DEATH, THE INTERMEDIATE STATE, THE RESURRECTION AND THE FINAL DESTINY — page 15

THE FINAL DESTINY

Three Final Destinies, However, Two Final Conditions

Many confuse man's final destiny with man's final condition. The Bible teaches that there are only two final conditions for man – to be blessed by God with Christ, or to be under God's condemnation in hell (the lake of fire). But the Bible also teaches that there are three distinct destinies, or places, in which men will spend eternity – of each one it is said to have been prepared by the Lord.

• First: the Lord went to “prepare” a place in the Father's house for the heavenly saints (John 14:3).

• Second: the earthly saints will inherit the kingdom on Earth, which was “prepared” for them (Matt. 25:34).

• Third: there is the lake of fire that was “prepared” for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41).

Heaven

At the moment of the rapture, the saints of the Old and New Testament will be glorified together and will be called to the “Father's house” in heaven (John 14:3). The saints who have died and are currently out of the body in a separate state are not now in the “Father's house”. The Father's house is not an intermediate state, but the final and eternal dwelling of the glorified saints. The Father's house is more than glory; it is where the Father's heart is displayed and He Himself is known in glory. The glorified saints will not see the Father (for “God is spirit” – John 4:24), yet they will enjoy His presence and know His heart of love in its fullness. The believer can enjoy the Father's love and presence now through the Spirit (John 14:21, 23), but then it will be in its fullness.

There will be a happy reunion of the saints who were separated by death. It seems that they will recognize one another on that day as Peter, James and John recognized Moses and Elijah on the mount of Transfiguration, even though they had not known them previously (Luke 9:28-36).

The glorification of the sons of God will occur at the Rapture (Rom. 8:17), but the manifestation of the sons of God will occur at the Appearing of Christ (Rom. 8:19). When the Lord comes from heaven in His Appearing, He will bring His glorified saints with Him, and they will be manifested as such before the world. The apostle John said: “Beloved, now we are children [children – JND] of God, and it has not yet been manifested what we shall be. But we know that, when He shall be manifested, we shall be like Him; because as He is we shall see Him” (1 John 3:2) On that day, “When He comes to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in that day in all those who believe” (2 Thess. 1:10).

The heavenly saints will live and reign with Christ over the Earth in the Millennium (Ps. 103:19; Dan. 7:22, 27; Rev. 20:4). After the thousand years of Christ's reign, the heavenly saints will live with Him for all eternity in the “new heavens” that God will have prepared (2 Pet. 3:13). That is their eternal destiny.