Amazing Grace Till The End
The more I study the Feast of Tabernacles,
the more I see the amazing grace of God doing greater works and
wonders as each of the endtime events unfolds. Love’s finest hour is
yet to come. It will climax at the finale of the age and will
continue to eternity. The salvation story did not end at the
Rapture. It continues to ring into the Millennium when Christ reigns
on earth.
In the Four
Species, we read about the four types of people:
- Etrog: loving God and others
- Palm: loving God but not others
- Myrtle: loving others but not God
- Willow: not loving God and others
We see in the
Great Hosanna (the Great Salvation), how God desires even the
willows to be saved - those without Torah and good deeds! Wanting
that none should perish, God commands us to play our roles in
blessing the willows with our fragrance and fruit.
Like the body, all parts
are required.
No,
much rather, those members of the body which seem to be
weaker are necessary. And those members of the body
which we think to be less honorable, on these
we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have
greater modesty, but our presentable parts have no need. But God
composed the body, having given greater honor to that
part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in
the body, but that the members should have the same care for one
another. 1 Cor 12:22-25
For the earnest expectation of the creation
eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God (Rom 8:19).
Hereby, creation includes all the nations of the earth. They are
crying for the sons of God to be manifested so that they too will
come to the salvation of the Lord.
Psalm 87 is a declaration of the glory of
the City of God in the Millennial Reign of Christ. Even the nations
of Egypt and Babylon are listed in the nations that obey God. The
people of Philistia, Tyre and Sudan will be numbered among the
inhabitants of Jerusalem. The LORD will write a list of the peoples
and include them
ALL as citizens of Jerusalem. They
will dance and sing, "In Zion is the source of all our blessings."
In
that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the
Assyrian will come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria, and
the Egyptians will serve with the Assyrians. In that day Israel
will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria-- a blessing in the
midst of the land, whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying,
"Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands,
and Israel My inheritance." Isaiah 19:23-25
Even in judgement, God remembers and shows
His great mercy. On Rosh Hashanah, the
judgement is rendered, on Yom Kippur,
the judgement is sealed and on Hoshana
Rabbah, the judgement is delivered. God is postponing His
judgement to the very end of the 1000 years after He has taught the
nations His ways.
The
mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established on the top of
the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and
all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come
and say, "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to
the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His
ways, and we shall walk in His paths." For out of Zion
shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; they
shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into
pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore. Isaiah 2:2-4
In Psalm 85:7-13 (TLB), the psalmist wrote:
Pour
out Your love and kindness on us, Lord, and grant us Your
salvation.I am listening carefully to all the Lord is saying--
for He speaks peace to His people, His saints, if they will only
stop their sinning. Surely His salvation is near to
those who reverence Him; our land will be filled with His glory.
Mercy and truth have met together. Grim justice and peace have
kissed! Truth rises from the earth, and righteousness smiles
down from heaven. Yes, the Lord pours down His blessings on the
land, and it yields its bountiful crops. Justice goes before Him
to make a pathway for His steps.
Amazing love, amazing grace! How can this
be? It is too wonderful to comprehend and believe that the best part
of God’s grace and love is yet to be tasted by all of His creation.
He is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish
but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). And the
nations will be healed (Rev 22:2).
There will be two judgements that are
coming:
-
Judgement Seat of Christ (Rev. 11:18)
-
Great White Throne Judgement (Rev. 20:11)
Judgement Seat of Christ (Rev. 11:18)
The believers will be judged first at the
Judgement Seat of Christ (Romans 14:10-12; 1 Cor. 3:12-15; 2 Tim.
4:8).
Through some of our works may be destroyed but we will be
saved. In case, you wonder what our report books will look like,
just read again the letter that Christ asked His beloved disciple,
John to write to the seven angels of the seven churches in Asia
(Revelation 2 - 3). The seven result slips.To be ready for this first round, all
believers in Christ need to obey the Great Commandment in order to
fulfill the Great Commission.
"A
new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I
have loved you, that you also love one another. By this
all will know that you are My disciples, if you
have love for one another." John 13:34-35
The
fulfillment of the Torah is just one word:
For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: "You
shall love your neighbor as yourself." Galatians
5:14
The
righteous ones will be changed at the Rapture and put on incorruption and
immortality (1 Cor 15:52-53). They will not be judged again at the
Great White Throne Judgement.
Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection.
Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be
priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a
thousand years. Rev. 20:6
Great White Throne Judgement (Rev. 20:11)
The Great White Throne Judgement was
delayed until Christ has ruled for one thousand years on earth. Not
all will be destroyed during the Wrath of God. The nations will
still exist and live into the millennium rule of Christ. Before this
time, the devil and his unholy ones will be bound and cast into the
bottomless pit for 1000 years. God is giving the peoples ample time
to repent, free of evil influences (Rev. 20:1-8).
They
will give an account to Him Who is ready to judge the living and
the dead. For this reason the gospel was preached also
to those who are dead, that they might be judged
according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the
spirit. 1 Pet 4:5-6 (read also 1 Pet 3:18-20)
After the 1000
years is over, the devil and his evil gang will be released to
deceive the nations. But they will be defeated by God and cast into
the lake of fire. The nations are not judged and cast into the lake
of fire at this point in time. It is only after this eradication of
all evil that the Great White Throne Judgement begins (Rev.
20:9-11). Given such a long grace period to make the decision for
Christ, against the backdrop of the removal of all the evil forces
at work, the nations will be then judged. They will be standing
alone before a patient and loving God. What do you think their
decisions would be? When God judges them at this moment in time,
they cannot put any blame on the devil or his unholy assistants for
they are gone. It is solely between them and God, no one else.
Believe in Christ or not. I roughly can imagine the scenario.
Checkmate! Wise God and wise decision-makers.
I hereby
attempt to tabulate the events as follows:
Special Note: I did not start
by doing endtime studies. But as I study the Feast, I am totally
amazed. These thoughts I share herein are by no means the
authoritative or the last word on this very disputable subject.
Though I strive for truth, I will endeavor to correct any mistake
when they are communicated to me. This is the process of studying
the Word of God and edifying one another. Please
email me if you have any
questions or insights. Thank you.
Exhortation:
The love of God is
so great, it compels us to spread His love abroad! To the unreached
peoples near and far. But you be watchful in all things, endure
afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. (2
Tim 4:5)