Acts 3:19 Therefore repent and return, so that the sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; 20 and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, 21 whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.
Is there any evidence that God desires everyone and everything restored? Biblical written evidence. Rhema word spoken evidence. Personal experiential evidence. Testimonial evidence.
Rom 8:19 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. 21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
If we are not restored as sons and heirs then creation will not be restored. Restoration is not in an event in the future but a process now. The restoration of all things begins with Jesus working in us and then through us now.
Restoration must deal with sin what occurred at the fall when mankind lost their identity. Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, Following the DIY path brought the consequences of spiritual eventually physical death.
The restoration of all things must include all the affects of death. 1 Cor 15:45 So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. Jesus came to deal with everything that results from the do-it-yourself tree path.
Rom 6:23 The reward of the law is death the gift of grace is life! The bottom line is this: sin employs you like a soldier for its cause and rewards you with death; God gifts you with the highest quality of life all wrapped up in Christ Jesus. Restoration from slavery to sin.
Rom 6:16 As much as you once gave permission to sin to trap you in its spiral of spiritual death and enslave you to its dictates, the obedience that faith ignites now, introduces a new rule, rightness with God; to this we willingly yield ourselves. (Righteousness represents everything that God restored us to—in Christ.)
Rom 6:5 We were like seeds planted together in the same soil, to be co-quickened to life. If we were included in his death we are equally included in his resurrection.
Rom 6:6 We perceive that our old lifestyle was co-crucified together with him; this concludes that the vehicle that accommodated sin in us, was scrapped and rendered entirely useless. Our slavery to sin has come to an end.
Rom 6:7 If nothing else stops you from doing something wrong, death certainly does. 8 Faith sees us joined in his death and alive with him in his resurrection. 9 It is plain for all to see that death lost its dominion over Christ in his resurrection; he need not ever die again to prove a further point.
Rom 6:10 His appointment with death was once-off. As far as sin is concerned, he is dead. The reason for his death was to take away the sin of the world; his life now exhibits our union with the life of God.
Rom 6:11 This reasoning is equally relevant to you. Calculate the cross; there can only be one logical conclusion: he died your death; that means you died to sin, and are now alive to God. Sin-consciousness can never again feature in your future! You are in Christ Jesus; his Lordship is the authority of this union.
Rom 8:38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
1 Cor 15:20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. 21 For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
1 Cor 15:22 In Adam all died; in Christ all are made alive. All are caused to live. All are imparted life. All are given life. All come to life. All are reanimated.
1 Cor 15:55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; 57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Col 1:22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach. His death makes us free from death – life overcomes death. Sin or Son only difference is I.
2 Tim 1:9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, 10 but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
Heb 2:14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, 15 that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.
Rev 1:17. “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, 18 and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive to the ages of the ages, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. Jesus has those keys for all ages to come.
Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, What is the second death? What was the first death?
Some see the second death as eternal separation from God, either through eternal conscious torment or annihilation. Is there another better option? One that is more merciful, loving, and just? Is there an option that reflects the true nature of God?
Rev 20:14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. We are not subject to the second death if we have experienced the first death of being co-crucified with Jesus and the first resurrection with Jesus where we are made alive.
The lake of fire is the death of death- itself, all that which prevents us to experiencing life. In the first death Christ died the death of all men. The second death in relation to the first death is the death of death itself.
The second death cannot signify an endless death, (as some assume,) because that death is to be destroyed, swallowed up in victory, be no more, etc. This means that death will not triumph over billions of God’s children forever because they all died with Jesus and were all made alive with Him.
The lake of fire then brings death to the spiritual deadness which means it causes a resurrection of the spirit within as death within is dead. Jesus’s resurrection life brings death to death through water or fire.
First birth is physical. Second birth is spiritual. First death is physical. Second death is spiritual. The wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is age enduring life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
In the current state of the world, physical life guarantees physical death. Spiritual death necessitates spiritual rebirth, which comes through a death to self, a death of the old life, which makes way for the resurrection to new life in Christ.
The second death is necessary, either now or later, either through water (baptism) or through fire. Mark 9:49 For everyone will be salted with fire. God is that consuming fire. If we have died to self, in this life the second death has no jurisdiction over us.
Death and Hades have been casted into the lake of fire. They have no more power than we give them. There needs to be no more death, no more dying. John 6:50 This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.
Prov 23:7 For as he thinks within himself, so he is. So many people are blind to the truth living unnecessarily in their own DIY mind-sets of lostness. Choosing to remain separated living in the results of sin and death.
What happens to those who die physically and end up in the consuming fire of God’s love? The dross will be burned away refined and purified until each person chooses Jesus’s life and are given their new name, which was written in the book of life from the foundation of the world.
How long that takes is dependent on the individual’s resistance to the consuming fire of God’s love. All that death produces, Jesus has overcome. 2 Tim 1:10 but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
Isa 25:8 He will swallow up death for all time, And the Lord GOD will wipe tears away from all faces, And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; For the LORD has spoken. Gal 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ.
Old Covenant pre-resurrection state of Sheol (grave) was changed by the victory of the cross over death. Religion has a covenant with death. To enter heaven and eternity you have to die. We know heaven is open now not just after death.
