Humanity and Eternity

Heavenly Father,

we know that no eye has seen,

no ear has heard

what you have planned

for those who love you

and yet you've given us

such a rich treasure trove

of information

and just an access to your will

through your word.

We pray that you'd give us

humble hearts to accept

the things that are said in here,

that you just open our eyes

so that we could behold

wondrous things from your word, Lord.

We pray all this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

So like I said,

the topic today is human destiny

and I just thought I'd open

with a very famous quote.

So according to the

Westminster Shorter Catechism,

the first question, in fact,

it begins with,

what is the chief end of man?

And the answer that they give

is that the chief end of man

is to glorify God

and to enjoy him forever.

Now, this speaks of the purpose

for which mankind was created.

And that denotes kind of the importance

of the progress of the study here, right?

So we talked about the synthetic nature

of systematic theology.

We have to talk about creation,

sin, Christ, and redemption

in order to understand our broader topic,

which is the image of God in mankind.

And now we're going to be treating

of glorification

and communion with God.

Now, just a reminder,

our broader thesis has been

that humanity was created

actually in God's image

as God's very image itself.

That is, it pertains to the whole person,

both soul and body.

You know, remember from Genesis 2-7

that Adam was formed from the ground

and then God breathed into him

the breath of life.

That's all-inclusive.

It's holistic.

And that means it includes

every moral, relational, corporate,

spiritual, somatic,

as well as intellectual faculty.

And that we also talked about

last week a bit more

how that means sin

is also totally pervasive.

And it's affected the entire human race.

That we're, as it were, born sinners.

We talked about that a little bit

from Romans 5, 12-21.

Sin entered in and despoiled

the creation's relationship with God.

In fact, you'll recall

Genesis 3-8,

remember God shows up in the garden

walking to find Adam and Eve

and have communion with them

and what did they do?

They hid.

This violated that covenant

that God had created with them

in Genesis 2-16-17.

And that meant that there needed

to be a renewal of this image.

A renewal that only Jesus Christ,

who Colossians 1-15 says

is the image of the invisible God,

only he could affect.

Thus, Christians by the Holy Spirit,

according to Colossians 3-10,

have put on the new self

who is being renewed to a true knowledge

according to the image

of the one who created him.

And that's a pledge that we have

from Christ of restoration

of both body and soul.

In 1 Corinthians 15-49,

it says,

Just as we have borne the image

of the earthy,

we will also bear the image

of the heavenly.

Or Philippians 3, 20-21,

For our citizenship is in heaven,

from which we also eagerly await

for a Savior,

the Lord Jesus Christ,

who will transform the body

of our humble estate

into conformity

with the body of his earthly glory,

by the exertion of the power

that he has even to subject

all things to himself.

Now, this leaves us

with the subject

of the future state of humanity.

And at this point,

our study diverges

between two paths.

You'll recall last week

we quoted Romans 6-23.

It says,

For the wages of sin is death,

but the free gift of God

is eternal life

in Christ Jesus our Lord.

And that's going to form

a broad outline

of our entire study

for this morning.

We're going to,

on the one hand,

talk about death

and what it means

to be dead,

both in every possible

and conceivable category,

theologically speaking.

And then we're going

to be talking about life,

on the other hand,

and what true,

eternal life means.

But, of course,

both of those have to do

with one destiny,

one human destiny,

which is to glorify God.

Romans 11-36

says,

For from him

and through him

and to him

are all things to him

be the glory

forever and ever.

Amen.

The only question is,

how?

And once again,

this takes us back

to the garden.

In Genesis 2-16-17,

that covenant

I mentioned earlier,

it says,

The Lord God

commanded the man,

saying,

From any tree of the garden

you may freely eat,

but from the tree

of the knowledge

of good and evil

you shall not eat,

for in the day

that you eat from it

you will surely die.

And you'll recall

that we talked,

that spoke of Adam

as our representative.

He did eat,

and in fact,

even though it didn't

look like it,

he did die.

And that brings up

the question,

what is death?

Death can be defined,

biblically speaking,

as a separation

of something

that has been

constituted by God

to be held in unity.

And this is written

about going quite a bit

back into church history

by Augustine,

and before him

a church father

named Lactantius.

And they talked about

these different categories

of death.

And this particular category

is spiritual death.

This is a spiritual death

that Adam separates

immediately upon sin.

As a separation

of the soul from God.

Genesis 3.8

said that

they heard the sound

of the Lord God

walking in the garden

in the cool of the day.

And the man and his wife

hid himself

from the presence

of the Lord God

among the trees

of the garden.

That was a break

in the spiritual relationship.

You know,

the word there,

to walk,

that implies actually

more of a presence

and a communion

with God

that was broken

when they hid from him.

as 1 Corinthians 15.22

says,

in Adam

all die.

And note

that that's

not just

a spiritual death,

but that that

has also

affected

a physical death.

The curse

of Genesis 3.19

says,

by the sweat

of your face

you will eat bread

till you return

to the ground

because from it

you were taken.

For you are dust

and to dust

you shall return.

Note that

of course

God should have

killed them

physically,

spiritually,

and as we're going

to see eternally

at that very moment.

This is judicial

language here.

And he had

a legal right

as the supreme judge

to kill them.

However,

he also had

within the right

of the judge

what's called

a temporal judicial

relaxation.

He had the right

to relax the law

to effect

a greater purpose.

Of course,

the law was going

to be fulfilled

and this is pointed

ahead to

by this

animal skin

sacrifice

as we see

in Genesis 3.21

where God kills

the animal

to clothe Adam

and Eve.

And that speaks

of the greater

purpose that God

had in view.

A promised provision

in the seat

of the woman

from Genesis

that he promised

in Genesis 3.15.

As Romans 5.12

said,

however,

death spread

to all men

because all

sinned

in Adam's

one transgression.

And that's

demonstrable

in that litany

of repetition

in Genesis 5

that says

and he died

and he died

and he died

in that genealogy.

That speaks

of the separation

of the body

from the soul.

And that's

most empirically

demonstrable fact.

All human beings

die.

Therefore,

we're all sinners.

By the way,

this eminence

to the body

and the idea

that the body

itself is a part

of the image

of God

that's affected

by sin,

affected by death,

that's why

we give eminence

as Christians

to the human body

after death.

Augustine,

Calvin,

Bavink,

and lately

Al Mohler

actually have all

talked about this.

Al Mohler in particular

in relation

to this idea

of the incineration

of the body

of the king

of Thailand

it was a couple

weeks ago

to free his soul

from his body.

He noted the difference

between that worldview

and the Christian worldview,

noting the peculiarity

of the dignity

given to the human body

after death.

It's still in God's image

and that's why

Christian tradition

has treated the body

with a dignity

after death.

Note also

Ecclesiastes 12.7

it says this,

Then the dust

will return

to the earth

as it was

and the spirit

will return

to the God

who gave it.

And that speaks

more so

of the presence

of the soul

in the afterlife

either in torture

in hell

or life in heaven

which we'll talk about.

But that brings up

the subject

of the intermediary state.

Luke 16.19-31

as well as

1 Corinthians 5.1-8

talk about

the fact

that the soul

continues to exist

in the afterlife

in one of these states

or another.

In fact,

it seems to even bear

some sort of

body-like form

and that gets back

to the idea

of the essential nature

of the body.

You'll recall

in Matthew 17.3

as well as

depictions of the future

in Revelation 6.9-11

that there seem

to be humans

walking around

with some

recognizable

physical form.

We don't exactly

know what that's

going to look like.

It seems to be

a kind of

temporary

provisional body

that's been given

to us

that isn't the same

as our bodies

here on earth.

