|
Post by Admin on Mar 17, 2024 11:09:09 GMT -5
RIGHTEOUS BY FAITH ALONE Herman Hoeksema Chapter Nine Despising God’s Goodness Romans 2:4, 5 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation ofthe righteous judgment of God. The heart of Romans 2:4, 5 is undoubtedly expressed in the words the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance. This is the undeniable truth around which the entire text in all its details is really grouped. It is the one certainty that can always be applied and always stands, to which there is never an exception: the goodness ofGod leadeth to repentance. For this reason we must not change this statement to fit our notion of what the goodness of God ought to be. Poison kills, fire burns, and bread nourishes; so the goodness of God leads to repentance. We must not say, or think, or attempt to change the meaning of this statement into something like this: “The goodness of God likes to lead you to repentance.” This is not true. Or, “The goodness of God tries to lead you to repentance.” This is not true, either. Nor is it the meaning of the text. We must leave this word exactly as it is and say—just as we say poison kills, fire burns, and bread nourishes—the goodness of God leads to repentance. It does this always. We may know it or not; it makes no difference—the goodness of God leads to repentance. You may take poison or you may not; it makes no difference— poison kills. You may put your hand in the fire or you may not; it makes no difference—fire burns. You may feel the power of the goodness of God or you may not; it makes no difference—the goodness of God leads to repentance. But there are those who despise that goodness of God. Despising the goodness of God, they treasure up unto themselves rath. It is to those that the apostle calls our attention in the text. The Meaning The apostle is still addressing the man of verse 1. He is not addressing any particular class. He is not addressing the Jew, nor is the Jew excluded. The apostle has in mind to apply what he has said to the Jews in a special sense, but here he is addressing man. He is speaking in the singular. This man, the apostle has pictured in a very peculiar and realistic light. In other words, he has pictured him just as he is. He has pictured this man as judging and condemning others while doing the same things himself. He condemns the liar, and he lies himself. He condemns the thief, and he steals himself. When he condemns the backbiter, he becomes a backbiter himself. This is characteristic of sinful man. God lets him do it in order to make him say that he knows the righteous judgment of God, so that he will be without excuse in the day of judgment. The apostle asks this man (and this is the connection with verse 1), “How do you explain your attitude? How do you come to assume the attitude in which you condemn in others what you do yourself?” How must this be explained? The apostle knows of but two possibilities. The first possibility is expressed in that first question in verse 3: “Thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?” Is this the explanation? If this is the case, his attitude is explained. Or—and this is the other possibility—is this attitude rooted in the sinful contempt in which you say, “I know that I shall be in the judgment, but I don’t care”? As verse 4 puts it, “Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness . . . not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?” In the original, four words are used, where in our English translation of verse 4, there are but three. The text, thereforeshould be read this way: “Or despisest thou the loving-kindness, forbearance, long-suffering, and goodness of God?” As to the meaning of these various terms, they are so related that goodness includes all the other virtues. God’s loving-kindness is His goodness manifest. God’s forbearance is His goodness manifest. God’s long-suffering is His goodness manifest. What is God’s goodness? In the first place, God’s goodness is that virtue of God by which He is in Himself infinite perfection. This is the background of all other goodnesses. God’s goodness does not mean that He is our benefactor, that He bestows good upon us. God’s goodness means that He is good in the sense of perfection. Because God is good in Himself, He also does good. God does good to all creatures. There is no exception. He does good to all creatures, organically considered and individually considered. God always does good. He does good to the wicked and to the righteous. When God blesses the righteous, He does good. When God curses the wicked, He does good. God would not do good if He blessed the wicked. God is in Himself good and the overflowing fountain of all goodnesses. For this reason there is in the text mention of a threefold manifestation of God’s goodness. These three are also related. God’s loving-kindness is the first manifestation of His goodness. God’s loving-kindness is His inmost desire to bless the righteous.The goodness of God so works and reveals itself thatthere is in God the eternal desire to bless the righteous. You can never say that of God’s attitude toward the wicked. Then He would not be good. There is in God never a will, a desire, to make the wicked happy. We must understand this. The central thought of the text is to emphasize that it is impossible for God to bless anyone unless he comes to repentance. As long as he does not come to repentance, and despises and does not know the goodness of God, he cannot taste the blessing of God. We must understand, therefore, that the loving-kindness of God is that manifestation of God’s goodness according to which it is His eternal desire to bless the righteous. This is why the natural man despises that loving-kindness of God. Man will never despise a general grace, but he despises the fact that God blesses the righteous. The other two terms, God’s long-suffering and forbearance, are again manifestations of the goodness of God as revealed in time. God’s long-suffering is His desire to deliver His suffering people, but His waiting until all things are ripe. If I have my child on the operating table and that child begs me to stop, but keep right on cutting into the live flesh until the operation is completed, I am long-suffering over that child. So God’s longsuffering is His purpose finally to bring His people to glory while permitting them to suffer until the time is ripe. God’s forbearance is the antithesis of long-suffering. It is His will to destroy the wicked in the day of judgment while allowing them to prosper until that day. God’s forbearance is this: I have a man in my home who eats my bread, drinks my water, wears my clothes, and sleeps in my bed. That man ignores me and abuses my children. I forbear from putting him out of my house until the time is ripe. This is God’s forbearance. The forbearance and long-suffering of God are manifest. The apostle asks the sinner, “Despisest thou the loving-kindness and forbearance and long-suffering of God; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?” To despise a thing presupposes that we come into contact with it to the extent that we know what we despise. The apostle means, therefore, that in some way, to some extent, man always comes into contact with this threefold manifestation of God, the heart of which is that the Lord blesses the righteous. Despisest thou this? It is emphatically in the church, where the goodness of God is bestowed, that the goodness of God is despised. To despise a thing is to think nothing of it. To despise a thing is to judge it worthless, not to want it. Therefore, when the testimony is, “The Lord blesses the righteous,” we simply ignore it and continue to walk in sin. Do you not see that the sinner, going on in his own way, despises the goodness of God? Its Cause How is this possible? The apostle says that the deepest cause is in the sinner’s impenitent heart. “But after thy hardness and impenitent heart,” the text says. The heart is the center of a man’s life from a spiritual point of view. From the heart is the life of man as to its spiritual direction. An impenitent heart isa heart that cannot repent. It is not a heart that does not repent; neither is it a heart that cannot be brought to repentance. It is a heart that cannot repent of itself. To repent is to change so that our judgment of our own sin is as God’s judgment of our sin. An impenitent heart is the very opposite. It is a heart that loves sin, that seeks sin, that w alksin sin. That impenitent heart, the apostle says, is hard. It is not hardened. It is hard. “After thy hardness,” says the apostle. Hardness is the characteristic of the impenitent heart. That heart is hard, so that it is not receptive for repentance. When that impenitent heart sits under the influence of the Word of God, even before that Word comes, it makes up its mind not to repent. An impenitent heart is always hard. It is not that the impenitent heart is firstsoft and that gradually that heart hardens. That heart is hard from the beginning. Every impenitent heart is hard. It is true that there is a hardening of the heart in a natural way, but not in the spiritual sense. Even a hard, impenitent heart can become hardened in a natural way. When first that hard, impenitent heart comes under the influence of the Word of God, there are the pangs of conscience, a certain fear, a trembling before that Word. But tinder the influence of the goodness of God, that impenitent heart becomes hardened. We can see, often to our deepest sorrow, how the impenitent heart becomes hardened. With an impenitent heart, one does not know that the goodness of God leads to repentance. This is the immediate result. The Arminian distortion is that God is good in the sense of being gracious to all. He is good in the sense that He likes to save all. Because He likes to save all, He tries to lead all to repentance. When He does so, there are some who resist that goodness of God. This is the Arminian distortion of the text. But this is not the teaching of the text. The text does not say the goodness of God tries to lead you to repentance. The text makes a statement of fact. The text says that the goodness of God leads you to repentance. It is impossible, if you leave the text in its context, to elicit from it a general grace. Instead, it is a general statement of fact: the goodness of God leads to repentance. This becomes manifest in those who come into contact with this fact. It is as though I would say, “Don’t you know that fire burns you?”—meaning, of course, as soon as you come into contact with it. Or, “Don’t you know that poison kills you?”—meaning, of course, when you come into contact with it. So the apostle says, “Don’t you know that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?”—meaning, as soon as you come into contact with it. The natural man does not know that the goodness of God leads to repentance. Does he not know the fact? He does. This is not the meaning. But he does not know it in the sense that he does not experience and taste that the goodness of God leads to repentance, and in the sense that he despises it. He despises the goodness of God as it becomes manifest in His loving-kindness, forbearance, and long-suffering, not knowing, in the sense of not experiencing, that the goodness of God leads to repentance. Its Result Is this the case? If it is, there is but one result: the man who so despises the goodness of God treasures up wrath against the day of wrath and judgment. There comes a day of the revelation of the judgment of God. The passage warns, “After thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” We must not say that there comes a day of the judgment of God. This judgment is always present. But there comes a day when this judgment shall be revealed. This judgment is now frequently covered up. It is so covered up that frequently we would say that God’s judgment is not righteous. The wicked seem to prosper, and the righteous are in trouble. This judgment is so covered up that men have come to the conclusion that there is a general grace. God’s judgment is now covered up, but there comes a day when that cover will be taken off. That is the day of the revelation of the judgment of God. That day will be a day of wrath. For whom? For that man. It will be a day of wrath; that is, it will be a day of nothing but wrath. And that man treasures up wrath. He lays up wrath as one lays up a sum of money in a bank. He piles up wrath. He lays up wrath in the bank of God’s judgment. He does that in all his life. He is always increasing his capital of wrath. He treasures up wrath against the day of wrath. You may call that “grace” if you please, but the apostle knows nothing of that. What shall we say then? I will conclude with the same words with which I started: “The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance.” If you have not come to repentance, you have never known the goodness of God. If in the midst of those men who despise the goodness of God you become a penitent sinner, what then? Is there any hope? I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ: this the apostle still has in mind. I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for in it is revealed the righteousness of God that is by faith in Christ Jesus. The righteous shall live by faith. Living by faith, they say this: “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God” [Rom. 5:1]. —Herman Hoeksema
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Apr 21, 2024 11:31:12 GMT -5
REFORMED DOGMATICS Herman Hoeksema Chapter 44 - Eschatology (2/2) THE MILLENNIUM ● The Meaning of the Thousand Years ● The Reign of Souls ● The First Resurrection ● The Loosing of Satan ______________________________ The Meaning of the Thousand Years The period during which Satan is so limited is called “a thousand years” (v. 2). This number cannot be taken in the literal sense for two reasons. First, many numbers in scripture have symbolic significance. Such, for instance, is true of the numbers one, three, four, six, seven, ten, and twelve, as well as of their combinations and products. They represent some realities and relations in the kingdom of God. The earthly relationships between numbers are a picture of the heavenly and spiritual realities of God’s covenant and kingdom. Our week, for example, is a combination of six plus one—labor and rest, time and the eternal sabbath. Hence it signifies the completion and perfection of the kingdom of God. Moreover, the number seven occurs in scripture not only as the sum of six and one, but also as the combination of three and four—the triune God and the world, the perfection of God’s covenant. In the Bible the number twelve occurs as the product of three and four, the number of the elect, as is evident from the twelve tribes, twelve apostles, twelve times twelve thousand servants of God who are sealed, and twelve plus twelve elders around the throne of God and the Lamb. Second, that numbers have symbolic significance is especially true in the book of Revelation. The whole book is based on the scheme of the number seven. There are seven seals to the book that is opened by the Lamb. The seventh seal dissolves itself into seven trumpets, and the seventh trumpet reveals itself as seven vials. The seven golden candlesticks represent the complete picture of the church in the world, as the seven churches of Asia represent that church. This symbolic significance is true not only of the number seven, but is equally true of the number ten and its products, especially the thousands. The days of the tribulation of the church of Smyrna are ten days (Rev. 2:10). The number of the sealed servants of God is ten times ten times ten, multiplied by one hundred forty-four (Rev. 7:4). The number of those who appear on Mount Zion with the Lamb, who have the Father’s name written on their foreheads, is one thousand times one hundred forty-four (Rev. 14:1). The antichristian beast appears with ten horns (Rev. 13:1). The length, breadth, and height of the New Jerusalem are twelve times a thousand furlongs (Rev. 21:16). In the light of all these facts, as well as in connection with the apocalyptic character of the book of Revelation in general, we are certainly justified in saying that it would be arbitrary to insist that the thousand years of Revelation 20:2 must be understood in the literal sense. If we study scripture concerning the significance of the number ten, it will become evident that everywhere it suggests completeness, a fullness of measure. The number ten is a round number, which therefore suggests completeness. All the instances in scripture where the number ten occurs express the same thought. There are ten plagues upon Egypt, the fullness of the measure of God’s wrath over the house of bondage. There are ten commandments, the fullness of the ethical will of God. There are ten times ten times ten times one hundred forty-four, or the fullness of the number of God’s people according to the election of grace. There are ten virgins (Matt. 25:1), ten servants and ten talents (Luke 19:13). According to scripture, then, this number represents the idea of a complete measure of anything according to the will and counsel of the Most High. If we add to this that the number ten to the third power (one thousand) points to a great measure of something and that the term years (rather than days) suggests a long period, we conclude that the thousand years of Satan’s confinement and limitation signify a long period, determined by the will and counsel of God, which must be fulfilled before the devil can be permitted to deceive the nations that live on the four corners of the earth. The question now arises, To what period in history does this limitation and binding of Satan refer? Can we apply this interpretation to actually existing conditions in the world? We may apply the period of a thousand years to the present dispensation, from the exaltation of Christ until shortly before his second coming on the clouds of heaven. To this it may be objected that the vision in Revelation 20 follows the vision of the second coming of Christ in chapter 19. But this cannot possibly be adduced as an objection against this view, for the simple reason that the order of events in the book of Revelation is not chronological, but rather ideological. Repeatedly, the book follows the development of the world to the very end from a certain viewpoint, in order then to resume the drawing of the same picture from a different point of view (Rev. 6:12–16; Rev. 11:15–19; Rev. 14:17–20; Rev. 16:17–21; Rev. 18; Rev. 19:11–21). In Revelation 20, we have the same phenomenon from the viewpoint of the history and the end of Gog and Magog. The nations of Gog and Magog that live on the four corners of the earth are those in the new dispensation who never play a part in the history of the world, but who are waking up in our very day. We refer to the numerically overwhelmingly strong heathen world—the multitudes of China and Japan; the millions upon millions in India; the followers of Confucianism, Buddhism, Islamism, and Brahmism; and the hordes of Africa and of the islands of the sea. What it would mean if these nations were permitted to unite and marshal their tremendous forces against the nominally Christian world may easily be surmised. The church would have no place in the world and no room for development. However, the devil is bound in this respect. In the old dispensation he was repeatedly allowed to deceive the nations to come against Israel. Egypt and Assyria, Babylonia and Persia, Greece and Rome had a controlling influence in the history of the world. But in the new dispensation this relation is exactly the opposite. The Christian nations are the historical powers, and Gog and Magog are hitherto apparently sound asleep. The prince of this world is restrained from employing these forces against the church, the beloved city, the camp of the saints—against the nominally Christian world. The Reign of Souls The chiliast asserts that the mention in Revelation 20 of the souls who reign with Christ a thousand years can refer only to a glorious millennium in the world. But let us consider the text. John says, “I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them” (v. 4). It is plain that this part of the picture in the vision represents a people who rule and reign with Christ. Such is the meaning of their sitting upon thrones, as well as of the statement that judgment was given to them, for to judge is a function of royalty and implies authority to rule. Who are these royal people whom John saw in the vision? In the latter part of verse 4, John describes them as the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. It is evident that “a thousand years” refers to the same period during the whole new dispensation as that in which the devil is bound with respect to Gog and Magog. In that period, according to our interpretation of the thousand years, these people reign with Christ. Who are these people, and where are they? The answer of the text is that they are not saints on earth and in the body, but saints in glory before the resurrection of the dead. The expression “the souls of them that were beheaded” permits no other interpretation. The chiliast denies this in order to be able to save his theory of an earthly millennium and of a separate resurrection of the saints. But the denial is without support in scripture. It is strange that he who always would insist on a literal interpretation of Holy Writ in this case looks for a figurative explanation. It is essential to the premillennial theory of the millennium that “the souls of those who were beheaded” be transformed into resurrected saints in their glorified bodies. In order to accomplish this, the premillennialist argues that in this expression is an illustration of the figure called synecdoche, according to which a part must be taken for the whole. As we speak of so many sails, meaning ships, or as we speak of a hundred head, meaning cattle, so scripture speaks of souls, signifying persons. Thus all the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt were threescore and ten (Gen. 46:27). In the ark a few, that is, eight souls were saved (1 Pet. 3:20). On the day of Pentecost about three thousand souls were added to the church (Acts 2:41). There were in all two hundred threescore and sixteen souls with Paul in the ship (Acts 27:37). Hence the chiliast argues that we must interpret the expression “the souls of them that were beheaded” in the same figurative sense as referring to resurrected persons. But this will never do. There are two objections against this interpretation that prove it false beyond a shadow of doubt. The first objection is that whenever synecdoche is employed, whether in our daily language, in secular literature, or in Holy Writ, uniformly a numeral is used in connection with it. We can speak of a hundred head and of fifty sails, but we never speak of heads and of sails. In all the above instances from scripture, the same rule is followed. Seventy souls came with Jacob into Egypt. Eight souls were in the ark. Three thousand souls were added to the church. Two hundred seventy-six souls were in the ship with the apostle Paul. But Revelation 20:4 says simply, “And I saw souls.” John does not employ the figure of synecdoche in this instance, therefore. The second objection concerns the phrase “of them that were beheaded” (v. 4). How strange it would be to refer to persons in the body—whether corruptible or resurrected—as being “the souls of them that were beheaded.” The premillennial interpretation, therefore, will never hold. It is utterly false. The First Resurrection The chiliast argues further that the words, “This is the first resurrection” (v. 5), make it plain beyond a shadow of doubt that in verse 4 there is reference to resurrected saints. This argument also does not hold because verse 5 says, “This is the first resurrection.” The pronoun refers back to the statement in verse 4 concerning the souls who reign with Christ. We cannot introduce our own preconceived notion, but we are bound to the text when we answer the question, What is the first resurrection? Therefore, we are constrained to say that the reign of the souls of those who were beheaded for the witness of Jesus is the first resurrection. This interpretation is not in conflict with the rest of scripture, for the Bible speaks of the resurrection of the dead in more than one sense. For instance, it refers to regeneration as a resurrection: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live” (John 5:25). That this is not a reference to the final resurrection of the body is plain from the expression, “The hour is coming, and now is.” The same resurrection, regeneration in the broader sense, is meant in Ephesians 5:14: “Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.” However, in Revelation 20:5, “the first resurrection” refers to the state of the saints in glory immediately after death. They are delivered from battle, from the persecution and suffering inflicted on them by the antichristian forces that are always in the world throughout this dispensation, and they reign with the Lord. The expression “the first resurrection” does not refer to the raising first of a particular group of saints, in distinction from a second raising of the wicked a thousand years later, but to a state or degree in the resurrection of the saints. That this is the correct interpretation is corroborated by a comparison with the similar