JEAN'S BIBLE STUDY

Chapter 4:

The First Resurrection

“[God] Likes Matter”

Mere Christianity: Practical Conclusion

C.S. Lewis

Now I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood can’t inherit God’s Kingdom; neither does the perishable inherit imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. For this perishable body must become imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable body will have become imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then what is written will happen: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” – 1Cor 15,50-54

Jason had been in heaven for only about ten years when endtime prophecy began to be fulfilled, something many inhabitants of heaven had longed to see for millennia. Everybody paid close attention to the events that were unfolding on the earth. Many souls were in the dark about the sequence of events that were prophesied to occur at the end of the age, and so they lined up to ask the Lord their questions, but He was less than eager to answer them, saying that if they had been better students of the word, they would have known these things, or at least had an idea. Depending on their question He often told them to find one of their brethren who understood endtime prophecy and ask him. As a result, those who had studied endtime prophecy in their former lives were drawing large crowds and being consulted on many topics, who were predicting the next set of events. There were various wars happening around the world that would ultimately transition to World War III, and the global economy was on the verge of total collapse.

Many people on earth who believed in the pre-tribulation Rapture were expecting it to occur any time, but it didn't happen when they excepted it. Consequently, they had not prepared their heart to face the tribulation, and many Christians were caught off-guard, and it unsettled their souls. In heaven people kept looking to Jesus and trying to judge His reaction regarding the things that were happening on earth; He seemed calm but concerned. To the inhabitants of heaven, who were glad they didn't have to live through the tribulation that was happening on earth, it looked like a movie they were watching in fast motion; events transpired very quickly, compared to how it seemed to the saints on earth, who were going through it. When the Rapture still didn’t occur, Pre-tribulation Rapture believers couldn’t believe God would allow all these things to happen to them, though they were aware that He allowed many atrocities to occur and knew many martyrs lost their lives for the cause of Christ in past generations. In heaven certain people's false interpretation of endtime prophecy reflected what they believed about God; they didn’t know Him as well as they thought, and it showed in their dim radiance. When they saw so many people falling away from the faith because they were expecting the Rapture to occur, many people in heaven gasped, because in their former lives they taught that the Rapture would be one of the earliest events to occur in the fulfillment of endtime prophecy, and they felt responsible for all the souls who were losing their faith at the worst possible time.        

Many novices of heaven watched those who had been there for centuries and even millennia shouting and jumping for joy and praising God, because they knew the day of God’s redemption was drawing near. Jason wondered what was the big deal and asked his angel, Mendorf, who had been assigned to Jason from his natural birth, “Why are these people celebrating so loudly?” Mendorf answered, “They have been here for thousands of years, and they have been without a body the whole time, and though they don’t need a body here in the New Jerusalem, being that it is a spiritual place, there is something about having a physical body that gives God’s creation a tangible element. They have been waiting for the Kingdom of God to manifest all this time, but you have only been here for ten years and are just getting to know this place and its owner. Although you may be happy His kingdom is coming, you have not waited as long as others. Their long anticipation is why their joy is fuller than yours; this is the justice of God.”         

This sparked a conversation with Mendorf that drew a crowd, and others entered the conversation, giving Jason a chance to turn and see the events that were unfolding on the earth. Instead of the Rapture, a Great Endtime Revival was occurring (Mat 25-5,6). Most of the people in heaven were saying that this should have happened after the Rapture, and so again there was great surprise. Then heaven started filling-up with people, hundreds and then thousands were coming at once and passing through the believer’s judgment and being released to enjoy their inheritance. Those entering heaven by the thousands were martyrs that the antichrist had murdered in cold blood, and still the Rapture did not occur (Rev 1-8,9; Rev 6,9-17). The vast majority of those entering heaven glowed with a radiance that far outshined the average person, because of their perseverance and faith that they showed the Lord at the cost of their natural lives. They received a great inheritance according to the hope they maintained until death.

The time had come; Jesus rose from His throne with a countenance that resembled the martyrs, and a great earthquake occurred that shook the earth, and it reeled to and fro like a drunken man (Isaiah 24-20). The inhabitants of heaven recognized that God had grown weary of their insolence, and they tried to hide from the presence of the Lamb. Half the people of the world rejoiced and the other half mourned, saying to the rocks, “Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of his wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” (Rev 6-16,17; taken from: Psalm 110-5; Isaiah 2-9,19; 13-13; Hosea 10-8; Joel 2-11). He commanded angels who held trumpets to prepare themselves to sound (Heb 12,18-29). Jesus glanced at the first angel holding a trumpet, and he held the instrument to his lips and blew into it, and the sound blasted throughout heaven so loud that it reached the ears of those who dwelled on earth. A great cheer came from the saints, but woeful groaning from the wicked (Proverbs 10-29). When the First Trumpet sounded, many of the saints on earth who were informed fled into the wilderness where camps were prepared, spotted throughout the globe. God nourished and protected His people there from the antichrist and those who wanted to kill them, while God rained plagues on the large cities of the earth.

