A gracEmail subscriber writes: "My question concerns the statement in Revelation 10:6 that "time shall be no more" (KJV), which the NIV translates 'there shall be no more delay.' Is time done away in the future eternal kingdom of God? Do the new creation and the New Jerusalem function beyond the confines of space-time-matter-energy? Will we transcend time in eternity?" * * * The New International Version is surely correct in its translation here. This passage says nothing about "time" in eternity, but only that there will be no "delay" in the transpiring scenes of the vision which John is … [Read more...]
Archives for 2012
WILL WE REMEMBER THIS LIFE IN ETERNITY?
A member of our circle notes God's declaration in Isaiah 65:17 that the "former things" will not be remembered in the new heavens and new earth. "Does that include people and relationships," he asks, "and questions we now have?" * * * We need not reach that conclusion, it seems to me, since the preceding verse assures us that the "former things" which are forgotten are the "former troubles" which God's faithful people had experienced at the hand of the godless and profane (Isa. 65:16). Life in the "new heavens and new earth," in this vision, includes families, old people and new babies being … [Read more...]
ACTIVITY IN ETERNITY
A gracEmail subscriber writes: "When I consider an eternity of praising God, it scares me that I think that I will get bored. I pray all the time for God to give me the kind of heart that will make that thought desirable, but nothing happens. What's wrong with me?" * * * Perhaps you have been wrongly taught. God's people certainly will praise him in eternity and enjoy unhindered fellowship with him face to face (Rev. 22:5). That does not necessarily involve formal religious services, it seems to me, for God and the Lamb (Jesus) will be right there with us -- a reality to which all earthly … [Read more...]
NEW HEAVENS AND EARTH (2)
A gracEmail subscriber asks for "a bit more elaboration" on the notion that God's redemption will include the creation itself as well as individual children, women and men. * * * According to the Bible, God brought the physical universe into existence and he heartily approved of all that he originally made (Gen. 1:1, 31). From dust of the earth God formed a man-creature, breathed life breath into his elemental nostrils and -- voila! -- Adam became a living soul. God then exquisitely shaped Eve, the woman-creature, and placed the two humans over the rest of the material creation to tend it, … [Read more...]
NEW HEAVENS AND EARTH (1)
A gracEmail subscriber asks for "a bit more elaboration" on the notion that God's redemption will include the creation itself as well as individual children, women and men. * * * According to the Bible, God brought the physical universe into existence and he heartily approved of all that he originally made (Gen. 1:1, 31). From dust of the earth God formed a man-creature, breathed life breath into his elemental nostrils and -- voila! -- Adam became a living soul. God then exquisitely shaped Eve, the woman-creature, and placed the two humans over the rest of the material creation to tend it, … [Read more...]
GOING TO HEAVEN
"I hear people talk about 'going to heaven,'" writes a gracEmail subscriber. "Does the Bible say that the saved will go there? If it does, do people 'go to heaven' as soon as they die, or at the end of the world?" * * * Scripture assures us that believers now have a house that is from heaven (2 Cor. 5:2), treasures in heaven (Matt. 6:20), reward in heaven (Lk. 6:23), names written in heaven (Lk. 10:20), citizenship in heaven (Phil. 3:20), a hope in heaven (Col. 1:5), and an inheritance in heaven (1 Pet. 1:4). Yet, surprising as it may seem, the Bible nowhere says that the redeemed will go to … [Read more...]
GIVING ACCOUNT
A subscriber in Arizona asks, "You say that we will have to give an account of our stewardship of time and talent but that it does not affect our salvation. What do you think that giving account is for?" * * * Such statements of Scripture remind us that we are responsible for our deeds and our decisions during this life. The day will come when we each will answer to our Maker. There will come a time of reckoning, a "judgment" day, the Great Assize (Psalm 50). For those who are finally saved, this will be a moment of infinite exposure before God who knows every outward circumstance and inmost … [Read more...]
THE RICH MAN & LAZARUS (2)
A gracEmail subscriber has heard the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) used to teach that when the wicked die they immediately begin to suffer conscious torment, and that after the Resurrection they will suffer that conscious torment forever. Why do I not teach these two things? * * * Some argue that this story cannot be a parable because Jesus says "there was a certain rich man" and "a certain poor man." However, Jesus also introduces the story of the Unrighteous Judge by saying "there was in a certain city a judge," yet Luke tells us that story is a parable (Lk. 18:1-2). … [Read more...]
ARE THE DEAD CONSCIOUS?
A gracEmail subscriber writes," I read your book The Fire That Consumes and I believe your position is scriptural that the dead are unconscious between death and Resurrection. I do have some questions, however, about several passages." * * * My major concern in The Fire That Consumes was to investigate thoroughly all biblical teaching about the final state of the lost. Because those who believe that the lost will totally perish and be destroyed eternally in hell are divided as to whether the dead are conscious or awake before the Resurrection, I tried to avoid that subject in TFTC. … [Read more...]
THE ‘INTERMEDIATE STATE’
A brother who has read The Fire that Consumes inquired about the state of believers after the moment of death and before the resurrection at the Last Day, the period sometimes called "the intermediate state." * * * If one begins thinking at the point of biblical anthropology, it seems to me one easily concludes that there is no conscious "intermediate state." In the Creation story, God makes a mud man (body) into which he breathes "breath of life" (spirit/breath) and the creature becomes a "living soul". Genesis uses the same expressions "breath of life" and "living souls" when talking about … [Read more...]