expression, “the second death” (vv. 6, 14), which refers to the ultimate state of death in hell. First and second death, therefore, are different degrees of death, not different groups of dead people. Surely, this establishes beyond any reasonable doubt that the first resurrection is a stage in life and glorification. If we may complete the parallel, we would say that even as the first death is physical death, so the first resurrection is the glory that follows immediately upon physical death. Even as the second death is the state of perdition of body and soul in hell, so the second resurrection is the final state of glory after the resurrection of the body. Hence, “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years” (v. 6). Again, the chiliast adduces as an objection against this interpretation the first part of verse 5: “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.” It is evident that by “the rest of the dead” are meant the ungodly. Hence the chiliast argues that while the first resurrection means the resurrection of the righteous, the fact that the rest of the dead lived not until after the thousand years are finished plainly proves that after the thousand years the ungodly will be raised from the dead. Now it may be admitted that the form of the expression would almost invite us to complete the text as follows: “and then also the rest shall live again.” But it must be remembered that the text does not say this and that we have no authority to add to scripture. Besides, even the chiliast would not venture to finish the expression in that fashion. Although the wicked will rise from the dead, it cannot be said of them that they will live again, as is plain from John 5:28–29: . . . the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. The resurrection of the wicked will not be a resurrection unto life, but unto eternal perdition. Verse 29 very clearly teaches that this going forth out of their graves unto perdition will take place at the same time, as in one hour, with the resurrection of the righteous. Therefore, Revelation 20:5 can only mean that while John sees the souls of the righteous as living in glory and power, the rest of the dead have no place in this picture at all and do not live again. When they do appear once more, they will be sent into perdition and cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death. The glorified saints, then, reign with Christ. On earth they endured suffering for his sake. It was given them of grace to have the testimony of Jesus and the word of God in their hearts and in their mouth. Therefore, it was given them also in the cause of Christ to suffer with him (Phil. 1:29), for they had this testimony in the midst of an antichristian world. The fact that the antichristian power is described as it will manifest itself in its ultimate realization and consummation does not signify that only the saints who will live and suffer in the last days, shortly before the coming of Christ, are included in the saints who reign with Christ. Essentially the power of antichrist, the beast and his image, are always in the world; always the believers have the testimony of Jesus and the word of God, and always they refuse to worship the beast and his image and receive not his sign in their right hand or in their forehead (Rev. 13:15–17). Therefore, by these reigning saints is meant the entire church triumphant in heaven. They reign and judge the world with Christ, and their reign commenced in heaven with the exaltation of their Lord at the right hand of God. That the saints who overcome and endure unto the end will reign with Christ in glory is a common idea in scripture: And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father (Rev. 2:26–27). To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne (Rev. 3:21). Concerning the saints’ reign with Christ, it is evident that centrally and essentially it is the reign of the exalted Lord himself, to whom is given all power in heaven and on earth and a name that is above all names. Even as the saints must suffer in the cause of Christ while they are still in this world, but have the victory and overcome and judge the world by faith in Christ, so they will participate in his glorious reign in heaven, when they will be completely delivered from all the power of the enemy and be with him forever and ever. They will be given to know his work with regard to the final realization of the kingdom of God, even as Christ knows the Father’s counsel and is found worthy to open the book with its seven seals. They will perfectly know the mind of Christ; he will have no secrets from them. They will concur in his judgment of the world and partake in it. They will rejoice in the full realization of his perfect victory. Finally, the reign of Christ and his saints with respect to this world is such that almost until the very end the devil will be bound with respect to Gog and Magog, so that he cannot deceive them and gather them for battle against the camp of the saints. The Loosing of Satan The binding of Satan, however, is not the end of the matter: When the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever (Rev. 20:7–10). What is presented here in a separate vision has partly been pictured in a different setting in preceding chapters. From Revelation 16:12–16, we may gather that Satan’s deception of the nations on the four quarters of the earth will be realized in the period of the sixth vial. This is also in harmony with the statement, “he must be loosed a little season” (Rev. 20:3). Shortly before the end of this world, this final deception of the nations will take place: And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon (Rev. 16:12–16). This passage refers to the same going forth of the devils to the nations that live on the four quarters of the earth, to the kings of the whole world, to deceive them and to gather them for battle against the camp of the saints. Besides, we learn that this deception of the nations through the devil will proceed immediately from the antichristian kingdom. Unclean spirits will proceed from the center of the antichristian world, and they will have their influence upon the nations that live upon the four quarters of the earth. It matters not now what these unclean spirits represent. They certainly indicate a threefold influence of the antichristian civilization. The final result of this threefold antichristian influence will be that the nations thus affected will unite their forces for war—the last war that will ever be fought on earth. A similar presentation of the same period of history we find in Revelation 17:12–17: And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them . . . And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. That the ten kings are kings in distinction from the antichristian world-power proper and that their dominion will last only one hour with the beast, that is, a little season, suggests that these ten kings are the same as the power of Gog and Magog in Revelation 20 and the same as the kings of the whole world and the kings of the east in Revelation 16. If this is correct, we then learn from Revelation 17 that the very first result of the deceptive influence of the devil through the medium of the threefold antichristian influence will be that the heathen nations of Gog and Magog will join into one great world-power with the central antichristian dominion. For one hour or a little season, the world-power will realize its greatest ambition, and a strictly universal empire will be established, of which also the heathen, but civilized, nations form an integral part. However, this empire cannot last. Eventually the ten kings will hate the whore, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh, and burn her with fire (v. 16). The ultimate result of the devil’s deception through the antichristian influence upon the heathen nations will be that they will be gathered for battle against the very center of the antichristian dominion. If we combine all of these different elements—which undoubtedly have bearing upon the same historic event of the future—we come to the following conception. In the nominally Christian world will ultimately be realized the final consummation of the antichristian world-power, the empire in which will be represented and realized to the utmost the highest ambitions of man. From a purely humanistic viewpoint it will be a glorious kingdom. Thoroughly humanistic it will surely be—religiously, scientifically, politically, socially, and industrially. But it will be anti-God, anti-Christ, and anti-church. The saints who refuse to receive the mark of the beast will have no place in that kingdom. In the meantime, influences will issue forth from that central realization of the antichristian kingdom upon the nations that live on the four corners of the earth. These nations will be civilized. Under the influence of the so-called mission work of the antichristian unclean spirits, the heathen nations will awake out of their prolonged slumber. They will become conscious of their power, will quickly adopt the antichristian civilization, and for a time will join forces with the beast and the false prophet to form one great world empire. Nevertheless, they remain pagan. Although they give their power to the beast for one hour, a little season, this cannot last. The deception of the devil must work out until the bitter end when the heathen and the antichristian nations gather as separate forces for the last war—a world war in the strictest sense. Viewing the nominally Christian world as the truly Christian nations and as the church of Christ—which in fact will be antichristian, although the church will still exist in its midst—Gog and Magog will do to it as the nations of the old dispensation did with respect to Jerusalem, and they will say, “Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion” (Micah 4:11). This will be their guilt, for their purpose will be to fight against the camp of the saints and the beloved city, that is, against God and his Christ. It will also be their deception. For as in the days of the old dispensation, God used the nations and their hatred against the holy city to chastise and destroy a Jerusalem that had become Sodom, so he will use the hostile spirit of the heathen nations to destroy the antichristian powers and to eat the flesh of the great whore. The camp of the saints they will never touch. The people of God will look for the coming redemption, which will be nigh. Upon this final scene of confusion and iniquity, the Lord will appear to judge, to destroy his enemies, and to deliver his saints, giving them the victory forever. This, in brief, is our interpretation of Revelation 20:1–10. We contend that this passage certainly does not support any idea of a millennium in the chiliastic sense. -- HERMAN HOEKSEMA Next: Chapter 45 - The Parousia ● The Parousia Defined ● The Term Parousia ● The Time of Christ's Coming ● The Error of Postmillennialism ● The Order of Events at Christ's Coming ● The Manner of Christ's Coming ● The Purpose of Christ's Coming
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Apr 21, 2024 11:38:17 GMT -5