The plagues ranging from bad to worse began to reign on those who took the Mark of the Beast, and they had the effect of protecting the saints from those who plotted against them to eliminate every semblance of Christianity from the earth. Through the Trumpet judgments those trying to murder Christians became so busy trying to protect their own lives from the plagues that were falling on them, they had neither time nor energy to persecute the saints. In the fifth trumpet God allowed spider-like demons to crawl from the earth and torment mankind, and in the sixth trumpet these spider-like demons mutated into horsemen and were given authority to kill those who did not have God’s seal on their foreheads (Rev 9-4).

Finally the seventh and Last Trumpet sounded, denoting the blessed First Resurrection. Suddenly tombs everywhere were emptied, and heavenly souls now wearing bodies rose from their graves and walked the earth. It seemed eerily familiar to be on earth again. After getting a taste of heaven it seemed incomprehensible that anyone would sacrifice the invitation to join heaven for this crude planet. Those whose bodies had completely decayed, even their bones could not be found, having turned to powder and blown into the wind, and others who had been cremated, God used the dust of the ground to shape a new body for them. Similarly, others who died at sea, who were eaten by sharks, God gave new bodies to them from the fabric of the earth, until heaven was empty. All this divine activity happened within a split second.

In heaven, before the First Resurrection, Jeanie, Jason and his wife, Nancy, made plans to meet in the cemetery. Jason told Jeanie to stay put and to not wander off, and they would come get her, saying that it would only take a few minutes to find her, having been buried in the same cemetery, knowing the location of her headstone, in that he affectionately visited her grave on a semi-regular basis during the last twenty years of his life. Jeanie was buried with her family, while Jason was buried with his wife’s family, which was only a five-minute stroll. There was a flash in each person’s coffin, and what remained of their former bodies were assimilated into their new bodies, thus emptying the casket, and what was needed to complete their bodies was taken from the surrounding earthen material. God raised them through the earth to stand on the ground, physically alive. Thus, they had bodies like Adam and Eve, made from ground that was cursed (Genesis 2,6-8 ), changed to a “spiritual substance”, which to our finite understanding is an oxymoron.

Nancy and Jason looked at each other and started laughing and hugging each other with uncontrolled joy and said, “Let’s go find Jeanie.” Jason knew the route by heart; it was a short saunter through the cemetery to the place where she was buried many years ago. Jason recalled the terrible grief he felt at her funeral, when the hearse pulled to the scene and the men carried her casket in the pouring rain to its place under the tarp beside a giant, previously dug hole in the ground. He compared that day to this day as he walked arm in arm with his wife, quietly with dreams of the future filling their minds. They rounded the corner and there Jeanie stood waiting for them next to her headstone, physically intact with the reward of bravely dying in faith radiating from her body, her reward that she received at the believer’s judgment when she first entered heaven, now appended to her body, causing her to shine. They all hugged each other and then rendezvoused with Christ in the clouds.  

Then Christ fetched those who were still alive, who were waiting for Him, most in camps spotted around the earth; they were changed in the twinkling of an eye; He said to them, “Come up here,” and they rose in the clouds, and they, Christ and His Church, promptly returned to heaven, to a banquet hall prepared, called the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Meanwhile Almighty God was about to unleash the bowls of God's fierce wrath upon those who had received the Mark of the Beast. However, there was a remnant that neither received the Mark of the Beast nor believed in Jesus, and consequently they did not partake of the Rapture. These were the foolish virgins, foolish because they didn’t give their hearts to Jesus, and virgins because they didn’t take the Satan's mark (Isaiah 10,20-26; 11-11,12). These will need to make a long and arduous migration to Jerusalem and hide in the catacombs and wait for the Millennium when Jesus establishes His kingdom on the earth, waiting out the Bowls of God’s fierce judgment.

The saints of heaven celebrated the Marriage Supper of the Lamb with their Lord in spiritual bodies that could not die. They could also watch the progress of the foolish virgins plodding their course to Jerusalem, dodging countless deathtraps before God released the Bowls of His fierce wrath upon the world of the ungodly. In heaven, God arrayed His people in great glory, who collectively shimmered as brightly as Jesus. Each person glowed with a different luminosity, and their light would forever determine their level of intimacy with Christ and their service to Him in their former lives, and it ranked them with their fellow brethren. The light of their bodies emanated from their spirits, and the rewards they received became an extension of their bodies.

