FACT: The message of Bible prophecy for believers is that "Jesus will triumph, and we will win in the end!"

Key Scripture: "Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 15:57).

We have learned from God's Word that when those of use who are Christians die, our spirits never lose their consciousness (Philippians 1:21-23 and 2 Corinthians 5:8). Instead, our fully conscious spirits are immediately ushered into the presence of Jesus by His holy angels (Luke 16:22).

Our spirits are clothed in an intermediate spirit body and remain in the Lord's presence until He appears for His Church at the time of the Rapture. At that time, He brings our spirits with Him, resurrects our bodies, reunites our spirits with our bodies, and then glorifies our bodies, perfecting them and rendering them eternal (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

We return with Him to Heaven in our glorified bodies where we are judged for our works to determine our degrees of rewards (2 Corinthians 5:10). When this judgment is completed, we participate in a glorious wedding feast to celebrate the union of Jesus and His Bride, the Church (Revelation 19:7-9).

Witnesses of Glory

At the conclusion of the feast, we burst from the heavens with Jesus, returning with him to the earth in glory (Revelation 19:14). We witness His victory at Armageddon, we shout "Hallelujah!" as He is crowned King of kings and Lord of lords, and we revel in His glory as He begins to reign over all the earth from Mt. Zion in Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:1-9 and Revelation 19:17-21).

For a thousand years we participate in the reign, assisting Him with the instruction, administration and enforcement of His perfect laws (Daniel 7:13-14,18,27 and Revelation 20:1-6). We see the earth regenerated and nature reconciled (Isaiah 11:6-9). We see holiness abound and the earth flooded with peace, righteousness and justice (Micah 4:1-7).

At the end of the Millennium we witness the release of Satan to deceive the nations. We see the truly despicable nature of the heart of Man as millions rally to Satan in his attempt to overthrow the throne of Jesus. But we will shout "Hallelujah!" again when we witness God's super natural destruction of Satan's armies and see Satan himself cast into Hell where he will be tormented forever (Revelation 20:7-10).

We will next witness the Great White Throne Judgment when the unrighteous are resurrected to stand before God. We will see perfect holiness and justice in action as God pronounces His terrible judgment upon this congregation of the damned who have rejected His gift of love and mercy in Jesus Christ (Revelation 20:11-13).

Jesus will be fully vindicated as every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord. Then the unrighteous will receive their just reward as they are cast into Hell (Revelation 20:14-15).

Witnesses of a New Creation

We will then witness the most spectacular fireworks display in all of history.

We will be taken to the New Jerusalem - the eternal mansion prepared by Jesus for His Bride - and from there we will watch as God renovates this earth with fire, burning away all the filth and pollution left by Satan's last revolt (2 Peter 3:12-13).

Just as the angels rejoiced when God created the universe, we will rejoice as we watch God superheat this earth and reshape it like a hot ball of wax into the New Earth, the eternal earth, the paradise where we will live forever in the presence of God (Revelation 21:1-7).

What a glorious moment it will be when we are lowered to the New Earth inside the fabulous New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:2). God will come down from Heaven to dwell with us (Revelation 21:3). He will proclaim: "Behold I make all things new" (Revelation 21:5).

We will see God face to face (Revelation 22:4). He will wipe away all our tears (Revelation 21:4). Death will be no more (Revelation 21:4). We will be given new names (Revelation 2:17), and we will exist as individual personalities encased in perfect bodies (Philippians 3:21). And we will grow eternally in knowledge and love of our infinite Creator, honoring Him with our talents and gifts.

To say the least, these are promises of God that should give us hope. We should be able to get excited about them and desire to share them with those who do not know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

Quotation:

"A continual looking forward to the eternal world is not (as some modern people think) a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the things a Christian is meant to do. It does not mean that we are to leave the present world as it is. If you Read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. The Apostles themselves, who set on foot the conversion of the Roman Empire, the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English Evangelicals who abolished the Slave Trade, all left their mark on Earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get 'thrown in:' aim at earth and you will get neither." C. S. Lewis in Mere Christianity.

Lamb & Lion Ministries www.lamblion.com