Angelic Conflict part 329: Future work of Christ – Joh 5:24-29; 2Co 11:2; Eph 5:25-27; Rev 19:6-14.

Title: Angelic Conflict part 329: Future work of Christ – Joh 5:24-29; 2Co 11:2; Eph 5:25-27; Rev 19:6-14.

 

 

The future word of Christ is also dependent upon His resurrection.

 

In a number of particulars, the work of Christ yet to be ful­filled in keeping with the prophetic Scripture also depends upon His resurrection.

 

1. The resurrection of all men.

 

a. The Church at Rapture, 1Co 15:51-53; 1Th 4:14-17.

 

b. OT saints at His second coming, establishing His Millennial kingdom, Dan 12:2, 13; Hos 13:14; Mat 22:30-31.

 

c. Tribulational saints at second coming, Rev 20:4.

 

d. Millennial saints at end of millennium, not mentioned in scripture.

 

e. Resurrection to judgment of all unbelievers at end of history, Rev 20:12-14.

 

Regardless of time and character of resurrection, all resurrec­tion is attributed to the power of Christ's word.

 

Joh 5:24 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.

 

Joh 5:25 "Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear shall live.

 

Joh 5:26 "For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself;

 

Joh 5:27 and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.

 

Joh 5:28 "Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs shall hear His voice,

 

Joh 5:29 and shall come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.

 

There is power in the word from Christ.

 

2. The marriage of the Bridegroom and the bride.

 

At the time Christ comes for His church at the rapture, He will be joined to the church in heaven in keeping with the figure of the Bride­groom coming for the bride.

 

This figure in the Scriptures speaks of the eternal union and fellowship of Christ and His church and is an important aspect of His future work, logically depending upon the fact of His resurrection from the dead.

 

The church in the present age is a bride waiting for the coming of her Husband.

 

2Co 11:2 For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin.

 

2Co 11:3 But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.

 

After we enter the Father's house, our dwelling places in the New Jerusalem, then the wedding feast of the Lamb will commence.

 

Rev 19:6 "Hallelujah! [Praise the Lord] For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.

 

Rev 19:7 "Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready."

 

Rev 19:8 And it was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.

 

Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her;

 

Eph 5:26 that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,

 

Eph 5:27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless.

 

In the NT we see the preparation of the bride through the love and substitutionary spiritual death of the Husband.

 

Stated very briefly:

Three stages of sanctification:

1. Positional sanctification - forever holy and blameless in Christ.

2. Practical sanctification - walking in your position in time.

3. Ultimate sanctification - in heaven minus OSN and in resurrection body.

 

In preparation for the marriage, the Savior died on the cross for His church and became the sacrifice for her sin. This led to the present work of sanctification unto every person who believes through the baptism of the Spirit. All members of the church are clean through positional sanctification. In time the Church can purify her thinking through the word of God and thus prepare herself for her future role as an ultimate witness to the grace of our Lord by walking in that witness through His grace in time. And although not all the Church takes advantage of their position through experiential or practical sanctification, the third phase is a future certainty, which is the ultimate sanctification at the rapture when the bride is presented in her perfection.

 

In ultimate sanctification there is no stain or discoloration, no wrinkle, no blemish, but in every respect the bride is holy and blameless.

 

Rev 19:9 And he said to me, "Write, 'Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.'" [OT and Tribulational saints] And he said to me, "These are true words of God."

 

A distinction is made between the bride and those who are invited to the wedding feast. These would be the resurrected OT saints and Tribulational saints.

 

John is so overwhelmed by the revelation that he falls down at the angels feet to worship him but receives a stern rebuke as no creature is to be worshipped.

 

Rev 19:10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said to me, "Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."

 

 

Communion 060114

 

Luk 22:14 And when the hour had come He reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him.

 

Luk 22:15And He said to them, "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer;

 

Luk 22:16for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. " 

 

Luk 22:17And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, "Take this and share it among yourselves;

 

Luk 22:18for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes. " 

 

Luk 22:19And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." 

 

Luk 22:20And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.

 

“given thanks” – euvcariste,w[eucharisteo] = to express gratitude for benefits or blessings. Christ is grateful for a new deliverance, different from the exodus.

 

By transforming the Passover meal to the much more simplified Lord’s Supper our Lord is displacing the celebrated deliverance from Egypt and replacing it with a celebration of deliverance from death and sin.

 

The Father had prepared a body for Him, Heb 10:5, which is represented by the bread and so Christ is offering thanks for a body, which He kept impeccable, which is prepared for sacrifice as the spotless lamb was.

 

The Father had prepared a mission for Him to die a spiritual death for the sins of the whole world, which is represented by the cup. Christ is offering thanks for the Father’s plan to judge Him as the tola worm.

 

This thankfulness, which all the Jews were to have at Passover for their deliverance from Egypt, is now offered by Christ for His deliverance of all mankind from sin and death through faith in Him. As the Jews gathered for this meal at Passover to remind them of their deliverance from Egypt and from slavery so that they may forget all else and be thankful, so the Church now gathers together before these two elements to be reminded of the suffering Shepherd so that we may for a time forget all else and be thankful for our sacrificial Shepherd who in victory has vanquished all God’s enemies and has set the captives free.