Prior to being seated at the banquette, people were experimenting with their new bodies and seeing what amazing things they could do. Their bodies did not limit them or hinder them from doing what they did as disembodied spirits. As a spirit they were not confined in any way. In the same way, with their new bodies they could fly in midair and do acrobatic feats, playing games in the sky, pinging off each other like ping-pong balls in a lottery. They loved their new bodies and learned how to control them. Jason saw a brother, Alexander, pounding on his own hand with a large, heavy stone. He was so amazed it didn’t hurt that he didn’t notice he was mutilating himself. He suddenly stopped and saw what he had done to his hand and in a panic he went crying to his angel, holding up his hand in a panic and fearing that he would look this way forever.

Abatur, his angel, just laughed and said, “You’re alright.” “Is this going to heal?” Abatur answered, “No, there is no healing in heaven because there are no real injuries.” “There’s no injuries; look at my hand!” Alexander said excitedly. Abatur kept laughing, and said, “Don't you realize that you are essentially a spirit?” Alexander said, “What do you mean?” Abatur answered, “Do you remember yourself just a little while ago before you received a body that you were just a spirit? Your body is not who you are, really; think of your body in your former life; it died and returned to the ground, right? proving that it was not ‘you’. The same is still true; your body is not you.” “Who am I then?” “You are a spirit;” Abatur answered, “your body is just a veneer, a mere expression of your spirit, a material reflection of your inner self. God gave you a body to represent you in a physical world, for the purpose of manipulating physical objects during the Millennium. Since there are no physical objects in heaven, this being a spiritual place, there is no need for a body, but the Lord has given you one at this time so you can get used to it and learn how to use it. Abatur challenged him, “Let’s see you disappear and then reappear” Alexander asked, “How can I do that?” “Try it,” Abatur prompted. Alexander tried to disappear, but he didn’t know how. Abatur hinted, “Remember your experience as a disembodied spirit; become that person again.” He focused only on his spirit and his body faded and then disappeared. Abatur said, “Okay, now reappear.” Alexander focused on his body and it reappeared, and he looked at his hand it was fully restored.

“Wow, that was cool!” Alexander exclaimed. Jason watched in amazement. Alexander asked his angel how his hand was restored when he reappeared. Abatur instructed, “Your body is subservient to your spirit.” “What do you mean?” Abatur continued, “The best way I can explain it is that it is just the opposite of your former life in the flesh. Back then, whenever you injured your body, it felt like your spirit was injured too; when you got sick, your spirit felt sick; you went to the doctor and hoped for a cure; you had to wait to be healed, and it took a long time and there was often a lot of pain and suffering involved. Now, everything is reversed; your body is subjected to your spirit; whatever your spirit does your body must follow. Remember your life in the flesh? When your parents conceived you, your body came first, and then God placed a spirit in your body. Remember too, with Adam and Eve it was the same sequence, the body came first and then the spirit (Genesis 2-7), but now the sequence is reversed; your spirit was first, and then God gave you a body, so now your body must serve your spirit, because your spirit was first. Sequence matters in heaven.”

Abatur continued, “Whatever is first takes precedence over that which comes after, being it is the cause of what follows. For example, Jesus takes first place in everything, because He has always been with the Father, and the Father created all things through Him. Moreover, those who took the last place in their former lives in the flesh have been given first place in heaven; this is the justice of God. You invested your life in the Kingdom of God when you lived in the flesh, and now you have received a better resurrection because of it, and you will receive a better inheritance that is eternal. As a result, God will grant you a higher ranking among the saints, and you will be closer to Jesus because of your commitment to Him in your former life. Accordingly, He will give you great authority and important jobs to do. As the billions of years peel off the proverbial calendar, the things that God will call you to do will grow in importance. The closer you are to Him, the more authority you will receive.” Alexander was amazed, and Jason heard every word of it and was equally amazed at the world he’d inherited and the joy of God’s kingdom and the hope that was stirring in his heart for all the things that were in his future, but it made him wish he had dedicated his life more fully to the Lord.

