[Steve Myers] Good to see all of you today. We are off and running into 2 Corinthians once again. Last time we left off in 2 Corinthians 5, and we had focused on the judgment seat of Christ, and we were talking about that. One of the things that we didn't mention in the last class was if you look at…

2 Corinthians 5:10 Where it says, "We all must appear before the judgment seat of Christ," one of the things that we definitely want to take note of here is that Christ is the judge.

It's the judgment seat of Christ, that He's going to be the one that judges humanity. God the Father is not the judge but Jesus Christ is. We see that if you hold your place here in 2 Corinthians. You can go over to the Gospel of John. In John 5, we have a little bit of a description here just to kind of cement that idea of who that judge will actually be. John 5, notice verse 26 here Christ Himself is speaking, and He says very clearly here.

John 5:26-27 "As the Father has life in Himself," He's eternal, "so has He granted the Son to have life in Himself." Christ is eternal as well. Verse 27, "And has given Him authority," the Him here is Christ, "to execute judgment also because He is the Son of Man."

He's the Son of Man. So here we find Christ Himself saying He is the judge. He's the judge. And so the Father's given Him the authority to judge. And as we mentioned before, we know that judgment has already begun for those in the church, that that's already begun. The time is coming when the world will be judged and mankind itself will be judged and everyone will have a time that they're going to be accountable. And in fact, that's kind of the point that Paul is making there in 2 Corinthians 5 is that all of us are accountable. We're accountable for what we say. We're accountable for our actions. The Corinthians, Paul's is emphasizing to them that they're accountable as well. And so he's been emphasizing that point, I think, throughout Chapter 5. And so as you take a look back at 2 Corinthians 5, notice verse 11.

2 Corinthians 5:11 He says, "Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men, but we're well known to God, and I trust are well known in your consciences."

So once again, Paul is emphasizing that fact, that we're accountable. That definitely is reminiscent of...where's that passage?

Hebrews 10:31 Where it says, "It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

Yeah, you're not behaving properly. You don't want to follow God's direction. Yeah, that's a really bad thing. He says that very clearly. It's a terror of the Lord is the way he describes it here. Similar kind of thought that we better be willing to change and grow because otherwise, we have to face the consequences of our actions. And so as Paul emphasizes that point, yes, we are being judged. and we better recognize the fact that we are sinners, and we better recognize the fact we need to change and repent. That's really what he's getting at here so that ultimately we will stand before God when Christ returns.

Now, in verse 12, he kind of takes a little bit of a turn here, and he says, "We do not commend ourselves again to you." That's some familiar things that he's mentioned before. Remember these false teachers were criticizing the Apostle Paul and saying he doesn't have the proper commendations, the proper letters, and all that. He says, "No, we're not commending ourselves to you again," but he says, "We give you opportunity to boast on our behalf that you may have an answer for those who boast in appearance and not in heart."

And so here he's addressing that problem of the false teachers, the false ministers, and they're commending themselves, they're boasting and bragging about their appearance, maybe how well they speak. Now, why does that make sense in this context of what he just got done saying? Well, if you remember what he was saying just a bit earlier, he was saying, "Don't focus on physical things. Don't focus on the temporary things. We've got to refocus our eyesight to the spiritual things. Oh, these guys look good physically speaking. Oh, they may sound really good, but don't get caught up in only seeing the temporary physical things. You've got to see beyond that." So that's why this ties in with this whole conversation of those who are boasting in appearance.

Sounds like our society today. Does our society boast in appearance? Oh, you better believe it. What are we all about? Oh, we're all about, "Wow, what's happening in Hollywood? What's happening...? You know, who's important? Who's, you know, the sexiest man alive?" All you got to do is walk through the grocery store and you see those magazines that'll tell you who they've... What is that all based on? It's just appearances. It's just the temporary things. And so here he's reminding them that can't be our perspective. That can't be our perspective. So he says, "We're not commending ourselves. What we're getting to is the heart, the spiritual side of things."

