Understanding Heaven and Hell Part 5

Overview

Two Resurrections, One Death: A Framework for the Christian Hope

Scripture offers a striking arithmetic for understanding our destiny. For the believer, there are two resurrections and one death. For the unbeliever, there is one resurrection and two deaths. The first resurrection happens now—when the Holy Spirit brings a person to faith, claims them in the waters of baptism, and gives the gift of trust in Christ. Revelation 20:6 declares, "Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. Over these the second death has no power." The one physical death we all face Hebrews 9:27 is followed, for the believer, by the second resurrection when Christ returns. For the unbeliever, physical death is followed by the "second death"—the lake of fire described in Revelation 20:14. Scripture does not teach annihilation; the spirit and soul are eternal. What is at stake is destiny, not existence.

Because of this, death for the Christian is not something to dread but the entrance into glory. Paul's words in Philippians 1:21-23 capture the believer's freedom: "For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain." If the Lord grants more days, those days are fruitful labor; if He calls us home, that is far better. We do not earn our place in heaven by attaining sinlessness—if that were the standard, heaven would be empty. The lost are condemned not merely for particular sins but for spurning the Savior who died for them. Believers stand before God cloaked in Christ's righteousness rather than in their own.

Reading Revelation Rightly

Revelation is apocalyptic literature, and faithful interpretation begins with recognizing the genre. Its language is symbolic, communicating real history and real promises through vivid imagery rather than literal description. With that lens, the visions of heaven shine with meaning. Revelation 21 describes "a new heaven and a new earth"—and while 2 Peter 3:10 speaks of the elements dissolving in fire, Romans 8:20-21 hints at creation itself being set free. Luther's reading—that God will fashion a new heaven and earth out of the remains—lets these texts speak together.

The imagery is rich with pastoral comfort. "The sea was no more"—the chaos so familiar to a fallen world is gone. The Holy City is the Bride of the Lamb, the Church (see 2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:22-23), with twelve gates bearing the names of Israel's tribes and twelve foundations bearing the apostles' names. The city is a perfect cube—echoing the Holy of Holies, signifying that the dwelling place of God is now opened to all His people. Its gates are never shut, because no enemy threatens; there is no night, because no evil dwells there.

The Garden Restored

Revelation 22 brings the story full circle. The river of the water of life flows from the throne, and on either side stands the tree of life—the same tree last seen in Genesis 2. From Genesis to Revelation, God is restoring the garden. The intimate communion Adam and Eve enjoyed before the fall is given back to His people forever: "See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them... He will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more."

This is the Christian's hope and inheritance. Live each day in fruitful labor, knowing that whether the Lord grants more time here or calls you home, both are gain. Death has lost its terror, the chaos has its end, and the garden waits.

Transcript

Today, I want to explore with you more images of heaven, and specifically we want to focus on the book of Revelation today. 0s

Then one class we're going to take a look at, how do we know that we are going to heaven? 10s

How do we know that we are going to heaven? 15s

And then in our last time together, I want to examine with you some questions. 20s

What do you say if a person was a non-believer? 25s

What about cremation? 29s

Do the spirits of the departed remain here with us in haunt houses? 32s

So we're going to get into a wide variety of different topics. 39s

We're going to talk about what about people who've never heard the gospel? 44s

What about people who've never heard the gospel? 47s

Well, today I want to continue with you about images of heaven, and specifically we want to focus the majority of our time on the book of Revelation. 52s

For believers there are two resurrections in one death. For believers there's two resurrections in one death. 64s

For unbelievers there's one resurrection and two deaths. 72s

Let me say that again. For believers there's two resurrections, one death. 78s

And for the unbeliever there is one resurrection and two deaths. 83s

Now what do I mean by that? 89s

Let's start out in Revelation chapter 20, verse 6, please. 92s

Very last book of scripture, Revelation 20, verse 6. 100s

And there we read, Blessed and Holy are those who share in the first resurrection. 118s

