THE LAST DAYS
By the sending of His Son, God inaugurated the last days. Therefore the church waits eagerly for the consummation of the divine plan in Christ. Prior to that, the human body at death returns to the dust from which it came. The soul of the Christian goes immediately to be with the Lord, while the souls of the unsaved enter into torment. The climax of God’s plan will include the personal, visible return of Jesus Christ from heaven as King of kings and Lord of lords; the bodily resurrection and judgment of believers unto eternal life; the bodily resurrection and judgment of the wicked unto eternal punishment; and a new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness dwells, where the saved will live eternally with the Lord. The Bible does not focus so much on the details and order of final events as on how believers are to live in light of these things.
Heb. 1:1-2; Rom. 8:22-25; 1 Cor. 15:20-28; Gen. 3:19; Ps. 104:29; Luke 16:19-31; Luke 22:43; 2 Cor. 5:6-8; Phil. 1:21-24; Matt. 16:27; Acts 1:11; 1 Thess. 1:10; 1 Thess. 4:16-17; 1 Tim. 6:14-15; Rev. 19:16; Dan. 12:2; John 5:28-29; Acts 24:15; Isaiah 65:17; 2 Pet. 3:13; 2 Cor. 5:9-10; 2 Pet. 3:11-15; 1 John 3:2-3