Introduction

Last meeting, we talked a lot about the theology of what the Bible teaches about the timeline of our future. We had charts and arguments. We were systematizing all the biblical passages we could in order to have a coherent, cohesive understanding of what the Bible says about the timeline of salvation history.

We looked at the distinctions among the various views of the Millennium. What do these views all have in common?

15 Aspects of the Hope All Christians Share

1. The coming of Christ’s kingdom. In the Lord’s Prayer, we pray that God’s kingdom will come because we believe the completion of God’s rule on earth through Christ is still in the future. We consider the prophecies of Scripture concerning this future kingdom to be true and vital for our conviction that our God is being faithful to his plan for his people.
2. Literal interpretation. We share the conviction that our understanding of the end times, including our millennial views, should be determined by the literary context, content, and nature of the original author’s writing as intended by the Holy Spirit.
3. Physical return. We all believe that Jesus will physically return in power and great glory from his present station in heaven to rescue his people and establish his kingdom.
4. Millennium. All Bible-believing views of the millennium teach that there is a period in God’s plan, prior to Christ’s final return, in which his influence dominates and Satan’s influence diminishes.
5. Apostasy and tribulation. We all believe a time of great evil, unbelief, and tribulation for Christ’s people will immediately precede the physical return of Christ, but then he will come to rescue his people and restore our world.
6. Antichrist. We all believe that this period of great evil and tribulation will involve the appearance of an antichrist who will pose as an agent of good before generating great evil against God’s people, but he will not ultimately succeed.
7. Armageddon. We all believe that Christ will engage in a great battle against his enemies to combat forces that oppose his rule and oppress his people. Jesus wins!
8. Rescue and rapture. We all believe that Jesus will come to rescue his people from this world’s evil and rebellion, and that this rescue will involve “catching up” dead and living believers to be with him as he establishes his kingdom.
9. Resurrection. We share the belief that this mortal life is not the final estate for our souls or our bodies. Rather, those who have died in Christ shall be raised in newness of life when our Lord returns. The simple message that death does not win is the core hope of the gospel, teaching that no failure is final, no evil has victory, and no sin can destroy a life united to Christ.
10. Imminent return. We all believe that sufficient aspects of biblical prophecy have been fulfilled to make it possible that Jesus could come in the near future—or at any time. His Word makes it clear that we are already living “in these last days” (Heb. 1:2).
11. A place for Jews. We all believe that the promise of salvation by faith God made to Abraham and his descendants is available to Jews in every era and that there are ethnic Jews who will claim that promise in Christ’s eternal kingdom.
12. Judgment of the living and the dead. We all believe that all people will stand before the judgment seat of God to be judged according to our spiritual status. Believers will be judged on the basis of Christ’s righteousness that covers their sin, and unbelievers will be judged according to their works that will condemn them before a holy God. Those who believe in Christ will enter his eternal kingdom of light, and those who do not will be cast into the outer darkness of hell.
13. Satan and his allies defeated. We share the belief that the judgment of God will include the completion of his Genesis 3:15 promise to crush Satan by casting him permanently into hell with those who have followed him.
14. New heaven and earth. We share the hope that the eternal destiny of all believers is intimate fellowship in body and spirit with our Savior in his eternal kingdom where there is no more darkness, pain, sin, or tears. There, all is made perfect in the light and love of the Lamb who was slain, who will then reign over all forever.
15. Shared rule. We share the hope that, in ways we cannot yet fully understand, Christ’s loved ones not only will judge the angels (1 Cor. 6:3) but also will rule with our Savior over his kingdom as our union with him becomes complete and his heart fills ours (2 Tim. 2:11–12).

Bryan Chapell, Are We Living in the Last Days? Four Views of the Hope We Share about Revelation and Christ’s Return (Baker, 2024), 194–196.

Moving from general to personal eschatology

Tonight we’d like to be more personal. In a way it will be more earnest, more immediate, more personal. This is where eschatology touches each of us individually. We will encounter the significance and reality of these truths in the lives of those closest to us, and eventually in our own death and resurrection.

We are intrigued by the mystery of death and the afterlife. This interest is universal for all mankind, not just Christians.

God has put eternity in our hearts.

• Ecclesiastes 3:11 (ESV) — He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

We are curious about any near-death or back-from-death stories. What was it like on “the other side?” This question sells books and movies.

It is also the subject of many jokes. Here’s a classic from Ronald Reagan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9-Ql646dB8

An evangelical Minister and a politician arrived at Heaven's Gate one day together. Saint Peter, after doing all the necessary formalities took them in hand to show them where their quarters would be, and he took into a small single room with a bed, a chair, and a table, and said this was for the clergyman.

And the politician was a little worried about what might be in store for him, and he couldn't believe it then when Saint Peter stopped in front of a beautiful mansion with lovely grounds, many servants, and told him that these would be his quarters.

He couldn't help but ask, he said “But wait now, there's something wrong, how do I get this Mansion while that good and holy man only gets a single room?”

Saint Peter said you have to understand how things are up here. We’ve got thousands and thousands of clergy. But, you're the first politician who ever made it.

Our curiosity about the afterlife is a appropriate and a helpful motivation to understand what the Bible says about eternal life.

Terms

These definitions are from Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem.

• personal eschatology – The study of future events that will happen to individuals, such as death, the intermediate state, and glorification.

Death

• death – The termination of life brought about by the entrance of sin into the world. (For the Christian, death brings us into the presence of God because of Christ’s payment of the penalty for our sins.)

What words come to mind when we think about death?

• over, final, sorrow, curse, inevitable

Death in 1 Thessalonians

1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 (ESV)

• (13) But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.
• (14) For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
• (15) For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
• (16) For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
• (17) Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
• (18) Therefore encourage one another with these words.

The reality and origin of death

Genesis 2:17 (ESV) — but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Genesis 3:19 (ESV) — By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

Death was not part of the perfect creation for man. It came because of sin.

Romans 5:12 (ESV) — Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—

Is death a punishment for Christians?

1 Thessalonians 1:10 (ESV) — and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

Romans 8:1 (ESV) — There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

For the Christian, death is the door into eternal life.

Revelation 2:10 (ESV) — Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.

Philippians 3:10 (ESV) — that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

Death is still an enemy

1 Corinthians 15:24–26 (ESV) — Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

Is it wrong to be afraid of death?

Hebrews 2:14–15 (ESV) — Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

Is it appropriate to mourn the death of believers?

John 11:35 (ESV) — Jesus wept.

Acts 8:2 (ESV) — Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him.

Psalm 116:15 (ESV) — Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

Death is not in any way a punishment for sin but simply is something God brings us through in order to make us more like Christ. Understanding that fact should be a great encouragement to us. It should take away from us the fear of death that haunts the minds of unbelievers (cf. Heb. 2:15). Nevertheless, although God will bring good to us through the process of death, we must still remember that ultimately death is not natural; it is an enemy, something that Christ will finally destroy (1 Cor. 15:26).

• Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, Second Edition. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic, 2020), 1000.

Helpful thought about funerals and the grave.

His burial, moreover, did not merely serve to prove that Jesus was really dead, but also to remove the terrors of the grave for the redeemed and to sanctify the grave for them.

• L. Berkhof, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans publishing co., 1938), 340.

Intermediate State

• intermediate state – The condition or mode of being of a person between the time of one’s death and the time that Christ returns to give believers new resurrection bodies.

The believers who had already died — in 1 Thess 4

1 Thessalonians 4:14 (ESV) — For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.

• For those who are asleep to come with Christ, they must be with him.

1 Thessalonians 4:16 (ESV) — For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

• the “dead in Christ” are the same ones that came with Christ.

Believers that already died are reigning with Christ

Revelation 20:4–6 (ESV) — Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.

