NOTE: All comments in brackets [ ] or in parentheses ( ) as well as highlighted text (bolded and/or in blue) are from the author of this study.
Bible quotations are in maroon.
In most people’s minds God is a God of love who cannot get angry or if He ever does, it would never go to the point of Him causing injury or death to anyone as in His eyes all of mankind is considered to be basically good no matter how much wickedness can be seen in the world. All men have a spark of divinity in them, an innate goodness which in some has not manifested itself because of conditions beyond their control. In other words, if it were not for external and uncontrollable influences on men, men would always do good. Just about everyone except the extremely wicked will therefore be saved and in most instances, no one needs to be worried about ever losing their salvation as God is a God of love.
These are all wonderful and reassuring thoughts as, of course, no one wants to be considered evil or think for a moment they could lose their salvation. With these thoughts in mind let’s look into the Holy Bible and try to come to a clear determination of the essential nature of man and of God’s historic, present and future reactions to the deeds of mankind.
The God of the Old Testament
In the Old Testament (OT) there are several stories which illustrate how God has dealt with humanity in the past.
One of God’s major intervention in the affairs of mankind was the Deluge where God caused the death of all of mankind except one family which was used to continue humanity. After less than a thousand years of man’s existence God became quite displeased with mankind and decided to start over again with just one family.
Why was God so dissatisfied with His creation?
Gen 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Gen 6:6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
Gen 6:7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
Gen 6:8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
The wickedness of man after less than one thousand years of existence had reached the point where it became intolerable to God. He decided to start over with Noah and his family.
Gen 6:17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.
Gen 6:18 But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee.
Gen 6:19 And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.
Gen 6:20 Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.
Gen 6:21 And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.
Gen 6:22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.
Then later on in the Bible we read about God freeing the nation of Israel from Egypt where they had become slaves. Israel was to be a special people to Him if they would obey Him. After their delivery from Egypt, they journeyed until they reached Mount Sinai and Moses went up the mount to get the 10 Commandments. He was gone 40 days and 40 nights (Ex 24:18) and while he was away Israel went back into idolatry. They made themselves a gold calf which they said was the god that brought them out of Egypt.
God saw what they were doing and told Moses to go back down to them.
Exo 32:7 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:
Exo 32:8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
God was so angry at seeing their disobedience that His desire was to exterminate Israel except Moses.
Exo 32:9 And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:
Exo 32:10 Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.
But Moses pleaded for the life of the nation of Israel and God did not follow through with his desire to destroy them.
Exo 32:11 And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand?
Exo 32:12 Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people.
Exo 32:13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.
Exo 32:14 And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.
In Exodus 33:5-7 God tells Moses that He cannot stay among the Israelites and that a tent had to be set up far off from the camp as a safeguard against Him on seeing their wickedness coming upon them and consuming them.
Exo 33:5 For the LORD had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiffnecked people: I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee.
Exo 33:6 And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the mount Horeb.
Exo 33:7 And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass, that every one which sought the LORD went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp.
God was quite displeased with them and but for His commitment to Moses, He would have destroyed Israel. Even then, his anger was such that He could not live among them as His fury could suddenly break out against them and they would be destroyed.
We also have the example of Sodom and Gomorrah whom God destroyed because of its wickedness by raining fire on it.
In OT times, God punished mankind whenever its wickedness reached a level that could no longer be tolerated.
When we get to the New Testament (NT), we no longer read of a God punishing mankind through physically destroying individuals and groups that are particularly wicked. Since the closing of the Old Testament, God has not been until our days intervening in the affairs of men as He had in OT times.
This has caused some to think that the God of the NT is not the same God as the God of the OT. Are there 2 different Gods, one for the OT and one for the NT or is it the same God being but who is for a time following a different way of dealing with mankind in NT times?
The God of the New Testament
Is the God of the OT the same as the God of the NT? In order to answer this question we will have to go back to a time before the creation of man.
The Bible tells us that in the beginning, before anything existed, there were two beings who dwelt in eternity.
Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.
