With
the fall of man in the Garden came death: physical (Rom 5:12) and spiritual
(Rom 6:23a). If Adam would have died physically being spiritually separated from
God, he would have eventually experienced eternal death (Rev 20:11, 15; 21:8). With his disobedience
he did experience spiritual death immediately (Gn 3:7, 8). His biological clock
started with his disobedience, “and he died” physically 930 years later (Gn 5:5).
But unlike his firstborn Cain who died in unbelief (1 Jn 3:12), Adam would not experience eternal
death for God provided for him a covering for sin (cf. Gn 3:21), foreshadowing a Substitute for sin (Heb 10:4, 2 Cor 5:21).
Death in the Scriptures always conveys the meaning of separation, never annihilation or cessation of consciousness. As the soul is separated from the body at physical death, spiritual death is the temporary separation of the soul from God while living.
Death in the Scriptures always conveys the meaning of separation, never annihilation or cessation of consciousness. As the soul is separated from the body at physical death, spiritual death is the temporary separation of the soul from God while living.
Eternal
death, on the other hand, is the permanent spiritual and physical separation of
the soul and body from God in the lake of fire without remedy or abatement; all
hope is gone. There is absolutely no positive expectation of anything changing,
once in the lake of fire. Currently, the LOF
has no occupants. Eternal death applies to all those who physically die in
their sins due to unbelief (Jn 8:24). Without the Holy Spirit a man is
considered spiritually dead (Eph 2:1, 5; Col 2:13). Listen to Paul’s chilling
words, “Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to
him” (Rom 8:9b, ESV). So another way of describing eternal death is physically
dying without the Holy Spirit living within the heart.
This, in my
opinion, is the single most important demarcation between the saved and the
lost; the former has received the Holy Spirit by faith; the latter has not. The
most fundamental question in salvation is this; who is going to pay the penalty
for my sin, your sin? If by faith we accept that Jesus propitiated or satisfied
the just demands of God for sin, then His righteousness is imputed to us, and
our unrighteousness is ascribed to Jesus’ death on the cross for sin for us (Rom
5:19; 2 Cor 5:21; Php 3:9)! There is no condemnation for those who are in
Christ Jesus (Rom 8:1-2).
If God’s offer of
salvation remains undecided or rejected, the consequences are the same; such a person will be personally culpable for the penalty of sin – eternal damnation. Man is absolutely unable to salvage his spiritual
situation on his own or through others. The only solution available for his
spiritual dilemma is found in Jesus Christ (Jn 1:12-13; 14:6; Acts 4:12). We
see the power of faith in operation (Eph 5:8; Col 1:13) that prevents a serious
spiritual condition from reaching a critical mass of being permanently separated
from God due to unbelief at the time of physical death (Rom 6:23; 1 Cor 15:22;
Col 2:13; 1 Pet 3:18).
Before
a person, without the Holy Spirit, physically
dies, there remains hope; a remedy is readily
available (Rom 10:13; 2 Cor 6:2b). Should a person
physically die in such a bleak spiritual condition, no longer is a remedy available;
all hope is forever lost. There is no second chance after death. All that
awaits the unbeliever is eternal separation in the lake of fire and brimstone,
the ultimate and final destination of the wicked. The very location of the LOF
symbolizes the farthest separation from God who is light – the outer darkness.
I believe this
outer darkness is not to be found in the inconceivable expanse of eternity
itself for God's habitation is there (Isa 57:15, His tent) along with heaven. Nay, I believe the LOF exists for all eternity outside the realm of eternity. God has
predetermined the boundary of His radiant glory even though His omnipresence knows
no bounds; beyond the domain of eternity, there is nothing but outer darkness
(Mt 8:12). It is in this outer darkness
where I believe the LOF is located.
See the graphic below for a theoretical view of the current configuration of creation, heaven, and LOF. In reality, I still can't be sure if I am spot on. Anyway, it's fun and exciting thinking of the possibilities coming our way in the future! This is the nature of being heaven-bent!
