The Kingdom of God, Mentor Guide, MG02

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T H E K I N G D O M O F G O D

misery, and judgment (19.20-21). The devil, who is seized and thrown into the abyss during the 1,000 year period of millennial peace (20.1-3), is released, resulting in renewed deception of the nations. In an awesome scene, heaven and earth flee away from before the throne of God, the books of judgment are opened (a metaphor for careful archiving of all deeds), and all those not found in the Book of Life are cast into the lake burning with sulfur (20.11-15). This awesome, symbolic portrayal of the final judgment reveals the breadth of the cosmic scope of the judgment (20.11; 21.1). The book ends with the descent of the New Jerusalem as the dwelling of God with humankind, a new heaven and new earth being ushered in, and the saints of God living in a new creation where Jesus is the light of the city forever (Rev. 21-22). Then the great prophetic visions of old will become reality: Yahweh will make all things new in his recreated universe (Isa. 11.6-9; 65.17-25 cf. Rom. 8.22-23). The actual power of the doctrine of the final judgment, in association with the consummation of the Kingdom of God, is its ability to inspire commitment and discipleship. Knowing that the world is soon to endure the critical eye of the Lord of hosts, this idea ought to inspire godly living and innovative ministry, knowing that the very heavens themselves will be burned in the refreshing to come (2 Pet. 3.11-13). The Christian imagination can never plumb the depths of the wondrous things that await those who believe in Jesus the Christ. Everything referring to the change that awaits us gives hints that the new order will transcend all we know; not that we will become a new species, but rather a new humanity. There is both continuity and discontinuity with the world and existence as it is today. For instance, our bodies will no longer be categorized as flesh and blood bodies (1 Cor. 15.50), but they will have some kind of continuity with our present bodies, perhaps in terms of both form as well as the “new physics” of our new bodies (e.g., Matt. 5.29, 30; 10.28; Rom. 8.11, 23; 1 Cor. 15.53). We will not be disembodied in the new Kingdom of Christ, yet we may not need physical nourishment to sustain us (Rom. 14.17), nor be driven by desires for copulation or sex (Matt. 22.30; Mark 12.25; Luke 20.35). Many analogies regarding the idea of feasting sprinkle through

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