More On Reconciliation

One would think that the message that all men will be saved, reconciled all back to God, would be welcomed with joy by all Christians. Our loving and merciful God has an eternal plan to redeem the entire world, dead and alive, back to Him. The most well-known scripture of all states that God loves the world, not just Christians. Yes, it comes to whosoever believes, which will happen over the eons.

“After He was found in [terms of His] outward appearance as a man [for a divinely-appointed time], He humbled Himself [still further] by becoming obedient [to the Father] to the point of death, even death on a cross.

For this reason also [because He obeyed and so completely humbled Himself], God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow [in submission], of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess and openly acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord (sovereign God), to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:8-11 Amplified

Our Lord Jesus Christ made a way for everyone to be reconciled, redeemed from sin and death. God loves the world and made a way for all, not just those called by His name in this present era. In the hours between His death and resurrection, He ministered to the souls in Hades who had no opportunity to know Him. Yes, there is a qualifier that one must believe and trust in Him. It may take ages, but there is a time when everyone will know that Jesus Christ is Lord:

Does a just, merciful, and all-powerful God allow the enemy to defeat Him, preventing the souls of billions of people in His creation from reconciling with Him? Does an eternal hell bring glory to God the Father? Does a God Who so loves the world leave most of its human inhabitants permanently punished and condemned, eternally kept from His presence? Is God unable to cleanse them from their sins, unable to judge toward redemption, to change them throughout all eternity? Does man’s will ultimately and everlastingly triumph over God’s will?

When we believe, stand for, and share the message of reconciliation, we face the judgment and wrath of Christians who do not want their hell to be taken from them. This belief in eternal punishment for all who have not come to know Jesus Christ while on this earth is a dearly held doctrine. What is this passionate commitment to a teaching that is generally accepted but was not a part of the foundation built by our Lord from the beginning? Only God knows what is in hearts that would lead many to cling to a belief that condemns most of humanity.

It’s puzzling for Christians to have such indifference, if not hatred, of unbelievers for whom Jesus died. What is the basis of the adherence to an eternal hell while rejecting ultimate reconciliation as heresy? Some have mistakenly thought that ultimate reconciliation ends up permitting people to live a careless life, doing whatever they want. After all, everyone will be saved in the end anyway. What does it matter what we do now?

But wait. Humans need no permission to continue sinning! Godly men and women who know this message would never represent God’s truth in a muddied and sinful way, seeing it as a free ticket for self-will. And there are surely many more verses that absolutely do not support such an understanding. A holy and righteous life is the end result for all, but it is not given just by naming the name of Jesus Christ. There is a process of purification to enter fully into reconciliation, taking a great deal of time, here and on the other side, to achieve even within willing vessels.

God does not save all despite their inner state, without knowledge or change. Of course, He will have all come to know Him and His ways, The truth of reconciliation for all is the most hopeful promise of restoration to God and is it ever needed! We have been on a long and destructive path ever since disobedience in the Garden, but God always had a plan and a people called to fulfill our ultimate restoration to full intimacy with Him.

Reconciliation is never permission to do our own will, as easily seen with a discerning examination of the scriptures. If fear of eternal hell is the most effective way for Christians to persuade others to believe in God, we’d surely have had a much bigger crop of purified believers than we do by now! Reapers in this hour specialize in sharing the love of God, speaking His truth and sharing His redemptive, restorative justice through ever purified lives. Do we want others to see Jesus in us? When they see Jesus in us, will they see the fiery condemnation of eternal damnation or the love of God able to save all?

God loves everyone and desires all men to be saved. He said so. There is a time when every knee will bow and every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord, who then turns all back to the Father. All of God’s creation is set for His full redemption, reconciling us back to intimate fellowship with Him like Adam initially had with God. He never excuses sin—missing the mark—but always, always shows the way of escape through Him for humans to change.

He will have a cleansed and purified people, with no spot or wrinkle, no guile in their hearts. You can start now or delay in unbelief until God calls up your rank in Him, but He will do it.

