Revelation of Jesus 68, Resolution 4

The final executive judgment, the second death, takes place “when the thousand years are over”: “[John] saw a great white throne, and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And [he] saw the dead, small and great, standing before God; and the books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books… Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:11-15).

This brings up one of the most misunderstood concepts in the Bible: the doctrine of hell and the second death. Some have felt that God’s nature of love excludes the possibility of His destroying anyone; that the many references, such as this one, are either metaphorical or threats designed to frighten people into good behavior.

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Many Christians are afraid to let go of the idea of a hell of eternal torment, fearing that there would be no motivation for the sinner to turn away from his sins if the consequences were simply an end to his existence. However, the most basic fact in the book of Revelation is that the use of fear to force obedience is the very opposite of God’s character. It is the beast who threatens those who “refuse to worship the image of the beast to be killed” (Revelation 13:15).

Let us look into what the second death is in the context of Revelation and the final resolution of Cosmic Conflict.

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The focus in the resolution series shifts from events on earth to the heavenly realm, where all heaven is celebrating the final and permanent defeat of Babylon.

If you have not done so already, please check out the other videos in the Resolution series.

You can read the full transcript of this video here.

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