Dissonants in Morgenrood Brochure (I)

The Second Death Not Abolished?

Recently, a brochure on 1 Corinthians 15 was published by “Het Morgenrood.” Beautiful things are brought forward in it—no doubt about that. But in my view, two dissonants mar the whole.

Today, attention to the first dissonant, namely that 1 Corinthians 15 may indeed teach that death will be abolished, but that this does not concern the second death. The brochure states that:

1. all people will rise, but not like Christ (the Firstfruit) in incorruption and glory;
2. at the great white throne, many will rise only to end up definitively in the second death;
3. Christ abolishes death as the last enemy at the great white throne;
4. at the beginning of the new creation, God will be all in all—but this does not include all who die in Adam.

Thus the brochure (pp. 31–38).

In these assertions, in my view, a serious reduction is made of what Paul lays out in 1 Corinthians 15. Here is a point-by-point response:

1. Just as all mankind is dying in Adam, thus all shall be vivified in Christ. Does this concern a temporary resurrection, such as what happened to the young man of Nain or Lazarus, for example? No—definitely not. If it were merely about resurrection as such, Christ would not be called the Firstfruit. After all, many had gone before Him. But He was the First to leave death permanently behind. That is the kind of vivification being referred to here. All mankind shall be vivified, just as Christ the Firstfruit was—in incorruption, in glory, and in power.
2. At the great white throne, a resurrection takes place, but for some it will be only temporary. When their names are not found written in the book of life, they are cast into the lake of fire and thus die a second time. Hence: “the second death.” They did indeed die once in Adam, and now die again—but at this point they are, of course, not yet vivified as Christ was.
3. At the great white throne, death is not abolished—it is in fact continued. All who are dead from that point on are dead for the second time, which is why it is called “the second death.” But note: still death. In addition to what has already been mentioned under point 2, there is a second decisive reason why the last enemy cannot have been abolished at the great white throne. That reason is: Christ and His own reign in the following aeon (Rev. 22:3,5). This fact is fatal to the claim made earlier. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul teaches that Christ must reign until death, the last enemy, is abolished. And since Christ most certainly does reign in the aeon of the new heaven and earth, the conclusion is unavoidable: death has not yet been abolished. Equally unavoidable is the conclusion that the last enemy is PRECISELY the second death—for at that point, there is no other death but this one.
4. All who are dying in Adam shall be vivified in Christ. No human being excluded. That is 1 Cor. 15:22.
   Verse 23 states that this concerns vivification as Christ the Firstfruit was vivified—that is, in incorruptible glory.
   Verses 24 to 26 state that this will be accomplished at the completion of Christ’s reign. This must be beyond Revelation 21 and 22, for in those chapters Christ is still reigning with His own.

In summary:
We know WHO the vivification concerns (= all who are dying in Adam).
We know WHAT KIND of vivification it is (= in incorruptible glory).
And we know WHEN the vivification will be completed (= beyond the horizon of Revelation 21 and 22).

It is therefore unmistakable that 1 Corinthians 15 teaches that death will be COMPLETELY abolished. It will be swallowed up in victory. ALL people who were ever mortal in Adam shall LIVE! No one excluded. They shall LIVE, and God will become ALL in them ALL. That—and nothing less—is God’s great ultimate purpose. To that end Christ died and was vivified. His work will not be “finished” until every beloved child of humanity shall live and acclaim Him (Phil. 2:10–11).

Delen: