Living forever

Psalm 21: 8-13

“Your hand will find out all your enemies; your right hand will find out those who hate you.  You will make them as a blazing oven when you appear. The Lord will swallow them up in his wrath, and fire will consume them.  You will destroy their descendants from the earth, and their offspring from among the children of man.  Though they plan evil against you, though they devise mischief, they will not succeed.  For you will put them to flight; you will aim at their faces with your bows.  Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength!  We will sing and praise your power.”

When you read a Scripture like the words from 1 John 2:17, “The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.” What does that mean to you?  If it only means do not kick the dog and go to church on Sunday, are you that much different than the person who saves the whales and helps out at the local food bank?  Have you asked the Holy Spirit to give you insight into what the world’s desires are and make sure you are seeking the will of God?  If you do not have a time where you sit in a quiet room, and allow the Spirit of God to open the Scriptures and teach you how to live life on planet earth, can you be sure your desires are not centered on this world?

So what is David talking about in the verses above, I am not sure, but if I were to guess, it would be the Spirit of the living God allowing him to see the final battle, when Jesus has returned, and after the 1000 years Satan is free once more, and many who are evil come to fight with the Lord.

As you read Revelation 20:3-10, you may have a few questions, like why would God allow Satan to be free?  Harlan Caton in his book, “The Second Coming of Jesus Christ on page 212 gives us five answers. 1) To demonstrate the character of Satan.  Satan is incurably wicked.  2) To demonstrate the true character of man.  “There is none righteous, no, not one.”  (Romans 3:10)  3) To demonstrate God’s complete authority over Satan and his followers who are the enemies of God.  4) To fulfill Romans 6:23 where we are told that the wages of sin is death.  This exhibits the complete futility of man’s attempt to refine man and to create a better and perfect society through the ingenuity of man.  It also reveals the complete futility of man and Satan to overthrow and to overcome God and His kingdom.  5) To justify eternal punishment.

Revelation 20:3-10, ^“He threw him into the Abyss and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.

 I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.  (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection.  Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.

 When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number, they are like the sand on the seashore.  They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them.  And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice