THE LAST
History
records many great and bloody battles that have been fought between tribes,
ethnic groups, empires and nations. Most wars were fought due to the ambition
of some power-hungry leaders in order to bring others along with their lands
and wealth, under their control, causing the untimely death of millions of
young men in their prime of life as well as the destruction of entire
civilizations.
During the past
one hundred years, mankind has experienced two World Wars, and countless others
in Korea, Vietnam, China, Ireland, many
African nations, Central and South America, and the list goes on and on
even to our present day. When will it all end?
We have the
Biblical assurance that once the Lord Jesus Christ returns to assume full control
of earth’s affairs, He will cause wars to cease. People will not learn war
anymore (Isaiah 2:4; Micah 4:3). The Prince of Peace, Jesus, will rule the
earth with an “iron rod,” showing His
total and absolute control (Rev. 19:15, 16). This rule will, however, be
tempered with mercy and “when Thy
judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants will learn righteousness” (Isaiah
26:9). During this Kingdom, Satan will be imprisoned in what the scriptures
symbolically refers to as the “bottomless
pit,” where he will not be able to influence and deceive the nations as he
has done during the past six thousand years. (See Revelation 19:16 through
20:2.)
There will be one
final war to be fought at the end of this Kingdom. The Bible speaks of it in
Rev. 20:3 as “a little season”. This battle will be under the direction of
the victorious “King of kings and Lord of
lords,” and will see the final end of all evil and death. We know Satan, after being released from his
imprisonment, will still be unrepentant and as ambitious as ever to carry out
his original plan of ruling over mankind. He will gather a following and set
out to do battle against God’s people and conquer the Kingdom, but his end will
be sudden and swift when he and all that are with him are destroyed by a fire
that comes down from heaven (Rev. 20:7-10).
If God knows all of
Satan’s evil plans, the question is “why
does He not destroy him at the beginning of the Kingdom?” The Lord has a very good reason. During the 1000 years of Satan confinement, all resurrected mankind will be
given a full opportunity to learn the ways of righteousness. At the end of the
1000 years God has planned one final test of faithfulness to Him for all who
are then living on the earth before granting them the gift of eternal life.
It is said that
today there are millions of Christians living in the world who can be divided
into two general classifications. One group have
undergone a mind-conversion. The
other group have also experienced a heart-conversion. What is the difference
between the two? Mind-converted
Christians may claim belief in God, in Jesus, and in the Bible. They often
attend church regularly and follow the rules of their denomination and are
fully satisfied with their limited spiritual condition, but their hearts have
not been affected, nor do they live by the spirit of the Lord and His power.
These form the great majority of Christians.
They live their lives according to their own will and as they please.
Some have repented of sin, some have not, but they know little or nothing of a
life fully devoted in heart- obedience and loyalty to the Lord and His will and
teachings.
Then, there are a
minority of Christians who are both heart
and mind converted. These have asked the Lord to take full
control of their lives and seek to live in faithful obedience, acknowledging
God as their Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, and the
Bible as God’s inspired Word of Truth.
(See John 17:17.)
In God’s Kingdom,
all will come to an accurate knowledge of truth (1 Timothy
2:4). They will be required to outwardly
obey the laws of that Kingdom, but only the final test will reveal whether
there has been a true heart conversion and full embracing of the ways of
righteousness. Those who merely profess righteousness outwardly will fail the
test when given the opportunity of choice and slip back into their evil ways,
following their true hearts desire for self-gratification and lust. Revelation 21:7-8 says, “He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he
will be My son. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the
vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the
idolaters and all liars -- their place will be in the fiery lake of burning
sulfur. This is the second death."
Those who fail the final test, in the
last battle, (which we believe will be a minority of people), will be
destroyed forever as will Satan and his evil angels. This also is an act of
God’s love for those who would not be happy to live under just and righteous
conditions. They will be as though they had never had life, extinct forever.
(See Matthew 10:28; Ezekiel 18:4, 20; Psalm 145:20; Obadiah 16; Isaiah 43:17.)
The righteous shall be rewarded with everlasting life and will live for all
eternity on a restored and perfect earth. Yes, God will be their God and they
will be His children and “God will be All
in All!” - 1 Corinthians 15:28.
G. Boccaccio