2 Corinthians 5:13 He says, "If we are beside ourselves, it's for God, or if we are of sound mind, it's for you."

Now, that's kind of an interesting way to put things. Still comparing and contrasting physical versus spiritual, right? Physical eyesight versus a spiritual perspective. What do you think those false teachers were saying about Paul? "Oh, he's weak, you know, he's not that great a speaker," all those criticisms, probably saying, "You know, he's not really very sound of mind as well."

And that's kind of what he's saying here in verse 13, if we're beside ourselves, what are you if you are beside yourself? You're crazy. You're crazy. He's not saying anything other than they're claiming we're nuts. We are crazy.

And so he says, "Well, if I'm crazy, let's say what they're saying is true. They're saying I'm insane. They're saying I'm nuts." He says, "No, I am crazy for God." It's really what he's saying. It is for God. Or if we're of sound mind, it is for you. Yeah, whatever perspective you want to take here says, "Listen, I'm doing everything I'm doing for God. That's my perspective. That's what I'm all about."

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 And so he says, "For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge, thus, that if one died for all, then all died. And He died for all, that those who live, should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again."

So in a sense, he's saying, "Don't listen to those false teachers. They're living for themselves. They're in it for what they can get out of life right now. They're living from a physical perspective." He says, "We don't live that way. That's not our lifestyle. That's not the way we walk. We're walking by faith, not by sight. We're not living for ourselves. We're living for Christ."

And, of course, contrast that with humanity. What does most of humanity live for? I mean, what is the American way? Well, it's all about the bigger house, the better car, the six-figure job you can have. It's all about our own selfish pursuits. That's what we're about in this world. And he said, "That is not God's way. That is the total opposite of God's way." And so he says, "We should have a different spiritual perspective."

2 Corinthians 5:16 So he says, "Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh." Yeah, get rid of that physical perspective. He says, "Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him, thus no longer."

And so it's either after the flesh or the spirit. It's either the temporary things or the eternal things. He says, "Well, sure, some of us knew Christ physically. We're not that far removed from the crucifixion at this point, right? We're just a couple of decades removed from that time." He says, "Okay, maybe we knew Christ physically speaking," but he says, "Wait a second, it's not about the physical things, it's about the spiritual things." And so he says, "We don't know Him that way any longer. No, we don't want to have that kind of worldly standard who have all these distinctions of whether it be class distinctions, who's powerful politically, who's rich, racial thing, all of those kinds of things." Yeah, before conversion, yeah, that's the way people looked at things. Even that's the way that Paul looked at things, didn't he? Did Paul look at things that way? Sure, absolutely. But, now, he's viewing people, he's viewing life from the standpoint of the spiritual side of things. And so he emphasizes that very fact.

2 Corinthians 5:17 He says, "Therefore," verse 17, "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away, behold, all things have become new."

All things have become new. A total change of perspective. And so even though we're physical beings, he says our old value system, our old priorities, our old plans, our old purposes, that's all set aside. That's not important any longer. We see life through different eyes, through different light. We even see sin and evil differently than we used to. And so he says, "There's a new perspective, a new way of life." And so this gives us a new spiritual awareness. We're aware of things spiritually speaking. And so that brings to mind what he wrote to God's people in Rome. Hold your place here in 2 Corinthians.

Go back to Romans 8. Look what he wrote in Romans 8:8, similar kind of thought here. As he writes to God's church in Rome.

Romans 8:8-9 He says, "Those who are in the flesh cannot please God." Sounds kind of similar, contrasting flesh and spirit, right? Physical versus spiritual. He says, "You are not in the flesh but in the spirit if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His."

And so we're to be new. We're to live life in a newness of the Spirit. In fact, it's about what he said word for word if we go back to Romans 6. Look at Romans 6:4. Notice the contrast that he gives here in Romans 6:4.

Romans 6:4 He says, "Therefore, we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."

So there he's comparing this very fact that as baptized individuals, baptized Christians in the body of Christ, we're to walk differently. Remember we just got done saying in 2 Corinthians, we walk by faith not by sight. Yeah, we are buried in baptism, and we got up out of that water. We were given God's Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands and now we walk, our lifestyle is new. It's different from the old man, from the old perspective, from the old way of thinking, from the physical focus that we used to have.