Over these the second death has no power. 128s

Blessed and Holy are those who share in the first resurrection. 134s

Over these the second death has no power. 138s

This is a scriptural way of talking about that when a person is brought to faith by the operation of the Holy Spirit, that is the first resurrection. 143s

The second resurrection will come when the Lord comes again, rolls up creation. 153s

The dead are raised alive or just brought with Jesus into heaven. 161s

That is the second resurrection. 169s

So as you are a believer in Jesus Christ you have already experienced the first resurrection. 173s

You have been brought to faith by God's action. 179s

God has called you his own in the waters of baptism. 183s

He has given you the gift of faith. 185s

That's the first resurrection. 188s

And if the Lord terries and we die our spirit goes to paradise and then we await the resurrection of the dead. 190s

We confess each and every Sunday. 201s

For the unbeliever, well you don't have the first resurrection, right? 204s

Because they are not believers. 208s

But you have what Scripture defines as two deaths. 211s

You have the physical death and then you have the eternal condemnation of that person in hell itself. 215s

Take a look with me please at the first death. 226s

Hebrews chapter 9. 231s

So you have a revelation now. 233s

So slowly start working your way back towards Matthew. 234s

You are going to cross over to the Peter's, the John's. 238s

You are going to bump them into James and then you land on Hebrews. 242s

Hebrews 9th chapter 27. 246s

Hebrews 9th verse 27. 252s

And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once and after that the judgment. 263s

To die once and after that the judgment. 272s

It's the same thing in Ecclesiastes where for everything there's a season, a time to be born, a time to be dying. 276s

We all understand indeed the reality of death. 283s

That is the death that the Lord carries. 287s

We will all experience. 290s

Let's go back now to Revelation chapter 20 verse 14. 292s

Revelation chapter 20 verse 14. 303s

And here we hear of the second death. 314s

Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. 317s

This is the second death, the lake of fire. 321s

And anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. 326s

Remember, while death is a cessation of the functioning of the body but more specifically, biblically, it is the separation of the spirit and the soul from the body as we've studied. 335s

There is no such thing as the person going out of existence. 349s

Some will offer the perspective of annihilation. 355s

That the unbelievers are simply annihilated and there is no further existence. 359s

No, the spirit and the soul that part of us is eternal in nature. 365s

So it's a matter of destiny of the spirit and the soul. 373s

So when one dies, they don't go out of existence. 377s

Whether one is believer or an unbeliever. 384s

So for believers, we have how many resurrections? 388s

Two, right? How many deaths? 393s

One death. For the unbeliever, how many resurrections? 395s

One. 400s

And how many deaths? 401s

There's two in the end. 403s

Rather than a death being something to dread or fear, death for the believer is the entrance into glory. 407s

It is that which is to be anticipated. 418s

Let's go into Philippians chapter 1. Matthew Mark, Luke, John, Axon, Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians. 422s

Then Philippians. Philippians chapter 1 verse 23. 432s

Here Paul knows that his death is imminent and there is a reflection born of the Holy Spirit upon this reality. 440s

So Philippians chapter 1 verse 21. 451s

Let's start there. 459s

For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. 462s

If I'm to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. 467s

And I do not know which I prefer. I'm hard pressed between the two. 471s

My desire is to depart and be with Christ. For that is far better. 475s

But to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you. 482s

You see, there's one who is reflecting on their life and saying, 487s

So if the Lord gives me more days, then it will be fruitful labor. 490s

There is a purpose to our days. And if the Lord says, 495s

Your days have concluded, well then death is gain. 500s

You see, for the Christian, then we live in that lightness and in that joy constantly, don't we? 505s

We live in the reality that, well, if we continue to live fruitful ministry and if we die, 513s

well then it's the beauty and reality of heaven itself. 521s

Death then, one of the themes of this class, is nothing to fear. 525s

As we look more specifically this morning in the book of Revelation, 531s

just a reminder of the type of book that this is. 535s

This is what is called apocalyptic literature. 540s

And so one of the very first things you have to do, 543s

the first thing you have to do when you're interpreting Scripture, 545s

is you have to say what type of genre am I in? 549s

You see, if you're in the poetic sections of Scripture that talks about nature clapping its hands, 552s

that's not literal, is it? 562s

Poetic. 564s

So you don't interpret that literally. 566s

If you're in a parable, you understand that there's one primary point that you look for. 570s

And you don't use parables to establish doctrine. 577s

Sometimes parables can reflect doctrine, but you don't use parables to establish doctrine. 583s

Because it's an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. 588s

It's got one point to it. 591s

So you understand, okay, I'm in a parable, I'm going to look for the one point. 595s

It's so interesting to read sometimes some interpretations of parables. 600s

When a person will go through and say this represents this, and this represents this, 607s

and this represents this, and this represents that, 612s

and you go, you don't understand the genre you're in here. 614s

And then you wind up with all these kind of strange interpretations, 619s

as you're making a parable into something, it is not. 622s

When you are reading history in the Gospels, you understand this isn't symbolic language, 628s

this is just flat-out history. 635s

Jesus went, here, he said this, or this event happened, as we're studying in the book of Acts. 638s

That's a historical account, recounting of indeed what happened. 644s

When you're in dogmatic statements with regard to Paul, for example, in Romans, 650s

you don't read that as being symbolic, because it's not the genre that you're in. 655s

When you get to a book like Revelation, it's a unique genre. 663s

In that, like Ezekiel, like portions of Daniel, you've got a pochaliptic type of language, 668s

which means that you're looking, and Revelation is presenting itself, in symbolic language. 677s

It's actual history from the coming of Christ until the end of time, when Christ comes again, 683s

but it's told differently. 691s

So you understand then that this language is symbolic. 693s

You don't try and draw parallels. 698s

You can get fascinating type of descriptions where years ago, you know, Hellenzi was saying, 702s

now this is Russia, and this is, and then when that didn't come through, then the nation just changed. 710s

You see, in the analogies. 717s

Nope, you look at it and you say it's symbolic language. 719s

Understand it's symbolic language. Is it going to communicate history? 722s

Indeed it does, but it communicates it in a different way. 725s

So with that in mind, let's go to Revelation and see how heaven is portrayed. 733s

Let's go to the 21st chapter of the book of Revelation. 741s

21st chapter of the book of Revelation. 747s

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. 756s

Heaven, there, remember the stinctions in terms of how uranos is used. 761s

This should refer to sky, not the highest heaven, which is the abode of God. 765s

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven, and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 773s

And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 782s

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 791s

see, the home of God is among mortals. 795s

He will dwell with them. They will be His peoples. 798s

And God Himself will be with them. 802s

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. 805s

Death will be no more. 808s

Morning and crying in pain will be no more. 810s

For the first things have passed away. 814s

And the one who was seated on the throne said, see, I am making all things new. 819s

And he said, write this, for these words are trustworthy and true. 824s

Then he said to me, it is done. I'm the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. 827s

To the thirsty, I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. 832s

Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God, and they will be my children. 837s

So scripture here talks about a new heaven and a new earth. 845s

The debate among those that look at this is what is the relationship between the old heaven and the old earth and the new heaven and the new earth? 850s

That's the point of discussion. 861s

Because second Peter seems to illustrate that there is going to be total destruction. 865s

Let's go to second Peter chapter 3, verse 10. 871s

So you're in revelations, slowly work your way through the Johns as you're going towards Matthew. 875s

Second Peter chapter 3, verse 10. 882s

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. 894s

The day of the Lord is the second coming of Christ. 898s

And then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise. 901s

And the elements will be dissolved with fire. 906s

And the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed. 909s

So second Peter chapter 3 seems to indicate a total destruction. 917s

But when you go to Romans 8, Romans 8 hints at a relationship between the old and the new. 921s

So let's go to Romans chapter 8, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, and then Romans. 928s

Romans chapter 8, verse 20. 936s

It's mid sentence here, but we'll get the point. 948s

Romans 8 picking up in verse 20 for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, 954s

but by the will of the one who subjected it in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay 962s

and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 971s

So the debate that you'll get is, is there a totally elimination of everything? 979s

