The Ages of the ages

"I am the first and the last: 

I am he that liveth [zao], and was dead; 

and, behold, 

I am alive [zao] to the Ages [aeons] of the ages [aeons], Amen; 

and have the keys of hades and of death." (Revelation 1:18)

Jesus began to be alive [zao] to the Ages of the ages in His resurrected body when He rose again from the dead:

The Ages of the ages: An indeterminate number of aeons/ages (or never-ending cycles of time).

THIS CURRENT AGE

For now (Greek: nyn: "of this present time") His Kingdom is not of this world [o kosmos] (John 18:36 - Jesus' own words in that verse);  and even though all things have already been placed under His feet, now (Greek: nyn: "of this present time") we do not see it yet (Hebrews 2:8b - the words of the author of the letter to the Hebrews) * * The Kingdom of Christ is currently IN the world: He rules in the hearts and minds of those who believe in Him, through His Spirit, but (by His own words to Pilate), His Kingdom is not NOW OF this world. The kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of Christ when the seventh trumpet sounds: THE LAST TRUMPET "And the seventh angel sounded;  and there were great voices in heaven, saying,  The kingdoms of this "the world" [o kosmos]  are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ;  and he shall reign to the Ages [aeons] of the ages [aeons]." (Revelation 11:15)

AN ANALYSIS OF THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST 

THE END OF THIS CURRENT AGE

If anyone worships the beast and its image, and receives a mark in his forehead or in his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the anger of God, having been mixed undiluted in the cup of His wrath. And he will be tormented by fire and brimstone before the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. And they have no rest day or night, those who worship the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name. – Revelation 14:9-11.	And all dwelling on the earth will worship it, those whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain, from the foundation of the world. – Revelation 13:8. And if anyone was not found having been written in the Book of Life, he was cast into the Lake of Fire. -- Revelation 20:15.
Here is the endurance of the saints. Here are the ones who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. -- Revelation 14:9-12.	But the fearful, and the unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, will have their part in the Lake burning with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. -- Revelation 21:8.
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 worshiped his image. These both were cast alive [záō] into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. – Revelation 19:20. Záō always = “alive in the body” in the New Testament (without exception).	And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the Word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast nor his image, nor had received his mark on their foreheads, nor in their hands.  And they were alive in their bodies [záō] and reigned with Christ a thousand years. – Revelation 20:4.
And the rest [loipoí] were slain [apokteínō] with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. -- Revelation 19:21. apokteínō means to put to death, to kill, to slay, to destroy.	But the rest [loipoí] of the dead did not live again [anazáō] until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection of the body [anástasis].  Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. The second death has no authority over these, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with Him a thousand years. (Revelation 20:5).

THE FIRST THREE AND LAST THREE CHAPTERS OF THE BIBLE

Beginning of time God's creation  (Genesis 1:1-31)	Christ commences reigning over  the kingdoms of this world  - to the ages of the ages  (Revelation 11:15)  Christ makes all things new  (Revelation 21:5)
Perfectly good  (Genesis 1:31)	Only righteousness dwells in it  (Revelation 21:27)
Tree of life  (Genesis 2:9, 16-17)	Tree of life  (Revelation 21:6; Revelation 22:1-2, 14, 17)
Adam given dominion (Genesis 1:26-28)	The dominion of the last Adam (Revelation 3:21; 20:4)
THE CREATION OF ADAM & EVE NO DEATH until Adam sinned.	THE RESURRECTION NO MORE DEATH until the second death. --- 1,000 years ---
Satan's deception of Adam & Eve (Genesis 3:1-7, 11-19)	Satan's deception of the Gog & Magog nations of the human race (Revelation 20:7-10)
Adam's death. Expulsion from Eden (Genesis 3:22-24)	Second death. Lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15; Revelation 21:8) Only the faithful remain.

RESURRECTION OF THE JUST AND THE UNJUST

In Acts 24:15, Paul said that he has "Hope toward God, which they (Paul's Jewish accusers) themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection [anastasis] of the dead, both of the just and unjust."