Joh 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
There was a first being called God and with this first being there was a second being called the Word. So, there is “God” who is one being and the “Word” who is another being and all things were made by the god being called the Word. A god being is one that is spirit and immortal; the only beings in existence who presently are spirit and immortal are God and the Word.
Joh 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
1Ti 6:16 Who [Christ] only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.
Christ as a man did not have immortality until He was glorified again by God the Father. God begat Christ (the Word became flesh (see Php 2:7-8 hereunder) in Mary’s womb (Luke 1:30-32) and from that time on the god being known as God became God the Father.
The Word is the god being who became Christ.
Php 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Php 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
Php 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
Php 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
All things were created by the Word and He existed with God before anything was created.
Col 1:16 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:
Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
This second god being is called the Word which is also translated as “the Spokesman.” Christ from the beginning has been God’s Spokesman i.e., the god being through which God the Father speaks to mankind.
Christ, among many other things, at His First Coming came to reveal the existence of God the Father.
Luk 10:22 All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.
God the Father and the Word or Spokesman are two separate and distinct god beings.
We now come to the point where we can determine who was the God of the Old Testament. There is only one god being which the Bible tells us is the Word or Spokesman. This god being is called the Word and God’s Spokesman because He is the means through which God speaks to mankind.
The Word became flesh and dwelt among men for 3 1/2 years; principally among the children of Israel who are the only ones to whom He had been sent.
Joh 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Mat 15:22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.
Mat 15:23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.
Mat 15:24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
At the end of His 3 1/2 year ministry He ascended back to His Father with the same glory He had before becoming a man.
Joh 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
When Christ was resurrected by God the Father, He was resurrected as the glorified spirit being He had been for all eternity with God the Father. There is not one God with one set of rules for the Old Testament and a different one with a different and softer set of rules for the New Testament. God tells us plainly that He doesn’t change.
Heb 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
The Spokesman role remains with the god being that became Christ and it is through the Word that God spoke to His nation Israel in the Old Testament and who speaks in New Testament times to His spiritual nation of Israel, His Church.
The Word spoke to Israel through intermediaries like Moses and the prophets and in the last days, He speaks to spiritual Israel, through the Word in writing, God’s Holy Bible.
Heb 1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
Heb 1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
In NT times God no longer has prophets no matter how many go around claiming to be prophets. At this point, we need to clarify who is Israel. There is the physical nation of Israel and the Bible tells us there is a spiritual nation of Israel which began on the Day of Pentecost. Let’s continue our analysis.
Physical and Spiritual Israel
There is a major point of understanding which needs to be clarified before continuing with this study and which is that contrary to popular belief, the Bible is not a book addressed to humanity as a whole. It is about and only about the nation of Israel. Other nations are only mentioned in the Bible as they come into contact with Israel; otherwise, the Bible says nothing about them.
Is God unfair?
Why would not all of humanity be of interest to God?
The answer to this question would require that we spend a great deal of time examining God’s plan of salvation for mankind which is something which is beyond the scope of this study. However, for you to understand this study, I will provide a short-form explanation of God’s plan of salvation.
God created the heavens and earth by the Word who spoke it and it was done.
God after Satan’s rebellion restored the surface of the earth so it could sustain life and on the 6th day He created mankind (Gen 1:26-27). Mankind and the animals created on that day were to be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth.
Then we read that God chooses Abraham (Gen 12:1) saying that He would make of him a great nation. This promise was inherited by his son Isaac and then by Isaac’s son Jacob. Jacob’s name was changed by God to “Israel.”
Gen 35:10 And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel.
Jacob had 12 sons which became the 12 tribes of the nation of Israel.
Jacob had a favorite son, Joseph and he (Jacob) passed on to Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh which he adopted, the blessings from God transmitted to him from Abraham and Isaac.
Gen 48:15 And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day,
Gen 48:16 The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads [Ephraim and Manasseh]; and let my name (Israel) be named on them [Ephraim and Manasseh], and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.
This is a Scripture of very great importance that needs to be understood to know who is the physical nation of Israel in the end-time. The tribes of Judah, Benjamin and Levi became known to the world as the Jews and Israel but the modern day nations that inherited the promises made to Israel (Jacob) are not the descendants of the 10 physical tribes of Jacob’s other sons but only of those of the 2 sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh.
In the end-time there would be 2 great nations that would exist with the one descending from Ephraim being the first to become great followed by the nation descending from Manasseh becoming the single, stand-alone, greatest nation that has ever existed in the history of mankind. This is all fully explained in the following book which can be obtained on the following internet site: http://herbert-w-armstrong.com/books.html The title of the book is: The United States and Britain in Prophecy It is a fascinating book which explains who are the nations existing in our days that are the descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh and who are the inheritors of the promises made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
In the following verses of Gen 48 it is explained how it occurred that Ephraim who was the youngest was given the greatest part of Jacob’s or Israel’s inheritance. By right it should have been Manasseh who was the older of the two sons of Joseph. This is why as you will read in the following verses that Israel had crossed his arms so as to have his right hand on the head of Ephraim. He wanted Ephraim to have the greater part of the inheritance.
Gen 48:17 And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head unto Manasseh’s head.
Gen 48:18 And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.
Gen 48:19 And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.
Gen 48:20 And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
Israel has continued to exist unto our days but the Jews living in Palestine today are not the Israel of Genesis 48. They are the physical descendants of the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and Levi and in that sense they are a part of physical Israel but they are not the totality of Israel who had 12 sons who became the 12 tribes of Israel. Canada has 10 provinces; all provinces are part of Canada but any 3 provinces are not Canada; it is the 10 provinces together that constitute Canada. The nation of Israel is not 3 tribes out of 13; the nation of Israel is made up of 13 tribes (the tribe of Joseph includes Ephraim and Manasseh). The Jews are not Israel, they are only a part of Israel; they are not the nation of Israel. It is presently missing the 10 other tribes for us to be able to call it the nation of Israel. For the time being they are simply the Jews; not Israel. The OT nation of Israel ceased to exist when 10 of the tribes went off into captivity under the Persian Empire and were lost to history. The Jews also went into captivity but came back to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls of the city and the temple. They then lived under Roman occupation. They rebelled and were overrun by the Roman army and were then scattered and ceased to be an identifiable social group in history until after the end of World War II when the Jews were given a territory in modern-day Palestine.
There is however another nation of Israel that is to exist simultaneously with the physical nation of Israel, God’s spiritual nation of Israel. I know this is a bit complicated but here is a simplified explanation of who is that spiritual nation.
After Christ’s ascension to His Father the disciples were to wait in Jerusalem before beginning to accomplish the mission given them by Christ. On the Day of Pentecost, God’s Holy Spirit entered the disciples and they became apostles i.e., they were then to give out the message given them by Christ to the nations of their days.
Paul in Rom 2: 25-29 explains that what is important is not be circumcised in the flesh as was required by God to be a member of OT Israel but rather what matters is circumcision of the heart.
Rom 2:25 For circumcision [in the flesh] verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision.
Being circumcised in the flesh is of value but only if you are living your lives according to God’s law but if in your personal life you are not following God’s law then your circumcision in the flesh is of no value. It is as though you were not circumcised or as Paul puts it, “….thy circumcision is made uncircumcision.“
Rom 2:26 Therefore if the uncircumcision [a Gentile, an uncircumcised person] keep the righteousness of the law, [obey God’s law] shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision? [Even if not circumcised in the flesh would he not be thought of by God as being circumcised in the flesh and therefore, a member of Israel in the same was as those who are circumcised.]
Rom 2:27 And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law?
And will not all those who are uncircumcised (which is by nature i.e., which is the way all men are born) if they follow God’s law, judge you who are circumcised but do not obey God’s law? In other words, will not an uncircumcised Gentile who obeys God’s law pass judgment on those who are circumcised and do not. In the next verses, Paul answers the question.
