Thursday: Two Eternities
Daily Lesson for Thursday 27th of June 2024
Read 2 Corinthians 5:10; Romans 14:10-11; and Revelation 20:11-15. What do they say about why the wicked are raised to life again?
To resolve the sin problem so evil never arises again, everyone must be convinced that God has been fair and just in all His ways.
Image © Graham Braddock at Goodsalt.com
Ultimately, every knee shall bow and acknowledge God’s justice in the great controversy, even Satan and his evil angels, and that there was never any justification for rebellion against God. Notice this insight from Ellen G. White: “As soon as the books of record are opened, and the eye of Jesus looks upon the wicked, they are conscious of every sin which they have ever committed. They see just where their feet diverged from the path of purity and holiness, just how far pride and rebellion have carried them in the violation of the law of God. The seductive temptations which they encouraged by indulgence in sin, the blessings perverted, the messengers of God despised, the warnings rejected, the waves of mercy beaten back by the stubborn, unrepentant heart—all appear as if written in letters of fire. . . .
“The whole wicked world stand arraigned at the bar of God on the charge of high treason against the government of heaven. They have none to plead their cause; they are without excuse; and the sentence of eternal death is pronounced against them.”—The Great Controversy, pp. 666, 668.
Read Revelation 20:9; Psalms 37:20; and Malachi 4:1-2. What insights do these passages give us about the ultimate destruction of sin and sinners and the reward of the righteous?
The good news is that Satan and his evil angels will be destroyed in the lake of fire. Sin and sinners will be consumed. According to Revelation 20:9, they will be devoured, destroyed, and not eternally tormented. The next verse uses the expression “forever and ever.” Depending on the context, the word “forever” does not always mean “endless” but, until something is completely accomplished. (See Exodus 21:6; 1 Samuel 1:22,28; Jude 1:7; and 2 Peter 2:4-6.) For the lost, the destruction itself, not the act of destroying, is eternal. God is not the eternal torturer.
In the end, one of two eternities await us all. The lost, unfortunately, receive the “wages” they have earned—eternal death. Why, then, is our only hope of not getting what we deserve, which is death, found in trusting in Jesus’ righteousness?
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We are coming to the end of our study of the Great Controversy and I would like to think it more than just a vindication of Church doctrine but rather an affirmation of our relationship with the creator. It reminds me of a song that Slim Dusty, a much-loved country singer, sang not long before he died:
And in his way Slim Dusty has reminded us that in the present we can sing songs of salvation by looking back and remembering what God has done for us and looking forward to what he has promised.
Our eternity is the one we choose!
Hi. Why does the writer say there is no torment for those cast into the lake of Fire yet it says they will be tormented for ever and ever?
Revelation 20:10
And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Their torment will come at the moment they realize the price for eternity was not theirs to pay — it was freely available for them and easy to choose — yet they allowed Satan to convince them to reject it. The torment will be in recognizing how wonderful God is, the joy of His presence, and that they did not value Him enough, choosing instead the second death with absolutely no hope forever. That will be their hell: knowing they will be separated from God for eternity. They will be destroyed to ashes, not suffering eternal torment, but the consequences will be everlasting. Just like Sodom and Gomorrah—the Bible refers to that fire as eternal, yet there is no fire burning in that land today (Jude 1:7). It is the eternal consequences that define hell: eternal death, which is the opposite of eternal life in heaven.
It's amazing that even when God executes judgment, it's done in the presence of the Lamb and not the Lion of Judah. It is like heaven's way of still saying "all was done at the cross and you rejected salvation"
Even in judgment, God displays the government of Love. "Ultimately every knee shall bow..."
Revelation 14:10 - The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
I'm wandering, if Jesus paid for everyone sin at Calvary; will the lost be paying for that same sin that Jesus died for? The impression that I'm getting here and in general Christianity is yes! But that leads to double jeopardy (the same sin being paid for twice) and that make God unjust, doesn't it?
Peter, Christ made the gift of salvation available to everyone! However, a gift has to be accepted in order for it to be effective.
In the United States, a presidential pardon has to be "accepted" in order to be effective. Same with salvation.
I think there may be a danger of taking the "payment for the debt of sin" a little too literally. Christ died the death that we deserve so that we might have the life that He deserves. There's no "double jeopardy" involved here.
The Bible uses concepts with which we are familiar to explain salvation, but if we take those super-literally, we are liable to end up with error.
Plz help me on this...
When JESUS comes, He will ressurect all the dead in Christ and they will see him. My question is what about those who died on planet Mars and other planets that is said to have a kind of life?! Will they be resurrected there?! Will they see JESUS there?!
Help Maurice and others
Lynn, there is no intelligent life on Mars.
And even if there were, the Bible deals with righteousness and sin on Planet Earth!
Two eternities: eternity meaning endless life after death. How can we have two eternities?
Eternity just means endless time. The adjective, “eternal” is applied to both life and death.
I had a visitor today and we talked at length. Yes he has some different views than mine. Now, one of many we agreed on was his explanation of the battle within. He informed me we have one entity sitting on our left shoulder and the other on our right shoulder. The choice is ours, of which one we listen to. If we listen to the one on our right shoulder every day, we grow closer to God
The more we listen from our right ear the closer our relationship with God. Whether I die or am standing when Christ raptures us does not matter I will be in heaven. Why because I listen the the voice on the right. I shook his hand, saying thankyou for the great testimony. Come to think of it his testimony was a good opening to the Gospel of Christ by JohnMark.
The final comment of today’s lesson seems to be missing what is the best part . The lost get just wages the saved get an unspeakable GIFT. Salvation !!!!
The end of the 'Great Controversy' reveals the Truth regarding Eternity for those who believed God as well as those who rejected it. To me, the Great Controversy is about believing God that man can live again, and his adversary denying that such a thing is possible.
The consequence for those who do not believe in an eternal life for man, is that they will make a great effort for this life to provide all they want to ‘get out of life’. But those who believe that they will live again are willing to defer to live the ‘good life’ until Jesus Christ rewards their faith; both receive what they want.
As the end draws near, it may be getting more important for the believer to focus on understanding why he/she prefers to defer living the promised life in the future, as the cost is to deny him-/herself the pleasure of indulging in what this world’s life has to offer. What is it that living in the Kingdom of God offers that this world cannot give? Promoting the life of the Kingdom of God might go a long way to drawing people out of the mire of this world.
Mattew Ch.13 shares many parables Jesus used to describe the Kingdom of God/heaven. One of them compares it to a pearl of great value, so great, that one would be willing to give up everything in order to obtain it. The believer chooses to live in God’s kingdom her on earth already, but those satisfied by the goods this world offers decide to ignore the Truth which would reveal the worth of this special pearl - the eternal Life lived in the Kingdom of God; the price of rejection is eternal death.
I like to go back to Joshua's words of advice of love for those he was leading.
Joshua 24:14 NKJV
[14] “Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord."
My family and I also say we serve the Lord. We have chosen who we serve, the Lord God of Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and Joshua.
We are looking forward to starting the lessons of the gospel of Mark. We will enjoy spending time daily in the life of Christ. Pull out your Desire of Ages and read along with the topics of the 3rd quarters lessons.
God Bless you all!
Numbers 6:24-26.