John 5:26-29:   "As the Father hath life [zoe] in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life [zoe] in himself; And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.   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 [anastasis] of life [zoe]; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection [anastasis] of damnation."

Revelation 20:11-15:   "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 hades 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."

In-between Adam's death and the second death came the Resurrection of the dead: "I am the Resurrection [anastasis] and the (eternal) life [zoe]!" (John 11:25) First death: "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." (1 Corinthians 15:22). Second death: "Death and hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death." (Revelation 20:14). Hades only exists because of its population, and the text states that John sees death and hades delivering up THE DEAD [nekros] in them - not the living [zao], but the dead [nekros] - and THE DEAD [nekros] standing before God for judgment,   and John sees all this at the close of the first thousand years following the commencement (Revelation 11:15) of Christ reigning to the Ages of the ages over the kingdoms of this world (Revelation 11:15), and when this happens John also sees death and hades itself being cast into the lake of fire, which is the SECOND death,  together with all those whose names were not found written in the Lamb's book of life [zoe]  - which causes a need to consider what the apostle Paul had written many years earlier:

• The Resurrection of the body (of those who died in Christ) will occur when Christ returns:

"But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 

For as in Adam ALL die, even so in Christ shall ALL be made alive. But every man in his own order: 

Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. 

For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." (1 Corinthians 15:20-26).

"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive [zao] and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."

"Listen, I will tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed - in a moment, in the blinking of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed." (1 Corinthians 15:22-23; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; 1 Corinthians 15:51-52).

The resurrection of the body; and immortality; and "no more death" go together like a hand in a  glove: "When this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written,  Death is swallowed up in victory." (1 Corinthians 15:54) Paul was writing to the Corinthians about the resurrection of the body from the dead in the above passage. Revelation 21:4 says,  "God will wipe away all tears from their eyes. And there will be no more death, nor mourning, nor crying out, nor will there be any more pain; for the first things passed away." (Revelation 21:4). Following the resurrection from the dead at the time of the return of Christ, those who rose from the dead when Christ appeared, will once again be immortal. There will be no more death (the first death - the death of Adam).  Jesus promises those who overcome that they will not experience the second death.

COMMON THEMES IN THE REVELATION:

END OF THE AGE In Revelation 7:13-17 we read about a great multitude, which no man could number, that came out from great tribulation, which they experienced before the return of Christ, and below is what else John saw regarding them:  The throne of God is among them, and all tears will be wiped from their eyes. (Revelation 7:13-17).

BRIDE OF CHRIST PREPARED AS A BRIDE ALL THINGS NEW Revelation 21:2: "And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." The same promises made to those who came out from great tribulation are made to the bride of Christ,  New Jerusalem, in a New Heavens and Earth which John saw "descending out of heaven from God.": The throne of God is among them, and all tears will be wiped from their eyes. (Revelation 21:2-4).

BRIDE OF CHRIST HAS MADE  HERSELF READY Revelation 19:7-8:   "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.    And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints."

 

"It is Done!"

ARMAGEDDON "Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is the one who watches and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.  --- And he gathered them into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air.  --- And a great voice came out of the temple of Heaven, from the throne, saying,  --- It is done! "--- (Revelation 16:15-17)

ALL THINGS NEW "And He sitting on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He said to me, Write, for these words are true and faithful. And He said to me,  --- It is done ---.   I am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who thirsts I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely. He who overcomes will inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he will be My son.  But the fearful, and the unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, will have their part in the Lake burning with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." (Revelation 21:5-8)

TREE OF LIFE "Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to each according as his work is. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.  Blessed are they who do His commandments, that their authority will be over the Tree of Life, and they may enter in by the gates into the city.  But outside are the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the fornicators, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and makes a lie. I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify these things to you over the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright and Morning Star.  And the Spirit and the bride say, Come! And let the one hearing say, Come! And let him who is thirsty come.  And he willing, let him take of the water of life freely. (Revelation 22:12-17).