But after our bodies

have been separated

from our souls

after our death,

it seems as though

we're going to be able

to interact

with the environment

in some sort of

way like this

and that we'll be

in a way

like the angels

and how they're able

to take on

some sort of

corporeal manifestation

that's accidental.

It's only temporary.

Either way,

it's unavoidable

that we're going to

at some point

face death

physically

as well as eternally.

Hebrews 10.21

says,

it is appointed

for men to die once

then comes judgment.

That brings up

that third

and final category

of death

which is eternal death

or it's also known

as the second death

which brings us

straight to the

great white throne judgment.

So turn with me

to Revelation

Revelation 20.

I'm going to be reading

Revelation 20

Revelation 20:11–15

verses 11 to 15.

Then I saw

a great white throne

and him who sat

on it

from his presence

earth and heaven

fled away

and no place

was found for them.

And I saw the dead

the great

and the small

standing before

the throne

and books were open

and another book

was open

which is the book

of life

and the dead

were judged

from the things

which were written

in the books

according to their deeds

and the sea

gave up the dead

which were in it

and death

and Hades

gave up the dead

which were in them

and they were judged

every one of them

according to their deeds.

Then death

and Hades

were thrown

into the lake

of fire.

This is the second death

the lake of fire

and if anyone's name

was not found

written in the book

of life

he was thrown

into the lake

of fire.

Now note here

in this text

which of course

we can't get into

in great detail

but it's speaking

of the resurrection

not only of believers

which is I think

what we generally

think about

but also

non-believers as well

of everyone

everyone in humanity

as a psychosomatic

a unity

made in the image

of God.

That is

when it talks

furthermore

about death

in this passage

it's talking

about the second death

as a great separation

not just of the soul

from God

but of both body

and soul

from God

forever.

1 Thessalonians 1

9 says

these will pay

the penalty

of eternal destruction

away from the presence

of the Lord

and from the glory

of his power.

And there's a

chilling reality here

in the

what's called

damnation

eternal damnation

separation

of body

and soul

from God

it's speaking

of the

continuation

of the image

of God

even in hell

and that's important.

Bruce DeMarist

who's a famous

theologian

today

contemporary

says this

hell represents

sinners ultimate

separation

from the life

of God.

Hell's ultimate

agony

is that

image bearers

should have missed

the lofty purpose

for which they were created.

in fact

it's Francis

Turretin

who has this

chilling quote

they are said

to live forever

that they may

die forever.

It's a living

death

and

in Romans

9 22

in fact

it says

that

in this state

in the ultimate

state here

within God's

destiny and purposes

people are going

to be augmented

and fitted

in their final

bodily forms

as vessels

of wrath

prepared

for destruction.

They're in a way

glorifying God

and receiving wrath

which is a difficult

theological truth

and it's

in fact

a terrifying reality

a fully sensible

experience

both body

and soul

Isaiah 66

24

for their worm

will not die

and their fire

will not be quenched

and they will be

in abhorrence

to all mankind.

In fact

it was Lactantius

who wrote about this

and he says this

quote

because they have

committed sins

with their bodies

they will again

be clothed

with flesh

so that they may

bear the sin

suffering

in their bodies.

That speaks

of a

retributive justice

of direct

equity

between

what people

have committed

in this life

as sins

and

the eternal

punishment

they're going

to be perfectly

fitted to receive

in all eternity.

In fact

it was Augustine

who talked about

the agony

of the soul

and the body

and this eternal

kind of inability

to function

properly

when reunited

it's a disharmony

that they can

never ever

get back

that they'll

always strive for

and never make

progress.

