The Daily Word of Righteousness

The Resurrection and Eternal Judgment, #14

And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (Revelation 20:4)

We must conclude that the expression "they lived" means they received back their flesh and bone bodies from the ground or from wherever their mortal remains were deposited. When the Scriptures speak of "living" they mean being alive in the body. Man is not "man" unless he is spirit, soul, and body. When an individual dies he no longer is a "man." He is a spirit. This is why the Lord emphasized, "a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have" (Luke 24:39).

Human beings are "alive" only when they are in their bodies. People will be glorified in their bodies. People will be saved in their bodies. People will be punished in their bodies. People will be cast into the Lake of Fire in their flesh and bone bodies.

And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases [corpses] of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh. (Isaiah 66:24)

When the flesh and bone body of the wicked individual has been raised from the dead by spiritual energies (not by the eternal life of God, but by the energies by which creatures live in the spirit realm) it can die no longer. It will remain in the unquenchable fire without being destroyed (their worm shall not die)—a fearful fate indeed!

The "house which is from heaven."

For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: (II Corinthians 5:2)

We must, at this point, make clear the elements included in the resurrection from the dead so the reader may be able to follow our reasoning.

The first element we must consider is our inner man, our spirit and soul. It is the inner man who is the real person, all else being clothing God puts on our inner man.

Second, there is the flesh and bone body. The flesh and bone body, the clothing of the inner man, experiences two distinct phases. The first phase (we will term this, phase A) takes place this side of the grave, and the second phase (phase B) takes place after the resurrection.

During phase A the life of the body is blood. Phase A is the same for the saints and the wicked.

During phase B the life of the body of the saint is the Divine Life of Christ. But the life of the body of the wicked merely is spiritual energy—the spiritual energy by which fallen angels live.

The spiritual energy of phase B of the wicked is not the eternal life of which the Lord Jesus spoke. The eternal life set forth in the New Testament is the Presence and Spirit of God. The fallen angels live by spiritual energy but they possess no eternal life. Satan is active in the spirit realm but he possesses no eternal life.

To be continued.