Rom 2:28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: [At the time when Paul wrote this, the Jews were the nation of Israel; after the destruction of Israel by the Roman armies they would then be no more physical nation of Israel]
Rom 2:29 But he is a Jew, [a member of the nation of Israel] which is one inwardly; [by his desire to obey God’s law] and circumcision [being a part of Israel] is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
God’s new, spiritual nation of Israel will include men from all nations and the criterion is obedience to God. It would no longer be necessary to be born into the nation of Israel and to become circumcised. The condition for becoming part of God’s spiritual nation of Israel is to follow God’s law.
The Day of Pentecost was the beginning of God’s spiritual nation or of God’s Church. A church which Christ says was to endure until the end of mankind as the gates of hell (death) would never prevail against it.
Mat 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Since the day of Pentecost, God’s nation is spiritual Israel which is a nation composed of individuals from all nations who have been called by God the Father, who have accepted their calling and who are remaining faithful. They are scattered all over the world in that upon being called and chosen they are to remain in the world but not be part of it (John 17:14-15). There is no requirement for them to travel to a given country or city to dwell with other true Christians or to go to a specific country and city to worship God. God is a spirit and is to be worshiped in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24) and God’s spiritual nation of Israel or Church is first and foremost a spiritual organism which exceptionally has been an organized, visible corporate body for short periods of time. For most of its existence it has been invisible to the world being a spiritual organism whose members are from all over the world and who, in most instances, do not know each other and their conversion is not something that can be outwardly seen by the world as it occurs in their minds by the action of God’s spirit.
In the last days which began with the First Coming of Christ, God has His spiritual nation of Israel which is His Church. There is also existing at the same time the physical nation of Israel, who are the descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh and there is also part of the ancient nation of Israel existing in Palestine i.e., the Jews.
In the fullness of time, all of mankind will be called and given an opportunity for salvation and to become part of God’s spiritual nation of Israel i.e., His Church. God’s eternal kingdom will be composed of all those individuals from all nations who have been called, chosen and who have remained faithful. They are the physical human beings who are to become immortal spirit beings in God’s Kingdom. At the very end, at the time of the 3rd resurrection, there will be only 2 types of individuals on the earth: those who are Spirit-begotten members of God’s Church and those who are not. The sheep are the members of God’s Church and the goats are all the others who were called and refused to follow their calling or who followed their calling but after a while went back into the world.
Mat 25:31 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: [the Great White Throne Judgment]
Mat 25:32 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:
Mat 25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Mat 25:34 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:
So, the Bible is a book about only the nation of Israel both as a physical and a spiritual nation. The spiritual nation of Israel will become part of God’s Kingdom and all of mankind in time will be given the opportunity to become part of that nation and kingdom.
In the days of ancient Israel there was a priesthood, the sons of Levi who taught and administered the law over the people and the priests lived among the people. In New Testament times, we have a physical nation of Israel, the descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh and, we have living among them and in several nations around the world, God’s spiritual nation of Israel.
In these last days (began with Christ’s First Coming) in which we are living, we now turn to examining how is God’s law administered?
Administration of God’s Law in New Testament Times
In the days of ancient Israel the people were punished for their lawbreaking. There was either a requirement for a sacrifice to be offered to atone for the transgression of God’s law and in cases where there was no atoning sacrifice under the law for a particular transgression, the person died.
In New Testament times God is no longer ruling over a physical nation of Israel through prophets and judges. The nations are ruled by men of their own choosing. God has the power to rule over men should He choose to do so but He chooses not to do so.
And in God’s Church or spiritual Israel, the death penalty is no longer administered as the church is a spiritual organism totally separate from the law administration authorities of this world. In other words, in OT times when God’s church was a physical nation responsible for administering the law it could impose the death penalty as prescribed by the law for certain crimes but in NT times this is no longer the case. As a spiritual organism made up of individuals from the different nations of the world it has no civil law administration authority nor can it have any, as spiritual Israel is not a sovereign physical nation living in a specific geographical location where it can administer law over its citizens. With the foundation of God’s Church, a different way of administering God’s law began which is referred to in the Scriptures as the ministration of the Spirit.
The Ministration of the Spirit
The nation of Israel was stiff-necked i.e., they would not obey God and they were punished whenever their wickedness reached an intolerable level to God. There is much wickedness in the world we all currently live in and in fact, God through Paul, in the Bible calls it “this present evil world.”