See the graphic below for a theoretical view of the current configuration of creation, heaven, and LOF. In reality, I still can't be sure if I am spot on. Anyway, it's fun and exciting thinking of the possibilities coming our way in the future! This is the nature of being heaven-bent!
 |
| Clik to Enlarge |
The light in eternity represents the present limited manifestation of God’s radiant glory on an inconceivable scale that ultimately merges with the new heavens and new earth. God’s visible
presence revealed in the wilderness (Ex 13:20-22) pales in comparison to His
Shekinah glory in heaven. In Jesus Christ we see the visible manifestation of
God (Jn 14:9). Upon our arrival on heaven’s shores via death or rapture, God’s
glory will be unveiled to us; “we shall see Him as He is” (1 Jn 3:2)! He will
dwell among men on the new earth; His glory unveiled (Rev 21:1, 2, 3, 23)!
Keep in mind this graphic
representation above is not only theoretical but impossible to scale accurately
since we don't know the extent of any of it, except for earth. For example, as
far as we know, the furthermost known galaxy is over 13 billion light years
from earth, not counting the distance on the opposite side. I imagine the
immensity of eternity to be far greater than creation. Just how far the outer
darkness goes beyond eternity only God knows. Regardless, the I AM's
omnipresence is not bound by anything whether it be a temple, planet earth,
outer space, heaven, eternity, or the outer darkness (cf. 1 Kgs 8:27). With
God having no beginning or end, for all intents and purposes, He is immeasurable.
Some
commentators will attempt to qualify the biblical meaning of eternal, like
infinity or immensity, to be more intensive than extensive. In other words, the emphasis is
not so much quantitative as it is qualitative (cf. Jn 10:10). I get that. There
is indeed a stark contrast between the quality of eternal death or second death to
the quality of eternal life; joy and peace as opposed to agony and rage and so
forth. No matter how much stock we put into this life, there is nothing
comparable to eternal life (cf. 1 Jn 2:16, 17, “passing away versus “abides
forever”). But both spiritual conditions are still considered to be
interminable, hence the word eternal or forever or everlasting!
From our vantage point the word
eternal embraces duration (quantity)
and durability (quality), the endless or eternal life (in God), or the endless
or eternal death of those spiritually outside of God in the lake of fire. The
word eternal supercharges the meaning
of both ends of the spectrum of eternality: eternal life and eternal death.
Whether the emphasis is on intensity or extensity, both meanings are inherent
in the word, and it makes the notion of annihilation of conscious awareness of
the soul at death (the idea of dying like a dog, no conscious awareness) untenable.
Much comfort is derived from
Paul’s promise under inspiration to the Thessalonian believers and applicable
to all believers, “and so we will always be [quantity] with the Lord
[quality],” (1 Thes 4:17, ESV). The derivatives of this promise are vastly
different than all non-believers who physically die without Christ. This should
inject urgency into any evangelistic efforts to reach those outside of Christ! Satan offers a blunt counterblow in getting others to deny outright the reality of hell or employing a softer more subtle tactic of asking, “How could a God of love send anyone to hell?”
argument. If a man goes with his own reasoning, Satan wins the day. If the Bible
is taken at face value, Satan loses traction in de-emphasizing the need to reach
unbelievers for Christ.
Lucifer’s ultimate foolishness was thinking he could be
like the Most High (Isa 14:12-14), but he is no fool when it comes to taking as many humans to
the LOF with him by capitalizing on their unbelief (2 Cor 4:4) when all is said
and done. The greatest tragedy is to step out into eternity without Christ, yes? This passage in Matthew is a heartbreaker (Mt 7:13). Why witness to
those who are lost then? For one, we are commanded (Mt 28:19-20). Two, it was God’s
desire that none should perish (Jn 3:16; 2 Pet 3:9), and three, it reflects
our gratitude for our salvation by sharing it with others. How do we keep to ourselves the greatest thing that ever happened to us!? Salvation is a miracle of far greater importance than any physical healing! How can we remain silent?
Shifting gears, with the
dissolving or loosening of the elements of the 4-D/Gen 1:1 earth and heavens
(2 Pet
3:10-11; Rev 21:1; cf. 2 Pet 3:13; Isa 65:17.), the clock has forever stopped.
