Part 21 Christian Universalism is the Answer YES Part 8
Who are saved now?
1 Corinthians 15:22-24 For even as, in Adam, all are dying, thus also, in Christ, shall all be vivified." Yet each in his own class: the Firstfruit, Christ; thereupon those who are Christ's in His presence;" thereafter the consummation, whenever He may be giving up the kingdom to His God and Father,...{CLV}
Most translations use the word “alive,” instead of “vivified,” however the all dying in Adam, that is all mankind are not just made alive to die again, they are vivified, that is they can not die again, they are immortal.
Christ is the firstfruit, He has be resurrected first from death. All mankind are the fruit that will be resurrected from dead, when they ready to be picked. However each in “his own class,” that is each person has a class, only when they are ready can they be resurrected form death. Death here does not have to mean resurrected form the grave, for it is from the second death that unbelievers will be “vivified.”
Here we see God’s overall plan, those who are Christ’s at his coming {Usually called the second coming) are made immortal. These are the elect or overcomers, not the whole body of Christ. The dead in Christ are resurrected and along with those who are alive of the overcomers are transformed becoming immortal 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18. The rest of the body of Christ get transformed at the Great White Throne Judgment after the millennium.
What is the purpose of the Chosen?
But the Question then arises, why does God only save a few, in this life. I will explain this in this section by covering two areas. The two areas two cover are, “The Millennium Reign” and “After the Great White Throne Judgement”
The Millennium Reign: Reign with Christ and Allotment of Cities:
In the book of Revelation the 1000 year reign is mentioned, Revelation 20:4-6. There are many views on this millennium reign, I will not be going through them here as that is beyond the scope of this study. My view is that the millennium is still to come and will start when Christ returns.
Revelation 20:6 Happy and holy is he who is having part in the former resurrection! Over these the second death has no jurisdiction, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will be reigning with Him the thousand years." {CLV}
When Christ returns He allots cities to the overcomers, this is covered in The Parable of the Minas {Luke 19:11-27}. Briefly in the parable Jesus is the nobleman who goes away to obtain a Kingdom. He comes back and gives authority over ten cities to one slave and another five cities. The unfaithful slave was not given any cities to rule over. Much more could be said but I am not covering the parable in full here.
It is enough for this study to show that the faithful overcomers will reign during the millennium, over cities that they have been given authority over.
After the Great White Throne Judgement:
After the Judgement the book of Revelation reveals the new Earth and the Holy City. Inside of the city are those who are on the scroll of Life, this includes those who were part of the first resurrection. There are two groups of people mention that are not in the Holy city, those in the Nations {Revelation 21:4 & Revelation 22:2}, and those mention as being “without” {Revelation 21:8 & 22:15.} Those that are without are not part of the nations and not on the new earth, they are in the Lake of Fire {Revelation 21:8}.
The ones in the nations are made up of those that have already gone though the Lake of Fire for it tells us that those not on the scroll of Life go to the Lake of Fire {Revelation 20:15}, however the nations are on the New Earth, not in the Lake of Fire. All those on the scroll of life are in the Holy City, and not on the new Earth, they did not have to go through the Lake of Fire. Therefore those of the nations must have past through the fire already. Some time has past between sentencing at the Great White Throne Judgement and the coming of the nations to be on the New Earth.
The chosen reign over the nations that are on the new earth:
Revelation 22:5 And night shall be no more, and they have no need of lamplight and sunlight, for the Lord God shall be illuminating them. And they shall be reigning for the eons of the eons."
The Lord God will be illuminating the ones that are reigning. They will be a guiding light to the nations.
Revelation 21:24 And the nations shall be walking by means of its light, and the kings of the earth are carrying their glory into it."
There will be kings on the new earth and they will carry the glory of the nations into the Holy City. That is those of the nations that have obtained glory will be carried into the Holy City, their names will be on the scroll of Life.
This is the glorious, awesome and truth wonderful reason that God is calling the chosen, they will be the guiding light to the nations, they will be evangelising all those among the nations. The nations are made up of all those who have already passed through the fire.
"The Lamb’s book of Life is not a closed book, such that new names cannot be added to it. God will continue to add new names to it as people repent and accept Jesus Christ. Traditional Christianity does not understand this truth. If the Lamb’s book of life were a closed book, then why are the nations still being saved and coming into the Holy City?
Revelation 21:24-26
24 And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honour into it. 25 Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). 26 And they shall bring the glory and the honour of the nations into it.
Please note that the nations are still being saved and walk in the light of the Holy City, and the gates of the City are never closed, i.e. the offer of salvation still remains open. The kings of the earth continue to bring their glory into the New Jerusalem and join the Bride of Christ. The only way the kings of the earth can bring their glory into the Holy City is for them to become Righteous through repentance and faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ." From http://www.godoftheages.com
This is a continual flow of people and nations into the New Jerusalem, until every last person who is on the new earth enters the New Jerusalem. All those who are in the nations, every last one of them, joins with the Bride of Christ. Those who are chosen to be God’s elect, the Bride of Christ, will be leaving the Holy City to help and evangelize those who are among the nations.
That is not to say those that are still in the Lake of Fire will not also gain access to the city. All, everyone, everybody, every single person who has ever lived throughout all of time will gain access to the Holy City. How do we know this, because as already covered in earlier parts all mankind will have salvation, this is the awesome truth, the truth that should be being perched from the churches.
“Revelation 22:1-2 (NIV)
1Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
This is a continuation of John’s vision of the Holy City, the New Jerusalem. The River of Life and the Tree of Life is none other than Jesus Christ and His finished work of salvation on the cross. The leaves of the Tree are for the healing of the nations. Note that the nations still need to be healed.
The gospel of Jesus Christ will continue to be preached to the nations who are undergoing refinement and cleansing in God’s consuming Lake of Fire. They will ALL be healed of their spiritual sickness and enter the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, the Kingdom of God.” http://www.godoftheages.com
No one in the New Jerusalem needs healing, the nations outside the city need healing. Here is the glorious truth, the nations, the unbelievers are outside, they will be heal by the leaves of the trees, which are inside. This clearly shows, that after the elect are in there heavenly places, the New Jerusalem, they will go out and heal the nations. The leaves for healing are inside, the nations that need healing are outside. Once healed, the nations, people, are brought inside.
Those that are still in the Lake of Fire, are not stick there forever. Those of the nations came through the fire and this vast group will also pass through and be saved by the fire. The scriptures that cover the salvation of All Mankind have already been covered.
Copyright © M J Farquharson 2006 & 2021