Gal 1:3 Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ,
Gal 1:4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:
The wickedness of our modern-day world is not all that different from the wickedness that existed in the ancient world of the Old Testament and which will continue to exist until the end of mankind. So why are the nations not being punished today as Israel was in the Old Testament, yet it is the same God?
The answer to this question will require us to explain the “ministration of life” which was made possible by Christ’s perfect sacrifice for the sins of mankind and which started with the foundation of God’s New Testament Church on the Day of Pentecost with the giving of the Holy Spirit to God’s Church.
2Co 3:6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
2Co 3:7 But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:
2Co 3:8 How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?
2Co 3:9 For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.
As Paul explains, under the Old Covenant, the letter of the law had to be observed and although that was less demanding than having to observe the spirit of the law, the major shortcoming was that if someone transgressed a law that required the death penalty then the person was executed. There was then no further opportunity for that person to acknowledge the evil of what they had done, to resolve to change and to have time to demonstrate to God their changed state of mind as they continued living out their lives.
However, with Christ as the perfect sacrifice for sin, sins committed out of the weakness of one’s flesh are not imputed by God as long as the attitude of the individual is to try to obey God in all things to the best of their abilities. All sins in New Testament time merit the death penalty, (Rom 6:23) not the first death but the second one (Rev 21:8) which is eternal. However, all sins can be forgiven if not committed in willful rebellion against God. The administration of the letter of the law sometimes led to the death of the transgressor while the ministry or ministration of life leads to life i.e., eternal life. Even David in the Old Testament had his sinfulness forgiven (adultery and murder) by God; according to the letter of the law David would have been put to death for either transgression. David is an example of the ministration of the Spirit. David went on to live a good life, God forgave His sins and David will be part of God’s Kingdom.
Ancient Israel was a physical nation that one became a part of by being born into it or being naturalized. This is the nation first chosen by God but God eventually separated Himself from it because of its disobedience but its rejection is not final. There will come a time when God will again choose Israel. With the First Coming of Christ, God now has a spiritual nation made up of individuals that can come from any nation, who have been called and chosen by God and who are remaining faithful. They can be, and ultimately will be, from all nations of the world and they constitute a spiritual organism which is sometimes also a visible organized corporate body but which for most of its existence has been small and invisible to the world. They are God’s spiritual nation of Israel.
These spiritual Israelites are under grace which is to say that no sin is imputed to them by God as long as their attitude is one of trying to obey God in all things to the best of their abilities.
They live among the nations of the world and continue to be subject to their laws as long as they do not conflict with God’s laws. As a spiritual nation responsible for keeping the spirit of the law, God is their judge and the penalty for sin which is not forgiven is the second death from which no resurrection is possible.
This is why the letter of the law killed; when Israel was a physical nation, the death penalty was was administered in this life while the administration of the spirit of the law is by God with the death penalty not administered in this life which gives the sinner a chance to repent, change and prove his repentance by living in newness of life. This is why David who had God’s Holy Spirit because of the role God wanted him to play, though having committed two crimes for which the administration of the letter of the law would have taken his life, will be in God’s Kingdom.
Since the Day of Pentecost, God’s law is administered over a spiritual nation for whom the death penalty is not carried out in this life; the penalty for unforgiven sin will be the second death which is administered at the very end of God’s plan of salvation for mankind. God is no longer punishing the nations of the world for their sinfulness as He did ancient Israel.
But there will come a time when God will punish the world for its sinfulness as He did in the days of Noah and of Sodom and Gomorrah.
The Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord
There is a time of trouble coming upon the world such as never was or ever will be again which coincides with the time of Christ’s 2nd Coming. Many are looking forward to Christ’s 2nd Coming thinking it will be a time of great joy and happiness but the Bible reveals that the 2nd Coming will be a time of planetary scale destruction which by the time the Day of the Lord ends, the earth will have been virtually rendered inhabitable; there will have occurred great environmental disasters and destruction of man’s civilization as we know it today. It will take God to restore the earth to the point where it can again sustain life and make it possible for humans to reproduce and prosper in a way similar to what occurred when God renewed the face of the planet following its disruption as a result of Satan’s rebellion.