REFORMED DOGMATICS Herman Hoeksema THE SIXTH LOCUS – ESCHATOLOGY Chapter 45 – The Parousia (2/2) • The Order of Events at Christ's Coming • The Manner of Christ's Coming • The Purpose of Christ's Coming _________________________ The Order of Events at Christ’s Coming The final coming of the Lord will be a personal and visible coming in his resurrection or spiritual body. This coming of the Lord will be physical, but he will not appear in the same body that he assumed at his incarnation, but in the radically different body of the resurrection. The physical eye cannot see this glorious body of the resurrection. Hence the order of events at the coming of the Lord must be pictured as follows: The sign of the Son of man in heaven will be first. What this sign will be we do not know, but it certainly will be a visible representation of Christ in his glory to all who are living on the earth at the time (Matt. 24:30). Immediately upon the appearance of the sign of the Son of man in heaven will be the resurrection of the dead and the appearance of the Son of man in the body of his resurrection glory on the clouds of heaven. This order is also demanded by the fact that all the tribes of the earth will mourn, even those who pierced him (Rev. 1:7), which naturally cannot take place until after the resurrection of the dead. Whatever the exact order of events will be, it is important that the church maintain the confession that Christ will return personally and visibly at the end of time. In the modern conception of social Christianity, there is no room for a personal visible return of Christ. In recent decades there is much emphasis on the idea of the kingdom of God, but a purely earthly and social conception is presented: One of the most marked characteristics of this time is a new interest in the kingdom of God and a new conception of its meaning. In fact so intense is this interest in the idea of the kingdom that it may be called the master thought of our time. And so new and significant is this conception of the kingdom that it is little else than a new revelation from heaven. . . . The program [of this kingdom] implies the saving of the person by making him Christlike; it implies the proclamation of the Good News to every creature; it demands for every human being the conditions of a pure, strong, full and happy life; it sums itself up in the creation of a righteous and fraternal human society, in which God is known as Father and men are known as brothers, a society with justice as its foundation and love as its law, a society in which every life has a true inheritance and where all share in the Father’s bounties . . . Thus the men who are following the program of Christ and are seeking the kingdom of God are seeking to make the Good News known to every creature; they are seeking to save men from sin and to make them like Christ; they are seeking to secure for all men the conditions of a clean, worthy, human and moral life; they are seeking to build on the earth a city after the pattern of the Divine City.[2] Walter Rauschenbusch emphasizes the idea of the kingdom of God, but also according to him this idea is a thoroughly worldly conception. He must have nothing of the apocalyptic, biblical conception of a catastrophe at the end of time and of a personal return of Christ. In his opinion the apocalyptic perspective obscured the thought of the prophets of the old dispensation: So apocalypticism came to dominate the Christian view of future history. Whenever men looked down the future to gain a religious outlook, they saw it in the artificial lay out of apocalyptic dualism and determinism. The apocalyptic hope has always contained ingredients of religious force and value, but its trail through history is strange and troubled reading. It has been of absorbing fascination to some Christian minds, but it has led them into labyrinths from which some never emerged. It has been the inspiration of earnest Christian men in some lines of Christian activity, but it has effectively blocked their minds with strange prejudices against other important lines of work. It has turned the enthusiasm of great historical movements into injurious fanaticism. It has spawned hopeless little sects. It has been one chief cause why the Kingdom hope has not gained the wide practical effectiveness which it might have, for in this debased and irrational form it is hopelessly foreign to modern life and thought. I know that this charge will pain some devout Christian minds whom I would not willingly hurt, but in the interest of the very hope for which they stand I have to say that the idea of the Kingdom of God must slough off apocalypticism if it is to become the religious property of the modern world. Those who hold it must cease to put their hope in salvation by catastrophe and learn to recognize and apply the law of development in human life. They must outgrow the diabolism and demonism with which Judaism was infected in Persia and face the stern facts of racial sin. They must break with the artificial schemes and determinism of an unhistorical age and use modern resources to understand the way God works out retribution and salvation in human affairs.[3] This conception of the kingdom of God as a social order in the present world—and in connection with this conception the denial of the final and personal and visible coming of the Lord Jesus Christ on the clouds of heaven—is certainly in conflict with Holy Writ in many places (Matt. 24:30; Acts 1:11; Acts 3:20–21; 1 Cor. 15:24; 1 Thess. 2:19; 1 Thess. 3:13; 1 Thess. 4:15–17; Heb. 9:28; Rev. 1:7; Rev. 19:11–21). The Manner of Christ’s Coming In close connection with the personal visible return of Christ is the plain revelation of scripture that the coming of the Lord will certainly not be gradual, but will be sudden and unexpected. Even though scripture speaks of the signs of Christ’s coming, these signs are never of such a nature that we can predict the hour and the day of the coming of the Lord: But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh (Matt. 24:37–39, 44; cf. Matt. 25:1–13; 1 Thess. 5:2–3; Rev. 16:15). There is a difference of opinion about whether the coming of the Lord will be accompanied by both the saints who died before his second advent and the angels. It seems evident from scripture that this will indeed be the case: And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other (Matt. 24:31). For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works (Matt. 16:27; cf. 1 Thess. 3:13; Rev. 14:16–20). That the saints who died before the coming of the Lord will accompany him is clearly indicated in Revelation 19:11–14: And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. That the saints will accompany Christ is also suggested by the reign of the saints with Christ in glory during this entire dispensation (Rev. 20). The Purpose of Christ’s Coming As to the purpose of the coming of Christ on the clouds of heaven, first, he will come to raise all the dead in order that they may appear before him in judgment. Both the righteous and the wicked will be raised: Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation (John 5:28–29). Second, in close connection with the preceding, Christ will come in order to pass judgment upon all and to reward everyone according as his work shall be: For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad (2 Cor. 5:10). And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be (Rev. 22:12). Third, the purpose of this final coming of the Lord is to make all things new, to redeem the creature from the bondage of corruption, and to cause it to participate in the glorious liberty of the children of God: For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God (Rom. 8:19–21; cf. Eph. 1:10; 2 Pet. 3:10–13). Fourth, the purpose of Christ’s final coming is to gather all the elect into the glory of the eternal inheritance, where the tabernacle of God will be with men, and to cast the devil and his angels and all the wicked into everlasting desolation (Rev. 21:1–4, 27; Rev. 20:15). HERMAN HOEKSEMA Reformed Dogmatics, Chap. 45, 2 vols., vol. 2, pp. 570-681 Next: Chapter 46: The Resurrection of the Dead Part 1 of 2 • The General Resurrection and the Resurrection of Believers • The Word Resurrection in the Scripture • Faith and the Resurrection • The Nature of the Final Resurrection
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Apr 29, 2024 18:24:58 GMT -5
REFORMED DOGMATICS The sixth Locus: Eschatology Chapter 46 – The Resurrection of the Dead (1/2) ● The General Resurrection and the Resurrection of Believers ● The Word Resurrection in Scripture ● Faith and the Resurrection ● The Nature of the Final Resurrection _________________________ The General Resurrection and the Resurrection of Believers When we speak of the resurrection of the dead, we must bear in mind that a distinction must be made between the general resurrection and the resurrection of the believers. There is indeed a resurrection of the dead unto death, as is evident from John 5:28–29. Of this general resurrection the Belgic Confession speaks: And then all men will personally appear before this great Judge, both men and women and children, that have been from the beginning of the world to the end thereof, being summoned by the voice of the archangel and by the sound of the trumpet of God. For all the dead shall be raised out of the earth, and their souls joined and united with their proper bodies in which they formerly lived.[1] The wicked, as well as the righteous, will be raised from the dust of the earth, but only to receive the body of corruption that is adapted to be cast into the pool of fire (Rev. 20:13–15). The bodies of the wicked will indeed be changed. As the bodies of believers will be adapted to heavenly glory, so the bodies of the wicked will be adapted to eternal desolation. The Word Resurrection in Scripture Scripture speaks of the resurrection of the dead in more than one sense. It speaks of a spiritual resurrection through regeneration and effectual calling: For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live (John 5:21–25). Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light (Eph. 5:14). Scripture mentions a resurrection immediately after death when the soul of the believer enters into the glory of paradise in the house of many mansions (John 14:1–4; Rev. 20:4, 6). Scripture also speaks of the resurrection of the body, together with the change of the then-living believers, which will occur at the coming of the Lord (1 Thess. 4:15–17). These various forms of the resurrection imply deliverance from the power of death and an entrance into life through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the final sense, the resurrection of the dead is the wonder of grace whereby the God of our salvation calls our mortal bodies out of the dust of death through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, in order to make them like unto the glorious body of our risen Lord (Rom. 8:11). Faith and the Resurrection The faith that God quickens the dead must not be confused with a general philosophy about immortality or with the universalist’s notion of a general restitution or restoration (ἀποκατ στασς), but is definitely and particularly Christian. The Christian believes the glorious resurrection and looks forward to it as the object of his sure hope only because he believes in Christ crucified and raised. The two are inseparable. Only through the resurrection of Christ do we know by faith that there is a resurrection of the dead. Only because by faith we are united with Christ can we be assured that we personally will have a part in the resurrection unto eternal life. Apart from Christ and his resurrection, it is impossible to know anything about this mystery. Hence the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 bases his argument concerning the resurrection of the dead on the fact of the resurrection of Christ; the one is inseparably linked with the other. To deny the one implies the denial of the other: Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins (vv. 12–17). The apostle argues from the position of some in the church of Corinth that there is no resurrection of the dead and exposes the dire consequences of such a position: They who deny the resurrection of the dead deny by implication the resurrection of Christ. This is not to be understood as an argumentation from the general to the particular, as if the apostle merely meant to say, “You say that the dead rise not. Christ was dead; therefore, Christ did not rise.” The Corinthians had not drawn the conclusion that Christ had not risen; but from their proposition, “The dead rise not,” it is evident that they had excluded Christ. The apostle wants to make them see the impossibility of their position. For this reason he argues from the effect—the resurrection of the dead—to its cause—the resurrection of Christ. The underlying idea is that the resurrection of Christ and the resurrection of the dead are inseparably connected as cause and effect. The cause must produce the effect. It follows that if the alleged effect—the resurrection of the dead—is not true, then also the cause—the resurrection of Christ—must be denied. If Christ is raised, his resurrection must surely have the fruit of the resurrection of the dead. Hence if the dead rise not, Christ is not raised. His resurrection is in principle the resurrection of the dead for all who are his. His is the sole resurrection: outside of his resurrection there is no resurrection at all, for he is the head of the body, the church, both in the forensic and in the organic sense. When he was raised from the dead, all the members of his body were raised. By his resurrection and exaltation he received the power to impart his resurrection life to all those whom the Father had given him. When he draws them unto himself by faith and unites them with himself, they receive a share in his resurrection life. This resurrection shall be perfected when he shall call forth his own from the grave and make their mortal bodies like unto his most glorious body. This same truth may also be expressed from a different viewpoint. That God quickens the dead (Rom. 4:17) is a truth that can be apprehended only by the Christian faith. No human philosophy can ever discover or embrace this truth, because the truth that God quickens the dead is evident only from the resurrection of Christ. That God is able to raise the dead is self-evident: “Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead?” (Acts 26:8). That he is not only able, but also willing to raise the dead, that this resurrection actually belongs to God’s eternal purpose, and that he actually does quicken the dead, has been revealed and can be known only through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The Nature of the Final Resurrection The question then becomes, What does scripture reveal to us concerning the mystery of the resurrection of the dead? Scripture reveals that the dead rise and that their resurrection concerns their very person and their whole nature, body and soul. The Apostles’ Creed mentions only the resurrection of the body, the resurrection of the flesh.[2] It is good that we maintain this terminology. That the body will be quickened in the resurrection is the plain teaching of scripture. It was evident from the empty tomb and the place where Jesus had lain in the sepulchre of Joseph that the body of our Lord had been quickened. The apostle writes in Romans 8:11: “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” In 1 Corinthians 15:35–54, the apostle asks and answers the question, “How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?” (v. 35). And Philippians 3:21 teaches that the Savior “shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.” The word of God often speaks of the resurrection of the dead. In that resurrection the body will be quickened, to be sure, but the resurrection concerns our whole existence, according to both body and soul. Just as Christ was raised, so also the believers will be raised with him in glory. Just as in death the believer dies and his body is laid in the grave, while his soul is unclothed and in its bodiless state enters into the house of God in heaven, so in the resurrection the same believer is raised from the state of death. His body is quickened, and his soul is clothed with the resurrection body. The final resurrection is a glorification of the whole nature, a glorification that will enable the saints to inherit the kingdom of God in the new heavens and upon the new earth. For “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 15:50), and the unclothed soul apart from the body cannot enter into the final and perfect inheritance of that kingdom. This must wait until the resurrection of the dead when death is swallowed up in victory (v. 54). We may ask the question, as some do, “How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?” (v. 35). The answer is that essentially the same body that was buried will be raised from the dead. This is very plainly taught in scripture. The resurrection is not a new creation. This is evident from the resurrection body of our Lord Jesus Christ. That in his case no new body was created is evident from the vacated grave and from the fact that he could show his disciples the marks of his suffering in his hands, feet, and side (John 20:20, 27). His body was indeed completely changed and glorified, but it was nevertheless essentially the same body in which he sojourned on the earth in the days of his flesh and in which he was crucified and stored away in Joseph’s tomb. This is corroborated by the teaching of all scripture, especially 1 Corinthians 15:42–44: So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. In this passage the identity of the body that is buried and the body that is raised is plainly taught. The subject remains the same. The body that is sown is also raised. The figure of sowing is based on the same idea. When one sows wheat, he expects to harvest wheat. This is indeed a profound mystery, and we will never be able to understand it from any natural causes or processes: it is a wonder of grace. It belongs to those things that lie beyond the scope of our comprehension: “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him” (1 Cor. 2:9). When we consider what becomes of our bodies in physical death—how they literally return to the dust whence they were taken, so that even their very substances become part of other bodies, and if we contemplate how many bodies of believers were never buried, but were drowned in the depths of the sea, cut to pieces, or burned at the stake and their ashes blown to the four winds of heaven—the resurrection becomes utterly inconceivable to us. It would seem easier, perhaps, to think of the resurrection as a new creation. Yet God will bring again all those bodies and unite them with their proper souls. He is the one who calls the things that are not as if they were and quickens the dead. He is God, and he becomes known as God exactly in performing wondrous things. Always his way is in the sea. The things that are impossible with man are possible with him. He who raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken our mortal bodies by his Spirit who dwells in us (Rom. 8:11). Essentially, then, the body that is raised is the same as the body that was buried. This raises the question, What belongs to the essence of a human body? We indeed say that the body of the resurrection will be essentially the same as the present body, but for the rest it will nevertheless be wholly different from the body of the flesh. This is also very plain from Holy Writ. Hence the question, What belongs to the essence of a resurrected human body? To this question we may suggest a fivefold answer. HERMAN HOEKSEMA Reformed Dogmatics, 2 vols. vol.2, 581-587 Next: Chapter 46 – The Resurrection of the Dead Part 2 of 2 • The Resurrection Body: A Material Body • The Resurrection Body: A Human Body • The Resurrection Body: An Individual Body • The Resurrection Body: A Glorified Body • The Resurrection Body: A Spiritual Body
|
|
|
Post by Admin on May 1, 2024 13:58:18 GMT -5
REFORMED DOGMATICS Herman Hoeksema THE SIXTH LOCUS – THE FINAL JUDGMENT Chapter 47 – The Final Judgment PART 1 OF 3 • The Final Judgment Defined • The Final Judgment in the Old Testament • The Final Judgment in the New Testament • The Nature of the Final Judgment _________________________ The Final Judgment Defined By the final judgment we understand the wonderwork of the triune God in Christ whereby he manifests all rational, moral creatures in connection with the works performed by them in time, in the light of his holy law and before the consciousness of the entire rational, moral world, judges them, and expresses the verdict which forever determines their future state. The final judgment is the perfect theodicy. The Final Judgment in the Old Testament Scripture throughout speaks of such a judgment at the end of the world. This judgment must serve in principle as a revelation of God’s justice, as it is maintained in the everlasting state of the righteous and of the wicked. Say among the heathen that the LORD reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously. Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof. Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before the LORD: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth (Ps. 96:10–13; cf. Ps. 98:7–9). All the prophets speak of the day of the Lord, when the Lord will deliver his people and judge the nations righteously: Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision (Joel 3:12–14). The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung (Zeph. 1:14–17). For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch (Mal. 4:1). The Final Judgment in the New Testament In the New Testament the idea of this final judgment and of the day of the Lord is more clearly defined. It is a day of judgment that is connected with the coming of the Son of man: For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works (Matt. 16:27). The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear (Matt. 13:41–43). When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:31–34, 41). For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man (John 5:22, 27). His judgment is just, for as he hears, so he judges; he does not seek his own will, but the will of him who sent him (v. 30). The apostle Paul speaks of “the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his deeds” (Rom. 2:5–6), and of “the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel” (v. 16). “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10). Paul charges Timothy to preach the word “before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom” (2 Tim. 4:1–2). The epistle of James exhorts believers to be patient, “for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh,” and “the judge standeth before the door” (James 5:8–9). “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished” (2 Pet. 2:9). When God’s love is made perfect in us, “we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17). To the seer on Patmos was given a vision of this final judgment: And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:11–15). The last chapter of Revelation solemnly emphasizes the Lord’s coming to judge both the quick and the dead: “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be” (Rev. 22:12). The Belgic Confession connects this final judgment with Christ and his coming: Finally, we believe, according to the Word of God, when the time appointed by the Lord (which is unknown to all creatures) is come, and the number of the elect complete, that our Lord Jesus Christ will come from heaven, corporally and visibly, as he ascended with great glory and majesty, to declare himself Judge of the quick and the dead, burning this old world with fire and flame to cleanse it. And then all men will personally appear before this great Judge, both men and women and children, that have been from the beginning of the world to the end thereof, being summoned by the voice of the archangel, and by the sound of the trumpet of God.[1] The Nature of the Final Judgment What is the idea of this final judgment? Various notions have been propounded in answer to this question. That the course and history of this world would be finally closed by a judgment of God was taught in the church from the very beginning of the new dispensation. But different conceptions were formed of this revelation of the righteous judgment of God. Already in the Middle Ages there was the notion that the judgment will take place only in the consciousness of those who will be judged, that is, all the moral creatures: the final judgment will be wholly subjective. Others offered an objective description of the scene of the final judgment and expressed the idea that God’s people, especially the monks, would actively participate in the judgment. Still others insisted that there would be no universal and public judgment at the close of the world’s history. The only judgment that would ever take place is the one to which every man will be subjected immediately after death: it is appointed for man once to die and after that the judgment (Heb. 9:27). At the time of the Reformation, as is evident from the confessions, the idea of the final judgment was developed more clearly. The judgment was inseparably connected with the second coming of the Lord. Christ will be the judge. All men, the righteous and the wicked, will appear before his judgment seat, and they will be judged according to their works. The books that will be opened are the consciences of men. The Westminster Confession speaks as follows: God hath appointed a day wherein he will judge the world in righteousness by Jesus Christ, to whom all power and judgment is given of the Father. In which day, not only the apostate angels shall be judged, but likewise all persons, that have lived upon earth, shall appear before the tribunal of Christ, to give an account of their thoughts, words, and deeds; and to receive according to what they have done in the body, whether good or evil.[2] The purpose of this final judgment, according to the Westminster Confession, is the theodicy: The end of God’s appointing this day, is for the manifestation of the glory of his mercy in the eternal salvation of the elect; and of his justice in the damnation of the reprobate, who are wicked and disobedient. For then shall the righteous go into everlasting life, and receive that fullness of joy and refreshing which shall come from the presence of the Lord: but the wicked, who know not God, and obey not the gospel of Jesus Christ, shall be cast into eternal torments, and be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.[3] ________________________ [1]. Belgic Confession 37, in CC, 3:433–34. [2]. Westminster Confession of Faith 33.1, in CC, 3:671–72. [3]. Westminster Confession of Faith 33.2, in CC, 3:672. –HERMAN HOEKSEMA Reformed Dogmatics, 2 vols., vol. 2, pp. 596-601 Next: Chapter 47: The Final Judgment PART 2 OF 3 • Denials of a Final Judgment • God’s Judgment in History • God’s Judgment in the Conscience and after Death • The Last Judgment