Now, we walk in newness of life with a spiritual perspective. And this is kind of an ongoing thing, in newness of life. This is the way we continue to live our life. How do we continue to walk? Well, this is the way. This is the new fact. This is the new condition that we live our life in with a spiritual perspective. And so that's what he's getting at in 2 Corinthians 5. You go back to 2 Corinthians 5, that's exactly what he says to us here.

2 Corinthians 5:15 That "we now are no longer living to ourself," verse 15, "but for Him who died for us."

We have that new perspective. We have that new way of life. And since we are in Christ, we are a new creation. Well, what happened? We put the old man to death. We have to be different. We have to be new. The old person is dead, buried, gone. We got up out of that water as a new creation in Christ. And so he says, "The old perspective has passed away." The physical viewpoint is gone. And so what we're seeing now is from this new spiritual perspective. That's the kind of eyesight that he's telling us we have to have. We're seeing life from a different perspective. We're seeing ourselves from a different perspective. We're seeing sin from a different perspective as well. So that old way, that old value system, that old priority that we used to have, it's gone. And so with that, we're new. We have a new spiritual perspective.

2 Corinthians 5:18-19 He says, "Now, all things are of God." That should be our priority. That should be our perspective. And he says that "God has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation."

So here we've got maybe a new facet that he brings into our consciousness as he talks about this idea of reconciliation. At one time, we were apart from God, but, now, we've been brought together with Him. This reconciliation takes on this idea of restoration, where we are restored. That there's a broken relationship that we at one time, we're not in harmony with God. We're out of sorts with God. And, now, this reconciliation, meaning we have harmony. We have unity with God. We are repentant before God, and, now, we're trusting God. He tells us that, "yes, it's through Christ." It's through Christ that we can find forgiveness. It's through Christ that we can be declared righteous, that when we repent, we go before God and seek forgiveness, that He makes us right before Him.

And so trusting in the death of Christ on our behalf can bring us into a right relationship with Him, and so he says, "That's through Jesus Christ." It's through Christ that we have confidence. It's through His death and His resurrection that we can take heart and recognize now we have this perspective. We have this ministry, this service of reconciliation. Our life should be about being reconciled to God, being in a right relationship with God, that we are now favorable before God. And as this ministry that He's given us, He's given us the ministry of reconciliation, together as God's people, as His church, part of our duty is to help others to be reconciled to God, to help them to recognize the need, the idea of really restored relationships. That's what this idea of reconciliation is all about, restored relationships. The work of that idea can be making peace, that when we're not right with God, we're out of sorts with God. There is no unity. There is no harmony. But we have this service, this work, this ministry of helping others make peace with God, helping others come into a right relationship with God. It's part of the mission that Christ gave us, not only to preach the gospel, not only to make disciples but also to care for those disciples as well. And so that can only happen through Jesus Christ.

And so he emphasizes that very point, "Corinthians, you're to have this ministry." And, of course, part of the implication there is, "Corinthians, you don't have it even among yourselves. You've got disagreements and divisions and schisms among yourself." We've got to get this fixed. We've got to look to Jesus Christ. We have to recognize His sacrifice and be reconciled with each other. We have to have right relationships between us. That's a reflection of the relationship that we have with God. And so that's what we need to be all about. He's given us this ministry. We better be putting that ministry into practice not just outwardly but also within the church itself. And so he emphasizes that fact to the Corinthians that "we've got to get out of that selfish perspective to one that recognizes we have to be right with God." And it starts right at home. It starts at home. And so then he says, verse 20, emphasizing that fact.

2 Corinthians 5:20 "Now, then we are ambassadors for Christ." We sing that song at services, don't we? We are, therefore, Christ's ambassadors. Yes, we are. We're ambassadors for Christ. "We're ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God."

Yes, it starts with you being right with God. It starts with you being repentant before God. It starts with you being forgiven and having that right perspective so that we have a right relationship with God. That's where it starts.

