“And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and 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. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:12, 15).
While studying the book of Revelation, I have come to ask several serious questions. That is, how far does the effectiveness of the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross extend? I will state this issue by dividing the ages into three.
- The advent of Jesus Christ and the raptured saints
- The saints who remain on earth at the second coming of Jesus Christ
- The millennial kingdom of Jesus Christ and the great white throne judgment
- The advent of Jesus Christ and the raptured saints
The saints will be resurrected when Jesus descends in the air. The resurrection at this time is called the first resurrection in Revelation 20:5, 6. Those who participate in this first resurrection are all the saints who believed in Jesus after Adam were saved and became children of God. and their names had recorded in the book of life. And all the saints who were born again and were alive when Jesus descended in the air, whose bodies were instantly transformed into spiritual bodies and were raptured, are also those who participated in the first resurrection. These people are raptured and caught up in the clouds in the air to meet the Lord, enter heaven, and go before the throne of God. And at the wedding feast of the Lamb, they wear a white linen wedding dress that God gives them and participate in the wedding ceremony as a bride.
And at that time, they will receive the judgment of reward and enjoy that reward forever. And those who were martyred in this world because of their faith in God, or those who were martyred because of their faith in God while preaching the gospel, or those who were martyred because of their faith in God, or those who were killed during the seven-year tribulation because they did not receive the mark of the beast on their forehead or hand, or because they did not worship the beast or its image, will receive special treatment. They will sit on thrones with the Lord and reign as kings in the millennial kingdom.
Therefore, the saints who are raptured when Jesus descends from the sky are those who have received forgiveness of sins through Jesus’ blood and are reborn as children of God and brides of Jesus, the bridegroom, and who participated in the wedding feast. And when Jesus returns to earth, the martyrs will reign as kings and priests with the Lord for a thousand years in the millennial kingdom.
There is a question as to whether only the martyrs will return to earth with the Lord when Jesus returns to earth, or whether all the resurrected saints will come down to earth together when the Lord returns to earth. If only the martyrs come down during the Second Coming to Earth, they will reign with the Lord during the Millennium. Where and what will the other participants in the wedding feast of the resurrected Lamb, other than the martyrs, do?” The resurrected saints, other than the martyrs, are stayed with God who sits on the throne in heaven. However, since we can move the entire universe at the speed of thought when we become resurrected bodies or spiritual bodies, the distance between the earth where the millennium is and heaven where God’s throne is will not be a problem. Therefore, we will travel back and forth between the earth and heaven in an instant.
- Saints who remain on earth until the Second Coming of Jesus Christ
There are saints who were not raptured when the Lord descended in the air and who remain on earth during the Seven Bowls of Judgment, which is three and a half years after the descending in the air. They will remain in the flesh for last three and a half years of seven years tribulation after Jesus’s descending in the air. When the saints who were already raptured during Jesus’s descending in the air are wearing resurrected bodies and spiritual bodies in heaven, they are still on earth in the flesh, but they are trained to be cleansed of their sins by the blood of Jesus and filled with the Holy Spirit. They will receive further spiritual training in the refuge for last three and a half years of seven years tribulation. There is no higher level for them who remained on the earth during last three and a half years. However, when the Lord returns to earth, they will be transformed into spiritual beings.
These are also those who have had their sins washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ and have received the indwelling and filling of the Holy Spirit. Since they were not raptured when Jesus descended in the air, they could not participate in the wedding feast, so they cannot become Jesus’ bride. In the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25, they are those who prepared oil for their lamps and lit them only after the door was closed when the wise bride and groom entered the wedding feast house. Only after the door was closed did they come and say, “Lord, Lord, open to us.” However, the voice of the Lord heard from inside the door was, “Truly I tell you, I do not know you.” Therefore, they could not participate in the wedding ceremony. Therefore, they are saints who are children of God but do not have the qualifications of Jesus’ bride. However, they are those whose names are written in the book of life. They will not enter the lake of fire. They will enter into everlasting life but not in the New Jerusalem.
