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The Gospel of John, The Period of Controversy, The Claims of Jesus Christ, Part III, John 5:28,29 - Lesson 33
We continue the study of Jesus' discourse to the Jews who challenged him after he had disturbed their idea of the sabbath.
They sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.
He did not hide from them but instead faced them head on with the truth.
Our weapon in this world is the truth.
We have nothing else with which to fight the battle for God.
Jesus is the Captain of our faith. Jesus is the Truth!
Here in this passage He faces his enemies with a perfect offense.
He faces his enemies with the truth about himself.
He astounds them with claims that he is equal with the Father, in Service, in Will, in Intelligence, in Sovereign Rights, in Divine Honors, in Imparting Life, and in Judicial Power and Authority.
You can imagine how this disturbed the Jewish mind.
The mind that was not guided by the Spirit of God.
The natural mind that does not know the things of God.
The mind that tried to come to God by the works of the Law.
The mind that concluded that that which was coming from the mouth of this preacher from Nazareth was blasphemous and had to be stopped.
They said that he made himself to be equal with God.
This was indeed true and Jesus Christ did not shrink from this purpose.
We pick up this discourse in:
Verses 5:28,29, Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
We see here that the evil and the good will hear his voice.
They hear his voice at resurrections.
The first resurrection is unto life.
The second resurrection is unto damnation.
The order that Jesus mentions the two resurrections is the order in which they occur as we find out in other Bible passages.
There is no indication in this passage relative to the time period between resurrections but the fact of this verse is that there will be two resurrections.
Jesus gives them distinct names.
Other passages clarify the time of their occurrence and the period between them.
Upon the authority of the Word of God I know I will be in the first resurrection.
I may rise from the grave or I, if alive at the time of this resurrection, may follow those that precede me from the grave.
Only the saved will be in the first resurrection.
Then the judgment of believers.
Who is the judge?
or we (all the saved) must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ.
Not to be judged relative to eternal life for the judge will not judge himself.
He is the giver of life and the giver of life is perfect and does not judge himself.
Those that appear before him at this judgment have long since settled the matter of eternal life by their faith in the judge.
He is our mercy seat upon which we rest.
This judgment will determine rewards or rebuke, gain or loss, profit or no profit, for that which we have done for the judge since we entered new life in Christ.
This judgment is not to be taken lightly as this judgment is for eternity.
Our eternal state will be affected by this judgment.
The second resurrection is "unto damnation."
As we know from other passages it takes place at the end of the millennial reign of Christ.
The wicked will hear his voice at this time.
Life will speak to death. Light will speak to darkness.
The Holy will speak to the Unholy.
All the wicked of all the ages will hear.
They will be summoned.
They will obey.
They refused to obey when he spoke words of Grace and Truth but they come now because he is the Lord of the dead.
They will stand before a White Throne, a Great White Throne, to face their judge.
They will have no hope because without Jesus Christ there is no hope. There is no probation, no shred of hope held out to them.
Perhaps an angel will be summoned to make one last search of the Book of Life to insure that all who stand there are without listing in the book that God maintains.
The perfect Savior is the perfect judge.
This Judge is long suffering, not willing that any should perish.
His unwillingness is backed by his willingness to give himself so that none would perish.
He has an active willingness that brought him to the cross to satisfy the justice of a Holy and Righteous God.
But the long suffering is ended.
This vast host does not see a Savior but they stretch their necks between weeping and wailing to see the Judge.
The doom of an eternal punishment awaits them.
They receive their choice.
They get what they lived for.
Their wish is granted. Their fate is sealed.
They go to their father the devil and to his place.
As they had sinned in physical bodies so shall they suffer in physical bodies.
When they are called to the Throne they are called, not in glorified bodies, but in bodies marred by sin and made terrible by evil.
As we read from Daniel they are awakened to shame and everlasting contempt.
They will endure tribulation and anguish as they suffer eternally in the flames of the Lake of Fire.
They will not go gently to their eternal destiny but they will be cast, thrown, into the fire like a stone, from the presence of the Judge.
I wonder who will throw them? |