THE WORDS "ALL THINGS" USED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT IN REFERENCE TO GOD'S CREATION:-

Colossians 1:16-17:

"For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist."

John 1:3-4:

All things were made by him; 

and without him was not any thing made that was made. 

In him was life [zoe]; and the life [zoe] was the light of men." 

Revelation 21:5:

"And He sitting on the throne said, 

Behold, I make all things new" 

"And He said to me, Write, for these words are true and faithful."

Christ has once for all redeemed us in His own blood from sin and death,  but the eternal life of all created human beings is in Christ, who alone possesses (His own) immortality, and who alone has eternal life in Himself, according to the scriptures. It follows that:  "If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned." (John 15:6). Sadly, many Christians don't believe either what Jesus says, or what the Bible says in every respect. There was NO DEATH before Adam's death. If created immortals are incapable of dying then Adam would not have died.  THE SERPENT: "You shall not surely die."  (Genesis 3:4)  The Theology of many main-stream Christian churches: It is impossible for those who are in Christ, who have been given eternal life in Christ, to die a second death following the resurrection of the body, because following the resurrection of the body, all will be immortal, "and it is impossible for immortals to die". The Bible:  (1) "He (Christ) alone possesses (His own) immortality and lives in unapproachable light, whom no human has ever seen or is able to see. To him be honor and eternal power! Amen." (1 Timothy 6:15-16); and  (2) "God has given to us eternal life [zōḗ], and this life [zōḗ] is in His Son. He that has the Son has (eternal) life; and he that has not the Son of God has not (eternal) life [zōḗ]." (1 John 5:11-12). JESUS: "The one who overcomes, that one will be clothed in white clothing. And I will not blot out his name out of the book of life,  but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." (Revelation 3:5-6). (Do not hear what man-made theology, built upon the doctrines of men, based on interpretations of the Bible understood by fallible human intellect, says to the churches - hear what the Spirit says to the churches).  --- "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes  will not be hurt by the second death." --- (Revelation 2:11) There is only one God. Life | eternal life [zoe] is in Him and always existed in Him, before the creation of mankind.

Following Satan's deception of the nations at the close of a thousand years, John saw fire coming down from God out of heaven and devouring those who had followed his deception and gathered against the faithful (Revelation 20:7-10).   The Revelation does not tell us who they are. We are not told that they are mortals. Neither are we told that they are immortals (immortals who - possibly - because they believed the lie, believed that their eternal life was in themselves and that they possessed immortality the way only the Son of God does): THE LIE: "You shall not surely die." (Genesis 3:4)

The Revelation also does not tell us who "the rest of the dead" are - those who "did not live again [anazao] until the thousand years were finished." (Revelation 20:5a). HOWEVER, many years before the Revelation was received and written by the apostle John, the apostle Paul had written, 

"For as in Adam ALL die, even so in Christ shall ALL be made alive. But every man in his own order: 

Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. 

Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. 

(For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.") -- 1 Corinthians 15:22-26.

This has led many Christians to believe that the rest of the dead who did not live again until the thousand years were completed, are the rest of the "ALL" mentioned by Paul, who had not risen with the saints when Christ returned, and that these are possibly the (now resurrected) nations of people seen being gathered together for the "Gog-Magog" battle at the close of the thousand years. 

Paul wrote, "God is the one who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not based on our works but on his own purpose and grace, granted to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but now made visible through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus. He has broken the power of death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel!" -- 2 Timothy 1:9-10.

1. Christ IS the resurrection from death and the (eternal) life [zoe],

2. The destruction of death IS the second death. The lake of fire IS the second death.

3. Those who are not IN Christ - their names are not in the Lamb's book of life - and they are seen by John in the vision he saw to be thrown with death into the lake of fire.

There's a lot of debate between Christians as to how to interpret these things, it's not easy to know because it's easy to become confused, and it's not wise to become too dogmatic about how to interpret quite a few things written in the Revelation, lest we catch the wrong bus.

The Revelation closes with these words:

Revelation 22:18-21:

"For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. 

He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. 

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen."

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