Questions About Kingdom Life

I received the following questions:

I have a question for you: At the Epipheneia (blazing forth) that ushers in the KOG I understand that many of the patriarchs including David will be resurrected to live therein. Suppose this event occurs tomorrow, will it mean that those of us who are living and are close followers of our Lord Jesus will be given incorruptible bodies?

I was made to understand that the KOG does not come with observation but with a pouring out of the Holy Spirit on all flesh so all will have a God awareness, is that correct? – that we might expect gradual changes to the order and way of life we are now experiencing.

Will life (instead of death) be working in all people then? What about the ungodly at the time? Will they be purged out by death if found unfit to dwell in the kingdom?

I remember reading somewhere that wars will cease and hospitals would be abolished and all evil will be done away with, is this correct?

Could you enlighten me on the transition from today to tomorrow’s Kingdom rule and all the implications of it, please?

Thanks, Nathan!

Yes, we will receive incorruptible bodies. I believe the passage in I Corinthians 15:51-54, though it was originally written to Acts period believers, tells us the truth of what will happen to those of us who happen to be alive and in Christ when the kingdom of God starts. We will not have to go through death to get what I would usually call a “resurrection body,” but will instantaneously and painlessly be transferred into it. Our old bodies will be gone in an instant, and we will be in our new, glorious bodies. The dispensation of grace did not change this. That is what will happen to those of us (and I say “us” just because I am currently alive, not because I know I will still be alive then) who are alive when the great announcement of the kingdom happens.

Praying or Praying For?

I received the following question:

My question is regarding praying FOR things during the administration of Grace. I understand praying to GOD during this time for Thanksgiving, praise, and worship. However, I’m regards to praying out of need, like for strength, comfort, ECT, I don’t understand. This is because it would seem an irrelevant thing to do during a time where God only acts in Grace. If HE did respond to anyone’s “request prayer” that would be acting in a way other than Grace. So my question is, if it’s a prayer that GOD cannot answer currently, is it even worth praying it? Would that time be better spent on something else?

Thank you in advance, I love and appreciate all your work and effort!

Thanks for the great question.

Our Hope 4: The True Hope

In our previous messages we have shown that the hope held out by both the Lord Jesus Christ Himself and by Paul the apostle in the face of death is the hope of resurrection. They did not hold out the hope of immediate transfer to heaven upon the moment of death. They did not speak of the dead being alive. Instead, they both used sleep as a metaphor for death, indicating that the dead are resting, are not conscious, and in fact are not alive. We suggested that, if this was the hope of the Lord Jesus and if this was the hope of Paul, then this certainly should be our hope as well.

Yet the testimony of the Bible to the hope being resurrection is not limited to just the Lord Jesus and Paul. Nor is this testimony limited to just the New Testament. The testimony of the Old Testament and the people of God who lived in Old Testament times is just as much that resurrection is the hope of mankind in death as is the testimony of the New Testament.

Our Hope 3: The Believer’s Hope

In the previous messages in this series, we considered just what it is that the Bible holds out to believers as the hope we have in light of the fact that we are all headed for death. God promises us eternal life and glorious blessing in His future kingdom, but just how are we to receive these blessings? The traditional view is that we receive them at the moment of death. Yet this is based on an assumption of the eternal nature of the soul, which we have seen is not true to the facts of the Bible. The alternative is to believe that death does not bring the believer into his eternal reward, but that this privilege is received only upon resurrection. We examined the view the Lord Jesus Christ expressed when faced with the sorrowful reality of the death of His friend Lazarus, and we started to examine the view of Paul when he spoke of the glorious fate of those who believe in Jesus Christ when he taught the truth of the resurrection in I Corinthians 15.

Last time we saw that Paul argued the resurrection against those who said that only some will be raised in the future, insisting instead that the dead, all of them, will be raised. Then he argued against the idea that there is no resurrection and no future life at all, insisting that the apostles would be the most foolish of men if that were the case, since they had suffered so much in this life for Christ and what would be the point if there was no life after this one? But now he goes on to deal another error regarding the resurrection.

Our Hope 2: Paul’s Hope

In our last message, we considered just what it is that the Bible holds out to believers as the hope we have in light of the fact that we are all headed for death. God promises us eternal life and glorious blessing in His future kingdom, but just how are we to receive these blessings? The traditional view is that we receive them at the moment of death. Yet this is based on an assumption of the eternal nature of the soul, which we have seen is not true to the facts of the Bible. The alternative is to believe that death does not bring the believer into his eternal reward, but that this privilege is received only upon resurrection. We examined the view the Lord Jesus Christ expressed when faced with the sorrowful reality of the death of His friend Lazarus, and we saw that the hope He held out to his sisters Mary and Martha was the hope of resurrection.

