18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. 19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
We go back into the history of our world to the point where Adam an Eve, the first parents of all, were alive in the garden. We know the story. The serpent, Satan's agent, deceived Eve into eating the forbidden fruit. She ate the fruit and Eve was as good as dead. Eve in her turn gave Adam to eat of the same fruit. Adam knew that eating the fruit would result in his death. He also ate the fruit. Adam was as good as dead.
Adam and Eve hid in the garden at the coming of the Lord. The Lord found them, clothed in leaves. Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the serpent. Then the judgment of God came upon the world. God curses the serpent. God will cause Eve to have pain in bearing children and to be ruled by Adam. To Adam, God curses the ground making Adam's labour hard. This final thing also, Adam and all that come from him will die.
We come forward in history to a point where a carpenter took on the role of rabbi. This rabbi, whose name was Jesus, traveled in Palestine; teaching, healing, delivering and feeding those who came to hear him. He volunteered to be executed as punishment for the sin of others. He was betrayed by a friend. He was abandoned by his followers. The Jewish leaders brought accusations against him. Pilate reluctantly ordered his death. The Roman guard led him out to execute him on a cross. Jesus died some hours later.
The body of Jesus was placed in a rich man's tomb. The soul of Jesus went to Paradise where all the faithful of God rested. There he preached for the three earth days and nights his body was buried. At the end of that time the judgment of God comes upon Jesus. He was found righteous in all that he had done. God the Father sent His Holy Spirit to overshadow the body of Jesus. The body of Jesus underwent a change in nature and the soul of Jesus returned into the body. In this new state Jesus led those faithful souls who were held captive by Death into heaven.
We are all children of Adam. We are all to die because of Adam's sin. It is like a generational disease that is passed down to all of Adam's children. The Word of God comes into the world through Mary and is called Jesus. He leads a perfectly righteous life. This one perfectly righteous life is, for God, the justification of life. It is reason enough for creating mankind in the first place. It only took one man, Jesus, to secure this judgment in mankind's favour.
The faithful getting to heaven is only the first step in this application of justification of life. It speaks in Revelations of every single person who lived being resurrected by the time of the final judgment. This final judgment is not whether you should live or die. It is about where you will spend eternity. The faithful are to spend their life in the new heaven/earth combination. The faithless are to spend eternity in the lake of fire.
Jesus secured the resurrection of all because of the blood He shed while on the cross that resulted in His death. That same blood was placed upon the mercy seat of the ark in the heavenly Holy of Holies.
Everyone physically dies. Some souls go to heaven. In the end, everyone is resurrected and the final judgment takes place. The question is not, "who will be resurrected?" All people are resurrected because of the life and death sacrifice of Jesus. The question is, "where will you spend eternity?"
Webite administrator: Joseph A Raymond
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada