The Resurrection Power, Reasons to Believe in Christianity

Interior photo of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. 

When we Christians are called to believe in Christ and the resurrection, are we called to hope against reason? To believe without any evidence? 

The movie and the book The Case for Christ which the story of Lee Strobel’s conversion from atheism to faith and highlights a major part of Christianity: apologetics. There are reasons to believe in Christianity; and in the words of another apologist, Josh McDowell, the evidence is so overwhelming, it demands a verdict.

So, what are the reasons to believe in Christianity? 

1. Paul, a singular testimony for faith. The Apostle Paul is the ultimate example of a skeptic who converted to Christianity. In his case, however, he was so opposed to the newly formed faith of Christianity that God had to miraculously appear to him on the Damascus Road. Once converted, Paul realized that this method of evangelism (Jesus Himself appearing in overwhelming light that results in three days of blindness) was the exception and not the normal method. Therefore, the apostle lays out specific reasons to believe and more than any other part of the faith, nothing is more central than Christ rising from the dead.

The word “apologetics” comes from the Greek word which means “to make a defense.” It literally means to make a case for a religious faith through a series of systematic arguments and reasoning. It dates back as old as Christianity itself, with Paul going to synagogues and public discourses to give reasons to believe. For instance, Acts 17:2, 17 says, “Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures… Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there.”

Paul wasn’t the only one making a defense for Christianity. His traveling partner, Luke, the beloved physician, wrote the entire gospel after interviewing eyewitnesses “from the beginning.” He explained: “I have followed all things carefully from the beginning, to write an orderly account … so that you may know for certain the things you were taught.” (Luke 1:3b-4, NET)

Another doubter who was converted to faith was the famous Doubting Thomas, who would only believe if he could see the nail prints in the hands of Jesus and put his own hand in his side. And while we all know that Jesus did appear to Thomas, like the conversion of Paul, Thomas’ conversion from doubt to faith is not the normal way of defending our beliefs. Even Jesus commended those who are converted without having incontrovertible faith: “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29).

Peter perhaps gave the greatest call for apologetics in 1 Peter 3:15: “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.” In that one sentence, Peter says first, set apart the Lord in your own heart; then second, be ready to defend (Greek: apologia) to everyone who questions us; lastly, he says we should give our reasons not in combative or argumentative fashion but rather in humility. 

Paul wrote several letters to the Corinthians as a result of their many problems that they had. Divisions, immorality, even instructions on how to partake of communion. But perhaps most troubling of all, Paul concludes 1 Corinthians addressing a huge problem…some did not even believe in the resurrection.

Paul is an example to believe in the Resurrection. A persecutor of the church, Paul deemed himself as least of the sent-out apostles. And yet he himself is an example that anyone can go from an unbeliever to believer. The changed lives of a believer can sometimes be the most convincing example of all. Jesus said they (meaning the unbelieving world) will know us by our love and changed lives.

2. Proofs  Exposition of the Scriptures, Empty tomb, Eyewitnesses, and the Example of Paul

The Scriptures. The Apostle Paul ends his first letter to the Corinthian church by reminding them what he had taught them “first of all.” The gospel in a nutshell is found in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 as one of the earliest summations of the “good news” of the resurrection. Twice Paul appeals to “the Scriptures” (what we now call the Old Testament) as a proof of the resurrection.

Paul was not the first to appeal to the Old Testament prophecies to help people believe in the resurrection. Jesus Himself, on Resurrection Sunday, appeared to two persons mourning over the death of Christ on the road to Emmaus. In Luke 24:13-27, Jesus began with Moses and the Prophets to expound to them “in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” The Bible prophetically foretells of events hundreds of years beforehand in such vivid detail. For those events to come to pass is strong evidence that the Bible is reliable.

In Romans 10:17, Paul stated that “faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of God.” Hebrews 4:12 says that the Word of God is living, powerful and sharp; it also divides and discerns. Even if people do not believe the Bible, the word of God is still supernaturally powerful and should be used even with skeptics. Someone said, “Even if you don’t believe in a knife, it still will cut you.”

Tim LaHaye tabulated many of the Scriptures of the Old Testament which were fulfilled by the resurrected Christ, and it totals more than 150 prophecies.  

The Sepulcher. Another defense Paul used was the empty tomb. It is interesting that from the beginning, the defense of the Jewish leaders was to explain why the tomb was empty. A great way to have squashed the rumors of Christ rising from the dead would have been to simply produce the body. Instead they paid soldiers to say that the disciples stole the body. However, Paul’s appeal to the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus is foundational to Christianity, Paul said. “And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!” (1 Corinthians 15:17).

The Sightings. Thirdly, Paul, like his friend Luke as we said earlier, appealed to eyewitnesses. Peter and the twelve apostles (this would include Thomas, who saw Christ a week after the resurrection and also Matthias who was selected to replace Judas and was a “witness…of His resurrection.” See John 20:26-29, Acts 1:22). He also included 500 others who saw Christ all at once, James, the half-brother of Jesus who did not believe until after the resurrection, and then also all of the apostles or sent out ones, which could mean as many as 70 more who were the ones sent out (Greek: apostello) during Jesus’ earthly ministry (see Luke 10:1). Add all of those appearances up and you have nearly 600 times of Jesus being seen.

The Salvations. For me, all of the apologetics in the world and all of the reasons for faith is not why I am a believer. It is the grace, the gift of God, which saved me. I know I can’t explain it enough. I know can’t show people what is in my heart. But like the old hymn says, “You ask me how I know He lives, He lives within my heart.” The changed lives of Paul and me and you and the millions who have been changed are perhaps the greatest arguments that the world can never explain away.

3. Protests. If tomb was not empty, then you have an empty foundation, an empty faith, an empty falsehood, an empty future, and an empty forgiveness

Proofs alone are not going to stop a skeptical world. There are protests from outside the church and in the case of the Corinthians, even inside the church. Paul was amazed that even after all that he had taught them, that there were “some among you” who did not believe in the resurrection. Specifically, some in the church may have believed Christ was raised, but they did not believe that they themselves would be raised.

In Judaism such persons were called Sadducees and it was against those that Paul argued in one of his defenses (see Acts 23:6-8, Acts 24:15-21).

But also in the Gentile culture, there was a great deal of skepticism against the resurrection (see Acts 17:32).

Worst of all, Paul found that he not only had to fight the doubters of the resurrection in the Jewish faith, in the Gentile faith, but now in the church?? He was almost beside himself!

Paul was basically saying, “If you don’t believe in the empty tomb, you have then you have 

• empty foundation (“our preaching is empty”), 
• empty faith (“your faith is empty”), 
• empty falsehood (“we are found false witnesses”), 
• empty future (“the dead do not rise”), and an 
• empty forgiveness (“you are still in your sins”).

4. Power. Despite the protests against the resurrection, Paul appeals to the fact that if God did in fact raise Jesus from the dead, then He will also give life to the believers. Romans 8:11 (But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you) is very similar to 1 Corinthians 15.

The power of the resurrection is not just the fact that there is life after death, but that there is also resurrection power within us right now. That power gives us strength to overcome sin, and it also gives us the power to live a righteous life, even if it means “fighting with beasts at Ephesus.” Paul was referring to a time in which he and others were so discouraged that “we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life.” (see 2 Corinthians 1:8).

Again, there is a parallel in this passage and in Romans chapter 8—“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).

Believing in the power of the resurrection gives us power internally to overcome the discouragements of this life. Paul said that those who did not believe in the future resurrection were not admirable. Such false beliefs only lead to sin, corruption of morals and shame.

5. Promise Of the Resurrection. Perhaps more than any other section of Scripture, 1 Corinthians 15 is frequently used at funerals because it gives us faith and hope for the future.

The promise of the resurrection does more than simply give us faith to sleep at night. The promise gives us encouragement to look death squarely in the eyes when we or our loved ones face the inevitable fate of the end of life. Even more, the promise of the Resurrection gives us a victory not only in death, but also in this life to be steadfast and immovable, to be always abounding in the work of the Lord. 

The Promise of the resurrection gives us a motivation that the work we are doing is not in vain.

Joy to the World

 Joy to the world. It's not just a song, it's the message of the angels to those shepherds who were frightened. The jubilant proclamation was to reduce the fear that people may have when they think about God and judgment.

Jesus brings joy. If your view of God is anything other than joy, then something is wrong. Jesus said in His great and high priestly prayer of John 17, “But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves."

