Lake of Fire
Part Two
“The last enemy is being abolished: death.”
1 Corinthians 15:26
Mom
While I was writing this article my mom died. Death is the one thing we can all pretty much count on. No matter how we live our lives death is the final result of our efforts.
I don’t know if you are born with a sense of humor or you learn it, either way mom taught me how to laugh and appreciate life, and to not take it too seriously. She also demonstrated to me the ability to bounce back when hit hard by life, an ability that I now appreciate more then ever.
Mom also taught me, generosity, respect (when earned), kindness, and a love of animals.
I remember when I was four years old, I was playing in our back yard when rocks started landing all around me. I looked up and saw another boy standing at a distance picking up more rocks to throw at me. He looked different, not at all like some of the other kids I knew.I ran into the house and told my mom what had happened. She came out and saw the boy, who then ran into his yard. She went to the door and spoke to the boy’s mom. To my four year old eyes the mom looked like any other mom. When my mom told her what had happened she brought her son to the door to apologize. The boys name was Steve; he was adopted from a Korean orphanage. When we left I asked my mom why he looked so different from the other boys I knew, I can still remember her answer; he’s no different then you.I later learned about his background, but at that time that was all I needed to know, he was no different then me.
Mom was the kind of mom that encouraged us to do whatever we wanted to do, whether it was music, baseball, hockey, soccer, or basketball, anything, it didn’t matter.
She would pack us, the neighborhood kids, and a dog or two, into the car and off we would go to play ball. After the game it would be pop and chocolate bars, or ice-cream, for everyone, win or lose.
Mom would volunteer her time for all sorts of causes, canvas for heart month and cancer awareness month, answering phones for the local MLA, go to old folk’s homes, stay up all night crocheting slippers or baking for whatever cause there was, she was a people person. Mom was always learning, she would take night school classes in accounting and languages. She took classes in Spanish, German, Norwegian, French and Russian. The running joke was; she never travelled.
“I might go to a German or Russian restaurant, you never know.”
“There are not too many Norwegian restaurants around here” I said.
“We might join the Sons of Norway; I’ll be able to speak their lingo with them.”
What I’ll miss the most was her humor.
For the last few years Mom had Alzheimer’s. When ever I visited her she didn’t have a clue who I was, she knew my name when I told her, but my face was unrecognizable to her.
That last time we visited the home, we were walking to the elevator to take Mom out for a stroll, she was in a wheelchair. On the way to the elevator one of the residence reached out to grab Donna, before she could grab her mom’s hand came out of nowhere and swatted the woman’s hand out of the way; “Keep your damn hands off of her” my mom said. I said, “Mom, you don’t hit people,” she obviously saw the woman as a threat. “In two minutes she won’t remember a thing” my Mom said. By the time we got into the elevator and told my dad what had happened, mom had totally forgotten what she had done. We laughed. Donna said its just mama bear protecting her cubs. Even though she didn’t recognize us, she felt she had to protect us.
One week before she died she was diagnosed with, brain, bone, liver, kidney and intestinal cancer. When she was diagnosed it shocked all of us. Up until that time she showed no signs that cancer was taking over, except she was tired. The doctors gave her two weeks to live, she was put on so much pain killing medication she was unconscious most of the time. I hate death for the most part; I appreciated it when my mom died. She died a week later on April 4th.
My brother in-law emailed me with a line from a Bruce Springsteen song, with a slight embellishment;
“We’ll meet her further on up the road.”
Paul wrote the Thessalonian ecclesia and said;
“Now we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are reposing (dead), lest you may sorrow according as the rest, also, who have no expectation.”
We, the believer, don’t have hope, we have an expectation that we will be once again united with someone who has died, even someone who doesn’t believe as we do at their time of death.
Most Christians can’t even hope that they will see a dead loved one or friend that hasn’t embraced Christ the way they have. Their religion and tradition has clouded that truth.
That to me is the biggest tragedy of religions false doctrines; it has no way of honestly and scripturally comforting the bereaved, unless they lie.
“One sunny morning we’ll rise I know, and I’ll meet you further on up the road.”
I’ll see you later mom.
What If?
“And death will be no more.”
Revelation 21:4
“It takes time to crystallize a new approach to a supposedly settled teaching.
