Now that we know what happens to the dead. We need to
know when Christians would be raised.
For those of you that didn’t read the thread death
according to the bible let me summarize the verses for you here, a
quick reminder of sort
Death above all without being raised by God is not an
immediate transition to another life. If we died our state of mind
would be likened to that of a sleeping person. Meaning that we
would not be aware of anything including ourselves, our faith and
God, time and our relationship with anyone including those who have
died. In short the dead would become as if they
were nothing.
Here are the verses that support the belief that being
dead is likened to sleeping.
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John 11:1-43, Jesus brings Lazarus to life. I begin at verse
11-14
[read the bible to get the full story]
The he[Jesus] told them, “Our friend Lazarus
is asleep, and I’m going there to wake him
up.”
They replied, “Lord, if he’s asleep, he’ll get better.” Jesus
really meant that Lazarus was dead, but they thought he was talking
only about sleep.
Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead! I’m glad that I
wasn’t there, because now you’ll have a chance to put your faith in
me. Let’s go to him.
Verse 23
Jesus told her, “Your brother will live again!”
Martha answered, “I know that he’ll be raised to
life on the last day, when all the dead are
raised.”
Jesus then said, “I am the one who raises the dead to life!
Everyone who has faith in me will live, even if they die. And
everyone who has lives because of faith in me will never really
die. Do you believe this?”
Let's look at Job. Job knows what awaits him after death. That
he would descend to the kingdom of death until 'the sky disappears'
that is until the last day when the Lord promised to raised
the believers from their death.
What Job and Martha believes represent what the Jews believe.
Jesus and his disciples were all Jewish.
Job 14: 10-12
Humans are different- we die, and that’s
the end.
We are like streams and lakes after the water has
gone;
We fall into the sleep of death, never to
rise again until the sky disappears.
Job 17: 13:-16
I could tell the world below to
prepare me a bed.
Then I could greet the grave as my father and say
to the worms, “Hello, mother and sisters!”
But what kind of hope is that?
Will it keep me company in the world of the
dead?
In the
following verse Job realizes that the Messiah lives and is coming.
That he would be raised from his sleep of death at the end and
though his current body would be destroyed, from his new body
he would see God.
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Job 19: 25:-27
I know that my Savior
lives,
And at the end he will stand on this
earth.
My flesh may be
destroyed,
Yet from this body I will see
God.
Yes, I will see him myself, and I long for that
moment
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Now the next question that we should ask is when we
Christians be raised from our death. Here is what Jesus promised
us.
According to Mark, Matthew, Luke and John Jesus
promised His believers that He would rise them up on the last day.
So it takes the Lord for us to be risen from our death. And Jesus
our Lord will raise us up on the last day.
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John 6:22-59 The bread that gives life
Verse 38
I didn't come from heaven to do what I want! I came
to do what the Father wants me to do. He sent me, and he wants to
make certain that none of the ones he has given me will be lost.
Instead, he wants me to raise them to life on the
last day.
Verse 43
Jesus told them,
Stop grumbling! No one can come to me unless the
Father who sent me makes them want to come. But if they do
come, I will raise them to life on the last
day.
Verse 53
Jesus answered:
I tell you for certain that you won't live
unless you eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man. But
if you do eat my flesh and drink my blood, you will have eternal
life, and I will raise you to life on the last
day.
Now when is
exactly this last day.
For talking about
resurrection we need to read what Paul had said in 1 Corinthians
15. read the whole of it for your understanding.
1 Corinthians 15:22-24
Adam brought dead to all of us, and Christ will bring life
to all of us. But we must each wait our turn.
Christ was the first to be raised to life, and his people will be
raised to life when he returns. Then after Christ has destroyed all
powers and forces, the end will come, and he will give the kingdom
to God the Father.
So according to Paul
the dead would be raised in 3 phases or
batches.
Now we need to know where in the bible that tells us Jesus
second coming.
Here's the second coming of Christ as foretold in revelation
19:11-16
The rider on the white horse,
I looked and saw that heaven was open,
and a white horse was there. Its rider was called Faithful and
True, and he is always fair when he judges or goes to war. He had
eyes like flames of fire, and he was wearing a lot of crowns. His
name was written on him, but he was the only one who knew what the
name meant.
The rider wore a robe that was covered
with blood, and he was known as "The Word of God." He was followed
by armies from heaven that rode on horses and were dressed in pure
white linen. from his mouth a sharp sword went out to attack the
nations. He will rule them with an iron rod and will show the
fierce anger of God All-Powerful by trampling the grapes in the pit
where wine is made. On the part of the robe that covered his thigh
was written, "KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS."
That foretold the second coming of Christ.
And just as what Paul had said, this second coming of the Lord
is the first phase when the Lord would raise his people.
Revelation 20:4-6 The thousand years
I saw thrones, and sitting on those thrones were the ones
who had been given the right to judge. I also saw the souls of the
people who had their heads cut off because they had told about
Jesus and preached God's message. They were the same ones who
hadn't worshipped the beast or the idol, and they had refused to
let its mark be put on their hands or foreheads. They will come to
life and rule with Christ for 1000 years.
These people are the first to be raised to
life, and they are especially blessed and holy.
The second death has no power over them. They will be priests for
God and Christ and will rule with them for 1000 years.
No other dead people were raised to life until 1000
years later.
So Jesus in his second
coming would raise his people who are especially blessed and holy.
Those who refused to worship the beast or the idol. And those who
were martyred. So Jesus came the 2nd time to raise His
chosen people.
What about the rest of us
who may not be so holy or blessed? Those people would have to wait
for the third phase that Paul had said. The end. Here is what the
bible tells us about the end.
Revelation 20:11-15 The judgment at the great white throne
I saw a great white throne with someone
sitting on it. earth and heaven tried to run away, but there was no
place for them to go. I also saw all the dead people standing in
front of that throne. every one of them was there, no matter who
they had once been. Several books were opened, and then the book of
life was opened. The dead were judged by what the book said they
had done.
The sea gave up the dead people who were
in it, and death and its kingdom also gave up their dead. Then
everyone was judged by what they had done. afterwards, death and
its kingdom were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second
death. Anyone whose name wasn't written in the book of life was
thrown into the lake of fire
The sea refers to a plane below the earth, it’s the same plane
of the world of the dead or the kingdom of death. It doesn’t
necessarily be below the earth surface but it means that the state
of life there is lower than in the higher plane because there is no
life in it. Just like the earth is a lower plane than the
heaven.
So according to this verse all the
dead are judged at the end of time that is on the last day
where the kingdom of death finally gave up their stock of dead
people. And the dead would be gathered to be judged. In the end
anyone whose name wasn't written in the book of life was thrown
into hell. So it's either heaven or hell in the end. And what kind
of people whose name would not be in the book of life? Read the
following,
Revelation 21: 8
But I will tell you what will happen to
cowards and to everyone who is unfaithful or dirty minded or who
murders or is sexually immoral or uses witchcraft or worships idol
or tells lies. They will be thrown into the lake of fire and
burning sulphur. This is the second death.
So make sure my brothers
and sisters that you are not among those who would be thrown into
the lake of fire that was meant to punish satan and his angels. In
the end the kingdom of death would be left empty. The dead would
either be condemned to hell or be allowed to live eternal life(to
eat the fruit of life) and live wit God. Knowing this I hope what I
wrote here serve a meaningful purpose for your life as a Christian.
I’m not perfect too and while compiling this I’ve made my decision
to try to be a better Christian. Trying to catch the first plane
out of the kingdom of death would be nice. As long as I don't get
thrown into the fire.
God bless and always be
strong in Christ.
ps: Could the moderator fix the texts that are supposed to be in
bold? They are not showing in bold. It would be a lot easier for
people to grasp what I write if they had been bold as they are
supposed to be. Only two texts are showing in bold weird.