Revelation 6:9–11 (ESV) — When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

Revelation 7:9–10 (ESV) — After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

At death, the believer goes to be with the Lord

2 Corinthians 5:8 (ESV) — Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

Luke 23:43 (ESV) — And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Philippians 1:21–24 (ESV)

• (21) For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
• (22) If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.
• (23) I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.
• (24) But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.

Hebrews 12:23 (ESV) — and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,

in the Old Testament…

Psalm 139:8 (ESV) — If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

• two different locations

Psalm 23:6 (ESV) — Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Psalm 16:10–11 (ESV) — For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Questions

• Where do we go when we die?
• Will we live on heaven or earth?
• Do we become angels when we die?
• Will we know or have any doings with others still alive on earth after we die?

Not Annihilation

• Eccl. 12:7; Matt. 25:46; Rom. 2:8–10; Rev. 14:11; 20:10;

Not Purgatory

• same passages in Revelation that show the believers worshiping and reigning.

Not Soul Sleep

• Philippians 1:23 (ESV) — I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.
• Hebrews 12:1 (ESV) — Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

Referernce

• Rich man and Lazarus — Luke 16:19-31
• Today in paradise — Luke 23:43
• 2 Corinthians 5:8 (ESV) — Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

Glorification

• glorification – The final step in the application of redemption. It will happen when Christ returns and raises from the dead the bodies of all believers for all time who have died, and reunites them with their souls, and changes the bodies of all believers who remain alive, thereby giving all believers at the same time perfect resurrection bodies like his own.

1 Thessalonians 4:15–18 (ESV)

• (15) For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
• (16) For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
• (17) Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
• (18) Therefore encourage one another with these words.

This is the resurrection of believers (the “first resurrection” in Rev 20:4-6).

Glorification is part of our redemption

Romans 8:17 (ESV) — and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Romans 8:23–24 (ESV) — And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?

Romans 8:30 (ESV) — And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

There is a resurrection for believers AND unbelievers

John 5:28–29 (ESV) — Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

What happens when we are glorified?

1 Corinthians 15:51–58 (ESV)

• (51) Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
• (52) in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
• (53) For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.
• (54) When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
• (55) “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
• (56) The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
• (57) But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
• (58) Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

notes from my sermon

1 Cor 15:42-49

Paul continues the “sowing” analogy and moves into a series of comparisons from the old to the new. He’s answer the question of “what kind of body would we need to thrive in the new heavens and new earth.”

Now	Then
perishable	Imperishable
dishonor	glory
weakness	power
natural	Spiritual
Dust	Heaven
First man Adam	Last Adam

We tend to think of our resurrected body as merely being the best earthly version of ourselves. We debate things like “What age will our resurrection bodies be?” Age doesn’t appear as one of the contrasts here. There isn’t “old” and “young.”

Perishable // Imperishable

This could also be translated as “corruptible” and “incorruptible.” The idea has to do with breakdown or deterioration or corruption. If you’ll remember Peter’s argument in at Pentecost, he argues for the resurrection of Jesus as being a fulfillment from Psalm 16:10 that God would never let his holy one see corruption (Acts 2:27).

Our resurrected bodies will not suffer degeneration or deterioration. They will never “go bad.”

Dishonor // Glory

Disgrace, shame.

Weakness // Power

Sickness, disease, incapacity.

Power.

The resurrection completely swallows up the broadest and deepest effects of the fall of creation and humanity.

• Roy E. Ciampa, Pillar New Testament Commentary, 813.

Natural // Spiritual

The point here is to point out that our bodies are “fleshly” in a sinful sense, here, just that they are earthly. This is not the same natural/spiritual contrast that we saw early in Paul’s letter, referring to their behavior and motivations. This goes farther than that.

The contrast is not being a disembodied spirit, but to have a spiritual body. Our current earthly bodies are enlivened by the breath of life, but our future bodies will be enlivened by the Holy Spirit of God.

We see this in verse 45.

• 1 Corinthians 15:45 (ESV) — Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

Dust // Heaven

Paul is looking back to the creation account in Genesis. God made Adam out of the clay.

Right now, our bodies are made of earthly, terrestrial stuff. Our future bodies won’t be limited in this way. It is difficult for us to even imagine a body that is our body that does not have the earthly limitations that we have.

