast rule of Bible study that a seemingly ambiguous or metaphorical scripture cannot nullify many plain, clear, easily understood scriptures on the same subject.

The parable of Lazarus and the rich man does not nullify all the plain scriptures in your Bible about the state of the dead, about the resurrection to judgment, about the ultimate reality of Gehenna fire.

Notice further that Lazarus did not "go to heaven" but, once resurrected, he was taken to "Abraham's bosom," or a close, warm, intimate relationship with Abraham.

The rich man, who died, could only "lift up his eyes," or become conscious again, in a resurrection.

Which resurrection?

Obviously, this is not the first resurrection, for the rich man is certainly not one of the "dead in Christ." Obviously, it is not the second resurrection, for the rich man says he is "tormented in this flame." He sees imminent destruction— horrible DEATH BY FIRE—approaching! Obviously, then, this is the third and final resurrection, when "death and the grave were cast into the lake of fire."

It is stark terror which causes the rich man's tongue to cleave to the roof of his mouth. He does not ask Lazarus for a fire engine with powerful hoses: he does not ask for a bucket brigade or casks of water. Instead, he asks only for Lazarus to dip his finger into water to cool the rich man's tongue.

Is it significant that he dare not ask for more?

During Lazarus' life of privation and suffering, the rich man would no doubt look out of His window as he chewed on sumptuous, gourmet food, seeing Lazarus lying on the ground with open, weeping sores—the dogs licking His wounds. The rich man would not give Lazarus so much as a penny.

Thus, the rich man symbolizes the cruelty of man, the heartlessness of those who abuse orphans, widows, the sick, and the elderly. He symbolizes those who exploit others; those who are miserly, selfish, calloused. He also typifies the incorrigibly wicked; those who remain unmoved by human suffering!

Now, see further proof of the third and final resurrection.

Notice that after we read of the Great White Throne Judgment ( Revelation 20:11, 12), we read of another great event:

"And death and hell [hades, meaning the grave] were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire" ( Revelation 20:14, 15).

Revelation 20 begins with the first resurrection, speaking of the "dead in Christ" and the saints who are instantaneously changed at the Second Coming of Christ. This is the "better" resurrection ( Hebrews 11:35); the "firstfruits" of salvation ( James 1:18; Revelation 14:4). These are the born-anew members of the Family of Divine ELOHIM ( Romans 8:15-17; 15:29; 1 Corinthians 15:50-52), who "lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years" ( Revelation 20:4).

This is the "resurrection to life" of which Christ spoke ( John 5:29), the first resurrection.

But we are then told about the"rest of the dead" who " lived not again until the thousand years are finished" ( Revelation 20:5).

This is the Great White Throne Judgment period of one hundred years, of which we have read, during which all the billions of human beings in all the nations of the world will come up in a great, general resurrection, and be given a glorious opportunity for salvation.

This leaves one category of human beings which have not been dealt with. The incorrigible. The willfully rebellious. Those who have deliberately, consciously rejected God's truth, His wonderful way of life, His grace, mercy, and salvation. These are characterized by the rich man of the parable of Luke 16. Jude says of them:

"For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ .... these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities" ( Jude 4-8).

Do those who "creep in unawares" by the flock know what they are doing? Do they know they are "creeps"?

Surely.

Notice that these evil, false teachers twist the grace of God which is God's loving, undeserved forgiveness, His pardon of our past sins, into "license." In other words, they deceive God's people into thinking they have "permission" to break God's laws. The people then assume that if their leaders say it, and if a few other members of the church nod their heads and go along with it, that it "must be all right."

They are those who always believe they should "let God work it out." This is the excuse used by German SS guards, who murdered countless Jews in death camps all over Europe. They were only "following orders." It was not their responsibility. It was the responsibility of their leaders. Surely, if something were wrong, then it was up to their leaders to straighten it out.

Today, millions believe God's perfect, holy, righteous Ten Commandments are done away. They advocate, openly breaking God's Sabbath. They are teaching licentiousness, which is "permission to sin"! The Bible is very clear about their ultimate reward. They are indicted as being among those who have knowingly, and willfully, rejected God's laws, when they knew, better!

They are resurrected immediately after the Great White Throne Judgment. As we saw, their resurrection is characterized by the ugliest of words, "death and the grave." When is a grave not a grave? It is not a grave when there is no body present. The Greek word hades means "grave." But a grave is merely a hole in the ground unless a dead human body is within.

Now, remember what you read about the Great White Throne Judgment of 100 years duration. There is not to be an infant who has not fulfilled His days of 100 years. A sinner, being 100 years of age, shall be "accursed." After the Millennium, in the great general resurrection, there will be no more human reproduction. God will stop the human reproductive cycle. There will be no more an "infant of days" during this future time.

God will resurrect all human beings who have never heard, or consciously rejected, the gospel, from infants to the very elderly. But there will be no more new births.

But during this period, Satan, who has been hurled far away from the earth in a symbolic "bottomless pit" ( Revelation 20:1-3), will be free to influence humanity again.

Christ's Righteous Punishments for Crime and Sin in His Kingdom

As Jesus Christ establishes His glorious world rule on this earth, He is joined by perhaps a million or two, who constitute the "dead in Christ" and the living who are "changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye," at the last trump (1 Corinthians 15:50-52 ).

God's Word tells us we are to be "co-heirs with Christ," that we are to be "like Him: for we shall see Him as He is" (Romans 8:17 ; I John 3:2). The "new creature in Christ" of which we read is to be born of God, given a spirit body, to become a member of God's own family!

Millions of deceived, professing Christians absolutely refuse to believe the plain, easily understood statements of God's Word about the future state of the dead in Christ—the state of being of those who are changed from flesh to spirit in the resurrection.