When Jesus came to the world, it was lost and separated from God. When He left the world and returned to the Father, He went to be our Advocate, forever interceding at the Father's right Hand as our defender. "Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us." Romans 8:34.

It is the promise of heaven that gives us joy. This world is marvelous, beautiful, and can be joyous. But it is only a glimpse of eternity, a small foretaste of great and eternal joy. Jesus said when we go through hard times, "Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven..."

Christmas is placed on Dec. 25 for one reason. The days are only getting brighter. For six months, it's been slowly getting darker and darker, but now Joy comes in the morning. "For God's anger is but for a moment, but his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning." (Psalm 30:5).

I don't know if it was intentional or not, but Luke begins with joy and ends with joy. John the Baptist leaped with joy at the greeting of Mary, and the final line of Luke's gospel says, "While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God."

Merry Christmas, INDEED!

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The Great White Throne Judgment

The Rest of the Dead

and the Great White Throne Judgment

By Timothy C. McKeown 

Revelation 20:5-15

Which would you rather stand before: the “Bema” (based on the Greek word “bema”, duh!) Judgment Seat of Jesus Christ, judged for your works, both good and bad, or the “Great White Throne” Judgment Seat of God, judged according to your works and whether your names are written in the Book of Life? 

While both sound awesome, one judgment is clearly for believers (the first one) and the other is clearly for unbelievers (the title of this study). One determines the works of this life in terms of rewards, the other judgment renders guilt and condemnation for those whose names are not recorded in the Book of Eternal Life.

 

⁵ (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection…¹⁰ The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

The rest of the dead spoken of in verse 5 are those who are not a part of the first resurrection. While the term “second resurrection” is not used, it is inarguably implied with and linked to the term “second death.” What happens to the unbelieving and unsaved souls of those who have died and are not resurrected at the Rapture or at the end of the Tribulation?

They are clearly not brought back to life, meaning that they are dead physically and not resurrected until after the thousand years; spiritually, they are sent to “hell” (Greek: hades or “hades”). This is found in the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, found in Luke 16:19-31:

¹⁹ “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. ²⁰ But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, ²¹ desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. ²² So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³ And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. ²⁴ Then 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.’ ²⁵ But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. ²⁶ And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’ ²⁷Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, ²⁸ for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ ²⁹ Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ ³⁰ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ ³¹ But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’”

Several things can be discerned about the unbelieving dead from this story. 

1) After death comes the judgment on whether a person will be sent to a place of rest or a place of torment. (See also Heb. 10:13) 

2) After death, while the physical body may be buried without any discernible difference between the believers and unbelievers, both go immediately to their eternal destination. 

3) There is an awareness of what goes on both on earth in real time as well as in the other place eternal resting place. 

4) After death, there is no second chance and no ability to move from one abode to the other. 

5) Both believers and unbelievers are recognizable, and also have attributes similar to those when they had physical bodies (fingers, tongue, bosom, etc.)

Hades

Hell (Gr: hades) is spoken of four times in Revelation: “I am he that lives, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.” (Rev. 1:18);  “And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.” (Rev. 6:8) and then again twice in this chapter, verses 13 and 14.

Jesus also spoke of it in contrast to heaven in Matthew 11:23 and Luke 10:15. In Matthew 16:18, Jesus said the gates of hell would not prevail over the church. Jesus’ soul went to hell, according to Old Testament prophecy, quoted in Acts 2:27 and 31, and according to Christ’s own prophecy that the dead in the graves would hear the voice of the Son of Man (John 5:28). 

Jesus told the thief on the cross that “today, you will be with Me in paradise,” (Luke 23:43), which was not yet located in the third heaven, seen by Paul (2 Cor. 12:4). This is also affirmed by Jesus when He told Mary Magdalene on Resurrection Sunday that He had not yet ascended to the Father (John 20:17). 

Instead, paradise at that time was located in a separate place of hell than where unbelievers were tormented. At the resurrection, Jesus brought with Him the spiritual souls of those who had believed prior to His Resurrection as part of the captivity that was led captive by Christ to heaven (Eph. 4:8).