“You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

Such confidence we have through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” 2 Corinthians 3:1-6 NIV

We are the epistle known and read by others. The new covenant is one of love, bringing heart change to all who seek Him. Our godly life is the strongest witness there is. It is like the saying, “Preach a sermon and, if necessary, speak words,” commonly attributed to St. Francis of Assisi. God’s people are His representatives on the earth. We are meant to shine forth with the nature of Christ in our hearts. No godly message supports a life where sin is acceptable.

God surely corrects anyone promoting an ungodly lifestyle based upon any doctrine, including reconciliation. Judgment comes first to the House of God, indeed! It may be common to man, but God does not accept it as our final state. He subjected us to vanity—it wasn’t our idea!

“For I am reckoning that the sufferings of the current era do not deserve the glory about to be revealed for us. For the premonition of the creation is awaiting the unveiling of the sons of God.
For to vanity was the creation subjected, not voluntarily, but because of Him Who subjects it, in expectation that the creation itself, also, shall be freed from the slavery of corruption into the glorious freedom of the children of God.” Romans 8:18-20 Concordant Literal

Vanity. Futility. Emptiness. Is not that the nature of the human condition when we look at all man has done to each other and to this earth? God Himself set this in motion and His plan takes care of it all, eventually. This scripture, that our current suffering just cannot be compared to the glory to be revealed in future, is sometimes the only answer God gives to those who have experienced the horrors of this life such as survivors of war and other atrocities. It may not seem like much now, but God’s plans are eternal, where our vision is finite, limited to our earthly understanding until the holy spirit lifts us to spiritual comprehension of His ways.

While God’s love is unconditional and His mercy everlasting, the rewards for a godly life are conditional. Gifts are free, but His best and most precious rewards are to the overcomers. Love, joy, and peace found in His kingdom are eternal with overcomers ruling and reigning with Him. Those who walk His paths in righteousness now, following His precepts, are promised many things in this life as well as the next. Anyone who ministers the word of reconciliation, representing the truth that all men will be saved, is even more accountable for how they are living their lives.

Consider God’s ways with His own through the history of the church until now. All through His word, God takes His people through adversity, not out of it. The righteous went through the flood, protected and saved by Noah’s obedience and preparation. God did not allow this weapon of His destruction to harm His own, but He also did not remove His saints from the experience. The flood is the closest He has come to starting over with this creation of His.

The few scriptures that are quoted to support the rapture theory are misunderstood and misrepresented, revealing a lack of spiritual discernment. In the passage below, God uses clouds as a metaphor for His presence in His saints dwelling in spiritual Zion, His holy government.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.

And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Hebrews 12:1 NIV

We have many witnesses observing our growth in God. Most of us believe that God continues to use His saints on the other side, even seeing or sensing holy visitors in our midst. This happens at times when gathering unto God, other times when we are alone. The saints in heaven have an investment in what we are about here on this earth. They have yet to receive all that God has promised.

Those who have gone on to be with the Lord continue to change in the presence of God Almighty, each in their own rank. How could this fail to be so? Is there anyone who is able to be in God’s presence and not change? Will He not complete His perfecting work in all of us, on “both sides of the river” to fully restore—reconcile— His creation to Himself? In the great faith chapter, it says that all the great men and women of faith in the Old Testament are waiting to receive the promise:

“These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.” Hebrews 11:39-40 NIV

God is never idle and, while we don’t know what all that the saints on the other side are up to, they surely are changing in His presence. They have shown forth a good report, yet wait to receive the fulfillment of God’s promise. While not looking forward to death of this body, many of us anticipate sitting down with the saints of old such as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Abraham saw the City of God, this great spiritual city not made with hands. David envisioned the Day of the Lord and the coming of the Savior. Daniel saw the future plan of God unfold over time though he did not understand it. Paul pursued the prize of the high calling in God, knowing there was more that he could receive. John the Revelator spoke of repentance and change to the various churches and future events to bring about the completion of the work of Jesus Christ to perfect His saints:

“Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is dismantled, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.” 2 Corinthians 5:1 Berean

We know we have it even when our earthly tent, our bodies, are dismantled, disintegrated through death. We have an eternal, spiritual house in heaven prepared for us. If all these departed saints are still waiting for the promises given them by God, they have yet to be fully perfected, complete in Him. Do we think these passionate leaders in God are sitting around with nothing to do?

They are surely at rest in God’s presence, fully delivered from death, but that does not mean a time of leisure, such as an earthly understanding of heaven would project. Who is interested in a mansion in the sky, with streets of gold, sitting around playing harps? To be with our Lord is the highest reward and those with a passionate heart of spiritual service to mankind would not consider this heavenly!

Many of us walking with God sense the presence of those who have gone before. Holy visitors join us on earth when we touch the high places in God, when we gather to hear or minister the present truth of this Day. We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses when our hearts touch the heavenly places wherein they dwell. Our departed brothers and sisters are very much invested in our progress here, eagerly noting our gains as we learn more of the deep things of God.

These holy saints are particularly connected when we speak of spiritual Zion, the coming of God’s righteous government to rule the earth, the fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles when God comes to “tabernacle” or dwell within His people. Clouds are the spiritual metaphor the Lord uses to describe people, here and in the spirit. Zion saints on the other side draw near, as part of the great cloud of witnesses of which Paul speaks here.

Other passages use the spiritual language of “clouds” to represent people in the spirit. The disciples saw Jesus ascend “into the clouds,” Peter speaks of false prophets and teachers of his time as “clouds without rain.” Rain has long been understood to represent the water of the Word. To be without rain is saying God’s spirit is not in them or their works. Anyone witnessing a long-lasting drought can visualize the dry crusty earth turning from a desert where no plant can grow, to producing vegetation from dormant seed when rain comes.

His seed is in every human because He is the giver of life. Some seeds are hidden in human beings, without visible growth, until God brings the rain of His presence to water their earth. Then His seed can grow roots and spring up into new life. The people in these dry clouds are living in a dry, dry place where there is no spiritual rain. God Himself withholds the rain until it is time. Spiritually, clouds without rain have no refreshing flow of the spirit within or through them to water the dry ground.

The planting of any seed, including the seed of the Word of Life, cannot take root in dry ground. Throw a seed on very dry ground and it will just lay there, awaiting water to develop roots in order to grow. God has provided so many examples of His works by the words He uses from the natural world He created! Seeds that have been found in ancient tombs still germinate—think of it! Consider the few plants known in the earth now that sustain seeds holding the germ of life forever while waiting for the rain.

One is Moringa, called the “never die” plant. It survives with little rain for many years, tumbling around until finally landing in a little water that causes it to germinate and come to life. There is also a plant called the eternity plant, or ZZ plant, that never dies. As long as there is a seed within, growth is possible, regardless of outward appearance! There are streams in the desert, growth that springs into life when His rain comes.

“Behold, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert.

The beasts of the field will honor Me, the jackals and the ostriches, because I provide water in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My chosen people.” Isaiah 43: 19-20 Berean

If we understand spiritual language, we will no longer allow the imaginations of men to project our life in heaven as a literal cloud with a mansion and nothing to do. Yet we have many beautiful gospel songs, beloved by so many Christians, that have spread this error far and wide. I’ll Fly Away, written in 1929 by Albert E. Brumley, is the best-known rapture song depicting this view of our heavenly home. It’s a beautiful song, sung and performed by musicians of all genres, but the words are not true.