First man Adam // Last Adam

The last comparison here has to do with our connection to the First Adam and the Last Adam. Paul is clearly looking back to Genesis 2.

Genesis 2:7 (ESV) — then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

All mankind is born “in Adam.” In him, we inherit our fallen, sinful nature, as well as the guilt of sin.

What does he mean by “Last Adam?” Just as all those born in Adam inherit his nature, so those who are “in Christ” also inherit his nature because he puts in us his “life-giving spirit.” Paul is emphasizing why the full humanity of Jesus is required in order for him to be our substitute. We inherit his righteousness, his reward, and one day, will be made like him in our resurrection bodies.

Romans 5:18–19 (ESV) — Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

Questions

• What happens at the resurrection?
• What are the 1st and 2nd resurrections?
• When will we receive our glorified bodies? What will they be like?
• Will we recognize people in heaven that we knew on earth?

What Now?

Look to Christ and God’s Love

2 Thessalonians 3:5 (ESV) — May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.

Work and Wait

2 Thessalonians 3:10–12 (ESV)

• (10) For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.
• (11) For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies.
• (12) Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.

Trust Christ to finish his work

1 Thessalonians 5:23–24 (ESV) — Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

Eschatology and Evangelism

Have you ever used the reality of death and heaven and hell to witness to others?

• What do you believe happens when you die?
• Do you feel like you’d go to heaven or hell? Why?
• use a brief summary of some of the 10 commandments to show that we are all deserving of Hell.
• Does that concern you?
• Can I share with you what the Bible says about how you can know you’ll go to heaven?

Questions

• How should we think, feel, or prepare for the Lord’s return?
• How should we think, feel, or prepare for our own deaths?
• Should we be eager for the Lord’s return, or should we pray that his return should be delayed so that more persons could be saved?
• What are the next events on the eschatological timeline which we are waiting for?

Trinity Confession of Faith

34. The State of Man after Death and of the Resurrection of the Dead

1. After death, the bodies of men return to dust and see corruption. Their souls, which have an immortal existence, do not die or sleep but immediately return to God who gave them. The souls of the righteous are then made perfect in holiness and are received into paradise, where they are with Christ and behold the face of God in light and glory. They wait for the full redemption of their bodies. The souls of the wicked are cast into hell where they remain in torment and utter darkness, reserved for the judgment of the great day. For souls separated from their bodies, Scripture acknowledges none other than these two places.
2. On the last day the saints which are alive will not sleep but will be changed. All the dead will be raised up with physical, human bodies and not another, although with different qualities. These raised bodies will be united again to their souls forever.
3. By the power of Christ, the bodies of the unjust will be raised to dishonor. By his Spirit, the bodies of the just will be raised to honor and be conformed to his own glorious body.

35. The Last Judgment

1. God has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by Jesus Christ, who is given all power and judgment by the Father. On that day, not only will the fallen angels be judged, but also all persons who have lived upon the earth will appear before the tribunal of Christ to give an account of their thoughts, words, and deeds. They will receive judgment according to what they have done in the body, whether good or evil.
2. The purpose of God appointing this day is to demonstrate the glory of his mercy in the eternal salvation of the elect and his justice in the eternal damnation of the reprobate who are wicked and disobedient. On that day, the righteous will go into everlasting life and receive the fullness of joy and glory with everlasting rewards in the presence of the Lord. However, the wicked, who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of Jesus Christ, will be cast aside into everlasting torments and punished with everlasting destruction away from the presence of the Lord and away from the glory of his power.
3. Christ desires us to be certain that there will be a day of judgment, both to deter all men from sin, and for the greater comfort of the godly in their adversity. He also desires to keep the day unknown to men, so that they may shake off all fleshly security and be always watchful, because they do not know at what hour the Lord will come and may ever be prepared to say, “Come Lord Jesus. Come quickly. Amen.”

Resources

https://cornerstoneapex.org/messages/the-resurrection-body