Yet it was not just the Lord Jesus Christ Who held out resurrection as the hope of His people. His apostles did as well. Paul held out the hope of resurrection to those who believe in Jesus Christ just like his Lord did. We can see this in the great resurrection chapter of I Corinthians 15.

Our Hope 1: Resurrection or Death?

In our series on “Fate of the Wicked” we considered the nature of man, and realized that he is not inherently immortal but may return to the dust in death. This fits with the meaning of the word “soul” that we have studied in our examination of the Hebrew word for soul, nephesh. We have seen that the soul is mortal and subject to death.

Though we are all currently headed for death, we have also acknowledged that the destiny of man differs based on his relationship with God and whether or not he is wicked or righteous in God’s sight. We who have believed in Jesus Christ have His righteousness imputed to us, and expect that we will live with Him someday.

Fate of the Wicked 4: Conditional Immortality

In our previous three articles in this series we have considered three views of what is going to be the final punishment of the wicked. We considered first the view most traditional in Christian circles that all the wicked are destined for eternal, conscious torment. Then, we considered the view that, while they may be punished for a while, all the wicked will eventually be saved, which view is often called universalism. Then, we considered the view that there is no future punishment for the wicked at all, but that when they die that is the end of them. This view concludes that all Biblical references to future punishment of the wicked refers to “wicked” believers who are going to be punished before they eventually receive their salvation.

We considered these three views against the evidence of the Bible and concluded that none of them stand up to the test of all Scripture. Thus in this article we move on to consider a fourth proposed destiny of the wicked in order to see if it matches what the Bible says about God’s future plans for the punishment of the wicked. This is the view often called the “conditional immortality” view, or more simply conditionalism.

Fate of the Wicked 3: No Future Punishment

In our first two articles in this series we started to consider what the Bible sets forth as the ultimate punishment of the wicked and the unsaved. We examined first the common, traditional view that the wicked and the unsaved will be eternally, consciously tormented in hell and found that this view does not stand up to the test of all Scripture. Next we examined the universalism view that the wicked and the unsaved will nevertheless be somehow finally, eternally redeemed by God and found that this view does not stand up to the test of all Scripture either. Next we will consider the third view of the ultimate punishment of the wicked, which is that their end comes the instant they die with no future punishment whatsoever.

One view which some hold regarding the fate of the wicked says that when they die in this world, that is the end of them. They are never resurrected or returned to life to face any kind of trial or punishment for their iniquitous deeds. In other words, this view does not believe in future punishment at all, nor in the universality of resurrection. According to this view the wicked have already suffered their ultimate penalty by dying at the end of this life, and they will never rise to face any further judgment or punishment.

Fate of the Wicked 2: Universalism

In our first article in this series we started to consider what the Bible sets forth as the ultimate punishment of the wicked and the unsaved. We examined first the common, traditional view that the wicked and the unsaved will be eternally, consciously tormented in hell and found that this view does not stand up to the test of all Scripture. In this article we will consider the second proposed destiny of the wicked and the unsaved held by many: universalism.

The idea of universalism is considered by those who hold it as the alternative view to traditionalism. It proposes that all wicked men (and perhaps all wicked beings including Satan and his demons, depending on what universalist you talk to,) will eventually be restored to God. This view usually includes punishment before restoration for the wicked, and the punishment is often thought to be in the place called hell. Therefore, instead of believing that the lake of fire is preserving fire, these universalists believe that it is remedial fire. Yet to be clear, there is no one, settled view on this among universalists. One universalist might well differ from another regarding what the exact nature of future punishment is and what the exact duration of it might be. Yet of one thing all universalists are certain: every single human being who has ever lived or who ever will live will ultimately be reconciled to God and be saved.

Fate of the Wicked 1: Eternal, Conscious Torment

We have endeavored through our series of studies on spirits in the Bible and on souls in the Bible to establish the nature of man. By “man,” I mean, of course, the race of man or Adam’s race, which includes all people: men, women, and children. We have seen that, far from teaching that man has a unique thing the animals do not have called a “soul,” actually all animals who have blood are called “souls” by the Bible. And far from teaching that the soul of man is immortal and not subject to death, the Bible teaches that the soul is very mortal and very much subject to death. It even speaks of “dead souls,” though our translators have chosen to remove that from our versions for us. Yet the truth is that souls are mortal and can die, if we are going to believe what God says about them in His Word.

So now that we have established this truth about the nature of man, our next question is, “What is man’s destiny?” In other words, when a man dies, what is going to happen to him? Now I believe that all my readers would admit that this destiny is affected by whether or not a man is wicked or righteous before God, though some might believe that the difference is only temporary. Yet practically all acknowledge that the wicked and the righteous will not be treated the same way by God when it comes to their judgment. Therefore, this topic of man’s destiny may be divided into two considerations: the punishment of the wicked and the reward of the righteous. In this series of messages, we will consider the negative side of this and the various views of the future punishment of the wicked and what it will be.