“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death“
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Christians who die in serving the Lord know a victory that others do not know because death releases them from the hurt of tribulation. They base their victory in the present on their understanding of the future. The Holy Spirit points those who face death to eternity. Those who give their lives for Christ, who are positive toward God (“has an ear”), keep eternal values in view.
He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death
There are two deaths a person can experience: physical and spiritual. Our passage deals with spiritual death, which is eternal death. We die first physically. We die a second death, a spiritual death for eternity, if we do not receive Jesus Christ as our Savior. The book of Revelation refers to the second death four times (Re 20:6, 14; 21:8).
Principle:
The Christian is exempt from the second death.
Application:
There is a death beyond death for the non-Christian. There is no death beyond physical death for the Christian, only eternal life.
God separates those who enter the second death from Himself for eternity. Those who ultimately reject God, He ultimately rejects eternally. The second death hurts more than the first death.
Once a person becomes a Christian, nothing can separate him from God.
“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).
Hi Grant. Thanks for your teaching. I would appreciate clarification on this “We die first physically. We die a second death, a spiritual death for eternity, if we do not receive Jesus Christ as our Savior.” Is everyone not already born spiritually dead? If so, am I to understand that spiritual death (and life) is completed after physical death?
Lori, good to hear from you. Every person is positionally born spiritually dead (Ro 5:12). However, the non-Christian will experience the Second Death (Rev 20:6, 14-15; 21:8), which is eternal separation from God. Death, both physical and spiritual, is separation. Physical death is the separation of the soul from the body. Spiritual death is the separation of the non-Christian from God until he becomes a Christian. The Second Death is separation from God for eternity.