So the new heavens and the new earth have no relationship to the old, or is there some type of relationship between the two? 987s

I like where Luther lands on this. 998s

Because Luther, of course, is letting scripture interpret scripture and Luther lands on it and says, 1001s

God will fashion a new heaven and a new earth out of the remains. 1008s

That's what seems to make sense. 1012s

When you just let scripture talk to each other and when you see total destruction, when you see, 1015s

there's some kind of relationship, continuity in Romans 8, 1022s

there seems to be then an indication that God will take the remains of the earth and heaven itself and formulate that which is new. 1026s

Okay, let's go back now to Revelation chapter 20 again. 1040s

I want to point out some of the imagery here that is so beautiful for us, I think, to keep in mind with regard to heaven. 1046s

First, back in into verse 1 again, then I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. 1061s

And the sea was no more. 1069s

What you see in scripture, oftentimes the sea is associated with chaos. 1075s

So in one of the signs of the second coming of Christ, the last days in Luke 21, 1082s

it says that nations are in anguish at the roaring of the sea. 1090s

So you have this image here of the sea and you think back to when Jesus calms the sea, the great storm that is coming up. 1096s

And remember the word, it's so gently translated in our English translations. 1107s

But the word actually in the Greek translation, when Jesus calms the sea, he stands and he says, shut up. 1114s

Shut up, that's the literal translation. It's so gentile in our translations. 1124s

I just love the Lord, just kind of turning to his creation and saying shut up and just kind of calming it all down. 1131s

Well, that's for another day. 1139s

What you have here then in Revelation 20 is you have this image of this internal peace. 1143s

And so when it says, the first earth has passed away and the sea was no more. 1148s

That is, imagery language to communicate that the chaos that is very familiar with us, 1156s

because of the reality of sin, because creation is groaning in travail. 1164s

The chaos here in heaven is gone. It is gone. The sea is gone. 1168s

Jump over now to verse 8. 1179s

But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, the murderers, the fornicators, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars, 1186s

their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death. 1194s

That is not, again, an all-inclusive list. Those are simply examples with regard to sin. 1203s

And remember, it is not sin that in the end condemns. It is the spurning of the Savior who has died for our sin. 1210s

You see, if we all had to attain a sinlessness to arrive into heaven, heaven is going to be vacuous. 1221s

It is going to be God. What is communicated here is just a partial list of those who have been thrown into the second death, 1230s

not because of their particular sins, but because they have spurned the Savior and the redemption that is ours through the Savior. 1240s

So in other words, when they stand before God on judgment, they are simply cloaked in their own supposed righteousness. 1249s

They are simply cloaked in their own sinfulness instead of for the Christian being cloaked in their righteousness, that is ours. 1256s

Let's go now to verse 9 of chapter 21, verse 9 of chapter 21. 1267s

In one of the seven angels, who had a seven bulls full of the seven last plagues, came and said to me, 1274s

come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the lamb. 1281s

And in the spirit, he carried me away to a great high mountain and showed me the Holy City Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. 1287s

It has the glory of God and a radiance like a very rare jewel, like Jasper, clear as crystal. 1296s

It has a great high wall with 12 gates and at the gates, 12 angels. 1307s

And on the gates are inscribed the names of the 12 tribes of the Israelites. 1312s

On the east, three gates, on the north, three gates, on the south, three gates, and on the west, three gates. 1317s

And the wall of the city has 12 foundations and on them are the 12 names of the 12 apostles of the lamb. 1323s

Okay, remember this is the poccaliptic imagery. 1332s

This is symbolic type of imagery here. 1335s

When you let scripture interpret, scripture, what's the symbolism here of this? 1339s

First, jumping back into verse 9 again, one of the seven angels, so that the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues, came and said to me, 1344s

come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the lamb. 1355s

The bride, the wife of the lamb, is who? 1362s

It's the church, right? It's the church. 1367s

And just as a reference here, 2 Corinthians 11, 2 and Ephesians 5, 22 to 23, are helpful passages that help you arrive at that conclusion. 1370s