When a thought is bitterly opposed we should not only make a note of it, but
give it some serious study, because truth has always been bitterly opposed
by those who profess to love it most. Real truth seekers are not easily deferred
from their pursuit by threat of disfellowship, or ostracism, since they consider it
a privilege to suffer for truths sake. We must build our faith upon the clear-cut
admonition of the Scriptures rather than upon the superstitions of the dark ages.”
Unknown Author.
What if you awoke tomorrow morning and the headlines read; “No More Death”.
What would your first thoughts be?
Would you think to yourself; Thank God, no one from this moment on will die; hallelujah!
If that were the case I’m sure the sigh of relief from seven billion people would change weather patterns for years to come.
But would no more dying be a relief or comfort?
Would no more dying solve any of the woes that hold mankind in spiritual, mental, and physical bondage?
Would no more dying remove all mourning, clamor, and misery?
Would any of us go to the places where friends and loved ones lay in death and dance for joy?
Or would you maybe think;
“If only this had happened a few hours, days, weeks, months or years ago.”
Would “no more dying” wipe away the tears from every person’s eyes?
Not if loved ones and friends who are already dead remain dead.
But what if what the scriptures teach: “No More Death”, meant what it say’s; “NO MORE DEATH” and all people who are dead now were raised from death, never to die a second time.
The scriptures tell of an age, or eon coming when that will be the case; “No more death”, it is called the eon of eons; some translations call it the age of ages.
That will be the eon when God will bring all into subjection to Him.
Eon of Eons
“At the conclusion of the eons.”
Hebrews 9:26
The scriptures tell of two more ages/eons yet to come after this present age/eon completes. The next age/eon is known as the Millennium Age, the one after it is known as the Age of Ages, or Eon of Eons.
Christendom teaches the next age (the millennium age) is the last age before eternity. It ends with Satan being loosed from the submerged chaos, (some translations call it the bottomless pit) and most of mankind at that time rebelling against Christ’ reign, bringing on the Great White Throne Judgment. Those not found written in the Lambs book of life are cast into a literal lake of fire for eternity, and the rest live on forever with Christ. If this is true, when Christ hands over the kingdom to His Father (1 Corinthians 15:24) it is pretty much a mess, and nothing like what the scriptures teach will happen at the conclusion of the eons.
Eons are long periods of time. There are for sure five eons written of in the scriptures. The first eon, Genesis 1:1, ended at the disruption of the earth, when it became darkness and void, verse 2. The second eon ended with the flood of Genesis’ chapter’s six to nine; we live in the third eon which will end at Christ’s return. The fourth, the Millennium age, ends with the Great White Thronejudgment; Revelation 20:11-15.The fifth eon ends with Christ handing all over to God and God being All in all; 1 Corinthians 15:28, then time will cease. The first four eons end with chaos, the fifth eon ends with God being All in all, the reconciliation of all is complete. The only eon that we know the length of is the forth, scriptures say it will last a thousand years. The time frame of the other four eons only God knows, although some have said the first two eons and the eon we are in now can be limited to approximately six thousand years, but that’s highly unlikely. These eons should not be confused with dispensations or administrations. The dispensations take place during these eons.
As was said, the fifth eon has been mistaken for eternity by most theologians, they have muddled all of the prophecies into one huge undecipherable confusing lump thereby leaving the fifth eon, or age, to represent what life will be like in eternity.
The scriptures give us no information what life ineternity will be like, except that God will be All in all. God only gives us what our minds can handle, and they can’t handle eternity. That’s like asking someone to answer the question; how far is up.
Words like eternity, eternal, forever and ever, ever-lasting, are mistranslations of two Greek words, aion and aionion and one Hebrew word olam.
These words have been translated in many bibles into several incorrect words like, world, universe, course, forever, eternity, eternal, forever and ever, ever-lasting.
The transliterations of these Greek words to English are eon, meaning a period of time that could be short or long in duration, and eonian meaning; belonging to a period of time. Olam means the same as eon. That’s a simple explanation, if you want to get deeper into it I recommend the book; An Analytical Study of Words, by Louis Abbot.
Whenever you have timeyou have to have the end of time because eternity defies time, it is the opposite of time.
So with these words properly transliterated we will be able to see that God has been and is working for the good of all in these eons, and drawing all to Himself.