Luke 16

23 says

rich man

in

Hades

it says this

in Hades

he lifted up

his eyes

being in

torment

and saw

Abraham

far away

and Lazarus

in his bosom

and that speaks

of the sight

of the blessedness

of the saints

the idea

that they can

actually possibly

even see

into heaven

see into

the glories

of heaven

that they're

missing out

on

but they'll

have an

eternal

inability

to reach

it

that is to

say in

summary

this eternal

state of the

second death

the eternal death

speaks of

the fact that

we're going to

be resurrected

in body and

soul

those who

are damned

and they're

going to have

the image of

God

fitted perfectly

to receive

not communion

with God

but his wrath

and eternal

separation

from him

forever

now

that was

the first

point

speaking of

the three

states of

death

spiritual

death

physical

death

and then

eternal

death

and so

we're going

to turn

to the

second

point

which provides

much more

of a

contrast

which is

eternal

life

in Christ

eternal

life

in Christ

and that

speaks by

the way

of a

quality

not

necessarily

of duration

John

17

3

says this

this is

eternal

life

that they

may know

you

the only

true

God

and Jesus

Christ

whom you

have sent

or in the

words of

1 Corinthians

15

49

which we

looked at

last week

will be

bearing the

image of

the heavenly

in fact

later on

in that

passage

it says

in verse

52

that in

a moment

in the

twinkling

of an

eye

at the

last

trumpet

the trumpet

will sound

and the

dead

will be

raised

imperishable

and we

will be

changed

so there's

a quality

that's

imparted

there

that is

in that

passage

where it

speaks of

us being

changed

and we're

going to

be changed

into conformity

with Christ

1 John

3

2

we will

be like

him

for we

shall

see him

as he

is

or again

as I

quoted

earlier

Philippians

3

20

to 21

for our

citizenship

is in

heaven

from which

we also

eagerly

await for

a savior

the Lord

Jesus

Christ

who will

transform

the body

of our

humble estate

into conformity

of the body

of his glory

by the exertion

of his power

that he has

even to

subject all

things to

himself

so you know

I think it's

helpful sometimes

to just stop

and ask

why does

the Bible

focus so

much on

the physical

resurrected

body of

Christ

according to

Luke 22

39

he's

speaking to

the disciples

he says

see my

hands and

feet

that it

is I

myself

touch me

and see

for a

spirit does

not have

flesh and

bones

as you

see that

I

have

that is

to say

he's

saying there

that it's

the very

same

body

that he

died

in

when Calvin

speaks of

Christ's

resurrection

as the

pledge of

our coming

resurrection

in this

mirror the

living image

of resurrection

is visible

to us

that is to

say when we

see Jesus

Christ

when he's

walking around

with his

body and

he's saying

I have

those piercings

through my

body

that that's

a vouchsafe

for the

very bodies

that you're

going to

have in

resurrection

and that

you can

have confidence

that as

Job says

that I

will see

God with

my eyes

and not

another

Job 19

27

these are

newly

resurrected

bodies

they're pure

without

corruption

of sin

that's why

the passage

we read

earlier refers

to them as

heavenly

or spiritual

and here

I have to

commend the

work of

Francis

Turids

who I

quoted

earlier

who just

has this

beautifully

beatific

vision

of the

heavenly

state

and I

appreciate

with him

he's very

biblical

in his

approaches

he never

makes a

statement

without

first saying

what's

the biblical

passage

that's going

to furnish

this text

for us

he says

this

all defects

will be removed

from the

bodies to

which they

have been

exposed

in this

mortality

but their

essence

will not

be

good

that is

to say

there's a

renewed

image of

God

a platform

for communication

with God

immediately

in his

presence

forever

and in fact

that speaks

furthermore

to the

idea that

there's a

spiritual

sight that

we'll have

of God

that somehow

will be

transformed

and have

an imparted

ability

to directly

see God

revelation

21

22

to 23

I saw

no temple

in it

that's the

new heavens

and new

earth

for the

Lord

God

the

almighty

and the

lamb

are

its

temple

and the

city

has no

need

of the

sun

or moon

to shine

on it

for the

glory

of God

has

illuminated

it

and the

lamp

is the

lamb

that's a

stunning

passage

and speaking

