The Coming of the Saviour |
When the baby Jesus was born, He possessed a spirit and a soul and a body. His spirit, we understand, was called Michael - who had stood for God and good in the spirit rebellion. His body, born of the seed of the woman without an earthly father, had no evil in it - He was born with pure blood. Because there was no evil, His soul was not limited in receiving knowledge and understanding from His Spirit. As the child grew, He was overshadowed by the Spirit of the Christ and the Holy Ghost (see Luke 3:21,22).
At His baptism, Jesus entered fully into the presence of God, which was as a tabernacle or tent, in which He dwelt.
During the trial of Jesus, God withdrew the Spirits of Christ and the Holy Ghost, leaving the man Jesus to suffer and bear the reproach. When He died, His spirit returned to God and His soul and body went to the grave.
In His resurrection, Jesus showed two glories:
- the spiritual or celestial when His spirit and soul appeared to Mary, and
- the glorified physical or terrestrial when He appeared to the disciples with God's Spirit plus His own spirit dwelling within His immortal body.
Members of the Christian Israelite Church believe that events towards the end of the world will be along these lines.
As the return of Jesus Christ approaches, there will be a "falling away" from the Christian faith by many. Social forces will tend to divide the world into those who believe in and seek to follow God, and those who do not. In the period just prior to Jesus Christ's return, God will pour out His Spirit to prepare a group of people to be His witnesses to all the earth.
The brightness of Jesus Christ at His coming will physically destroy the living bodies of all those who have not come to follow HIM. At that time, all souls will be called forth with their individual spirits to give an account of the deeds done during their life on earth. After this judgment, if they are found to be righteous, they will become spiritual beings, their spirits and souls being permanently reunited. This if the First Resurrection (see Revelation 20:6). The souls of the unrighteous will be returned to the grave, separated from God, for 1,000 years (see Revelation 20:7;21:8). There will be some people living at the time of Jesus Christ's return who will not be destroyed physically. Some will receive the promise made to the seed of the lost tribes of Israel. They will be a people who will have the Law and Gospel written in their hearts. The number of the people will be 144,000, being 12,000 out of each of the tribes of Israel. There also will be others preserved physically, the number of which is not specifically given in Scripture. These people will attain to different "mansions" in the new kingdom. The 144,000 will be of the faithful group of spirits whose allegiance was to God and Good in the former creation.
During the 1,000 years following the return of Jesus Christ (the millennium), Satan will be bound but will be loosed again for a "little season" after the millennium (see Revelation 20:3). He will then work again on the people born during the millennium who have never experienced his attraction on their evil, to tempt them to do wrong.
The unrepentant souls who will still be awaiting the final resurrection, will watch these activities. They will then come to a realisation that good is better than evil, and they will acknowledge God and His Power - "every tongue shall confess" Romans 14:11. The consciousness of these souls who have been separated from God during the millennium, will cause them great torment (see Isaiah 57:2). This is the state commonly referred to as "hell".
After the "little season", Satan himself will be brought to judgment with those whom he had deceived both in that period and during this life. It will be acknowledged that Satan was the author of all sin, and his power will be taken from him. In doing so, all souls which he has held in the grave (or hell) will become subject to God, and be reconciled to Him through the effectiveness of the sacrifice of Jesus. This is the second resurrection.
"Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold I shew you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality" 1 Corinthians 15:50-53.