Lesson for November 6, 2024
The Rapture to the Eternal State
Lesson 6
The Eternal State
The eternal state begins immediately after Satan is defeated for the final time at the Battle of Gog and Magog, which occurs at the end of the Millennium. At that time, Satan, fallen angels, and all unbelievers will be sent to the Lake of Fire for all eternity and the eternal state begins.
Revelation 21:1-5, 10-27, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle (Christ) of God is among the people, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.’ And He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’
And He said, ‘Write, for these words are faithful and true.’ Then He said to me, ‘It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give water to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life, without cost. The one who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be their God, and they will be My sons and daughters. But for the cowardly, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and sexually immoral persons, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.’
Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls, full of the seven last plagues, came and spoke with me, saying, ‘Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.’ And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very valuable stone, like a stone of crystal-clear jasper. It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on the gates, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel.
There were three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, twelve thousand stadia; its length, width, and height are equal. And he measured its wall, 144 cubits (a cubit is 18”), by human measurements, which are also angelic measurements. The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundation stones of the city wall were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emeral; the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. In the daytime (for there will be no night there), its gates will never be closed; and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”
When John wrote Revelation in 96 A.D, the city of Jerusalem had laid in ruins for twenty-six years (destroyed by Titus in 70 A.D.). Therefore, he must have been excited to see the new Jerusalem and realize that it would be restored for all eternity. The city itself, that comes down from Heaven, will be the dwelling place of God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. (Revelation 22:3)
The one who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be their God, and they will be My sons and daughters. Only believers will be in Heaven and inhabit the new earth, because only believers are overcomers through faith in Christ. But for the cowardly, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and sexually immoral persons, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars is a reference to those unbelievers who have rejected Christ as Savior in favor of the Satan’s world system, characterized by a list of evildoers.
The angel from God showed John the new city of Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem has supernatural light, Jesus Christ, the Shekinah glory. The New Jerusalem will have no Temple. Revelation 21:11 says her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper (a very unusual stone) referring to the brilliance of the New Jerusalem. We must remember that the Bible must be interpreted in the time in which it was written. The stone of jasper is not a reference to the modern jasper which is limited to a variety of quartz but is a translucent precious stone which will exist in the eternal state, very much like a diamond.
Apparently, diamonds are the foundation for the city, not the diamonds we know now, but tons of diamonds without any kind of a flaw. That is the glory of the New Jerusalem. It is fitting that the foundation should represent in some way the glory of the presence of Jesus Christ as the Shekinah glory.
The walls of the city will be 200 feet high with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates. There are three gates on each side. “On the east side” as in the Book of Numbers, chapter 2, the gates will be named Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, “on the north side,” Dan, Asher, Naphtali, “on the south side,” Reuben, Simeon, Gad, “on the west side,” Ephraim, Manasseh, Benjamin.
The walls of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. So, on these stones would be the names of Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James, Thaddaeus, Simon and Paul. Paul is the twelfth apostle. (I Corinthians 15:7-10)
The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire [something translucent light blue, but not the sapphire of the present]; the third, chalcedony [again, translucent]; the fourth, emerald [translucent green with no flaws]; the fifth is sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz [red, rather than topaz yellow]; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth is amethyst.
The material of the wall will be flawless diamonds, and the city will be pure gold like translucent glass. So, it is not the gold of today, it is the gold of the future. The gold of the future will be so pure that it will be translucent. The decorations on the walls will be gems of the future. All these materials will reflect the glory of Jesus Christ Who is the only light in the city.
I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The Light of the World, Jesus Christ will be the only light needed for the New Jerusalem. The brilliance of His deity and glorified body will illuminate the city. (John 8:12)
And nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination [religion], and lying shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. In the New Jerusalem there will be no one entering it with a sin nature, because believers will be in glorified bodies without a sin nature. In the eternal state, only believers in Christ will enjoy the blessings of the new heavens and the new earth. Exactly what we will be doing for all eternity is not stated in the Word of God. Whatever God has in store for us will be above and beyond all that we could ask or think. Whatever our roles in Heaven or on the New Earth, they will certainly be all to the praise and glory of Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 3:20-21)
In summary of this series, let’s look at the timeline of events.
The Rapture of the Church – believers will be resurrected to meet Jesus Christ in the air and receive their glorified bodies
The Tribulation – this is the final seven years of Dispensation of Israel when the Antichrist will rule the world
The Judgment Seat of Christ – a time when believers will stand before Jesus Christ for the evaluation of their spiritual lives
The Second Coming of Christ – when Jesus Christ returns to Jerusalem and stands on the Mount of Olives
The Battle of Armageddon – a war between Christ and His armies against Satan and his armies that occurs at the Second Coming of Christ
The Millennium – the thousand-year reign of Christ on earth
The Battle of Gog and Magog –when Satan is released from prison at the end of the Millennium and starts a rebellion against Christ
The Great White Throne Judgment – the judgment of all unbelievers based on their deeds done while on earth
The Eternal State – eternity with God for all believers in Christ