The Daily Word of Righteousness

The Release of the Material Creation, #21

Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; (Hebrews 1:3)

It is our point of view that neither the righteous nor the wicked will be raised to flesh-and-blood (mortal) life but to spirit life.

It is not too difficult to conceive of spiritual energy animating the flesh and bones of man, a spirit (nonmortal) life that is not part of the Glory of Christ. The fallen angels and the demons have a life force that is not part of the righteous Life of Christ. The wicked spirits exhibit spiritual energies that are not holy. The power of Christ governs the stars in their courses, but that energy is not necessarily part of the holy Presence of God. Divine energy is revealed in earth's lightning and thunder, but these may not be of the holy Substance and Nature of God.

Such being the case, we may assume, given the statement of the Scriptures that some will be resurrected to judgment, that God will restore to the wicked their spirit and soul and provide enough spiritual energy to restructure and give consciousness and function to the body.

We mentioned before the four kinds of persons that will be resurrected: the overcomers, the elect who are not of the spiritual maturity of the victorious saints, the members of the nations of the saved, and the wicked. All these will stand once more on the earth. Each of these groups will present to Christ a different quality of life.

The overcomers will bring personalities filled with eternal Life, glory, authority, power, the Presence of God and Christ.

The members of the elect who are not of the spiritual stature of the victorious saints will bring personalities that have varying qualities of life. Many of these will receive lashes because of their carelessness in the things of the Kingdom. Some will be cast into outer darkness. The elect will be judged strictly, and there may be those who are lost forever, as we understand the Scriptures. The man or woman, boy or girl, whom God has called, but who does not answer the call diligently, will face an angry Christ.

The concept that once we "accept" Christ we can never experience the judgment or wrath of God is deeply entrenched in evangelical Christian thinking. But the Scripture do not teach this. It is the greatest lie ever told. It has destroyed the moral vigor of the Christian churches.

The members of the nations of the saved will bring personalities that have just a touch of God's Life.

The wicked will bring personalities varying in darkness and horror. There will be spiritual monsters and ghouls in this category, so depraved that it is nearly impossible to conceive of them as human beings.

But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption; (II Peter 2:12)

To be continued.