The Daily Word of Righteousness

The Resurrection and Eternal Judgment, #40

And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. (Revelation 21:23,24)

The new world will be governed by the new Jerusalem, which is God in Christ in God's Israel, in the elect—those who have been called from the creation of the world whether they are Jewish or Gentile by physical birth. All the elect will be made one in Christ.

Dwelling on the new earth will be the nations of the saved—the saved peoples who are governed by the saints and for whom the saints serve as priests and teachers. When all has been brought into subjection to Christ, Christ will be subject to God the Father so God may be All in all.

God understood from the beginning that Adam and Eve would fall, that Satan would bring mankind into bondage, and that each inhabitant of the eternal world would be reborn and gain righteousness, peace, and joy through His beloved Son. The wisdom of God is working all things together for good to those who have been called according to His purpose. All God desires will finally be brought to pass and we shall have eternity to enjoy what God has envisioned for us.

The true saint has no fear whatever of physical death. He understands that this life is a wilderness journey, the purpose of which is to determine how he will behave when placed in the glory of the eternal world.

Let us not make the dreadful mistake of regarding the present world as the eternal world, as the only real life—that in which, considering its brevity, we must grasp as many things, pleasures, and relationships as we can before we pass into oblivion.

The present world is a testing ground. It is our opportunity to reveal to the Lord that we have faith in Him and that we shall do what is righteous, what is faithful; that we shall obey Him even though in the process we are denied many things we desire fervently. Now is the time to behold the invisible by faith, to walk by the unseen Light and Truth rather than by the darkness and lies with which we are surrounded.

If we refuse to attempt to make a paradise out of the present world, being willing to take up our cross each day and follow the Master, we will experience many judgments on our sinful personality. But we also will experience a better resurrection.

. . . not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: (Hebrews 11:35) (from The Resurrection and Eternal Judgment)