There was a small group having a lively discussion, so Jason went to investigate. Darnell asked, “Has anyone had any success teleporting now that we have a body?” Everyone just looked at him funny. He continued, “Maybe it’s true, then; only Jesus can teleport and we can’t.” However, word was getting out that some people were able to teleport. Cicero asked who it was that teleported in the body? Darnell said, “I think it was David.” McCurry answered, “Let’s go find him and ask how he did it?” Alexander, who’s angel had just taught him how to fix his hand strolled to the group and learned what they were discussing and offered his newly acquired wisdom, “Abatur, my angel, just taught me how to disappear, maybe this has something to do with teleporting.” “Really, you can disappear?” McCurry asked, “do it.” So he did; his body became opaque and then disappeared. Cicero went “Wooow, how’d you do that?” “Abatur explained to me that my body is subjected to my spirit because my spirit lived before my body, and for that reason my body must obey my spirit in whatever I want it to do, so I guess you disappear first and then your spirit is free to go where it wants, like we did before the resurrection.” Darnell asked for confirmation, and Alexander said, “I just focus on my essence and my body disappears” Darnell tried it and found it to be true, his body became opaque and disappeared, and once he was in that state he willed himself about ten feet to the left and then reappeared. “How about that, it works, Darnell cried.” So they all tried and were teleporting everywhere throughout the Holy City.

Jason made many new friends in heaven and discovered many gifts he received from the Lord, such as the ability to teleport. He and his friends played around with it until they mastered the craft as one of their favorite things to do, meeting new friends and going to new places in the New Jerusalem without having to walk there. It was a very big city, and those who couldn’t teleport felt like they were on a leash, their life consisting of a small radius, only as far as they could walk. The city was a fifteen hundred mile cube, being multistoried. To walk somewhere could take weeks, which was fine, because they had all day, but it was quicker and easier and more fun to teleport. It was not unusual to see someone standing someplace one moment and suddenly gone the next without warning or knowing where she went, and they were able to communicate with people telepathically. Someone could be telepathically invited to a party while standing alone, and she suddenly disappears and reappears in the midst of the party.

After the First Resurrection, Jesus didn’t sit on His throne very often, but walked among His people and fellowshipped with them. Sometimes He would teleport to other places in the Holy City and talk to people, suddenly appearing to them, and they were always happy to see Him. Heaven was one big party, a perpetual celebration of life in worship of God. Most conversations revolved around Jesus and what He had done for them. While Jesus was off His throne mingling with the people, Jason jumped in His chair and began pounding on the armrest yelling, “Alright you guys, now you gotta to listen to me,” mocking Satan. He got a few laughs when Jesus turned and saw Him and snickered, and went about His business, communing with His people.

In our former lives our brain had a built-in coping mechanism, which allowed us to get used to our pain and suffering, so that over time we could view our adversity as common, but it also worked the other way: we quickly grew bored of pleasure and happiness, and drug addicts found this to be especially true. In heaven, though, we didn’t have this mechanism, so we would never grow tired of heaven; it will never become dull or mundane, and we will never view it as common or take it for granted. However, this mechanism was also absent in those who didn’t make it to heaven, who were in hell, and so they will never be able to get used to their pain and suffering or see it as mundane or common.

After Jason had been in heaven for a while, he stopped what he was doing and just looked around. He loved and appreciated this place as much as he did when he first arrived, on the day of his natural death. Heaven is made of four things: translucent and transparent semiprecious stones (Rev 21-10,11), also gold, soil, foliage and a plethora of living things. Outcrops of stone emerged from the foliage like transparent columns, and the light of the city shined through them that acted like a prism, scattering the spectrum, refracting the light and picking up inner chromatic qualities from other stones and splashing them onto objects around them in a glowing kaleidoscope of color. Each stone added color to the light, and gave it to the next stone that changed as Jason moved. Flowers emitted their fragrances that grew everywhere, lining either side of footpaths made of precious stones and streets paved with bricks of pure gold that glistened in the light of heaven, adding their hue to the array of colors. Birds flew overhead singing their joyous melodies and butterflies bounced off subtle breezes, inviting the observer to sit in a quiet place for hours and assimilate into the tapestry of scented flowers, living things and people who loved each other, and Jesus who is the Savior of mankind, the lover of his soul, who made all these things with His Father.

The only thing the New Jerusalem didn’t have was sky, being a multi-storied city 1500 miles high. It was the only city with a ceiling. There are trees that grow high enough to reach the next floor, about ten miles high. Some of the biggest trees had trunks a half-mile thick, and the branches fanned in every direction and interlocked with branches of other trees, weaving a canopy of leaves and twigs and creating a habitat for various insects, animals and other life forms. Jason often climbed the trees and explored the unique ecosystem nestled in branches and watched caterpillars crawling on twigs. He held out his hand as a temporary perch for butterflies and studied their intricacies before they proceeded on their way. Everything is in a state of equilibrium, at peace with itself; nothing is at war with other living things or trying to steal life from other forms that it may keep living, only to die later, as it was on the cursed earth. Rather, everything is alive and receives energy from God. There are creatures that live in heaven that no man has ever seen. The closer Jason looked the more life he found.

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