|
|
|
Post by Admin on May 3, 2024 15:56:06 GMT -5
REFORMED DOGMATICS Herman Hoeksema THE SIXTH LOCUS – THE FINAL JUDGMENT Chapter 47 – The Final Judgment Part 3 of 3 1) Christ the Judge 2) Final Judgment through the Spirit 3) Universal Judgment 4) The Judgment of Satan and Antichrist 5) Judgment according to Works ____________________ Christ the Judge In this final judgment Christ will appear as judge: For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him. For as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of Man (John 5:21–23, 26–27). For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad (2 Cor. 5:10). That Christ will appear as judge means that the Son of God will appear in his glorified human nature as the visible representative of the invisible God. He will appear in such a way that all the moral world will recognize him as the revelation of the Lord of all and will receive his judgment as the revelation of the righteous judgment of God. Exactly because this final judgment must be the revelation of the righteous judgment of God, because God himself is the invisible one, and because Christ is the image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15), his highest revelation, Christ will appear as the representative of God as judge in the visible world. Every knee shall bow before him, and every tongue shall confess that Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:10–11). All things will be naked and open before him, whose eyes are like a flame of fire, whose feet are like burnished brass, and out of whose mouth proceeds a sharp two-edged sword (Heb. 4:13; Rev. 1:14–16). It is quite proper that the judgment of the whole world will be delivered to Christ. It is proper because he has been appointed the high priest and head over the whole house of God. Of that house he is the builder. That house was manifested in its mixed and imperfect state in this world. From that house judgment must begin (1 Pet. 4:17). The head and builder of that house of God's everlasting covenant is also its proper judge. He will cast out from it all who do and love iniquity and all the ungodly and hypocrites, and will gather his own into the everlasting tabernacle of God with men. Not only this, but he also accomplished the judgment of the world when he sojourned among us in the likeness of sinful flesh. He was the perfect servant of the Lord, whose meat it was to do the will of the Father. The world judged him, rejected him, and killed him; but he committed his cause to God, even to the end, and announced to the entire world that their judgment of him was the condemnation of the powers of darkness. How proper, then, that in the day of the revelation of the righteous judgment of God, this servant of Jehovah will appear as the judge of all, representing the Father in glory, even as he was the faithful witness in the day of his deep humiliation. Final Judgment through the Spirit Moreover, the final judgment will take place through the Spirit of Christ. This follows from the fact that all the works of God are of the Father, through the Son, and in or by the Spirit. If Christ is to accomplish the judgment as the visible representative of the invisible God, the Spirit of Christ must bind the verdict undeniably upon the consciences of men. This the scriptures teach plainly. Even now the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, has come, whom Christ promised to send after his departure: And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged" (John 16:8–11). By the word and in the Spirit of Christ, the world is even now judged, either unto life or unto death, unto salvation or damnation. So it will be also in the day of the revelation of God's righteous judgment, which will bring the history of this present world to a close. Universal Judgment Those who will appear before this judge in the final revelation of the righteous judgment of God will be all moral creatures—angels and men, righteous and wicked, small and great. This universal judgment is often denied. Under Pelagian influence, which is always individualistic, it is claimed that only those can be brought into judgment who have been in contact with the gospel and who have had the opportunity to accept or reject Christ. All the others, heathen and small children, must be excluded. This view is individualistic. Scripture always proceeds from the organic idea. The world is to be judged. The sin of the world, not of a few individuals, has been revealed through the crucifixion of the Son of God. Besides, this view is based on the erroneous supposition that one can be brought into judgment and condemned only because of his rejection of the Christ. Rather, Christ teaches, "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil" (John 3:19). Therefore, "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God" (v. 18). This can only mean that through the coming of the Son of God into the world and his rejection by men, the sin of the world is clearly manifested as sin, although even apart from the coming of Christ, the whole world lies in sin and under condemnation in the first Adam. In the light of Holy Writ, it also cannot be maintained that only the ungodly will be brought into judgment, as is the contention of others. This would be correct if the purpose of the final judgment were only the condemnation of the wicked. But this is not the case. The chief purpose of this closing judgment will be the theodicy, the justification of God as the righteous judge of heaven and earth. This will be revealed not only in the condemnation of the ungodly, but also in the public justification of the righteous in Christ. It is the plain teaching of the word of God that all moral creatures—men and angels, righteous and wicked—shall be brought into judgment. It concerns angels, both good and bad; for also the good angels must be publicly justified, and the fallen angels still await their final judgment and punishment. The apostle writes to the church of Corinth, "Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?" (1 Cor. 6:3). The angels who sinned were "delivered . . . into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment" (2 Pet. 2:4). "And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day" (Jude, v. 6). The final judgment will also summon all nations before the judgment seat of Christ, and there they will at once be separated into the righteous and the wicked, according to the plain teaching of Matthew 25:31–46. That the people of God are not excluded from this last judgment is definitely taught in the following passages: For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad (2 Cor. 5:10). But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ (Rom. 14:10). The Judgment of Satan and Antichrist In connection with the final, universal judgment, the question is worthy of consideration whether the person of Satan and the persons of antichrist and of the false prophet are to be excluded from this general appearance before the tribunal of Christ, that is, whether their iniquity will not be so great and their worthiness of damnation so evident that they will be cast into hell without any formal process of judgment. It is striking that we read in Revelation 19:20: And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. Also in Revelation 20:10, before the vision of the final judgment, we read: "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever." Judgment according to Works As to the judgment itself, scripture teaches that it shall be according to the works of those who are judged. The Lord comes quickly, and his reward will be with him, "to give every man according as his work shall be" (Rev. 22:12). When we appear before the judgment seat of Christ, it will be in order "that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or evil" (2 Cor. 5:10). For there is no respect of persons with God. For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified (Rom. 2:11–13). These works according to which every man shall be judged include not only the outward deeds, but also the inner thoughts, desires, purposes, and motives. We will be made manifest, that is, we will be turned inside out, and our works will be evaluated in the light of God's perfect law. The secrets of men will be exposed in their true value. Nothing will be hid. Our personal works, in connection with our talents and powers, with our position in the world, with the age in which we lived, and with our circumstances and means, and with our relation to the light of revelation we possessed, will then be manifest in their proper meaning and ethical worth. It will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for Capernaum, Chorazin, and Bethsaida in that day (Matt. 11:20–24). There is nothing hid that will not be made public in the day of the Lord (Matt. 10:26; Mark 4:22; Luke 8:17; Luke 12:2). This universal and complete exposure or manifestation of all men's works does not exclude the sins of the people of God. Scripture is far too explicit on this point to leave any room for doubt. It is exactly concerning believers that the apostle writes in 2 Corinthians 5:10 that they must all be made manifest before the judgment seat of Christ. In fact, we may well accept that in that day the people of God will see their sins as they never saw them before. But it must never be forgotten that in the day of judgment, Christ and our belonging to him will be our only and perfect comfort.[5] The Heidelberg Catechism declares that the believer looks for that day "with uplifted head," because he looks "for the self-same One who has before offered himself" for his sake and has removed from him all curse to come as judge from heaven.[6] "Therefore we expect that great day with a most ardent desire, to the end that we may fully enjoy the promises of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen."[7] Indeed, the sins of the people of God will be exposed, but only in the light of the everlasting love of God wherewith he loved them in Christ. They will see their sins, will see them as never before, but only to adore more fully the perfect righteousness of God in Christ whereby they are justified forever. They will see their sins, but only as blotted out in the blood of the Lamb. Because of Christ and their living part with him, they will have no fear in the day of judgment. Even with respect to their own sins, they will be of God's party in that day and will take his side in the condemnation of all iniquity, even of their own, and cling only to Christ in the perfect consciousness of faith and adore forever the wondrous grace whereby they have been redeemed from so great a darkness of death and have become worthy of eternal life and glory. The end of it all will be the perfect theodicy, the justification of God in all his work. All will acknowledge that God is good. The damned in hell will forever have to confess that their damnation is just. But the saved in glory will everlastingly behold themselves in Christ and boast in God's wondrous grace alone. _________________________ [5]. Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 1, in CC, 3:307–8. [6]. Heidelberg Catechism A 52, in CC, 3:324. [7]. Belgic Confession 37, in CC, 3:436. – Herman Hoeksema Reformed Dogmatics, 2vols. vol.2, pp.608-616 Next: The Future Age, Vol. 2, Chapter 48, Part 1 of 2 1) The Cosmic Nature of the Future Age 2) The End of the Present Cosmos 3) The Final State of the Wicked: Eternal Punishment in Hell Part 2 of 2 4) The Final State of the Righteous: Eternal Life in Heaven 5) The Scriptural Idea of Life 6) The Nature of Eternal Life
|
|
|
Post by Admin on May 4, 2024 19:42:14 GMT -5