There are many other songs depicting heavenly mansions on literal streets of gold, visions of saints sitting on actual clouds, playing their harps, and looking down upon with satisfaction at others who have not escaped destruction as they have. But this is God’s spiritual language, like the parables Jesus shared with the crowds. When the time comes in His plan, the seeds of God’s word start to grow. He speaks the word and life springs up at His command. Such is the condition of many, but here is God’s promise:

“For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and currents on the dry ground. I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring.” Isaiah 44:3 Berean

God’s rain comes and goes and we enjoy the refreshings, but such times don’t last. Elders in the Lord who lived through the Latter Rain movement describe a continual holy presence of God lasting for days. The Shekinah glory descended and stayed with them. They were swallowed up in worship and praise, losing interest in earthly activities. Such times are holy, precious outpouring of God’s spirit that gradually fade and are taken over by man. Like all other wondrous moves of God, they began as pure Godlife poured out on a people but dry up in the desert of man’s fleshly ways.

Man’s imaginations, rather than God’s revelation, has always brought every move of God down to our fleshly, earthly understandings. We need reconciliation, restoration, a lasting change, the “new thing” that God is doing. No longer will we settle for times of refreshing, for revival that doesn’t last. We seek His eternal wisdom and truth dwelling within us rather than a short time of refreshment, pleasant as it is.

Interesting, isn’t it, that the commonly accepted description of heaven reflects what the wealthy have on earth. What does this reveal about our hearts that our projection of heaven, the best place ever to dwell, is an earthly, rather than spiritual, representation? The visual description of streets of gold and mansions in the sky sounds like the luxurious dwellings of the “idle rich.” These projections represent the outward “evidence” of richness and wealth where God’s chosen are at ease, reflecting little of the qualities found in the heart of God.

What?? Did we begin in the spirit and end up in the flesh somewhere? Who would be more used to dwelling in a mansion than those who can afford such housing?! What is true riches in God? God does not think the way we do and He surely does not measure spiritual progress by earthly standards of wealth. In fact, He said it would be hard for rich men to enter. When believers have a heart for God, we hope for much more important things than a mansion that resembles earthly ambition and worldly blessings.

It is not by outward, but true inward heart change that the Kingdom is achieved as our dwelling place. After all the work God has done to refine and perfect His people, do we really believe He will allow us to just sit around? There is a rest that remains for the people of God, but God’s rest does not mean inactivity except in our fleshly ways. God rested on the seventh day from all He had done. We are now on the seventh Day, looking to enter into His rest. No longer will His word and His will be labor for those who roar out of Zion.

“I consider that our present sufferings are not comparable to the glory that will be revealed in us. The [whole] creation waits in eager expectation for the revelation of the sons of God. Romans 8:18 Berean

It’s what is in us, in our hearts, that is growing from the seed God has planted through Jesus Christ within. The traditional teaching of the rapture and eternal hell have caused confusion and fear in God’s people, but when a Christian truly examines God’s word in the light of His spirit, there is very little evidence of its truth. Most who embrace it were handed down this teaching through tradition rather than revelatory understanding. Those who continue to vigorously defend it typically have a strong investment in influencing followers to sustain it along with the power, esteem, and revenue it produces rather than seeking spiritual understanding.

When we desire to know the truth from personal exploration by the spirit, God is always faithful to show us what is truth and what is a theory from carnal man. Teachings based on fear, rather than love that casts out all fear, do not show forth the kingdom of God. Fear-based teaching may work temporarily to change behavior but only God changes us deep in our beings in lasting ways. His love has no limit, His grace has no measure.

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7 KJV

He doesn’t want us to do what is right because we are afraid of Him or of future vengeful punishment, but because we love Him. Any wise earthly father prefers their child to do what he says because they love and want to please him, rather than out of fear of consequences. That’s external motivation and it lasts only as long as the “external motivator,” the parent, is around. Unless obedience is built up within the heart of the child, that same child will require other external motivators to behave and faces a difficult future.

It’s so good to run to God in fearful times! We need to know it is safe to do that. But fear-based obedience is people-directed, not in-worked by God. Threats of eternal hell have not created the deep, lasting conversion arising from a changed heart, that all of us need. Many more people attended church after the 9/11 terrorist attack on our country, a truly terrifying time for those in the US, but how many sustained their walk with Him based on love and faith?

