Temptation and the Last Days

I have just a short post today about how Satan has used Hollywood to influence the rest of the country and the world in a negative way against the Gospel of Christ. There are MANY things I could cite and explain here, but I'm only going to point out one devilish scheme that really denigrates the 'one hope' of the Gospel. To be certain, that one hope is in fact the resurrection of the faithful dead at the second coming of Christ (Eph. 4:4; Acts 23:6; I Thess. 4:16,17). Since the inception of Hollywood and motion pictures, anyone coming back from the dead under any and all circumstances, has been depicted as an evil thing. Not only so, but everyone who has raised from the dead in Hollywood movies has come back to do wicked things, usually to murder people in some ghastly manner. Vampires arise from the grave so that they can suck the blood out of people and make vampires of them also. Zombies come back to life in order to stalk humans and eat them, preferably their brains. The list goes on, but nonetheless it's a fact that according to Hollywood depictions, someone being raised from the dead is something to be very afraid of, and something to be abhorred. Yet in the history of the world and by all accounts in the Bible, every time someone has been raised from the dead it has been done by righteous people, and it has been righteous people who were raised. I'm not going to do a Bible study page here on the topic, but you can do the homework for yourself and see that it's the truth. Every time someone was raised from the dead in the Bible it was a very good thing, not something to be feared or to be seen as ominous.

The most astounding resurrection in the history of the world, apart from the resurrection of Jesus, was when Jesus raised his good friend Lazarus from the dead four days after he died. Mary and Martha, the two sisters of Lazarus, who were beloved by Jesus; were devastated that Jesus had not been there when their brother died, because they knew he could have healed him and saved his life (Jn. 11:19-21). But Jesus told Martha that things would still be alright, with one of the most powerful statements that he ever made: "Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die" (Jn. 11:25,26). Wow! and Amen! Praise God!! Yes indeed my friend, Jesus Christ IS "the resurrection and the life," and those who love him will NOT remain dead, but will rise to meet him when he comes! The hub and reality and power of the whole Gospel is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and he died and rose so that we could follow that act! The bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the most glorious and marvelous thing that has ever happened in this world. Not only so, but when he who IS "the resurrection and the life" comes back from heaven with the armies of heaven with him, the dead who have been faithful to him will join him IN that resurrection and IN that life! And of course those who are alive and faithful will also be changed and caught up to meet him as well (I Cor. 15:52-54). When the righteous dead are bodily raised to life meet their saviour in the air, they will be clothed by him with heavenly glory that will result in an immortal body like his that will never hurt, never age, never get tired, and never die.

The apostle Paul laid out the hope of the Gospel plainly like this: "For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself" (Philip. 3:20,21). I can't speak for you, but to me that sounds like a REALLY GOOD THING!! It certainly doesn't sound like something to be afraid of or something to abhor. In fact it will be the most glorious and wonderful thing that has ever happened to human beings in the history of the world, and there ain't no close seconds! There are in fact two resurrections of the dead stipulated by the scriptures, the second being "the resurrection of damnation" which takes place a thousand years after the "first resurrection of life" (Jn. 5:28,29; Rev. 20:4-6). That is when the unrighteous dead are raised, and they will only be raised to go to the great white throne judgment where they will be judged and sentenced to eternity in "the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death" (Rev. 20:11,12; Rev. 20:8). The unbelieving who are raised from the dead in that resurrection are going to do absolutely no harm to anyone at all, but rather they will be raised only to be judged and to die an eternal, living death. So the bottom line here is that Satan is a liar as usual, and everything he has been able to influence Hollywood to set forth about the dead rising, is nothing but a lie and a farce to undermine the glorious hope of the Gospel and the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead; which in reality was the total and absolute declaration of victory over Satan, sin, and death, for all who entrust themselves to him and abide in him faithfully till the end. No wonder he has tried so desperately to defile that powerful and glorious truth! Amen.