While the Old Testament speaks at great length about the coming millennial kingdom of Christ, and there are some references to it in the New Testament, very little is said in the New Testament about the eternal state — the new heavens and new earth — and it is not mentioned in the Old Testament. Some verses from the Old Testament are quoted in the New, and there they are applied to the eternal state, but the Old Testament does not go beyond the millennium.
The millennium will be a glorious time for the present earth, and it will last for one thousand years; yet it will finally come to its close. At its close, the heart of man at enmity toward God will again be demonstrated even after such abundant goodness. The fire from God out of heaven will consume the rebels.
The Final Disposition
The devil who again deceives men after his short liberation from confinement in the bottomless pit, or abyss, will then be cast into the “lake of fire and brimstone.” This is his final disposition. When he is cast into that awful place, it is said that the beast (that head of a revived Roman Empire) and the false prophet (the Antichrist) are still there. They had been cast in there one thousand years before, at the coming of Christ to reign. Although they are in the lake of fire for one thousand years, they are not annihilated. There they and the devil together are to remain and to be “tormented day and night forever and ever” (Rev. 20:1010And 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. (Revelation 20:10)). Man’s wish is parent to his thought of annihilation, but it is foreign to the Word of God. There is an eternity of punishment for the beast, false prophet, and the devil (and for all who die in their sins), according to the word of Him who “cannot lie.” Some have thought and written that the devil is a king in hell, but the Scripture depicts him as being tormented there day and night. May we have God’s thought and not man’s.
The Two Resurrections
The wicked dead who had not been raised, when the Lord gave the shout that called the bodies of those saints who have died in Christ from their graves over one thousand years before, will then be raised. Man may speak of one general resurrection at the last day, but they do not get it from the Word of God. Many scriptures teach that there are two resurrections—one to life and the other to judgment. Soon the Lord shall give that quickening shout, and the bodies of those who died in faith shall be raised, but the unbelievers of all ages shall remain in their graves until the time of which we are writing — after the millennium and at the beginning of the eternal state.
The dead, small and great, are to stand before God at the great white throne to be judged. They are to be judged “according to their works,” out of the books. Man hopes that God will forget his wicked deeds, but they are all recorded, and the evidence will be produced in that day. The “book of life” will also be there to prove that their names were never written in it. The evidence will be conclusive and their doom eternal.
“Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:11-1511And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:11‑15)). Yes, the eternal state of the lost is to be in the “lake of fire.” It is described variously as: eternal fire (Jude 77Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. (Jude 7)), everlasting punishment (Matt. 25:4646And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. (Matthew 25:46)), the worm that never dies (Mark 9:4444Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. (Mark 9:44)), everlasting destruction (2 Thess. 1:99Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; (2 Thessalonians 1:9)), blackness of darkness forever (Jude 1313Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever. (Jude 13)), and many other such expressions. Why should men try hard to prove that his existence is not eternal when God says it is? He will either spend eternity with God in bliss or be tormented with the devil and his angels.
A New Heaven and Earth
Immediately after describing the final judgment of the unsaved and their consignment to the lake of fire, the Word of God goes on to the eternal state of bliss. “I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea” (Rev. 21:11And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. (Revelation 21:1)). In 2 Peter 3 we read that we “look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” Previously it says that the present earth and surrounding heavens are to be dissolved and melt with fervent heat. How or where God will sustain the earthly saints at the close of the millennium when the present earth is dissolved, He has not told us. Let it suffice us to know that He can and will. He will then make the earth over — entirely new. From the statement that there will then be “no more sea,” it would appear that many changes will take place. Much of the earth’s surface is now covered with water, and that is necessary to life as it is at present, but then all will be new. Life will be suited to the new condition, whatever it may be.
We are told that righteousness will dwell in that eternal state where sin can never come. At present, righteousness is only preached or offered; we may suffer for righteousness now. In the millennium, righteousness will reign, and wickedness will be put down, but in God’s new heaven and new earth it will dwell. That will be the stable and permanent condition. No breath of sin will ever defile that new scene. Then will be seen the complete fulfillment of John 1:2929The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. (John 1:29): “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”
Sin Completely Put Away
At present we who believe know our sins put away. In the millennium there will be a further demonstration of the value of the work of the Lamb of God, but in that eternal bliss we shall see sin completely put away from God’s creation. “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!” (Rom. 11:3333O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! (Romans 11:33)). Revelation 21:1-81And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 5And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 6And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 7He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 8But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. (Revelation 21:1‑8) gives us the most complete description of the eternal state. The Apostle Paul only approaches it in 1 Corinthians 15:24-2824Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. 25For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. 26The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 27For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. 28And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all. (1 Corinthians 15:24‑28), where he speaks of Christ bringing all into subjection and then delivering up the kingdom which He ruled as man. Then God — Father, Son and Holy Spirit — shall be all in all. This coincides with Revelation 21:33And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. (Revelation 21:3); the tabernacle of God will be with men. There will be no more nations or divided languages, and God Himself shall be with redeemed men in that eternal state.
The Eternal Dwelling With God
When Adam was in innocence in the Garden of Eden, God visited him, but He did not dwell with man in that state. With redeemed men in the eternal state He will dwell. In that eternal day “there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away” (Rev. 21:44And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. (Revelation 21:4)). Oh, the glory of that fixed state of bliss! It is truly worthy of God.
And what of the church, the bride of Christ, in that eternal blessedness? In the preview of the eternal state she is seen as the “holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” She still has her beauty as in the day of her espousal. She is still seen as “a bride” (Rev. 21:22And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (Revelation 21:2)). How soon a bride today loses her bridal beauty, but oh, fellow believer, we shall never lose it as the bride of Christ. After one thousand years, the church will still have the same bridal beauty in heaven. If we but laid hold of these things a little more in our hearts, we would see very little beauty in all here below. May the thoughts of Christ and His coming glory, and ours with Him, so lift our poor hearts above this weary world that we shall live in the atmosphere of heaven.
P. Wilson (adapted)