And we're to be ambassadors. Interesting translation of that particular word there, ambassadors. The base word there is presbuteros. We are presbuteros for Christ. Interesting that this word presbuteros, oftentimes, is translated elders. An elder in the church is a presbuteros. Here using it as those who are older, not just that you're old, physically speaking, because we got off that physical perspective here, right? Spiritually speaking, spiritually speaking, we're supposed to be grown up. We're supposed to be elders. We're supposed to be mature. We're ambassadors for Christ. In other words, I look at your example, and it should be obvious that you're a mature Christian in the way that you walk, in the way that you talk, in the way that you treat others. Yes, we are ambassadors for Christ. We're to be His mature Christians. And I think one of the reasons they translated this "ambassadors" here is that it's describing this more mature spiritual person. And that word could also be connected to a representative, almost like someone who would represent a king, let's say, from one country to another.

You think about how that may apply even today. The United States of America has ambassadors that go to other countries. They are representatives of their own country but they're in a foreign land. And that's kind of like us. We are representatives of the kingdom of God. We are representatives of Jesus Christ. And yet this is not our world. This is just a temporary world as we look forward to the time when the kingdom will be established. And so, ultimately, we're to be that example. We're to be that ambassador for Christ. And so he says, "Yes, that's what you need to do." And it starts with being right with God. It starts with having a right relationship with God. It starts with recognizing the sacrifice of Christ and having faith in that sacrifice as we go before God. And so he says as he concludes that thought.

2 Corinthians 5:21 "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

Yes, we can be righteous before God. We can be declared righteous. That's what justification is, by being repentant, by being forgiven, by being brought back into a right relationship. And so it all happens through the sacrifice of Christ, through our faith, our acceptance of the sacrifice of Christ, and God applying that sacrifice to us. And so he uses that to really pound home that thought of it all starts with Christ. It all starts there. It all starts with His sacrifice on our behalf.

And he says it...wow, what a powerful way to say it, "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us." Now, literally in the Greek, the word be is not there. So Christ didn't literally become sin. He's not saying that. He's using this in a figurative sense, right? In a figurative sense that Christ paid the penalty for our sin. It's really what he's getting at. In fact, if you hold your place here, I think of how it's phrased in Galatians 3. If you take a look at Galatians 3, I think we can see that physical...I mean, that figurative side of things as we look at what he writes in Galatians 3. Paul writing to God's church in Galatia here in verse 13. He says it a little bit differently but making the same point.

Galatians 3:13 It says, "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law." Of course, the curse of the law is the death penalty. When we violate God's law, we deserve death. And it says then, "Having become a curse for us, for it's written, 'Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.'"

Your Christ took on the curse. The curse of the law wasn't Christ. He figuratively is saying it was death. It's the death penalty. We deserve the death penalty. That's the curse of the law. Christ took on the curse. Christ took on the death penalty on our behalf.

And so that's that same idea that the one who knew no sin was sin for us. Because Christ never sinned. He was sinless. He lived the perfect life, which allowed Him then to pay the penalty for all mankind to take on that curse on our behalf. Similar kind of thought, if you go back to the book of Romans for a moment. Romans 8, we see a similar thought expressed here as well. Here it's worded a little bit differently, but, hopefully, makes it very clear the physical aspects of Him who knew no sin to be sin for us. Maybe a little clearer here in Romans 8, notice verse 3. Notice verse 3.

Romans 8:3 It says, "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin. He condemned sin in the flesh."

He condemned sin in the flesh. And so here we begin to see that pretty clearly. Now, that's in verse 3. Now, if we skip down a little further, we recognize that very fact.

Romans 8:10 He says, "If Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin but the Spirit is life because of righteousness."

And so here we see that Christ condemned sin in the flesh. He lived a sin-free life. And so He took on the death penalty on our behalf. And so we see that emphasized back in 2 Corinthians 5:21.