of the

immediate

what's

called

the

immediate

beatific

vision

of God

that we'll

have

and in

that

passage

church

speaks

later

of its

implications

to

participation

of the

very

divine

nature

of God

himself

writing

this

from this

will afterwards

flow a

perfect

likeness

of the

saints

to God

the

fulfillment

of their

desires

and of

their

perfect

happiness

to which

it

tends

and in

which

is

consecrated

this

is

nothing

else

than

a

certain

fusion

and

emanation

of the

deity

upon

the

souls

of the

saints

communicating

to them

the image

of all

his

perfections

as much

as they

can belong

unto a

creature

wow

but what's

he saying

well

there's

several other

classical theological

categories

so

whereas Adam

was what they

call he was

able not

to sin

yet he did

choose to

sin

and so he

died

afterwards

as sinners

as sinners

we're

not able

not to

sin

so

from our

hearts

being corrupted

in Adam

there is

no good

deed

that we're

able to

do

that can't

result

in sin

even our

righteous deeds

according to

Isaiah

are filthy

garments

before

God's

sight

however

in this

future state

what the

bible is

speaking of

here

with the

illumination

and the

filling of

the glory

of God

and what

Turretin is

speaking of

here

he's talking

about the

fact that

we will

not be

able to

sin

in the

future

and I'm

speaking of

moral necessity

we'll always

be present

with the

direct

revealed

glory

of God

you'll

recall

in fact

that idea

back in

the garden

of God

wanting to

walk

to be

in direct

communion

with Adam

and before

then was

when he

falls

right

so we

see in

fact

in

revelation

a

perfect

restoration

of the

Edenic

state

made

more

permanent

than had

been in

that first

state

again

I know

I've quoted

him a lot

already

but Turretin

says this

the saints

will find

in God

whatever is

necessary

for them

for as

he is

infinite

and the

inexhaustible

fountain

of all

blessings

he also

has

that

with which

he can

satisfy

the

necessities

and desires

of all

the same

one who

illuminates

feeds

heals

protects

enriches

and works

all things

in all

or in the

words of

scripture

itself

revelation

22

1-5

then he

showed me

a river

of the

water

of life

here is

crystal

coming from

the throne

of God

and of

the lamb

in the

middle

of its

street

on either

side of

the river

was the

tree

of life

bearing

12 kinds

of fruit

yielding

its fruit

every month

and the

leaves

of the

tree

were for

the healing

of the

nations

there will

be no

longer

any curse

and the

throne

of God

and of

the lamb

will be

in it

and his

slaves

will serve

him

they will

see his

face

and his

name will

be on

their foreheads

and there

will no

longer

be any

night

and they

will not

have

need of

the light

of the

lamp

nor the

light

of the

sun

because

the

Lord

God

will

illumine

them

and they

will reign

forever

this is to say

this is a real

a very real

platform upon which

we can worship

God forever

into eternity

and note in particular

is another thing

Turretin wants to devote

a lot of time to

Edwards devotes a

considerable amount

of time to

in his writings as well

this isn't just a

static state

I think sometimes

we envision the

heavenly state

because of pop

culture and

whatever other

influences out

there as we're

just kind of

sitting on clouds

strumming harps

forever

you know you'll

see that imagery

Ironic Turretin

says well the

heavenly state is

going to be great

we're going to be

doing a lot of

things like

strumming harps

that's the opposite

of what I think

when I think that

we're doing a lot

of really great

things in heaven

forever and

ever and ever

but his point

was that we're

going to have

culture even in

heaven we're

going to have

development of

life we're

going to have

an exciting

rejuvenated

experience

there's a

dynamic and

eternal growth

in heaven

there's going to

be culture

fellowship

work

and we're

even going to

enjoy food and

drink that

passage that I

just read I

think most

probably that

speaking of the

fact that if

we take that

literally that

speaking of

actual fruit that

we're going to

have on this

tree and that

we're going to

be able to in

some way eat

in a way that

doesn't reflect

corruption which

is a fascinating

concept in fact

you even see

cities here one

of my former

professors talked