God does not want us to have fear but faith, because the fearful cannot enter in:

“Then the angel showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb (Christ), in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

There will no longer exist anything that is cursed [because sin and illness and death are gone], and the throne of God and the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve and worship Him [with great awe and joy and loving devotion];

They will [be privileged to] see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And there will no longer be night; they do not need lamplight or sunlight, because the Lord God will illumine them, and they will reign [as kings] forever and ever.” Revelation 22:1-5 Amplified

The Concordant translates “no more curse” to “no more doom.” We know there is no sin, illness and death after we are already dead but this is clearly our promised future on this earth, our promised “new earth” where we need it. There is already no doom on the other side. This is heaven right here: no more condemnation, no doom, no death, no tears, no more night! It is the state of being God is drawing us into as we walk and overcome with Him. It is His coming again within the saints!

Distorted teaching about the book of Revelation is part of the rapture doctrine where revelatory words and events are applied literally to some sections and not others. Revelation is often taught as the judgment of God coming on the world of earthly sinners. But the Book of Revelation given to John is the Revelator is a most important Message our Lord is bringing to us, His people. John was in the spirit when He got this revelation. It is in symbolic language meant to be understood by the spirit.

John clearly states in the beginning that this message is to us, Christians, His slaves:

“The Unveiling of Jesus Christ, which God gives to Him, to show to His slaves what must occur swiftly; and He signifies it, dispatching through His messenger to His slave John, who testifies to the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ, whatever He perceived.” Revelation 1:1-2 Concordant

All through the Bible, God speaks most important words to His own in order to teach us how to live. He does not end His book any differently. He wants His people to know what is coming and what they need to do to be ready. Revelation begins with messages to the early, scattered “candlestick churches.” The Lord speaks to the spiritual condition of each, what is good, lasting, and eternal, and what needs to change to move on in His plan of redemption for all.

In Revelation’s final message of warning to the churches, the Laodicean church is depicted with Jesus Christ standing outside the door and knocking. How sad that so many of today’s churches of this day operate without the Lord’s presence leading by the spirit. He is no longer present in its patterns and rituals, its worship and ministry. Instead, He is standing outside the door, knocking to be admitted again. There have been so much of man’s ways embedded in the the order of the service, schedule of speakers and singers, and so on, established that the presence of our Lord and His holy spirit has left. There’s no room for God in these entertaining programs! Sadly, there is little recognition between beautifully and skillfully delivered worship and word and the anointing of the spirit. And the anointing causes the oppressor to flee:

“And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.” Isaiah 10:27 KJV

We who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose for this hour follow on to know Him. We leave the Laodicean condition of thinking we’re rich and have need of nothing. We know we need more of God! We do not settle in that camp or any other, but “come up here” , as the Lord directed John, up into the spiritual realm where He is.

“After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven.

And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, ‘Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.’” Revelation 4:1 NKJV

We are growing up into Him now, not waiting for a future rapture to take us away from all our problems. The cost of clinging to such unexamined, dead teachings is to miss out on much character growth in Him now. This is referenced in Hebrews 11, the great faith chapter, as the goal of a “better resurrection,” following an account of all the saints of old endured

“Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection.” Hebrews 11:35 NIV

If there’s a better resurrection available, with the key seeming to be affliction and suffering, there is also a resurrection that falls short for some. When we are just waiting for the rapture, this doctrine becomes a robber and a thief! There are Christians who have stopped growing, resting in their current condition while waiting to be taken away when the rapture happens. They are satisfied with what they know and the religious things they have always done. They have slowed down or stopped learning and growing in necessary, spiritual ways to advance in the Lord.

When we believe some things can only change once we are dead, that only the death of our bodies can accomplish this, we settle for where we are. We build our tent of dwelling in this camp and miss His further intent to perfect us, to be complete in Him. But hear this: the kingdom of God has been and is coming in us. Jesus stated this very clearly in the gospels. If God says we will be perfect, complete, we will be, on this side of heaven or the other.

He promised we would be perfect, never stating it is only possible after we die.