Gehenna

The ultimate location of hell will be in the “lake of fire” in Revelation or “everlasting fire” in Matt. 25:41, often referred to in the Greek as “gehenna” (geennh), where the whole physical body and soul will be cast after the resurrection (Matt. 5:29-30, 10:28), never to be quenched (Mark 9:43-48).  It was prepared for the devil and the fallen angels (“And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day” Jude 1:6), but those who are not found in the Book of Life will also be cast there (Rev. 20:15). It is where the devil is cast into at the end of the thousand years (Rev. 20:10)

Tartarus

When the angels fell, some of them were cast into the deepest part of hell (“For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell (Gr. Tartarus, “to be cast down”) and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment” 2 Pet 2:4). Jesus also said that some parts of hell will be more tolerable than others (Matt. 10:15, 11:22, 24).

¹¹ Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. ¹² And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. ¹³ The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. ¹⁴ Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. ¹⁵ And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

This “Great white throne” judgment is different from another Judgment spoken of in Scripture. That one is clearly for believers, those whose names are found in the Book of Life. Paul wrote about it in Romans 14:

¹⁰ But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. ¹¹ For it is written: "As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God." ¹² So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. ¹³ Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother's way.

This obviously is for believers and the better and more common manuscripts say this is the judgment seat of Jesus Christ, (not judgment seat of God, as read in translations other than King James/New King James). It is again mentioned in 2 Corinthians 5:

¹⁰ For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. ¹¹ Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences.

This “bema” seat judgment of believers does not determine whether we go to heaven or hell, but rather what kind of rewards we shall receive, as mentioned in 1 Cor. 3:12-15. According to John 5:24, when we receive Christ, we will never come into judgment in relation to our sins, but instead, we have passed from death into life.

“Him who sat on (the throne)” is shown to have a fearsome and terrifying face, and if it were possible, those in heaven and earth would flee away, but “there was not place found for them.” Since believers are already resurrected, we are no longer considered “dead” and will not face that judgment. The sea contains the unbelieving dead, alone with death and hell (Gr. hades). The books apparently record all the works that the dead, small and great, have ever done. But that alone is not what causes the dead to be cast into the lake of fire, but rather the fact that their names were not found written in the Book of Life.

Hebrews 12:23 says those in the church, the believers, are written in heaven: “to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect.” That fact should cause us to rejoice more than anything else, according to Luke 10:20: “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”

On the following pages are some pictures depicting the Book of Revelation, the prophetic days of Scripture, the judgment of rewards, the scriptural rendering of the “underworld”, the first and second resurrections in detail, and an enlargement of the final judgments for believers and unbelievers.

THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM

Revelation 20:1-10

By Timothy C. McKeown 

The Millennium Kingdom will be that time when, for the first time in all of humanity, we see what God really intended for all of humanity. The word millennium means one thousand (mille) years (annum). Those of us who are “premillennial” are those who believe that Christ will come back to earth as promised before the thousand years of Satan being bound. Reading Revelation 20, especially the first word of “then”, it is hard to understand how people could be anything but premillennial! Virtually all of the Old Testament prophecies of the promised reign of God on earth and the blessings of Israel will be fulfilled during this time.

For the purposes of this study, there are just too many references in the Old Testament to do them justice by citing. I would recommend getting The Apocalypse, by Joseph A. Seiss written in the late 1800s or The Book of Revelation, by Clarence Larkin, (1919), and Revelation, by H.A. Ironside (1920) for historical references, The Revelation of Jesus Christ, by John F. Walvoord (1966), Things to Come: A Study in Biblical Eschatology, by Dwight J. Pentecost (1976), or Revelation Unveiled, by Tim LaHaye (1999) for in depth studies on Revelation.

¹ Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. ² He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; ³ and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.

The Son of Man will appear in the sky (Matt. 24:27), the armies of Gog and Magog will be annihilated (Ezek. 38-39), and the bride is ready for the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:7). 

But there are some uninvited guests, and one in particular. The anti-Christ and false prophet will be thrown alive into the lake of fire. An angel comes down from heaven and takes Satan and binds him for 1,000 years in the Abyss (bottomless pit), where he and his deceptions are sealed. Christ holds the keys of “Hades and Death” (Rev. 1:18). 

He had given the keys to heaven to the kingdom of heaven to the church, beginning with Peter (Matt. 16:19), but the key to the Abyss had been given to a fallen star, likely Satan, to release demons bound there, but where even the legion of demons did not want to be cast (Luke 8:31). The same place where angels were chained awaiting judgment (2 Pet 2:4, Jude 6) is now where the devil himself is cast.