2 Corinthians 5:21 That "we then should be the righteousness of God in Him."

So we are now walking by faith. We're not walking in the flesh any longer. We are pleasing to Him in what we're doing because we've committed ourselves to God. And so we are then reconciled to Him, and, ultimately, then we are reconciled to God. And so we're in a right relationship with God. We will talk a lot about that when we get into the book of Romans and really focus on that whole idea of sanctification and justification as well. And so, hopefully, it becomes clear that he uses this in a figurative sense in verse 21 because He took on that death penalty on our behalf. All right, that leads us then up to 2 Corinthians 6.

2 Corinthians 6:1 Begins, "We then as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain."

A couple of interesting things happening right here. We're to be workers together, Paul was workers together with Him. Different way we can say that. We're co-workers. We're co-workers together. We're workers together not just with Paul but with Him. If you look at your Bible, that Him, is probably capitalized. We're workers together with Him.

And so together we have been called, and we've been called not just for our own personal salvation, it's not just about me being in the Kingdom of God, is it? Well, what did he just get done talking about? He's committed us the word of reconciliation. We're to be ambassadors for Christ. We're to help others. We're to help others as well. We're to preach the gospel. We're to teach His way. We're to take care of the disciples that He calls. That's all working together. We all have a job to do together. And so he says, I'm pleading with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. Well, God's grace, why are we here? We're here because God's merciful, because God loves us, because He extends us favor. He extends us... That's what grace is all about. He's extended us favor. He favors us. And so it's all about God. And he says, "So don't take that in vain." Don't take that uselessly. That word for vain really means useless.

So he says, "Don't receive the grace of God in vain." Well, how can there be useless grace? Is there such a thing as useless grace, God's favor? Well, I think some do take the grace of God in vain because, oftentimes, people say, "Well, God is merciful to me. He is graceful toward me. He favors me." And what is much of traditional Christianity's response to grace? Well, I can do whatever I want. I don't have to obey God. I don't have to keep the Sabbath. I don't have to follow God's way. I don't have to worry about tithing and food laws or any of that sort of thing. Well, I think when you're in that state of mind, you have useless grace. Well, I have freedom to do whatever I want. Oftentimes, that's traditional Christianity's view. I can do whatever I want because I have God's grace. Well, that's wrong. That's absolutely wrong. He's just gotten done saying that "we need to be reconciled to God, and we need to be obedient. We need to follow Him. We need to walk by faith that there are works that need to be done." Didn't he just get done saying that? Yes, he just did. He just reminded us that we have to be well pleasing to God.

Yes, there are lawful requirements that we must follow. If we ignore those things, that is useless grace. That kind of grace doesn't get you anywhere. God favors us, and He calls us, and He gives us liberty. I know, we've talked about that idea of liberty. He gives us freedom to obey His law because what is His law anyway? It's for our own good. He tells us, "This is the way to walk. This is the way to live your life." We get to choose what way we live, but He tells us this is the best way to live. Walk this way, obey me and there will be blessings that follow. And so he brings us all the way back to really the instructions He gave ancient Israel as they came into the promised land. He said, "I said before you life and death, blessings and cursings." You get to choose, but God says, "Choose life. Choose the blessing. Obey, and there will be blessings that follow." That hasn't changed under the new covenant at all. There will be spiritual blessings. Spiritual blessings will follow. So he says, "Don't take the grace of God in vain." And all too quickly, traditional Christianity has done just that.

Example, maybe we go over to Galatians 1:6. In Galatians 1, we find a church that I think took God's grace in vain. Notice what Paul writes to the Galatians at the very beginning of this letter to them.

Galatians 1:6 He says, "I marvel you're turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another, but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ."

Yeah, there are those that misuse the gospel, and they think it's a gospel of liberty to do whatever you want rather than the fact it's a gospel of freedom to obey God where blessings then would follow. And so we don't want to be found turning from the grace of Christ, turning from God's favor. That's really what we don't want. We don't want to turn from God's favor. We want to recognize God's favor and realize that should impact the way that we live our lives. And so when we consider what he wrote in 2 Corinthians 6, we recognize we want God's grace to be something that motivates us and changes us and helps us to have that spiritual perspective. So don't take it uselessly.