All the manifestations of sin are locked away for eternity; death, Hades, and
the enemies of God (fallen angels and unregenerate humanity) are consigned
eternally to the lake of fire. The realm of eternity merges with the brand new
3-D creation, and God dwells among us forever in this new configuration of the
eternal state (Rev 21:2-3; Isa 57:15).
Reflect for a moment on
those who invested their life in building a legacy and monuments to their ego
in respect to history in the system of this world while reading Isaiah’s
passages (Isa 51:6; 65:17-25)! In chapter 65, Isaiah blends the conditions of
Christ’s kingdom on earth during the millennium with the eternal state
described after the millennium rather than making any distinctions; there are
many similarities. MacArthur
notes “This is similar to the compression of Christ's first and second
advents, so that in places they are indistinguishable (cf. Isa 61:1-2)” (The
MacArthur Bible Commentary on Isa 65:17). We
know according to the Apostle John (Rev 21) that there is still sin and death
during the millennium. In the eternal state sin and death are no more. All of
that nasty stuff is confined to the Lake of Fire in the outer darkness far away
from the realm of eternity.
Scholars are divided over whether “the former
shall not be remembered or come to mind” (Isa 65:17) has reference to the
actual earth and heavens of Gn 1:1 or the world system or both. It is the
argument of priority of emphasis. It is obvious we take leave of it all for the
splendor of glory in the new heavens and earth. It’s all forgotten! Ever forget
work while on vacation, if only for a moment? The former will be forgotten forever in eternity!
Think of how profound the letting go of the
former for the new. If we are honest, at times we all struggle with letting
go of something more desirable than God (1 Jn 2:16, we are inherently sinful!). We have put to death the native desires of
the flesh only to find them resurrected; once again we find ourselves in the
throes of volunteering to sin against God (cf. Rom 7:22, 23)! There is a
tendency to forget in those dark moments of going horizontal in our thinking
and behavior that a decision was made to let the ways of the flesh and the world
go when we received Christ as Savior and Lord. We find ourselves more times at
1 Jn 1:9 than Gal 5:16.
Our sins were addressed at the cross, but our
works after salvation will be evaluated at the Bema, not as punishment for sin
but for rewards in service to God. The Great White Throne judgment is for sin
and the works of the unbelievers (the enemies of God, Rom 5:10; 1 Cor 15:25, 26;
Php 3:18; Col 1:21). Thank God for 24-hour access to the throne of grace (Heb
4:16)! I am so thankful I accepted Jesus’ offer to pay the penalty for sin for
me on the cross! What about you? If we had chosen to pay it by rejecting God’s
offer of salvation, the LOF, the ultimate symbol of “no hope no remedy,” would
have been our eternal destiny rather than the blessings of heaven (cf. Titus
3:5).
You know that part of being heaven-bent is denying
the impulses of the flesh and the solicitations in following the ways of the
world contrary to God’s standard of holiness. Why not have the best of both
worlds, having our cake and eating it, too, since our sinful nature is going to
haunt us anyway? Well, for one thing, light and darkness do not mix. I suppose
the real reasons for being holy as God is holy circulate around love and gratitude for Jesus providing a way of escape from the humanly and demonically inescapable
LOF.
Look at the graphic again. This is the destiny of all mankind who reject God’s offer of love and hope. This is the place where you really don’t want to be! It is the place of God’s eternal wrath for sin. Who in their right mind would want to go there but the blinded mind of the unbeliever (2 Cor 4:4)? I was blind until 1.19.76, but now I forever see. Granted, it is tough when in the world but not of the world, but greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world (1 Jn 4:4; Zech 4:6; 1 Jn 5:4).
Look at the graphic again. This is the destiny of all mankind who reject God’s offer of love and hope. This is the place where you really don’t want to be! It is the place of God’s eternal wrath for sin. Who in their right mind would want to go there but the blinded mind of the unbeliever (2 Cor 4:4)? I was blind until 1.19.76, but now I forever see. Granted, it is tough when in the world but not of the world, but greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world (1 Jn 4:4; Zech 4:6; 1 Jn 5:4).
