Hello everyone.
As a follower of Jesus Christ, what is your hope? In Ephesians 4:4–6, we learn that there is “one glorious hope for the future” (New Living Translation). What exactly is that hope?
The apostle Paul spoke of it plainly:
“I have a hope in God, which these men themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection, both of the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Acts 24:15 CSB)
It seems this one glorious hope involves not just one resurrection, but two. How can two very different resurrections be part of a single, unified hope?
Make no mistake, these two resurrections could not be more distinct from each other.
Jesus said:
“Do not be amazed at this, for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice and come out—those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.” (John 5:28, 29 BSB)
(Unless otherwise stated, all Bible quotes from here forward are from the Berean Standard Bible.)
We know from his own words that Paul’s personal hope was to be part of the first resurrection, to heavenly life with Jesus. And yet, for him, the “one glorious hope for the future” also included a resurrection of the unrighteous—of those who had done evil—to judgment. Why? How does that make sense?
For many sects within modern-day Christendom, the second resurrection is not to judgment, but to condemnation. Several Bible translations even render Jesus’ words that way, including the popular New International Version:
“…and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.” (John 5:29b NIV)
Are we to believe that Paul’s “one glorious hope for the future” was to watch billions of people be resurrected just so God could condemn them to eternal death?
Hardly seems like a glorious hope to me. What do you think?
Neither Jesus, nor Paul, nor any of the other Bible writers tell us much about those who will make up the second resurrection. In contrast, there’s a great deal of information for those seeking to be part of the first resurrection to life. That is the resurrection hope for the children of God.
Only the apostle John—writing one of the final inspired books of the Bible—gives us insight into the second resurrection. And even then, it’s expressed in a way that requires effort to understand.
But we’ll do our best to put the pieces together. As always, we’ll approach this exegetically, using all the scriptural tools available to us.
Let’s begin by examining why the New Living Translation refers to it as “one glorious hope for the future.” A more literal translation reads:
“…one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called into one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:4–6, Berean Literal Bible)
We are called to “one hope of our calling.” But what is our calling? What are we called to do?
Everlasting life is not the purpose of our calling. It is a result of it—a benefit. The calling itself has a purpose. So, what is that purpose? What is the intent of the God who is “over all and through all and in all”?
Remember, God’s purpose never fails.
“So will My word be which goes out of My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the purpose for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11, NASB)
God, the eternal one—YHWH, Yehovah—gave his human children this mandate:
“Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth.” (Genesis 1:28, BSB)
But when they rebelled, they stopped being his children.
Like any loving Father, Yehovah wants his children back. His purpose is driven by love for humanity. That is why he sent his Son.
Our calling, as disciples of God’s only begotten Son, is to take part in fulfilling that purpose.
Our hope isn’t a selfish hope. “Hey, I’m okay. I’m part of the resurrection to life. I’m going to live forever. You guys—so sorry, you missed out. Too bad. So sad.”
That was the mindset I was indoctrinated with as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. I remember standing in an atrium in a shopping mall in Bogotá, Colombia, looking down at two levels of shoppers milling around and thinking: Very soon, everyone I’m looking at will be dead.
What an arrogant thought. Yet it was one almost every Jehovah’s Witness can relate to, because we were taught to believe that only Jehovah’s Witnesses would survive the coming battle of Armageddon. Paul would have rejected that kind of attitude completely. He was motivated by the love of God, a fruit of the holy spirit. This was his perspective:
“For my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters, I would be willing to be forever cursed—cut off from Christ—if that would save them.” (Romans 9:3, NLT)
So, when Paul said he had a single hope in God that there would be two resurrections, his hope wasn’t that all those in the second resurrection would just come back to die again. He understood that his calling was to be part of the solution. Those in the first resurrection are called to be a kingdom of priests. What does a priest do, in the biblical context? He intercedes between the sinner and God.
That is our calling. Our glorious hope for the future is to love both God and our human family by serving them in line with God’s will. We keep coming back to love, because that is the only thing that gives life meaning and brings us true joy.
To understand the purpose of the second resurrection—and the role that love plays in it—let’s go back to a time when Yehovah was about to destroy a city because its wickedness had reached excessive levels.
This is the account of Jonah, God’s prophet.
In some ways, Jonah was like the kind of Jehovah’s Witness I used to be. He was sent to proclaim the destruction of the great city of Nineveh, and he did—though it took some convincing to get him there. But then something unexpected happened. The people repented. God accepted their repentance and called off the destruction.
Jonah should have been overjoyed. But he hadn’t yet come to understand the love of God. Yehovah reasoned with Jonah, saying,
“And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left...?” (Jonah 4:11, ESV)
The people were wicked. Yes! They deserved destruction. Yes! But they were acting in ignorance. They didn’t know their right hand from their left. When they were made aware of the reality of their situation, they repented. All was not lost. What was needed was a message from God, and they got one—and responded to it positively.