Purpose of the Eons
That, in the oncoming eons, He should be
displaying the transcendent riches of His
grace in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:7
In these eons God is revealing to us how He is dealing with His creation, specifically; mankind.
Paul tells us what this purpose of the eons is in Ephesians 3:8-15.
“To me, less than the least of all saints, was granted this grace: to bring the evangel of the untraceable riches of Christ to the nations, and to enlighten all as to what is the administration of the secret, which has been concealed from the eons in God, Who creates all, that now may be made known to the sovereignties and the authorities among the celestials, through the ecclesia, the multifarious wisdom of God, in accord with the purpose of the eons, which He makes in Christ Jesus, our Lord; in Whom we have boldness and access with confidence, through His faith……On this behalf am I bowing my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, (the purpose)after Whom every kindred in the heavens and on earth is being named.”
In these eons we have seen individuals, families, as well as nations brought into reconciliation to God. In the fifth and final eon we will see all in the heavenly, earthly, and subterraneanrealms reconciled to God.
That is the purpose of the eons; that every kindred in the heavens and the earth will;
“In the name of Jesus every knee should be bowing, celestial, terrestrial, and subterranean, and every tongue should be acclaiming that Jesus Christ is Lord, for the glory of God, the Father.” (Philippians 2:10-11)
You can read of the fifth eon in Revelation 21, 22, and in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 15:22-28, and several Old Testament passages.
Paul gives us another glimpse of the end of the fifth eon, when time has run its course, in Ephesians 1:9, 10. I’ll quote it from four versions.
“And He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times have reached there fulfillment, to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.” NIV Translation
“That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth, even in him.” King James Translation
“For God has allowed us to know the secret of His plan, and it is this; He purposes in His sovereign will that all human history shall be consummated in Christ, that everything that exists in heaven or earth shall find its perfection and fulfillment in Him.” Phillips Translation
“Making known to us the secret of His will, in accord with his delight, which He purposed in Him, to have an administration of the complement of the eras, to head up all in the Christ, both that in the heavens and that on earth.” Concordant Literal Transliteration
When time ends, after the final eon, all mankind, past, present, and future will be subjected to Christ, and then Christ will hand all over to God.(1 Corinthians 15:28)
The fifth eon begins with a new heaven and a new earth.
This present earth is nothing more then a spinning graveyard. All die here. Even in the celestials planets and stars die. On the new earth, and in the new heavens, death will have no place. All will be made new (Revelation 22:5). Not only will there be no one dying, there will be what the scriptures say there will be; “No More Death”.
The last enemy that holds mankind down is death. Death is what we inherited from Adam. Paul writes;
“For since, in fact, through a man (Adam) came death…..and thus death passed through into all mankind.” (1 Corinthians 15:21, Romans 5:12)
Once death has been done away with unregenerated mankind can begin to be subjected to God and learn righteousness.
As long as death is around sin is around. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:56; “Now the sting of Death is sin.”
Once the stinger Sin is removed death will never plague mankind.
So if the lake of fire, which is the second death, is literal, or a place of torment, sin will remain.
As long as there is a “sinner” dead, or writhing in a torture pit, Christ failed to take away the Sin of the world (John 1:29).
If the lake of fire which is the second death is figurative, the consequences of sin can be truly eradicated, as mankind will be being subjected to God, by the fire of God. Their heart will be made right. And once that is accomplished then Christ can hand all over to God, and God may then be All in all.
This is the purpose of the final eon, the cleansing of humanity.
Now the fifth eon comes to an end, when all is subjected to Christ. At that time He will hand all over to His Father, God that God may be All in all.
“Now, whenever all may be subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also shall be subjected to Him, Who subjects all to Him that God may be All in all.”(1 Corinthians 15:28)
A Question or Two
“If there is a soulish body, there is
a spiritual also….But not first the
spiritual, but the soulish, thereupon
the spiritual.”
1 Corinthians 15:45, 46
After I wrote part one on the lake of fire, I had been accused of glorifying death by some who believe in the reconciliation of all, and believe the lake of fire is literal.Not so!Those who believe that death will be victorious during the greatest eon are guilty of glorifying death.
I then asked these questions;
Is mankind judged at the Great White Throne, then made right, or brought into subjection, only to be thrown into a literal lake of fire alive, to die (after a confession of Christ). Later, after the conclusion of the fifth eon, is mankind made alive again, then permitted to live on into eternity?