- Until between the Millennial Kingdom of Jesus Christ and the Great White Throne Judgment
For those who live between the millennium and the Great White Throne Judgment, there is no effect of Jesus’ blood. The effect of Jesus’ blood is only applied to the saints who lived when Satan ruled the world. The effect of Jesus’ blood is applied only until Jesus’ second coming to earth. Jesus Christ did not die or come to shed blood during the millennium, but was in the status of the king. The salvation of the citizens of the millennium will be accomplished according to the laws of the millennium.
In Revelation 20:7-10, it says, “When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. They spread out over the face of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. Fire came down from heaven and consumed them. And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”
Here in verse 9, “They spread out over the vast expanse of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city,” “they” refer to those who rebelled against the Messianic millennial kingdom led by Gog, who was deceived by Satan. Who does “the camp of the saints” refer to? Many people are confused about these saints. Many people think of these saints as us today. They also think that these “saints” are those who have spiritual bodies and reign with Jesus Christ who has entered the millennial kingdom. No. Those who reign with the Lord with spiritual bodies at this time are beings of higher status than angels. Do you remember the fact that one angel killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in one night (Isaiah 37:36)?
However, they will not dare to oppose the spirit beings who rule as kings with greater power and authority than these angels. These saints are the saints in the millennial kingdom who obeyed the laws of the millennial kingdom during the thousand years of the millennial kingdom and feared, served, and followed the King Jesus Christ. And it is called the ‘camp of the saints.’ ‘Camp’ means ‘fortress.’ It shows the state of being deployed for war. ‘This camp of the saints’ refers to the camp of the God-fearing army formed to defend against the attacks of the armies on the side of Satan led by Gog.
The citizens of the millennial kingdom are those who survived after the seventh plague. They are those who survived on the entire earth. Among them, there are both evil and good. Among those who rebelled in the millennial kingdom, there will be those who joined Satan when he was released from the abyss and deceived the world, and there will be those who did not join Satan. Those who did not join Satan are the ‘saints’ here. Not all of the people of the millennial kingdom will have joined Satan. If we assume that the population of the earth at that time is 10 billion, all of those 10 billion will join Satan and cause the Gog and Magog war, and not all of these 10 billion will be destroyed by the fire coming down from heaven. Even if the number of followers of Satan is as numerous as the sand of the sea, there will be more who did not join them.
The Messiah, the King of the millennial kingdom, ruled for a thousand years, so we would not think that all of these subjects betrayed the Messiah and sided with Satan. If so, we should also think about their salvation. Since they still have a body, their names must be written in the book of life in order to enter eternal life. After the millennium, those who survived the war of Gog and Magog have two paths: either enter the eternal world after the Great White Throne Judgment and live forever, or go to the lake of fire and receive eternal punishment.
And these people’s body will suddenly change to spritual bodies at some point and stand before the Great White Throne Judgment with their spiritual bodies. At this time, salvation will not be by the blood of Jesus, but by whether they followed the laws of the kingdom well in the millennial kingdom and lived a good and loving life, or whether they lived wickedly and rebelled against the laws of the kingdom during the millennial kingdom. Those whose names are written in the book of life will be given eternal life, and those who are not will be determined to be punished eternally according to the book of deeds. The effect of Jesus’ blood will only be effective until Jesus’ second coming to earth.
God allowed Satan to exist in the world so that the effect of Jesus’ blood would only be effective for those who kept their faith and obeyed to the end under Satan’s oppression. Jesus came the first time to wipe away our sins. Jesus of the millennial kingdom did not come to die, but as the king. And since there was no temptation from Satan, the standard for judgment will be whether they lived well or evil in such a world. And all those who died and were imprisoned in Hades after Adam will be resurrected and stand before the judgment seat. Here, the question to consider is why the book of life is used in the place where unbelievers are judged.
All those who participated in Satan’s army in the Gog and Magog war will die. And at the Great White Throne judgment, they will also be resurrected. This is to be judged by the book of deeds. However, those who survive until then and are transformed into spiritual beings and are recorded in the book of life before the Great White Throne and do not enter the lake of fire will enter the eternal world, but in terms of status, they are simply citizens of the eternal world. Just being spared from the eternal punishment of the lake of fire is a tremendous blessing. The number of these people will be in the billions.
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