The Millennium that will follow the events of the Great Tribulation and of the Day of the Lord, will see a planet whose environment has not only been restored but made better than it was in man’s last 6,000 years of existence. The survivors of this great time of destruction which will not be great in number as compared to the number of human beings there was on the earth before the Great Tribulation will slowly start rebuilding their lives, homes and cities. There will be peace during the Millennium and the population will again become large. God will have spared enough human beings to make it possible for life to start over again. The Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord are not the times when God will put an end to mankind.
The Last Great Day
Following the end of the Millennium, there will be an event called the “Last Great Day.” It is the time when there will be a resurrection of all those human beings who were never called by God. It will be their first and, one and only, opportunity for salvation; all are given only one chance to be saved; there are not 2 callings.
The time of the Last Great Day will be like that of the Millennium. God will also then pour out of His Spirit upon all flesh as He did during the Millennium. In other words, all those rising up in the second resurrection will be called to salvation and they will have to make a choice whether to follow or not their calling in the same way that all those who have been called before them had to do since the beginning.
They will live for a 100 years and at the end of that time period, there will occur the Great White Throne Judgment.
The Great White Throne Judgment
This is the time when Christ will judge all of mankind that has ever existed. There are some which before that time have already been judged and these are God’s saints who at Christ’s 2nd Coming became glorified spirit beings and who collectively, are the Bride of Christ. At the time of the Great White Throne Judgment they are already part of God’s Kingdom.
But since the beginning of mankind God has been administering His master plan of salvation for mankind and there are many who have been called and who did not follow their calling. Their time of judgment will be during the period of the Great White Throne Judgment.
The Great White Throne Judgement occurs at the very end of the 100 years allocated to those who rose up in the 2nd resurrection. At that time there will be a 3rd resurrection of all those who from the beginning have been called and who were not chosen because they did not follow their calling or who followed their calling for a time and then turned away from it. This resurrection will also include all those who during the Millennium were called, chosen and faithful and had died at the end of their natural lives. In the Great White Throne Judgment they are raised up to flesh-and-blood existence.
The goats will be those who from the time of Adam and Eve to the end of the Millennium refused their calling or did not remain converted and the sheep are those who remained faithful all through their lives. Those resurrected in the 2nd resurrection of the Last Great Day who rejected their calling or turned away from it after having accepted it will also be part of the goats.
The sheep will inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world and become glorified spirit beings in God’s Kingdom. They will be the children of the kingdom as they are the result of the work of Christ and His Bride.
As for the others who are not saved and who remain flesh-and-blood human beings, the earth is engulfed by a Lake of Fire which kills all those who did not become spirit beings. The Lake of Fire is the first step in God making a new heaven and a new earth and in making all things new.
This is the time when flesh-and-blood mankind will cease to exist. God is patient and endured the wickedness of mankind for 7,000 years in accordance with the 7,000 years allocated to mankind. Mankind was created for a very special purpose and for a given time only. Once that purpose and time have been accomplished, there is no longer any need to continue mankind or this present universe.
God did not exterminate mankind despite the wickedness of many so as to fulfill His master plan of salvation which is to reproduce Himself through those men that would self-willingly and freely submit to Him so as to share with them His very nature and mode of existence. They will fully share in the very nature of God and they will be autonomous beings with mind power and individuality like God and the Word, and like the Word they will be in perfect submission to God. Together they will constitute a new entity made up of possibly millions of separate and distinct parts all working together in perfect cooperation and harmony as do the millions of part constituting our human bodies.
Conclusion
There is as time coming when God will put an end to mankind.
Mankind was created for a very special purpose and man is the pinnacle of God’s creative ability which is to create a material being with whom He could communicate and which could become an immortal glorified spirit being i.e., a God being like God is God while retaining the personality, individuality and mind it had while a material, flesh-and-blood being.
God has allotted 7,000 years to mankind and once humanity comes to the end of that time period and the completion of God’s plan of salvation for mankind, God will put an end to mankind.
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