Now, one thing we know about Yehovah, besides the fact that “God is love” (1 John 4:8), is that he doesn’t change.
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.” (James 1:17)
We don’t want to be like Jonah, demanding that those who are evil get their punishment no matter what. How many have died over the centuries who were in the same situation as the Ninevites—people who were wicked, but who were also ignorant, not knowing their right hand from their left?
It strikes me that those who push the idea that the second resurrection is only to condemnation are showing the same lack of love that Jonah did.
Still, some will object, claiming they’re just accepting what the Bible clearly teaches.
Okay, so let’s examine the evidence they believe supports the idea of a resurrection of the wicked only to be condemned.
It all comes down to a single chapter in the book of Revelation—chapter 20.
Let’s have a little fun, shall we? Here’s Revelation 20:10 to 21:10 displayed in Greek from one of the oldest Bible manuscripts, the Codex Sinaiticus. Notice it’s just columns of text—no chapter and verse divisions, not even the punctuation marks we rely on to signal when one sentence ends and another begins.
So, why do we have chapters and verses?
About 800 years ago, in 1205 A.D., the Archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Langton, created chapter divisions to make it easier to locate passages in Scripture. Another 350 years later, the Bible scholar Robert Estienne added verse divisions.
While well intentioned, this introduces a problem. Today, we assume that chapters reflect logical divisions, based on themes or chronological events. So, it’s natural for the uninformed Bible reader to look at Revelation chapter 20 and assume it presents a single, continuous sequence—a single vision given to John by Jesus.
But remember: this book is a revelation from Jesus Christ to his beloved apostle, delivered in a series of visions.
So how were Christians, for centuries before Stephen Langton, able to tell where one vision ended and another began, without any chapter or paragraph breaks in the original Greek manuscripts?
There’s a phrase that appears dozens of times throughout Revelation that signals the start of a new vision, as you can see in this list.
Revelation 4:1 – “Then as I looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven...”
Revelation 5:1 – “Then I saw a scroll in the right hand of the one sitting on the throne...”
Revelation 7:9 – “After this I saw a vast crowd...”
Revelation 13:1 – “Then I saw a beast rising up out of the sea...”
Revelation 21:1 – “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth...”
These words, Καὶ εἶδον (kai eidon)—“I saw”—which most translations qualify with the temporal adverb “then,” appear three times in Stephen Langton’s 20th chapter. Why he didn’t base his chapter divisions on John’s use of kai eidon is anyone’s guess. But we shouldn’t let the reasoning of a single man, long dead, shape our understanding. There appear to be three distinct visions contained within this chapter.
“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven…” (Revelation 20:1)
“Then I saw the thrones…” (Revelation 20:4)
“Then I saw a great white throne…” (Revelation 20:11)
So let’s analyze these visions without the bias that might lead us to believe they form a single chronological sequence. Instead, we’ll let our understanding of Scripture guide us so we can discern the truth revealed through the three visions given to John.
What we’ll see is that these visions depict events related to the reign of Jesus and his anointed brothers in the kingdom of God.
“You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign upon the earth.” (Revelation 5:10 BSB)
“…they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:4)
Whether the thousand years is a literal number or a symbolic one isn’t the issue here. What matters is that it represents a finite period of time during which the kingdom rules. Why? Because it serves a specific purpose. And once that purpose is accomplished, the kingdom will no longer be needed.
And what is that purpose? Paul tells us:
“But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ the firstfruits; then at His coming, those who belong to Him.
Then the end will come, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father after He has destroyed all dominion, authority, and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For “God has put everything under His feet.” Now when it says that everything has been put under Him, this clearly does not include the One who put everything under Him. And when all things have been subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will be made subject to Him who put all things under Him, so that God may be all in all.” (1 Corinthians 15:20-28)
Jesus was resurrected first. The first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. That would be the children of God who make up the first resurrection. These reign with Jesus for a finite term with the purpose of restoring humankind back into the family of God. In the beginning, Adam and Eve walked and talked with their Father. That intimate one-on-one relationship was lost then they sinned. When Jesus has completed his work, God will be all in all. Our Father, Yehovah, will be everything to each of us.
Can you imagine that? Seriously, give it some careful thought, meditation, and prayer.
Of course, for that to be the case, Jesus will also submit to his Father. The kingdom under Christ will have accomplished its purpose, the purpose that was prophesied from the very start. But, to do that, there is a process. First, Jesus destroys all dominion, authority, and power that stands in opposition to God. Finally, he eliminates the death from inherited sin. But why will it take a thousand years to do that?
We’ll get into that in our next video as we begin to examine the three visions of Revelation 20.
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Thank you for your attention. May the God of our Lord Jesus bless the faith you show.