The Jews accused Jesus Christ of "blasphemy" because He "made Himself equal with God." To them, such a claim was preposterous.

Yet, your Bible insists that the resurrected saints will be co-heirs with Christ, that they shall be like Him for they will see Him as He is!

Suppose you are named as a co-heir by a long lost millionaire uncle you never knew you had. His estate is worth 100 million dollars. As a co-heir with another relative, how much do you receive? Exactly the same amount as your other relative, or 50 million dollars!

A co-heir shares equally. To be "like Him" means exactly what is says. The beautiful "resurrection chapter" of 1 Corinthians 15 shows converted human beings will be changed from flesh to spirit, from corruptible to incorruptible, from human to divine. Millions suppose that salvation entails becoming some lesser being, perhaps slightly above the angelic realm.

The purely fictional fantasies of many professing Christian churches portray vague images of how it will be in the "last days," or in the "judgment," or when people allegedly "get to heaven." They suppose, vaguely, that the sheer joys of "gazing into the Master's face," of living in "heavenly mansions," or of playing harps and wafting about heaven on angelic wings will be the reward of the saved.

But your Bible plainly shows that God Almighty is reproducing after His own kind! Creation was not completed in Eden, it was only begun. The final, superb masterpiece of God's creation is the re-creation of His own kind, through begettal with His Spirit, growth to become like Him, and final birth into the spiritual family of God in the resurrection!

You CAN "Take It With You" When You Die

Finally, consider: What of beloved family members who have died, but who were never privileged to be called into God's truth? What of those who, though "good and decent people," were never truly converted.

As you learned earlier, we human beings live in an earthly "tabernacle," our physical bodies. But we reside in our minds. Our memories are not stored in our kneecaps, or our elbows, but in our minds.

The billions of human beings who will be resurrected in the second resurrection—those who are the "rest of the dead" who do not come up until after the Millennium—are those who never had a real chance for salvation.

What constitutes a chance?

From many, many scriptures, it is obvious that only those who make a determined, conscious decision to reject God's way of life, His wondrous love, His gracious forgiveness—those who rebel against His laws, and who willfully spurn His salvation will be destroyed in Gehenna fire.

Jesus showed that the Pharisees and the majority of the population of His time could not understand because God had not opened their minds and hearts!

Read it!

"And the disciples came, and said unto Him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given...therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive. For this people's heart is waxed gross; and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear" (Matthew 13:10-16 ).

God has deliberately called some few from time to time, but He has not called the masses! The churches do not understand this. Millions assume some vast "tug o' war" exists between Christ and Satan, Christ trying desperately to "save the world," while Satan struggles desperately to keep it "lost." This is a lie of the devil, and portrays the devil as equally strong, or stronger, than Christ.

Your Bible reveals that the vast majority are blinded; that they are deceived. But a deceived person does not know that he or she is deceived. A deceived person can be completely sincere. He or she can be honest, loyal, faithful, believing, loving, caring, and sharing! A deceived person can be the nicest person you ever met!

As my father was fond of saying, "What you don't know, you don't know that you don't know!"

Now, consider the ramifications of these principles, in the next verse:

"For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them" ( Matthew 13:17).

Prophets and righteous men do not burn in Gehenna fire simply because God, in His infinite wisdom, chose not to reveal His plan of salvation unto them! Such men will come up in the great, general "White Throne Judgment" time.

Now, think!

When God resurrects the dead, it will be as though they had been dead for only a split second of time! So far as they were concerned, they were alive one moment: something happened, perhaps a wreck, or a fall, or a crash, or a bullet! They felt virtually nothing! Then, in a split second of time they are alive again!

Their memory is intact. Their character is intact. The kind of person they were is exactly the kind of person they still are!

So you see, your loved ones and mine, who really never consciously rejected God and His salvation will have a wonderful opportunity to repent, and to be saved, in the Great White Throne Judgment!

Don't you believe that a person of good character will have a running head start towards receiving God's truth above those who had poor character? Of course!

That is what I mean when I say, "You can take it with you when you die," meaning your character!

In summary, then, we have seen there are THREE resurrections revealed in the Bible. The first is the dead in Christ. The second is the "rest of the dead" who "lived not again until the thousand years were finished," the dead, in the vast majority, who come up for a one-hundred year period of judgment.

But this leaves one category of human beings not yet resurrected: the incorrigibly wicked! They are typified by the rich man of Luke 16, and called by the grisly phrase "death and the grave." They come up at the end of this phase of God's plan ( 2 Peter 3:12) when the earth itself is destroyed by fire.

Then, God says:

"Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness" ( 2 Peter 3:13).

What of those "new heavens and new earth"?

God says:

"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And He that sat upon the throne said, BEHOLD, I MAKE ALL THINGS NEW!" ( Revelation 21:4, 5).

Believe it or not, this is the true BEGINNING of the great plan of God.

Now, every being on earth is divine. Now, all are finally members of God's great, expanded family!

What then?

Our known universe contains countless galaxies. Galaxies can contain hundreds of billions of stars! Each star, of which our own sun is but an orange dwarf as an example, could hold in its gravitational field any number of planets.

Why do you suppose God has created all those galaxies, all those suns, all those billions upon billions of planets?

Today, they are lifeless, empty, vain, waste, and chaotic.

So was our planet earth, until the One called Elohim said "Let there be light!"

Do you suppose He could ever do it again?

What about those who become "co-heirs with Christ"? Could they ever be called upon to go to a distant planet? Your God and mine is Creator. He has a great, fathomless purpose in all He does.

Perhaps, far from the "end" time, the time of the new heavens and the new earth are but "the beginning."

Written by: Garner Ted Armstrong