This explicitly states that Satan can be bound at any time by God, but He chooses to let him roam the earth, roaring, walking, and devouring (1 Pet 5:8). By Christ’s own death, he destroyed the devil’s power of death (Heb. 2:14), and here is the continuation of that destruction. Nowhere else but here in chapter 20 is the thousand year duration of the binding Satan and the reign of Christ mentioned, but for God to say it even once is enough, but here in the space of six verses is it reaffirmed six times. 

This coincides with God’s six days of creation and the seventh day of rest (Yes, I believe in a literal reading of Genesis!). Six thousand years have transpired since creation and now at the dawn of the seventh millennium, Christ is poised to return. Even Peter spoke that to God, a day is a thousand years (2 Pet 3:8) and this was spoken in terms of Christ’s return.

(Know) this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, ⁴ 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." ⁵ For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, ⁶ by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. ⁷ But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. ⁸ But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. ⁹ The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. ¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.

Yes, it is highly logical and quite scientific to believe in God. The scoffers have indeed come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts! G.K. Chesterton, an English author, philosopher, Christian apologist, and literary and art critic, said, the following:

“It is absurd for the evolutionist to complain that it is unthinkable for an admittedly unthinkable God to make everything out of nothing, and then pretend that it is more thinkable that nothing should turn itself into everything.”

 I hope that when the angel takes hold of Satan, that we, the church, will see that happen! When we see the tragedies which the devil has caused in this world, and even greater ones which have not been seen until the Tribulation, which will be worse than ever the world has seen (Matt. 24:21), I hope the angel has a huge chain, and in humiliation we see him cast into the abyss, along with his lies, death and destruction. 

Why is he bound, rather than destroyed? Because God is not yet through in writing His story, history!

⁴ And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

There will be thrones of judgment given not just to those martyred in the Tribulation (verse 4b), but to the entire church (verse 4a, also Matt. 19:28, Luke 22:28-30). But in addition to those saved during the church age and those called “the bride,” are those saved in the Tribulation, who bore witness for Christ and the word of God. The refused to worship the beast and did not receive his mark on the foreheads or hands. Whatever the mark is, it is primarily an identification with the antiChrist. It will be related to buying and selling (Rev. 13:17).

To the right is a picture of what technology is available today, called RFID (radio frequency identification) chips. Wal-Mart is mandating that these be installed on all products and they will eventually replace bar codes. People, including former President Bush official Tommy Thompson, the Health and Human Services Secretary in President Bush's first term and a former Governor of Wisconsin, have already implanted RFID chips in their bodies for identification, but just like debit cards, these bio-chips will eventually be programmed to allow those who have them buy items at stores, without having to pull out a wallet, lose a card, or have the “thank you” cards attached to their key rings. As Christ delays His coming, technology will only advance more rapidly as will the need to prevent identity thefts and ensure the national identities of residents and non-residents.

⁵ But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. ⁶Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

Who are those who are the rest of the dead? Those who are the dead in Christ shall rise first (1 Thess. 4:16), followed by those who are alive at the time of the rapture, (4:17), then those Old Testament saints shall be raised bodily at the end of the Tribulation (Dan. 12:1-2), along with those killed for Christ in the Tribulation (Rev. 20:4). Martha apparently thought that Lazarus who at the time of his “first” death, would be raised at the “last day” with the rest of the Old Testament saints (John 11:24). But all of these are part of the first resurrection which started with Christ. There are two resurrections, of the just and unjust (Acts 24:15). Those justified will never be under the power of the second death but are priests of God  (1 Pet 2:5,9, Rev. 1:6, 5:10) “And (You, Christ, the Lamb of God) have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.”

⁷ Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison ⁸ and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. ⁹ They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. ¹⁰ The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

After the 1,000 years, Satan will be released to deceive again the nations who have been born during the millennium. John uses the name Gog and Magog from Ezekiel 38-39, but like Sodom, and Babylon, it is a generic term for those who will rise up against Christ. 

During the 1,000-year reign, the people will not be deceived, but those who have not truly trusted Christ, born after the beginning of the millennium, will be numerous. That shows that while we and Christ are reigning, it is not yet the perfect heaven and earth. People will still die. Sin will still be possible. But it will be for those who are not redeemed and those who are not part of the first resurrection.

to be continued...