Notice that the city has 12 gates and on which are written the 12 tribes of Israel and has 12 foundations on which are the names of the 12 apostles. 1385s

The number 12, when you see it in scripture, it symbolizes the church. 1397s

So we know here in this image here that we're talking about the church, it's the bride of the lamb. 1403s

We see the symbolism of the number that has simply lifted up in the symbolic portrayal of heaven itself. 1408s

And we know that this is the beauty of the church in heaven. 1415s

Okay, jump now to verse 15. 1422s

The angel who talked to me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. 1425s

The city lies four square. 1433s

It's length the same as its width. 1436s

And he measured the city with his rod, 1500 miles. 1439s

It's length and width and height are equal. 1443s

He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which the angel was using. 1447s

The wall is built of Jasper while the city is pure gold, clear as glass. 1454s

What we see here in this portrayal of heaven itself is that city is a perfect cube. 1462s

It's a perfect cube, that's a verse 16. 1471s

Now, when you think back, here's a Bible trivia question on Jeopardy. 1475s

Okay? So, Alex, what was the shape of the holy of holies in the tabernacle? 1482s

Okay? You're ring real quick, and what do you think it is? 1494s

You need it in the form of a question, however. 1498s

What is the cube, Alex? 1503s

Right. 1505s

And so, what you have here is you have the picture of heaven, right? 1506s

You have the picture of heaven, and it's harking back to the holy of holies back in the tabernacle in the Old Testament, 1510s

of which the high priest could only go once a year. 1518s

Now, the high priest, Jesus, has come, and the temple now is open for all of the believers. 1521s

But the image here of heaven is this perfect cube. 1531s

Also, it's got reference to the Trinity itself, one God, three persons. 1538s

Okay, chapter 21. 1546s

Let's pick up in verse 22. 1551s

I saw no temple in the city for its temple is the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb. 1554s

And the city has no need of sun or moon or shine on it for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 1562s

The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. 1571s

Its gates will never be shot by day, and there will be no night there. 1577s

People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations, but nothing unclean will enter it. 1583s

There are anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life. 1590s

Notice here in the imagery, there is no need to close the gate. 1599s

Now, when you think back in ancient day, why did people close the gate? 1607s

It was a form of protection, right? 1613s

What's being communicated here, there's no need to close the gate, because there's no army that's going to march against us. 1616s

There's no predators, there's no evil here. 1626s

The gate can be wide open. 1630s

And notice that there is no darkness in heaven. 1634s

There's no darkness in heaven. 1638s

What's the most common fears of a child? 1640s

It's fear of the dark, right? 1643s

That's why so often with a child sometimes goes in the belt. 1646s

There's a little night light that's simply there, because darkness can be so dark. 1651s

Why is it that sometimes we say, I don't want to travel there after dark, because we're afraid of physical safety, for our families, safety. 1659s

If the car breaks down, where do you go? 1675s

Darkness is so often associated with evil, with sinfulness. 1680s

And in heaven, there is no darkness. 1686s

There's no evil, there's no sin that is found in the city. 1690s

What a glorious picture. 1695s

Got one minute left, I just want to highlight one more thing here. 1698s

Revelation chapter 22, 1702s

then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb, 1705s

through the middle of the street of the city. 1713s

On either side of the river gets this, is the tree of life. 1715s

Where we heard about the tree of life. 1721s

It's back in Genesis, right? 1724s

All of a sudden, in heaven, the tree of life emerges once again. 1726s

What is God doing as you look at the story from Genesis to Revelation, but God is restoring the garden. 1733s

God is restoring the garden. 1741s

And in heaven, there is the beauty of intimate communion with God Himself, just as Adam and Eve had with God before the fall. 1743s

But what gorgeous imagery, just to expand on what we talked about in other portions of Scripture last week, 1756s

that Revelation gives to us. 1763s