That covenant with death needs to be broken so we can live the abundant life that God intends. Jesus has restored what death robbed us of – access into God’s loving presence to experience a restored face a face relationship.
So, what does happen after people die physically? Eccl 12:7 then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. What happens to the soul?
Heb 9:27 And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment. This verse has been used to answer the question of the soul after death. There is so much confusion and misinterpretation about this verse as it is used to justify punishment and eternal conscious torment.
Heb 9:26 but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 27 And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, 28 so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many. Judgment is already done and covered.
Heb 9:26 But Jesus did not have to suffer again and again since the fall of the world; the single sacrifice of himself in the fulfilment of history now reveals how he has brought sin to naught. 27 The same goes for everyone: a person dies only once, and then faces judgment.
Heb 9:28 Christ died once and faced the judgment of the entire human race! His second appearance [in his resurrection] has nothing to do with sin, but to reveal salvation for all to fully embrace him.
The only death that everyone has to experience is to be included in Jesus’ death. The once is about when we died in Christ crucified together with Him, it can’t mean physical death because our co-crucifixion precedes any physical death.
Judgment is not God’s punishment of people but is a discernment, a verdict or a separation based on the evidence of the cross. If people do not choose Jesus in this life there is not an automatic relationship with God in the next but that does not end their choice.
I cannot find any bible verses that indicates that physical death is the end of the ability to choose Jesus. I have asked those who believe that eternal conscious torment is automatic at death to show me any bible verses that says that our choice to believe in Jesus ends at physical death.
No one has been able to give any verses so the end of choice by death is only an assumed theory of infernalists. Are there any verses that disprove that theory? If everyone’s fate is not sealed after death does the bible confirm that?
2 Samuel 14:14 For we will surely die and are like water spilled on the ground which cannot be gathered up again. Yet God does not take away life but plans ways so that the banished one will not be cast out from him. 1 Samuel 2:6 “The Lord kills and makes alive; He brings down to Sheol and raises up.
Lam 3:31 For the Lord will not reject forever, 32 For if He causes grief, Then He will have compassion according to His abundant lovingkindness. 33 For He does not afflict willingly or grieve the sons of men. God’s love always offers a way out through His compassion and grace.
If death is a place of no escape, why did the early church teach Jesus went to Hades, preached there and lead captivity captive? There are a number of scriptures that reveal this Eph 4:8,9; Psalm 68:18; 1 Peter 3:18-20.
Eph 4:8 Therefore it says, “When He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men.”9 (Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth?
1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; 19 in which also He went and made proclamation (preached) to the spirits now in prison,
Psa 49:15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol, For He will receive me. Psa 86:13 For Your lovingkindness toward me is great, and You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol. There is plenty of the biblical evidence.
If death lasts forever, why does the Psalmist speak again and again about being rescued from it (sheol)? Psalms 16:10, 30:2-3, Psalm 49:15, 86:13, 116:3-8, 139:8).
Psa 16:10 For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay. Act 2:27 Because You will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor allow Your Holy One to undergo decay. Because death is not the end of choice or of God’s saving power.
Rhema evidence? Yes, the Father has directly told me, and Jesus has shown me and many others. Testimonial evidence I have been to the place formerly known as “hell” many times. 2005 – 2008 I had 3 directly visionary encounters and a number of visions.
At that time, I only knew the word hell to describe what I saw. Fire and flames anguish and torment but no demons, devil or God punishing those there. In the last year I been to that place which I would now call the consuming fire of God’s presence many times.
The first time Jesus took me and encouraged me to preach the good news of His love so they could accept the victory of the cross. Many have chosen to accept Jesus as Lord. Jesus told me that He preached there and that we are all told to do the works Jesus did.
I have heard many testimonies of others who have also preached successfully to those who were in the consuming fire of God’s never-failing love. Jesus came to seek and to save the lost and He is still doing so, even after death, but now he uses us.
1 Cor 15:20 However this very moment the risen Christ represents everyone who has ever died; exactly like the first fruit represents the complete harvest. 21 The same humanity who died in a man was raised again in a man. 22 In Adam all died; in Christ all are made alive.
1 Cor 15:23 All are individually made alive in the order of Christ; he is the first fruit and in his immediate presence we are personally revealed as his own. God’s Love chose us and keeps choosing us even when we make choices that say I don’t care.
I am so grateful for God’s grace that is rooted in love. A grace that says no matter what you do, no matter where you go, no matter who you try to be, I choose you! God’s love never fails and never gives up on us.
Engage the living God for restoration. Ask Him to reveal: What is missing from my life? What is broken in my life? What has been lost in my life? What has been robbed from my life? What needs to be restored in my life?
Look into the eyes of the resurrected Prince of Peace, shalom, wholeness, nothing missing, nothing broken and restoration and see those the deep pools of love grace and mercy.
Close your eyes and begin to think of Jesus and let that form in your imagination. Look into the eyes of the Prince of Peace. Ask Jesus to restore all things to you. Jesus to restore your sonship.
Ask Jesus to restore your glory and light. Ask Jesus to restore your passion and zeal for Him and creation.
Ask Jesus to restore you to your position of authority as a son. Ask Jesus to take you beyond where you have been before. Let Jesus take you back to your eternal origin within the heart of God.