All of the former life will be forgotten in
the eternal state because eternal life in the presence of the Lord is going to
be so incredibly awesome that “the former shall not be remembered or come to
mind” (Isa 65:17). Would that forgetting include loved ones in the lake of
fire? I think so. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
but the LOF is a testament to Jesus’ statement, “Wide is the gate
and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who
go in by it” (Mt 7:13). It is a tragic end of making the wrong choice and a
personal failure to enter by the narrow gate (Jn 14:6). Should this not motivate us to woo in the Spirit our loved ones who do not know Christ to receive God's offer of salvation though they might be offended?! One day, all the lost will be forgotten and never remembered... Oh, that we would be so heaven-bent with all the unsaved!
Personal choice, not the circumstances of life, takes an unbeliever straight to the
LOF. It is a statement I wish that I didn’t have to make, but not to do so
would deny or trivialize the death of Christ on the cross. He died so man would
not experience the horror of God's wrath poured out on sin. It is choice that drives a believer to seek the glory of heaven because Jesus
is there! With the coming new heavens and
earth, all of the past will be forgotten in the eternal state. The Apostle John
wasn’t blowing smoke; the world is literally passing away (1 Jn 2:17a)! We better get on board with that reality in
the here and now. It is simply an aspect of being heaven-bent – getting on
board in taking God at His Word.
There is one other thing I need to mention related to that before moving on to Part 9. For some reason, we communicate to those apart from Christ that there is a danger of knowing the truth and not acting upon it. But as
believers so many of us believe that we can cherry-pick the Scriptures,
choosing what to obey or ignore and thinking all is hunky dory with God. As
with the unbelievers, there is a danger of believers knowing the truth and not
acting upon it. For the unbeliever, it is continual condemnation. For the
believer, it is an invitation to chastisement (cf. Heb 12:7-8)!
Heaven-bent is taking heed to obey all of God’s Word because there are consequences attached to disobedience (cf. Heb 12:25. “See to it” is in the present active imperative and the same warning is found in Heb 3:12). Also, ignorance, willful or not, leads to Divine action, continued condemnation for the unbeliever and chastisement for the believer. Heaven-bent is the better way to go; it expresses our love for God (Jn 14:15; 1 Jn 5:2-3). <><
Heaven-bent is taking heed to obey all of God’s Word because there are consequences attached to disobedience (cf. Heb 12:25. “See to it” is in the present active imperative and the same warning is found in Heb 3:12). Also, ignorance, willful or not, leads to Divine action, continued condemnation for the unbeliever and chastisement for the believer. Heaven-bent is the better way to go; it expresses our love for God (Jn 14:15; 1 Jn 5:2-3). <><
I heard an
old, old story,
How a Savior
came from glory,
How
He gave His life on Calvary
To save a
wretch like me;
I heard
about His groaning,
Of His
precious blood’s atoning,
Then I
repented of my sins
And won the
victory.
Chorus
O victory in
Jesus,
My Savior,
forever.
He sought me
and bout me
With His redeeming
blood;
He loved me
ere I knew Him
And all my
love is due Him,
He plunged
me to victory,
Beneath the
cleansing flood.
I heard
about His healing,
Of His
cleansing pow’r revealing.
How He made
the lame to walk again
And caused
the blind to see;
And then I
cried, “Dear Jesus,
Come and
heal my broken spirit,”
And somehow
Jesus came and bro’t
To me the
victory.
I heard
about a mansion
He has built
for me in glory.
And I heard about
the streets of gold
Beyond the
crystal sea;
About the
angels singing,
And the old
redemption story,
And some
sweet day I’ll sing up there
The song of
victory.
Words and Music by E.M. Barlett
Words and Music by E.M. Barlett
©1939 –
Administered by Integrated Copyright Group, Inc.
All rights
reserved
%20MG%20t-bkgrd%2060x44%20png.png)
%20MG%20t-bkgrd%2060x44%20png.png){kind=small}
 |
| To Part 9 |
