In the first part of this series on understanding hell, the various scriptures discussed about Hinnomdale (my translation of gehenna, the valley of destruction caused by the fire of God's corrective judgments) involved our experience of God's fire in everyday life. Of the twelve uses of Hinnomdale (usually translated "hell," for some odd reason), seven of them were discussed. Three of the remaining five verses have to do with the same line of thinking that what was already shared (Matthew 18:9, 23:15, and 23:33). The final two uses of Hinnomdale have to do with experiencing God's fire after death (Matthew 10:28, and Luke 12:5).
In order to fully understand these two verses, we need to understand the two resurrections that Jesus, Paul and John all talked about. Paul said the hope he stood for was that "there will be a resurrection both for the just and for the unjust" (Acts 24:15). Jesus said that He was going to call all who were in the graves to come out of the graves and to live again (John 5:28-29). The righteous or just people, Jesus said, will experience "the resurrection of life," and the unrighteous or unjust will experience "the resurrection of judgment."
The resurrection of life is for those who believe in Jesus, and have already come into His life. In this resurrection (which John calls the first resurrection in Revelation 20:4-5), righteous believers come to life again, and simultaneously put on immortality (I Corinthians 15:51-54), and death (and the ability to die) is swallowed up by life! We will come alive in body, and simultaneously have the resurrected body made immortal by the glorious life of Jesus -- unable to perish and die anymore. These physical bodies will be alive again, immortal, and glorious, just like Jesus' resurrected body.
In order to understand this resurrection of life (and, for that matter, the second resurrection for the unjust), it is critical to have a clear definition of what resurrection means. Resurrection is not to have the soul drift off to heaven to live there forevermore. Resurrection (in both the Greek and the English language) means to stand up again. When we die, we slump down or lie down, and are unable to stand. Only life gives us the ability to stand. Specifically, just as Jesus died then came alive in His physical body, and walked and talked and ate and drank in His body that came to life again by the resurrection power of the Father, so we too will be raised "in a resurrection like His" (Romans 6:5).
In other words, resurrection means "coming alive again in a physical body in the physical realm." Or, as I often say, "resurrection is standing up again in the body on the earth." The reason I say "on the earth" is that is how Jesus was raised, and that is where we will be raised. Right here on the earth. Right here in the physical realm.
Similarly, the unjust will come alive again in the body on the earth. The difference, however, is that they will not put on immortality. They will come alive again in mortal (able to die) bodies. They do not have the life of Jesus, so they cannot be made immortal. But they will be alive in the body. That is what Jesus meant when He said he would call them out of the graves, out of the tombs.
This resurrection, the second resurrection, is similar to the people that Jesus raised from the dead during His ministry as He walked on the earth. There was, for example, the twelve-year-old girl who died (Jesus calling it sleep, because He was about to awaken her out of death), the woman's only-begotten son who had died, and Lazarus. These all came alive again in their mortal bodies, and later died again, and went back to sleep in graves or tombs, because they were still mortal.
So, the unjust will come alive again in their physical bodies, and will be judged by Jesus and the saints (I Corinthians 6:2). What will be the result of this judgment? "Every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord" (Phillipians 2:10-11). Is this not what Paul said it takes to be saved (Romans 10:9-10)? To believe that Jesus is raised from the dead, and to confess Him as Lord? Paul says this will happen to everyone!
Some may say, "Yes, but they did not believe before death." Why does that matter? Jesus has the keys of death and hades (Revelation 1:18). Death is not bigger than Jesus! Death is no problem or obstacle for Him. When these formerly unbelieving and therefore unjust people are before His glory, now believing in Him (like the unbelieving Saul of Tarsus bowed the knee to Jesus and believed, calling Him Lord, after the bright light of Jesus conquered him), will Jesus deny them life? Will He say, "I am sorry, you did not believe before you died?" They might answer, "Why does that matter? We are alive now; we believe now. You are the glorious Lord. We submit to your lordship." Sure, Hebrews 9:27 says, "It is appointed for humans to die once, and after that comes judgment." Indeed! All will be judged, as was said above. And the result of this judgment is that everyone believes and confesses Jesus to be Lord! Then it will come to pass, as God promised long ago, "Be saved all the ends of the earth.... By myself I have sworn: the Word has gone from my mouth in righteousness, and it cannot be turned back, that to me every knee shall bow, and every tongue swear allegiance" (Isaiah 45:22-23).
Since Jesus has the keys of death, He will unlock the gates of death, and let the prisoners out! This is what Jesus meant when He said that the gates of hades will not be able to stand against the church (Matthew 16:18). We are going to storm the gates of hades and of death, knock them down, and let the prisoners out. Then, those prisoners of death and of sin will experience the light and words and fire as we speak the truth to them, and judge their sins, until these words of life and of fire enlighten their darkness, cleanse them from falsehoods, and they agree that they must and will obey the great King, Jesus. They will bow to him willingly, and swear allegiance to Him (Isaiah 45:22,23).
Jesus is bigger than death. He conquered death, and has the keys. "The last enemy to be destroyed is death" (I Corinthians 15:25-26). After physical death is annulled by Jesus calling all people out of the graves, then the state of "being dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1) will be destroyed by judgment and by every knee bowing to Jesus. As John wrote, "whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16). Whoever! This includes those who were once dead. They will see Jesus in His glory, believe in Him (how could one not belive at that point?), and submit to His lordship. They will become one of the "whoever."
Thus, Jesus shall rule and reign until all His enemies (including death, and sin) are put under his feet -- until He conquers all, and all obey Him! (Matthew 22:44, I Corinthians 15:25-27, Hebrews 2:8). Nothing is excluded, as that verse in Hebrews 2:8 says. Thus, His enemies become His footstool (Psalm 110:1). What is His footstool? It is the place of His rest, which is also His house, His temple (I Chronicles 28:2, Psalm 99:5, 132:7, Lamentations 2:1). His enemies become the place of His rest, His house! His enemies become the place where He lives! Is that not what happened to you and me? We were enemies, but we were cleansed by His light giving us faith. Paul was cleansed from his unbelief by the light giving Him faith. So will happen to all people, even the dead, in due time.
Thus, the following scriptures will be fulfilled. "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). "The Father sent His son to be the Savior of the world" (I John 4:14, and John 4:42). "For since by a man came death, by a man has come the resurrection of the dead. For as by Adam all die, so also by Christ will all be made alive" (I Corinthians 15:21). The result will be that "God will be all in all" (I Corinthians 15:28). "He made known to us the mystery of His will,... that in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ" (Ephesians 1:9,10). Thus, Christ was exalted into the heavens "that He might fill all" (Ephesians 4:10). "And the Scripture, forseeing that God would justify the nations by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, 'In you all the nations will be blessed'" (Galatians 3:8). What is this blessing? Two places in Scripture describe it as (1) turning us from our sins, and (2) our receiving the Holy Spirit (Act 3:25-26, Galatians 3:14).
This blessing of the nations means blessing all that are in all of the nations (not just some out of every nation), as it is written, "It shall come about in the last days that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh" (Joel 2:28). God adds in the next verse that it will not only be on the sons and daughters of the Israel of God that the Spirit will be poured out, but also on the slaves (those who up to that point were still in bondage to sin). Thus, "He Himself is the propitiation [peace-with-God sacrifice] for our sins; and not only for our sins but also for those of the whole world" (I John 2:2). "And there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away.... Behold I make all new" (Revelation 21:4,5). "When the kindness of God and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not by works of righteousness we have done, but by His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewing in the Holy Spirit" (Titus 3:4-5). "God so loved the world..." (John 3:16). "God's will is for all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (I Timothy 2:4). Thus, Jesus Christ "gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony [unfolding] in its own times" (I Timothy 2:6). Through Jesus, God worked "to reconcile all to Himself, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace through the blood of His cross" (Colossians 1:20).
Therefore, the glorious passage in Isaiah 25 will be fulfilled, without any qualifications being necessary. "On this mountain [the mountain Jerusalem sits on, the area where Jesus died and rose from the dead] the LORD of Hosts will make for all peoples a feast... and will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces" (Isaiah 25:6-8). And, the book of Revelation confirms this. After destroying death by the lake of fire, and washing those slaves to sin in the waters of the lake of fire, God immediately says that the "tabernacle [dwelling place] of God is with man (humans)" (not just with His people, as it had been formerly, but with mankind in general). He adds that He will wipe away all tears from their eyes, and that "death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain. For the former things are passed away.... Behold I make all things new" (Revelation 21:3-5).
The church is the firstfruits of this salvation, of this taking on newness of life, of this receiving of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:23, II Thessalonians 2:13, James 1:18, Revelation 14:4). And, as firstfruits, we are the first offering to God, which, as explained in the Old Testament, makes the rest of the harvest acceptable to God. The reason for the firstfruit offering is to make the rest of the harvest holy. "If the firstfruits be holy, the whole lump is holy" (Romans 11:16). And, being the firstfruits, God will use us to set free the rest of all of creation, including, as a subset, the rest of all of mankind, by the power and glory of God in us. "For I consider that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that shall be revealed through us. For the eager expectation of the creation awaits the revelation of the sons of God... because the creation itself will be set free from the bondage of corruption into the freedom of the glory found in the children of God." (Romans 8:18-21). The rest of mankind will no longer be slaves to sin, but will be set free by the glory of the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, seeing the Scriptures hold out this glorious hope for all human beings, we no longer have to explain away the great abundance of passages that indicate that all, absolutely all, of mankind will be fully blessed by the blessing of Abraham. Yes, it will happen via suffering and death, via the fires of Hinnomdale -- for us, the firstfruits, as well as those who must experience the resurrection of judgment -- but the glorious end results is that "God will be all in all" (I Corinthians 15:28). That is, He will be everything in everyone. Everyone will be in union with God, in the union of life, so that His nature, His thoughts, His ways, His decision making, etc., will fill us, and we all will be transformed by His nature to live out those same things in our lives. We will all live God's nature for the ages to come.
Thus, as was said earlier, Jesus must reign as King, in His kingdom's dominion, until all enemies (all that contrary to God and is against His beautiful ways and His kind heart, all that is of darkness, of sin, and of death) are subdued and conquered by Him. In the end of His working, there will be no more death of any kind, no more darkness of any kind anywhere in all of creation. The whole creation will be set free. This, my dear friends, is the gospel of the Kingdom of God. This is why there is so much emphasis in the new testament scriptures on the kingdom of God. God shall bless all the nations by having Jesus reign until all that is contrary to God is eliminated, until the destructive fire of God's judgment destroys all evil and all death, and all of creation is set completely free from these things. That is the power of the resurrection, the newness of life that makes all things new.