about the fact

that creation

begins in the

garden and then

we have this

cultural mandate

from God to

grow and

multiply and

expand and

be stewards of

the earth right

and we look at

the end of

creation we look

at the new

heavens and the

new earth and

it's a city

a city that

is made with

these magnificent

walls and in

fact a new

Jerusalem

even more so

however than

that there is a

perpetual growth

a perpetual

spiritual growth

that comes with

being in

communion with

God forever

that is to say

in a sense we'll

be doing theology

forever which

I understand for

some might be a

tedious concept

but in this

sense it's a

enlivening concept

an invigorating

concept as I

quoted earlier

John 17 3

where Christ

says this is

eternal life

that they may

know you the

only true God

and Jesus Christ

whom you have

sent and later

in that high

priestly prayer

he says this

which I quoted

last week he's

praying on our

behalf and he's

asking the father

saying this

the glory you

have given me

I have given

to them that

they may be

one just as

we are one

I in them

and you in me

that they may

be perfected

in unity

what's he saying

here what he's

saying the

finite restored

image of God

is the very

condition for our

eternal participation

in the divine

in the divine

glory

yeah we'll get

we'll get to

that in a moment

won't we

let me just

quote Jonathan

Edwards on

this

Jonathan

Edwards says

speaking of

what he calls

an increasing

union and

conformity

through eternity

he cites

these verses

and then he

notes the

following

the image

is more and

more perfect

and so

the good

that is

in the

creature

comes forever

nearer and

nearer

to an

identity

with that

of God

and the

view therefore

of God

who has a

comprehensive

prospect

of the

increasing

unity

and conformity

through eternity

it must

be an

infinitely

strict

and perfect

nearness

conformity

and oneness

for it will

forever come

nearer and

nearer to that

strictness and

perfection of

union

which there is

between the

father and

the son

wow

that's a

glorious truth

I think what

he's trying to

say there is

that with our

renewed faculties

in the image

of God

with our

renewed platform

for being able

to partake

of the divine

nature

to be able

to commune

with God

to enjoy

his presence

that we're

actually going

to in some

way in the

eternal state

forever and

ever enter

into the

trinitarian

communion that

there is between

father and

son and in

fact because

we're finite

beings right

that's going

to be an

unending

exploration

and that's

wonderful

some people

really throw

around the

difficulty of

well we're

finite and

God's eternal

how is this

really going to

work in

eternity you

know well

it's because

we're finite

it's because

God created

us and

created us

with these

amazing faculties

that we'll

be able to

never exhaust

that communion

with him

forever and

ever and

ever

there's a

unending

growth that

is in

nearness to

and resemblance

of God

that will

never be

reached and

praise God

for that

as Paul

writes in

Romans 9

23 will

truly be

vessels of

mercy which

he prepared

beforehand for

glory or

in the words

of Ephesians

1 6 we'll

be able to

praise quote

to the praise

of the glory

of his

grace for

all eternity

so it's

that realm

of grace

that realm

of participation

in the

Lord that

constitutes

eternal life

and it's

as I said

it's a

quality

it's not

something that

is just

duration

but it's

because of

who we

will be

remade

into the

image of

God

that enables

us to

partake in

that heavenly

glory forever

and ever

as his

creatures

now I

thought I'd

give some

points of

application

I've been

doing that

at the

end of

these

sessions

and I

think the

most direct

one is to

simply praise

God

right

this is a

glorious

truth

and it's

humbling to

realize that

even though we

were dead in

our trespasses

and sins

that he

in his

grace

decided to

make us

partakers

of that

grace

through

Jesus

Christ

and that's

something

that we

can do

now

in fact

we can

actually

enter into

the same

praise that

we'll have

in the

eternal state

when we

praise God

and we

thank him

and we

live

thankful

and holy

lives

before him

and in

fact that

brings us

to a

second point

that Peter

will actually

bring up

in 2

Peter

11

where he

says

what sort

of people

ought you

to be

in holiness