“You, therefore, will be perfect [growing into spiritual maturity both in mind and character, actively integrating godly values into your daily life], as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:48 Amplified

Matthew does not say here that we will be perfect when we die. He just states: “You will be perfect!” God tells us we are to be perfect, complete in Him. We are to be like Him with the mind of Christ in us and His character written in our hearts. Because we have yet to see the fullness in someone on this earth does not make it any less so. Is there any work God has begun, ever, that He does not finish?

God does not tell His people to do something that He does not make a way for us to do. But when? The message of ultimate reconciliation provides so much hope for us now, rather than expecting everything to be done in the afterlife. He made the way for this to be. There is only one place where we can be made perfect. That is when we come up spiritually to the place where Jesus Christ is, His throne in spiritual Zion with Father God.

Here is where just men are being perfected. We leave all other camps, all other realms of Christianity in which some have settled, to answer His call to come up highert in the spirit where He rules and reigns.

“Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to myriads of angels in joyful assembly, to the congregation of the firstborn, enrolled in heaven.

You have come to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous, made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” Hebrews 12:22-24 Berean

You have come, not will come! Though we know only One perfect being, our Lord Jesus Christ, the perfection of Jesus Christ has come to dwell in us, to perfect us as He is. He promised. God is within us, enlarging His habitation inside of us, wherein is His kingdom. He will continue to lift us out of death and hell, making us a fit habitation for Jesus and His Father. Jesus Christ our Lord is the firstborn of many brethren.

We who remain on earth but live in spirit have the opportunity to be made a part of this first fruit company of the sons of God.

“So then, my dear ones, just as you have always obeyed [my instructions with enthusiasm], not only in my presence but now much more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation [that is, cultivate it, bring it to full effect, actively pursue spiritual maturity] with awe-inspired fear and trembling [using serious caution and critical self-evaluation to avoid anything that might offend God or discredit the name of Christ].

For it is [not your strength, but it is] God who is effectively at work in you, both to will and to work [that is, strengthening, energizing, and creating in you the longing and the ability to fulfill your purpose] for His good pleasure.” Philippians 2:12-13 Amplified

We are directed by Paul to take our salvation very seriously, to be in awe of our Savior and His work within us. What God decrees, He completes in us. We are His workmanship. How well we know that we cannot do anything God directs us to do in our own strength! He even creates the will in us when we do not have it! We enter into His rest while He works in us a willingness as well as a character that pleases Him. That, brothers and sisters in Christ, is good news!

To be thrown into the “lake of fire” does bring death, but it’s death to self, a lifelong process that continues in the afterlife. Have you heard the phrase, “That just burned within me!” from someone who has received God’s message of correction? That’s His fire, His presence sent to purify us. Eventually hell is thrown into the lake of fire, after all on earth and in heaven, including the great sea of unbelievers, each judged toward redemption.

This lake of fire cannot be they cannot be the same thing as hell—and satan ends up there, too. His job is done. There is no more flesh, no more earth for satan to work within.

“Then I saw a great white throne and the One seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne.

And there were open books, and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books. The sea gave up its dead, and Death and Hades [hell] gave up their dead, and each one was judged according to his deeds.

Then Death and Hades [Hell] were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire. And if anyone was found whose name was not written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:11-15 Berean

We are to be perfect—complete—as He is perfect. He perfects us through adversity, His fiery presence within us that burns up our dross. It is difficult to believe God meant for us to wait for this project to begin when we are talking perfection that could take an eternity! It’s wise to get started as soon as we can when earthly life inevitably brings adversities. We believe and seek Him for any command or promise He has given, just like Paul pursued the prize of the high calling while walking this earth.

Because we have yet to see a human fully perfected in God does not dismiss this truth. In fact, God may have had a few who did it here, we just don’t know about them! God said it, so we can do it! But there still is this matter of timing. Many have longed to be perfected, to look into this Day of the Lord, but have been prevented because it has not been God’s timing. But there are now signs that this Day is dawning, this long awaited Day of the Lord.

