The Rest of the Dead
Now, what of those billions of dead who were cut off from contact with God during their lifetimes, who lived and died in ignorance of God's revealed truth?
They will remain in their graves until after the thousand-year reign of Christ and the saints on earth. They will then be resurrected back to physical life in the second resurrection (Revelation 20:7, 11-12). They will then be given their first real chance for salvation, an opportunity to qualify for eventual change to immortality.
Few understand this vital truth! The vast majority of mankind has never even had a chance for salvation!
Anciently, the prophet Ezekiel was permitted by God to see in vision this great second resurrection. God showed Ezekiel a valley full of dried bones:
"And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou [alone] knowest" (Ezekiel 37:3).
God then declared: "Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: and I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live . . ." (verses 5 and 6).
Ezekiel then witnessed — across three-and-a-half millennia into the future — a portion of this great worldwide resurrection to physical life. ". . . and the breath came into them," he records, "and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army" (verse 10).
The Second Death
Finally, what of those who steadfastly refuse to follow God's way, those who are given a chance now, in this life, to qualify for immortality but turn it down?
These will have a part in the third resurrection, a resurrection to physical life, at which time they will be mercifully destroyed — put out of their misery forever. They will be consumed in their entirety in a lake of fire (Revelation 20:13-15), becoming ashes under the feet of the righteous (Malachi 4:3). How much more merciful than the concept of eternal torture in "hell"! "The wages of sin is death" says your Bible in Romans 6:23 — not everlasting suffering in hellfire!
This is the "second death" (Revelation 20:14) from which there is no resurrection. The second death is final. God is not willing that any perish, but he will not force salvation on anyone!
. . . there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust," the apostle Paul declared (Acts 24:15). A resurrection is the only hope for mankind!
For an in-depth biblical examination of this vital subject, request our reprint series, "The Three Resurrections."
How Can You Be SURE?
The Bible reveals a great future for the immortal, born-again sons and daughters of God. But how can you know that what the Bible says is really true, that we will live again?
Hanging in the Tate Gallery in London is a touching painting by a mid-nineteenth-century artist. It shows a young woman standing deep in thought by the grave of a dead loved one. The painting bears the title, The Doubt: Can These Dry Bones Live? This question has occupied the thoughts of mankind for millennia.
On a stone grave marker near the woman's feet lies a sprouting, chestnut, symbolic of life — possibly the artist's veiled answer to the question posed by the painting's title. On the grave marker is carved a simple but confident inscription: Resurgam — "I shall rise again!"
A powerful statement, that! But how can you be sure? Is there any way you can be sure?
Anciently, God's servant Job asked, "If a man die, shall he live again?" (Job 14:14). Job knew the answer: "all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change [to immortality] come.
Thou [God] shalt call, and I will answer thee . . ." (verses 14-15).
Job knew there would come a time when God would call him from the grave and give him eternal life. "For I know that my redeemer liveth," Job declared, "and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet [apart from] my flesh shall I see God" (Job 19:25-26).
Why was Job so confident? Read it again: "For I know that my redeemer liveth. . . "!
Christ's Resurrection — a Type
We can know that there will be a resurrection to immortality by the very fact that, in one case, it has already happened. And the very one resurrected — Jesus Christ — will be the means to our resurrection.
Christ's resurrection after three days and three nights in the grave was a type or forerunner of the resurrection God promises to all who obey him. The apostle Paul was inspired to write:
"But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken [enliven] your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you" (Romans 8:11).
Jesus Christ guarantees it! Notice what he says in John 11:25: "I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth on me, though he were dead, yet shall he live."
Jesus was the "firstborn among many brethren" (Romans 8:29), the "firstborn from the dead" (Colossians 1:18), the "firstfruits of them that slept" (I Corinthians 15:20). These verses obviously imply that others are destined to follow him.
Christ's Resurrection — Fact, Not Fiction!
One final, but supremely important point remains.
Some disbelieving critics have alleged that Jesus' resurrection is mere fable and fabrication, with no basis in fact. This is a serious allegation.
Notice in I Corinthians 15:1718 that everything hinges on the reality of Jesus' resurrection: "And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain [meaningless or empty]; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished."
If Jesus did not rise from the dead, we are without hope! But Jesus did rise from the grave! The crucifixion of Jesus was not behind closed doors. His death was witnessed by hundreds. It is mentioned not only in the scriptural accounts, but in secular records as well.
Likewise, Jesus' resurrection is attested to by many hundreds of eyewitnesses who saw him after he was raised. Some even ate and drank with him and conversed with him at length!
The apostle Paul states: ". . . God raised him from the dead: and he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people" (Acts 13:30-31).
In I Corinthians 15:4-8, Paul elaborates: "And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: and that he was seen of Cephas [Peter], then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present. . . . After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also. . . ."
As Luke summarizes in Acts 1:3: "To [the apostles] also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God."
Men do not become martyrs to what they know to be false! The belief of the early Christian Church was absolute, based on personal testimony or eyewitness testimony.
Jesus did rise from the dead! The fact of his resurrection is as firmly established as the assassination of Julius Caesar! And he, Christ, likewise, "shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body . . ." (Philippians 3:21).
This is our destiny, if we choose to accept it!
New Horizons
As resurrected, glorified, immortalized saints — born into God's Family as his divine children — we will "inherit all things" (Revelation 21:7) and "shall reign [rule or govern] for ever and ever" (Revelation 22:5).
We shall inherit the vastness of the entire universe! It will be ours to work with through eternity. The words of Hebrews 2:8 will at last come to pass: "Thou hast put all things in subjection under his [man's] feet. . . ."
There will be new worlds to build, new horizons to conquer, an entire universe to mold and shape! And to accomplish it we will be granted undreamed-of powers and abilities, unhampered by the physical limitations of time and space. Nothing will be beyond our potential!
This is the fantastic future that is offered us. What will you do about it?