Rod Bongat 3h · REFORMED DOGMATICS Herman Hoeksema THE SIXTH LOCUS – ESCHATOLOGY Chapter 48 – The Future Age Part 1 of 2 ● The Cosmic Nature of the Future Age ● The End of the Present Cosmos ● The Final State of the Wicked: Eternal Punishment in Hell _________________________ The Cosmic Nature of the Future Age From scripture it is abundantly evident that the whole cosmos will partake of the glorious liberty of the children of God, in the restitution of all things (ἀποκατ στασις παντ ν), in the final regeneration in eternal glory. This is clearly taught in Romans 8:19–22: For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. The “creature” that with uplifted head expects the revelation of the glorious liberty of the children of God and looks for redemption from the bondage of corruption certainly refers to the brute creation. That believers, the children of God, cannot be meant in this passage is evident from its contrast with verse 23, which speaks of God’s people: “Not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.” The “creature” also cannot refer to the rational creature that is evil, whether that be the devil and his host or wicked men, for they do not hope for the final deliverance. Nor can the “creature” refer to the good angels, because they are not subject to the bondage of corruption. Rather, this passage certainly speaks of the entire creation, apart from the rational, moral creatures, men and angels. This whole creation will partake of the glorious liberty of the children of God. This truth is also evident from Ephesians 1:10: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth. “All things” in this text is further interpreted by “which are in heaven, and which are on earth,” that is, the whole creation, not only the rational creature. This is further evident from Revelation 21:5: “Behold, I make all things new.” The same impression we receive from passages out of the Old Testament: The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea (Isa. 11:6–9). There is symbolic language in this passage, but without any doubt the meaning is that the brute creation will partake of the glory of the eternal kingdom. The idea of a new creation is expressed literally in the following passages from the prophet Isaiah: For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind (Isa. 65:17). For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain (Isa. 66:22). In the New Testament the same cosmic idea is also expressed. Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness (2 Pet. 3:13). And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband (Rev. 21:1–2). There can be no doubt, therefore, that the scriptures reveal very clearly that not only the church, but also the whole cosmos will enter into the glory of the eternal inheritance. The End of the Present Cosmos The question may be asked, What will be the end of the present cosmos? The answer of scripture is that it will not be annihilated, but that its form will pass away. From Revelation 6:14 we receive the impression that the very firmament in which the heavenly bodies pursue their course will be taken away, for “the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together.” That which separates the heavenly bodies from one another will be removed. The result will be the origination of a world fire in which the very elements will melt (2 Pet. 3:12). From that burning and melting mass, in which the form of the present world will pass away, the Lord will cause a new cosmos—the new heavens and the new earth—to appear. The old body of the physical, present world will perish, just as the old body of believers will perish in the earth; but out of that old body, the Lord will create new heavens and a new earth in heavenly glory. We must beware that we do not form an earthly conception of this new and heavenly kingdom. The new heavens and the new earth will not be like unto the original creation and the earthly paradise, which was only an image of the things to come. The heavenly Jerusalem will indeed be on the new earth, and that new earth the righteous will inherit: “For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth” (Ps. 37:9): “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth” (Matt. 5:5). However, the relation between the heaven and the earth will be such that in the most literal sense, heavenly conditions and heavenly relationships will exist on the new earth, and there will be an immediate relation between the new earth and the new heaven above. In other words, the new creation will not be earthly but heavenly, in which all things will be adapted to the glorious body of the resurrection. The Final State of the Wicked: Eternal Punishment in Hell Finally, a word must be said about the eternal state of the rational, moral creatures, both of the wicked and of the righteous. As to the wicked, scripture teaches very plainly that their end will be everlasting desolation in hell. Hell is the place of eternal punishment, where everlasting suffering will be experienced according to body and soul as the just vengeance upon sin which is committed against the most high majesty of God. Many oppose the truth of eternal punishment. Some simply maintain that the punishment of sin in time is sufficient: hell is in the present world, and the grave is the end of the wicked. Others claim that somehow in the end all men will be saved; there will be punishment after death, but this will come to an end. Ultimately, God will deliver all. Many teach that there will be a second probation after death, another chance, which will result either in the salvation of all men or in the salvation of most of them, while after this second probation, the stubbornly wicked will be annihilated. All of these objections have in common a denial of the truth of unending punishment in hell. The objectors argue that sin is both temporal and finite, and that it would be gross injustice to inflict eternal punishment upon sin committed by the finite creature in time. They also deny that scripture teaches an eternal suffering in hell as punishment for sin. Agents of the Seventh Day Adventists and of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, followers of Russell and Rutherford, go about teaching and preaching that there is no hell, that hell in scripture means the grave—Sheol or Hades—and that when the Bible speaks of eternal punishment, the word eternal signifies an age, a long period. Against these arguments we remark that sin and guilt cannot be measured by the standard of the creature, but sin must be evaluated in the light of the infinite majesty of God, against whom the sin is committed. Utterly false is the argument that sin is committed by a finite creature in time and that, therefore, justice cannot inflict eternal punishment upon a sinner. The guilt of sin is measured by the infinite majesty of God against whom the sin is committed. With respect to the argument that the words often translated “hell” in the King James Version do not mean the place of eternal torture, we begin by admitting that there is an element of truth in this argument. The words ְא ל] (Sheol) and ιδης (Hades) often can be better translated by grave or by the state of the dead, rather than by hell. But this does not give one the right to assert that the Bible does not speak of hell as the place of punishment. Let it be noted that there is also the word γ εννα (Gehenna), which always denotes the place of eternal desolation, and which surely must be translated by hell. γ εννα (Gehenna) is derived from the Hebrew ַי הִ ם (the valley of Hinnom), which in the old dispensation was situated to the southwest of Jerusalem. In this valley the children of Israel committed the sin of sacrificing to Molech, which idolatry was characterized by the crime of human sacrifice. Later we read that the pious King Josiah, who was instrumental in leading the people back to the God of the covenant, caused everything in this valley to be burned (2 Kings 23:10). According to the prophecy of the old dispensation, the valley of Hinnom became the place of punishment, the place where Jehovah poured out the vials of his wrath over the ungodly (2 Kings 23:10; 2 Chron. 28:3; 2 Chron. 33:6; Jer. 7:31–33). Thus this valley of fire became an image of the eternal place of desolation. Hence the Greek γ εννα (Gehenna) is derived from the Hebrew ַי הִ ם (the valley of Hinnom). Of Gehenna the New Testament speaks more than once: I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that they whole body should be cast into hell (Matt. 5:22, 29–30). In these three verses, not the word Hades, but the word Gehenna is used. The word Gehenna occurs again in Matthew: And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell (Matt. 10:28). And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire (Matt. 18:9). The Lord accuses the hypocritical scribes and Pharisees of making their proselytes twofold more the children of hell (Gehenna) than themselves (Matt. 23:15); and Jesus threatens them, “Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell [Gehenna]?” (v. 33). Especially decisive against the denial of the truth of an eternal hell is Mark 9:43–48: And if thy hand offend thee, cut if off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell [Gehenna], into the fire that never shall be quenched: where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell [Gehenna], into the fire that never shall be quenched: where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. Moreover, even though the words Sheol and Hades often refer to the state of the dead, this is not always the case. Of the rich man we read: And in hell [Hades] he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame (Luke 16:23–24). That this statement occurs in a parable does not make the slightest difference, for it is exactly the purpose of the parable to teach that while the righteous are blessed, the wicked are tormented after this life. We note also Revelation 14:9–11: If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Against the statement that whenever scripture speaks of everlasting punishment it means a long period of time can be quoted as quite sufficient what the Lord states in Matthew 25:46: “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.” The point here is that in the original the same word (αἰ νιον) is used for “everlasting” and “eternal.” If in the first instance “everlasting punishment” signifies a long period, “eternal life” in the second instance cannot signify anything other than a long period. We know that eternal life in scripture means life everlasting. It follows, then, that “everlasting punishment” in Matthew 25:46 signifies punishment without end. The question where this place of punishment may be cannot be answered. Scripture gives no definite indication, although it certainly suggests that the place of hell is far removed from the fellowship of the new creation. The place of hell is “outer darkness” (Matt. 8:12); it is in “the deep” (Luke 8:31); it is “without,” in distinction from within (Rev. 22:15). No more than we may interpret in the earthly sense the terms the golden streets and the pearly gates that scripture uses to speak of the new Jerusalem, may we understand the terms fire, sulphur, worm, and smoke in the literal and earthly sense. To be sure, however, these terms indicate an existence in unspeakable suffering of both body and soul. – Herman Hoeksema
|
|
|
Post by Admin on May 5, 2024 19:17:02 GMT -5
REFORMED DOGMATICS Herman Hoeksema THE SIXTH LOCUS – ESCHATOLOGY Chapter 48 – The Future Age Part 2 of 2 ● The Final State of the Righteous: Eternal Life in Heaven ● The Scriptural Idea of Life ● The Nature of Eternal Life _________________________ The Final State of the Righteous: Eternal Life in Heaven In contrast to the state of eternal desolation, the Bible pictures the state of the righteous as one of everlasting life and glory, which is the very opposite of eternal punishment. In the context of his teaching regarding the sheep and the goats, of the wicked Jesus says, “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal” (Matt. 25:46). The eternal reward is for those who have forsaken all for Christ’s sake, for they shall “receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting” (Luke 18:30). The state of life everlasting is attained through the death of the Son of God, for “as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:14–15). In bestowing this gift of eternal life upon his people through the death of his Son, God reveals his love to the world: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (v. 16). This eternal life is a present reality as well as a future state: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (v. 36). Eternal life is the blessing the good Shepherd bestows upon the sheep that the Father gave him: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (John 10:27–28). The essential and intrinsic nature of eternal life is the true knowledge of God in Christ: “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). Eternal life is the fruit of grace, for “as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 5:21). The apostles were direct witnesses of this life, as John testifies: That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us) (1 John 1:1–2). This eternal life is in Christ. In fact, Christ is the life: “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). The apostle John writes: And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life (1 John 5:20). What is eternal life? Life itself is a profound mystery, and we will not attempt to give an adequate definition of it. Worldly philosophy has defined it as “the continuous adjustment of internal relations to external relations.”