Jesus has been coming back within a people, to be “unveiled,” seen as He really is from within us. He is not seen as a God too weak and powerless to save all of the world He so loved. Jesus Christ is by no means still battling satan whom He defeated on the cross. He is battling and conquering the antichrist, anything that is anti—against—Christ within us:

“And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.” Revelation 6:2 ESV

Has He not been conquering our fleshly ways, the sin that misses the mark He has set for us, since we invited Him in our hearts? For too long we Christians have put the anti-Christ off on others, saying it is this or that powerful dictator or leader in our present-day world. No, it’s this denomination or that. Wait, it is this minister or that who is teaching error. It is time to look in the mirror and recognize that the anti-Christ is within us, well established in our all-to-human natures.

This anti-Christ to be defeated dwells in all flesh that resists God and His spiritual reign. John said there were already many antichrists in the world back in his day:

“Children, it is the last hour; and just as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have appeared. This is how we know it is the last hour.

They went out from us, but they did not belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But their departure made it clear that none of them belonged to us.” 1 John 2:8 NKJV

Those who left them were antichrists, ones in their midst who had too much “anti” or “against Christ” within them to be swallowed up in life. They went off to do their own thing, seeking their own power and esteem through taking over the message and people of God. This was already in the early Christian church and the Apostle Paul also spoke of it in his writings. We too need to see all that is “antichrist” within us, trusting our Lord to conquer and be conquering everything as we walk with Him.

Jesus said that the Kingdom does not come with scrutiny, with visible observation to those looking for it out there somewhere. How then could the antichrist be one evil person in the world? We can look and look at the world for the antichrist and many have. People, denominations, and even nations are said to be the coming antichrist, past, present and future. But Jesus went on to state that the kingdom of God is in us, so think about it. Isn’t that where the forces against His kingdom operate as well? Amazing, isn’t it?

With spiritual eyes open to see and spiritual ears ready to hear, we see that the antichrist dwells within the fleshly souls of humans. We have those things within us that are against Christ, keeping His full authority from ruling over us as He comes within His temple, which we are. God takes off the covering, our “refuge of lies.” Once exposed, in faith and trust we yield all to God and turn away from anything that is working against Christ being formed in us.

Our human, fleshly nature has to be swallowed up in life because flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

“Just as we have borne the image of the earthly [the man of dust], we will also bear the image of the heavenly [the Man of heaven].

Now I say this, believers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit nor be part of the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable (mortal) inherit the imperishable (immortal).” 1 Corinthians 15:49-50 Amplified

The only thing that is imperishable is the spirit of God. Our spiritual bodies will indeed live forever in His sight. God is not waiting until we die to work these changes in us. His word, His direction, His path throughout is to become more and more like Him now, in this life. Things are rapidly changing and “all that can be shaken is being shaken” by ever more dramatic events occurring on Earth. Why would we refuse to grow up into Christ as far as we can while in this life?

It takes faith and endurance until He accomplishes all that He intends to do with humans. God’s will for all men to be saved surely will happen but some may not know His full salvation and redemption for ages to come. Let’s allow our Lord to decide just how far each of His people can go in their calling and election in Him while here on the earth. Does He not need His people to shine a light in this present darkness here and now?

We are surely in much darkness on this earth, in great need of God’s light to shine through His people. We pursue the prize of the High calling just like Paul, so we may be clothed, rather than naked, at His appearance. Are we not given “all things” because of what He has done? What truly is in the hearts of those who cling to the rapture doctrine proclaiming all non-believers will burn in a literal hellfire and brimstone furnace if they are not saved in this life?

May God draw His own into all truth, as promised in the holy spirit. What matters most is what the spirit of truth teaches each of us as we sit before the Lord to learn of Him. If you struggle with this truth of all men being saved and reconciled to God, I encourage you to ask the Lord, sincerely, if these things be true. Allow your heavenly Father to speak truth to you and you will know His ways, not just His acts. It is His work to bring us into all truth, spirit to spirit:

“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.” John 16:13 NIV