And, of course, implication here in 2 Corinthians is that some of the Corinthians were doing just that, weren't they? I mean, was it reflective in their behavior? Was it reflective in the way they treated each other? Was it reflective in the way they worship God? Boy, oftentimes, it wasn't. And so back in 2 Corinthians 6, he has a quotation here in verse 2.

2 Corinthians 6:2 It says, "For He says, 'In an acceptable time I've heard you. In the day of salvation, I have helped you.' Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation."

So here he's almost intimating what Peter talked about, that judgment is now on the church of God. Yes, we better make sure we get our spiritual house in order now. He just got done saying that in Chapter 5, didn't he? He reminded us of that very fact, that we better be ready and willing to be well pleasing to Him. And so here he emphasizes that very fact. Now is our time, church. Now is the time to get your spiritual house in order. He says, "Now is the day of salvation."

Now, for the church, that is true. It is the day of salvation for us. For us, there's no doubt about it. But it is interesting, he doesn't say, "This is the only day of salvation." And that's important. That's very important. This traditional Christianity would interpret this passage in that way. They would feel that this is the only time people can be saved. And if you're not saved now, you're going to burn in hell forever. That's what most Christianity believes. That's not true. That's not true. This is not the only day of salvation. For the church, for us who have been called and baptized, this is our time. No doubt about that. But even in the way this quotation is made from the book of Isaiah, this is from Isaiah 49:8. It's an exact quotation from there. Also interesting that it's not always translated in this way, that "in the day of salvation, I've helped you." Oftentimes, it's quoted in that way, but is this the day or the only day of salvation? Well, in the New King James translation, it does say, "Now is the day of salvation." But if you look this up in other translations, they translated, I think, a little bit more correctly when they say, "It is a day of salvation."

So if you look it up in the New Revised Standard, look it up in Young's Literal Translation, look it up in the Bible in Basic English, all of those translations, authorized standard version also says that, English standard version all say, "This is a day of salvation," in Chapter 6:2. Also interesting, those same translations translate Isaiah 49:8 in the same way, that "this is a day of salvation." Now, why is that important? Well, because not all humanity has been called right now. You see, traditional Christianity's reaction to this when they think it's the only day of salvation, well, that's why they go out and have all these missions and all their mission work where they go to remote places to try to convert people to Christianity because they believe if you aren't converted now, if you never hear the name of Jesus, you're going to burn in hell forever. That's what they believe. So they bought into this idea that this is the only time, which is not true. This is not the day of salvation for the vast majority of mankind. That's one thing that, I think, is a unique understanding in the Church of God. This is not the only time of salvation. When we recognize that very fact, God is not calling everyone right now. That is just the plain truth about it.

And so God is working with people at different times. And so right now is the time of the church. This is our day of salvation. But, ultimately, God's going to work with others later at other times. And so when we recognize that, we realize God's perspective. Maybe a couple of things to keep in mind. One we can find over in 1 Timothy 2, let's consider this idea of this being a day of salvation for those who God is working with right now, those who are a part of His true church. Yes, it's our day of salvation. But there are so many more that God is not working with yet. In fact, the vast, vast majority of mankind. Now, in 1 Timothy 2, we see this mentioned from God's perspective. 1 Timothy 2, let's begin in verse 4.

1 Timothy 2:4-5 It says, "God desires all men to be saved," that's God's desire, "and to come to the knowledge of the truth." That's ultimately God's purpose. Yes, that's what He wants. He wants that very thing. But it is interesting that as we look down just a little bit farther, he reminds us, "There's one God and one mediator between God and men, the man, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself a ransom for all."

And so that's God's perspective. That's what God wants. But is that only happening right now? Is that only happening right now? Keep that in the back of your mind. Go to 2 Peter 3. We'll remind ourselves of what Peter wrote. 2 Peter 3, here's that same perspective that reminds us God wants all to come to repentance.

