Godmindfamily, Chapter 15

Chapter 15: The New Jerusalem The millennial kingdom, as the name implies, is not an eternal state, but a temporary one. It will come to an end. The overall purpose of the millennium is to save as many as possible and prepare humanity for eternal life in the New Jerusalem.

At the end of the thousand years, Gog will lead a revolt against Jerusalem. Gog and the devil will be defeated and thrown into ‘the lake of fire.’ (Revelation 20:10). Then the dead will be resurrected and face The Last Judgement before a ‘white throne’ (Revelation 20:11) on the basis of ‘their works.’ (Revelation 20:12).[i] The dead who were not raised in the first resurrection (Revelation 20:5), will be raised in the second resurrection. This much larger group encompasses earlier saved Christians from bygone eras, but these will survive the judgement, and will at last be given their eternal bodies like the raptured.

‘Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. If anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.’ (Revelation 20:14–15). This means that everyone who is condemned by the end of the millennium and the Gog revolt, and resided in Hades, and not in heaven, are to be destroyed. The first death is the death of the body; the second death is the annihilation of the souls and resurrected bodies of the condemned. The mark of the beast signifies their terrible decision. Because death and Hades are thrown in the fire, they will cease to exist. The only exceptions to this rule are the devil, the Antichrist and the False Prophet, who ‘will be tormented day and night forever and ever.’ (Revelation 20:10).

The old earth and heaven change into a ‘new heaven and a new earth’, (Revelation 21:1) in which there will be no more death or suffering (Revelation 21:4–5). The saved will live forever with God in the ‘New Jerusalem’, which descends from heaven (Revelation 21:1) to a new, transformed earth. The new earth is the old earth transformed into a glorified earth the way Jesus’ body changed into a glory body. We know this because Abraham’s offspring was given the land of Canaan, ‘for an everlasting possession’ (Genesis 17:8), and Canaan is obviously a place on our earth. Death and pain only end after the millennium and the Last Judgement.In the New Jerusalem, there won’t be a temple, night or sun, because the light is God (Revelation 21:23). ‘There will be no curse any more.’ (Revelation 22:3). This means that the curses of the fall – including death, toil and suffering – will be fully lifted in the New Jerusalem. Adam and Eve’s disobedient eating of the forbidden fruit was necessary to create conditions hard enough to elicit repentance, salvation and eternal life, so that the tree of knowledge leads to the tree of life, and humanity returns to the status of God’s immortal companions. The glorified will continue to ‘serve’ in the new earth (Revelation 22:3). God will create new worlds through some of them at that time.

‘For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like God’s angels in heaven.’ (Matthew 22:30). Sex, marriage and reproduction will stop in the New Jerusalem, due to the superiority of the immortal body. Childbirth has to eventually stop; there cannot be children born in the New Jerusalem because they would not have passed judgement, and so may not be good enough for paradise.

The massive size of the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:16–18) reveals that the new earth is fundamentally different to the present earth. The New Jerusalem is huge and cubic.

The new earth is a result of the union of spirit and matter, one of the meanings of ‘the marriage supper of the Lamb’ (Revelation 19:19). The marriage is between God and Israel/the Church, because all with Christ’s blood in them comprise the bride of God, whether they be Jews or Gentiles, although God’s promises to the nation of Israel, stand and will be fulfilled. In another sense, the Spirit is the ‘bridegroom’ (John 3:29), the bride is the earth or body and the child is the new earth and the immortal body.

But in the New Jerusalem, people will not want to be disobedient. There’s intellectually knowing something is bad, and then there’s really knowing it is bad because you’ve experienced the dire consequences for yourself. It normally takes the latter to drive the lesson home, and that’s the purpose of our fallen world – to learn enough to be worthy of living forever in the New Jerusalem. You should understand the reward, because it will help you endure what is coming.

Conclusion: God’s Kingdom is The Solution To All Problems Just as the fall and the problems of politics were brought about by disobedience to God’s will, and obedience to the deceiver, so will the solution to all of the problems given in the previous chapter be brought about by the reunion of man and God on earth, caused by the obedience of the Jewish remnant and some Gentiles throughout the world to God’s will in the tribulation, through praying to be saved by Jesus and recognising him as the Messiah and the Son of God. This event is so momentous, that it is the fulcrum of history, the turning point of all creation. Read the next chapter here: https://www.robertensor.com/post/godmindfamily-chapter-16

[i] Further scriptural evidence that works are an important factor in salvation and God’s judgement.