[1] But on the very face of it, this is certainly not an adequate definition. It does not touch upon the real nature of life, but merely describes it from the viewpoint of its manifestation and activity. It does not even mention God, the fountain and author of life. God is the unknowable for the agnostic philosopher. His knowledge therefore is confined to this world, to the things that are seen and handled. So he defines life neither as a relation of the creature to God, nor from the viewpoint of that relation, but merely as a correspondence between the creature and his environment, between man and the world of his experience. The Scriptural Idea of Life The word of God does not offer a definition of life. The nearest approach to such a definition, particularly of life in its highest form, is John 17:3: Eternal life is to know God in Christ. But we can say something about life without attempting a definition. Life is a principle of free energy, of active force, living in action. To live is to act. Activity is the expression of life. This is true in the deepest sense of God. God, according to scripture, is the living God. Wherever in the Bible God is thus presented, on the foreground appears the idea that he is in himself an active God who reveals himself as such. He is the living God in distinction from idols. Idols are the work of men; they are altogether vanity. They can neither see, nor hear, nor speak. “But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation” (Jer. 10:3–10). At Mount Sinai Israel recognized him as the living God, for they heard his voice and saw that God talked with man (Deut. 5:24). They witnessed how he divided the waters of Jordan before their feet and drove out for them the nations from the land he had promised them. In all this they knew him as the living God (Josh. 3:10). God has life in himself, which surely means that he is infinite energy, pure activity. He never slumbers or sleeps (Ps. 121:4). He is eternally active with his whole being; he hears and sees, wills and knows, and loves and hates. His holiness is not a cold virtue; it is a living flame, a consuming fire (Heb. 12:29). His righteousness is not an attribute that occasionally reveals itself in action; it is an energetic and active power. His mercy is ever fervent. His lovingkindness is forever ardent. All that is in God is eternally and infinitely active. On the basis of scripture we can say still more about life. Life presupposes relationship, harmonious relationship; to live is to act properly and normally in that relationship. Life cannot exist in solitude; always it is some kind of fellowship. This fellowship may be the reaction of any living creature in relation to the world about it; it may be the reciprocal reaction of two living beings upon each other; it may be the living communion between two personal, rational and moral beings; or it may be the harmonious relation, action and reaction, between the living God and the rational creature. Always life is a principle according to which a being or a person reacts and responds harmoniously upon and to another being or person. This is relatively true of the lower creation. Thus we speak of the living plant, because by virtue of an inner energy it constantly adapts itself to and reacts with the soil in which it is rooted, the air it breathes, and the rain and sunshine it absorbs and assimilates. Man’s body reacts upon the world about him. To it he is adapted; with his physical existence he stands in harmonious relationship to the physical world about him. In that relationship he moves and acts. He inhales the air as the breath of his life, assimilates food for his nourishment, and reacts upon the world of his experience through his senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. We speak also of man’s intellectual and volitional life; or his social life, his reaction upon his fellow men in various relationships of life; and of his spiritual life, the reaction of his heart, mind, soul, and all his strength in relation to God. Always life presupposes certain relationships and reveals itself in the normal actions and reactions of the living beings in those relations. In the highest sense this life is in God. God is not alone, nor is he a mere power; rather, he is the personal, triune God. He is one in being and nature, in mind and will, in holiness and righteousness, in knowledge and wisdom, and in all his infinite perfections. All scripture reveals him as three in persons—Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. These divine persons subsist in the one divine being, and they stand in a relation of perfect harmony to one another. The Father generates the Son; the Son is generated by the Father; the Spirit is breathed forth and proceeds from the Father and from the Son. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one in being and nature, yet personally they are distinct. The Father knows and loves the Son in infinite perfection in the Spirit. The Son knows and loves the Father in the Spirit. The Spirit knows and loves the Father through the Son in himself, and he searches the deep things of God. Thus the three persons of the holy Trinity live in eternal harmony and perfect fellowship with one another. There is no separation, no disharmony, no conflict in God. He is a covenant God who lives the life of perfect friendship. Life in the creature and in man is but a reflection of this perfect and infinite life in the triune God. Life is not the same in man as it is in the lower creature, in plant and animal. To be sure, as a living soul man also lives a physical and psychical life. He reacts upon the world around him. He sees and hears, he tastes, touches and smells. He perceives and interprets the world in which he lives. Constantly, he adjusts himself to his environment, and he lives in relation to his fellow men. Yet this is not all. He also lives in a conscious relationship to God, as he was originally created. God formed him out of the dust of the ground, breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and made him an intellectual and volitional creature, a being that was adapted to bear and to reflect the very image of God. With this image of God he was endowed. He was created with perfect knowledge, in order that his mind might react in love upon the revelation of the mind of God; with uprightness of will, in order that in all his volitional life he might be in harmony with the will of God and have his delight in keeping God’s commandment; and with spotless holiness so that all his desires and inclinations were consecrated to the living God. He acted and lived in the midst of the earthly creation in harmony with the triune God. He was made a covenant creature, and he lived a covenant life. To know and love his God with all his heart and mind and soul and strength, to serve him as his friend, and thus to taste that the Lord is good—that was the life of man in his original state of rectitude. The Nature of Eternal Life It is evident from all of this that if life for man, who was created after the image of God, is the fellowship of friendship with the Most High, then eternal life cannot be conceived as an endless extension of our present existence. For our present life is not life, but death. By nature we are alienated from the living God, objects of his wrath and condemnation, enemies of the ever-blessed one. Our mind is darkened so that we are devoid of the true knowledge of God, and we love the lie. Our will is perverse. Our heart is corrupt. Our whole nature is polluted. To speak in terms of the philosopher Spencer, if life is the constant adaptation of man’s inner nature to him who is the only good and the overflowing fountain of all good, then the sinner who stands in opposition and rebellion against God certainly lies in the midst of death. Our present existence is not eternal life, but perpetual death. Eternal life in the scriptural sense also may not be presented as a perpetuation of Adam’s life in the state of righteousness. Adam did indeed have the true life. If he had not sinned, he would have continued in the state of life he enjoyed in paradise. But his life would not have been the same as the higher state of bliss that the Bible calls eternal life, nor would it have been possible for him to attain this most glorious state even though he had never sinned. Eternal life is qualitatively different from all other life, also from the life of Adam in the state of righteousness. Eternal life is life that has its source in and that reaches us from the incarnated Son of God. That incarnation is the central realization of the heavenly tabernacle of God’s eternal covenant because it is the most intimate union between God and man. The Son of God, the second person of the holy Trinity, the express image of God’s substance, is revealed in Christ in human nature and lives with us and in us. This is a profound mystery. But this much is clear from scripture: eternal life is conditioned by and has its source in Christ, the Son of God in human nature. He is the life and the resurrection (John 11:25). He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). In him the life was manifested, and he is the revelation of that eternal life which was with the Father (1 John 1:2). He is the true God and life eternal (1 John 5:20). Eternal life, therefore, is the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ whom God has sent, that is, it is the knowledge of God that we have in and through Jesus Christ (John 17:3). When the Word was made flesh, the first witnesses beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14). As the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, he declared the invisible God whom no one has seen at any time (v. 18). This higher knowledge, this greatest revelation of the living God, the first man Adam did not have, and he could never have attained to it. Eternal life is the knowledge of and fellowship with God that is rooted in the incarnation and is bestowed upon us through the Spirit of the Son of God. It is the real and most intimate fellowship of which the Lord speaks in his sacerdotal prayer: That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me (John 17:21–23). Moreover, eternal life is resurrection life. It is immortality in the true, scriptural sense. It lies on the other side of death. It is victory over death. It may safely be said that except through the deep and dark way of sin and death, this higher goal of bliss that is called eternal life can never be attained. For this very reason, eternal life can only be attained through the death and resurrection of the Son of God. He walked the way of death and through death into the resurrection; he became the revelation of the God of our salvation in all the abundance of his power and might, of his wisdom and knowledge, of his righteousness and holiness, of the riches of his grace and mercy and everlasting, unchangeable love. Eternal life is the resurrection life that is wrought in our hearts by the indwelling Spirit of Christ and that consists in the knowledge and fellowship of God as he is revealed in all the glory of his blessed virtues in the face of Jesus Christ. Eternal life is everlasting. It can never be lost, exactly because it has its root in the incarnation of the Son of God. Now we have a beginning of this eternal life in our hearts; it is only a principle. That beginning of eternal life will be translated into the fullness of joy at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in glory. Then it will advance into the state of spiritual perfection, as well as to the perfection of the resurrection of the body. It will reach its final perfection of glory when all the saints in Christ, all the elect of God, shall have been gathered; our bodies shall have put on incorruption and immortality (1 Cor. 15:53); the new heavens and the new earth shall have been created (2 Pet. 3:13); and the tabernacle of God shall be with men forever (Rev. 21:3). To be sure, that new creation itself will be beautiful and glorious, for all things will be united in Christ their head. Nevertheless, the essence of all the blessedness and glory of that new world will be the perfected fellowship of friendship with the living God in Christ. Everywhere in that new world we shall see Christ, and in him we shall see the Father (John 14:9). We shall see him face to face (1 Cor. 13:12). All our knowledge will then be theology in the highest sense: “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). That will be glory indeed! _________________________ [1]. Herbert Spencer, First Principles, 4th ed. (New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1896), 86. – Herman Hoeksema Reformed Dogmatics, 2vols. vol.2, pp.623-631
|
|