2 Peter 3:9 "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance."

He wants all to come to repent. But does that mean right now? And what about all those who have lived and died never hearing the name of Jesus Christ, never understanding God's purpose, never having an opportunity to come to repentance? See, traditional Christianity says, "They're lost. They're going to burn forever. Sorry, you were born at the wrong time. Never had that chance. You were born in the wrong country. Never had that chance. You're going to burn for..." What's the problem with that perspective? I mean, just logically speaking, maybe I can't come up with a scripture that says otherwise, all right, there are, there's plenty. But just logically speaking, what does that say about God? If God allowed people never to hear the name of Christ, He basically condemned them from the beginning to be cursed. That means God is a respecter of persons. That means God favors people over others. Is that God?

That means God is not perfect. That means God is not righteous. That means God is not love. It means it's all a lie. God's a lie. You see, to believe that, traditional Christianity can't believe in the one true God. That God is not a respecter. God loves all, either, you know, 2 Peter 3 is true or it's not. He wants all to come to repent. Well, how is that possible if people have lived and died for centuries and never heard the truth? How is that possible then that God could be fair and God could be loving and God really does want everyone to come to repentance? Well, see, it's only through the unique understanding that God does have a plan and a purpose and there's multiple resurrections. That there's multiple resurrections. And so when we look to the end of the book, if you want to take a look at Revelation 20, this is certainly a great reminder of the fact that there are multiple resurrections. And even though someone was born, lived their life, died long before the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, or never heard a thing about the truth of God, they will have an opportunity. They're not condemned forever like traditional Christianity says. And so, ultimately, in Chapter 20, we see that first resurrection described in verse 4.

Revelation 20:4 It says, "I saw thrones, and they that sat on them, judgment was committed to them. I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the Word of God who had not worshiped the beast or his image, had not received the mark on their foreheads or their hands."

And what about them? These are true Christians. These are true believers. They're the ones that kept the Word of God. These are true Christians. It says, "They lived and reigned with Christ for 1,000 years." That's describing those same people in 1 Corinthians 15, those same individuals that were in that first resurrection in 1 Thessalonians 4, "Those who are raised at the return of Christ." That's describing them. Are they the only ones that are saved? Are they the only ones that have an opportunity? Is the rest of humanity condemned? Those who never heard the name of Jesus Christ, those who never understood the plan of God? No, not at all. Next verse.

Revelation 20:5 It says, "The rest of the dead did not live again until the 1,000 years were finished."

So we have the first resurrection described as those who are converted to spirit at the return of Christ. But then, once this 1,000-year period is over, what happens?

Revelation 20:11-13 "I saw a great white throne, and Him who sat on it from whose face the earth and heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them. I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God. And the books were opened. And another book was opened, which was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works by the things which were written in the books." It says, "The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them, and they were judged each one according to his works."

And so here we have all the rest of mankind who never knew God, who never understood His way, brought back to physical life, brought back to life, to have a time of judgment. They were judged. That word has this connotation of a time frame to live, to be judged by what was written in the book

So here we have everyone, everyone who ever lived having an opportunity to understand the truth. So we recognize the fact then, this is a day of salvation for them. So today is not the only day of salvation. There is a time coming when all of mankind will have an opportunity. And so we recognize that fact. Now, it's not a second chance, is it? There is only one opportunity for salvation. Each one of us only has one chance, one opportunity. These people have physical life given to them so that they can have their first opportunity to understand what the plan and the purpose of God are all about. So there, it's not a second chance. It's physical life for them so that they can have their opportunity to understand what God's plan and purpose were all about. We have that opportunity now. God's opened our minds to His truth. So now is our opportunity. Now is time of judgment on the Church of God. Now is our opportunity.

And so we recognize that fact, that this is a day of salvation for us. A day of salvation is coming later for the rest of mankind. And so everyone has an opportunity which then helps us certainly to recognize our God is fair. He is just. He is not a respecter of persons. He loves all of mankind and wants all to come to repentance. And so what a blessing it is for us to recognize how awesome our God really is that He loves all. And no wonder He said that "He gave His only begotten Son so that the world would have an opportunity." God so loved the world. And so His plan certainly spells that out that God loves all mankind and wants all ultimately to come to repentance, and, hopefully, choose life. All right. That will do it for our class for this day. We'll pick it up there, next time, and talk a little bit more about Paul's letter to the Corinthians.