God's Plan for Mankind: Resurrection and Redemption

(Last Great Day—Oct. 24, 2024)

James Farnsworth—November 9, 2024

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I got these names from the cemetery around the corner. You can probably say that these names that I listed, probably didn't know God's Truth. They didn't know God's Plan that we have here today. But they're not lost!

God still has a plan for them. Our involvement in the Kingdom of God will be very exciting. We will be very busy carrying out the jobs that we will have in God's Kingdom.

We will be serving. We will be caring for and teaching the billions who will be resurrected within this timeframe that's represented by the Last Great Day, the day that we're observing today. We all have family and friends, that we wonder why God did not call them.

We know they're not lost. This day pictures the time when all that I've heard, God's Truth, and the way of life will now be given the opportunity to learn, grow, and be part of God's Family. It pictures one of the most exciting events that we can imagine.

As for us now, we look forward to the resurrection of our loved ones that we miss. We all have a relative. We all have a father, mother, son, daughter, aunt, uncle, grandfather whom we miss and we look forward to seeing again. This day pictures this time, and we're going to be part of it.

Jesus Christ can empathize with our nature, having become one of us, because we have to go through our lives struggling and overcoming. We also will have a strong bond with those whom we will be working with.

We go home today with so much hope, so much encouragement. This Last Great Day pictures a time when those who died in war, those that's lost limbs, killed in accidents, those who were born blind or were blinded, those who were lame, who died in sickness, they will be resurrected with a healthy body, living in a world that will become perfect, a world without:

• crime
• prejudice
• war
• hatred
• lust
• poverty
• the senseless slaughter

that we have in this world today!

It's hard to imagine a world without all these evil things. Imagine a world where everyone cared about one another. We do not see that today. It will be real in our lives. We're preparing for that time. We will be part of that time. We will have good health. Clean air, good food will be available for everyone. This will be a time when there won't be many gods in the world. There will be the one true God!

• it will be right teaching
• no more superstitions
• no more wives tales

It'll be a time of freedom!

Satan will at last have been bound. It will be a time when his hateful influence over God's creation, which has been here from the beginning, will have at last been removed. It will be a time when all mankind who's ever lived will be called by God. They will be given a chance to repent of all their mistakes just as we've been given a chance to repent of ours.

They will have the opportunity to become the very members of God's Family. They will see their teachers, us!

• God is preparing us now to serve
• God is preparing us to govern

To care for, and teach the billions whom need taken care of, whom will need to be taught. This Last Great Day pictures that time!

We look at ourselves in a mirror. We may not think much of ourselves, what we are today, but God looks at us and He sees the perfect future rulers that He must have to bring about this Last Great Day; that's why we're here at this Feast. Each one of us is learning through the experiences that we go through in our lives, and that helps us to help those pictured on this Last Great Day.

• Are we sowing good seeds?
• What have we accomplished since last Feast?

Maybe we've not been the greatest success, if you measure success by the world today. Think of all the seeds that we've sown. The good, the bad that we've tried to replace with the good. This is all necessary for God's Plan to be complete because of all the experiences that we've gone through and that we've lived through.

These things will help us to relate to and help those whom we're going to work with during this period of the Last Great Day. Christ gave us the example to follow and we're going to follow that exact pattern that Jesus Christ followed. We're following it and being made priests and kings as Christ is our High Priest.

He had to go through the sufferings of this world to become perfect. To understand what it's like to be a human being and what we go through. Think about what Christ went through, because we will probably go through some of the same things. We will understand the struggle. This is the training ground that we are in now, and because of Jesus taking on the nature of man, a bond was formed. A bond of oneness between Him and the people that He died for. He understood what it was:

• to hurt
• to be hungry
• to be up all night healing, driving out demons
• the frustrations that people had
• the fears of the people

Because of all He experienced, He had a great compassion for them. That's what we're going to experience, as well. We have to go through this life struggling to overcome the lessons and blessings of living correctly. We will have to teach those ways.

• we will be tender
• we will be understanding
• we will be merciful toward them
• we will have a great desire for those we work with in the world, because we want them to make it into God's Kingdom
• we will understand what we went through and what they have to go through to make it into God's Kingdom
• we will be able to work and help them to realize that they can have the same thing that we have

They will know and understand what we had to go through to be able to get into God's Kingdom, and they can have that awesome future, as well.

As Jesus Christ, our faithful High Priest, is trustworthy, they will learn to trust us. We will encourage and they will overcome and we can tell them that it's not impossible, because they will see us. They will know that we made it through.

At this time, Jerusalem will be the focal point of government and the whole world will look to the headquarters of God for guidance on how to please the Father and how to live. You and I will be right there at the same time learning how to administer, to follow God's Laws in their deepest intents.

The Millennium will be a time of rest, a thousand year Sabbath for those coming out of the end-time catastrophes. And for us, as well as them, it will be a time of restoring, building, growing and undoing the incredible damage left in the wake of 6,000 years of man's misrule.

We see now the tremendous opportunity that we're going to have to rebuild, refashion, to take from scratch what God has in mind to rebuild what this earth needs. God intends that we comfort the people.

Isaiah 40:1: "'Comfort ye, comfort ye, My people,' says your God. 'Speak comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she has received of the LORD'S hand double for all her sins'" (vs 1-2).

That will be the time when mankind—who has had extremely poor government all their lives-- will governed by those whom God has called. See how important our training is now? We will be the ones who will be teaching these things.

Our leadership will picture strength, compassion, power and gentleness. We will be learn in that environment to be ready for the awesome responsibility that's coming before us.

Slowly God develops us, bringing us to the level of the world that we are in today. We will be learning in that environment to be ready for the awesome responsibility that's coming before us. Slowly God develops us, bringing us to the point He wants us to be. We're still in that training. That's why we're here at God's Feast. We're learning and growing.

The earth is going to have to be reshaped and rebuilt. This is the time when the animals will be taking on a new nature. The deaf, the blind, the lame will be healed.

Ezekiel 36:33: "Thus says the Lord GOD, 'In the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the waste places shall be rebuilt. And the wasteland shall be tilled, instead of being desolate before all who pass by'" (vs 33-34).

There will be plenty of food during this time for all. We are able to serve in a greater fashion. He brings us up slowly and He's training us now for that position.

Now the Millennium is just about over and the earth has become a virtual paradise and then Satan is released for a short time.

Revelation 20:7: "Now, when the thousand years have been completed, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison; and he shall go out to deceive the nations that are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, of whom the number is as the sand of the sea, to gather them together for war. Then I saw them go up upon the breadth of the earth and encircle the camp of the saints, and the beloved city; and fire came down from God out of heaven and consumed them; and the Devil, who deceived them, was cast into the Lake of Fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet had been cast; and they, Satan and the demons, shall be tormented day and night into the ages of eternity" (vs 7-10).

God the Father, His Son, all the hosts of heaven, and the spirit beings who have waited all this time, the converting of all mankind, that will take place, the entire world, except those who refuse to be part of what God plans for us. Some will reject God's way of life.

• the earth has been made ready to house the people
• the mountains have been lowered
• the fields are planted and fertile
• their homes, their farms, the earth now is at rest, waiting for what God has in mind

It is prepared to feed the billions who are going to be resurrected!

We've been made ready to receive and teach them about God because of all we've been through.

Verse 5: "(But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were completed.)…"

That's this day today, the Last Great Day that pictures all mankind who hasn't heard God's Truth and way of life. They will be raised, and we will be teaching them.

Ezekiel 37:1: "The hand of the LORD was on me, and brought me by the Spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of a valley, and it was full of bones. And He made me walk among them all around. And behold, very many were in the open valley. And lo, they were very dry" (vs 1-2).

Verse 3: "And He said to me, 'Son of man, can these bones live?' And I answered, 'O Lord GOD, You know.' Again He said to me, 'Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, "O dry bones, hear the Word of the LORD. Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones, 'Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews on you, and will bring up flesh on you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live. And you shall know that I am the LORD'"'" (vs 3-6)

Verse 7: "So, I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a noise. And behold, a shaking! And the bones came together, a bone to its bone. And as I watched, behold the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them above. But there was no breath in them" (vs 7-8).

Verse 9: "And He said to me, 'Prophesy to the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, "Thus says the Lord GOD, 'Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain that they may live.'"' So, I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army" (vs 9-10).

Verse 11: "And He said to me, 'Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, "Our bones are dried and our hope is lost; we ourselves are completely cut off." Therefore, prophesy and say to them, "Thus says the Lord GOD, 'Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, and will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the LORD when I have opened your graves, O My people, and have brought you up out of your graves. And I shall put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. And you shall know that I the LORD have spoken it and have done it,' says the LORD"'"" (vs 11-14). God will do these things!

• How many is the whole house of Israel? We don't know!
• How many will be resurrected on this Last Great Day?
• 50 billion?
• 60 billion?

One thing we have to keep in mind is that each one that will be resurrected will be completely unconverted. But God has it worked out!

We will have the full use of our powers, our mind, plus we will have a thousand years of training under Jesus Christ. We will be ready to serve all the beings that will come up. This is part of God's Plan, as well. He has it perfectly worked out.

There seems to be a time limit imposed by God here. Here's where God tells us He makes all things new, and He seems to give the indication here that there will be a 100-year period after the Millennium for the beings to live in.

Isaiah 65:17: "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth. And the former things will not be remembered, nor come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and I will joy in My people; and the voice of weeping will no more be heard in her, nor the voice of crying. There will not be an infant who lives but a few days, nor an old man that has not filled his days, for the child will die a hundred years old; but the sinner who is a hundred years old shall be accursed" (vs 17-20).

So here we see that God gives the people that will be resurrected, each person, a full life to truly understand the opportunity that he or she has been given to be able to learn God's way, God's Truth.

They will be given a time to overcome and to be accepted into God's Family. What will these people have to learn? They'll have to learn everything, because they will be unconverted.

They will have to learn the basics down to the difficult things. There will have to be a common language as is brought out in Zeph. 3, This shows how much God loves his people.

Repentance will come, but these changes will not come overnight, because we know that our changes did not come overnight. It has taken you and me many years to accomplish and build the character that we have, and it will take them time, as well.

God is not going to change anyone into a spirit being who's not fully prepared to live happily throughout all eternity.

What problems will we have to address in God's Kingdom? False religions, many have concepts of how they worship! Whomever they worship, they will have to be addressed and they'll have to be taught God's Way; the God Who is the only true God!

Prejudices have existed forever in the world; they will have to be addressed. This is who we are going to train. There will be hatred, anger and resentment. This will have to be dealt with.

I don't feel like it will take long before they will see the way of life that we've been living and look at our example. It's not going to be an easy job, but it will be an awesome job, because we will be in God's Kingdom. The years of anger and hatred will have to be overcome and replaced with true forgiveness.

When we think of the Last Great Day, do we always think of our loved ones that are dead being resurrected? We don't really understand that in our mind because when I'm with some of my family years past, they did not like the Truth.

But now we've got to look at them differently. We're going to be part of God's Family, and we're going to teach them the way of life that leads to salvation. When this takes place, God's desire for mankind will have been fulfilled.

Revelation 20:11: "Then I saw a great white Throne and the One Who was sitting on it, from Whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God; and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged out of the things written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and the grave gave up the dead that were in them; and they were judged individually, according to their works. And death and the grave were cast into the Lake of Fire. This is the second death. And if anyone was not found written in the Book of Life, he was cast into the Lake of Fire" (vs 11-15).

All the people who've ever lived will find themselves in one of two categories: They will either have become immortal members of the God's Family, or they will have ceased to exist.

There's two ways, because God will not allow anyone in His Kingdom who doesn't overcome and grow. But, brethren, even with all these things that have taken place, the events of the Last Great Day still are not complete.

1-Corinthians 15:22: "For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the Firstfruit; then those who are Christ's at His coming. Afterwards the end comes, when He shall have delivered up the Kingdom to Him Who is God and Father, when He shall have put an end to all rule and all authority and power. For it is ordained that He reign until He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For He has put all things in subjection under His feet. But when it is said that all things have been put in subjection, it is clearly evident that it does not include Him Who put all things in subjection under Him" (vs 22-27).

In other words, God the Father gave Jesus Christ the job of subduing the earth, converting the world, and now that's finished.

Now we all rejoice in that God's Millennial Plan for the world and for us is complete. Christ has successfully carried out God's Plan. The entire universe will have been brought into subjection and everything will be under control.

Revelation 21:1: "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice from heaven say, 'Behold, the Tabernacle of God is with men; and He shall dwell with them, and they shall be His people; and God Himself shall be with them and be their God. And God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall not be anymore death, or sorrow, or crying; neither shall there be any more pain, because the former things have passed away.' And He Who sits on the Throne said, 'Behold, I make all things new.' Then He said to me, 'Write, for these words are true and faithful'" (vs 1-5).

 It will be a brand new age. A fabulous city will come down from heaven. Read about New Jerusalem. Read about the walls, the foundations, and what they were made of, the strength, the length, the breadth, the height.

Verse 23: "And the city has no need of the sun, or of the moon, that they should shine in it; because the glory of God enlightens it, and the Light of it is the Lamb. And the nations that are saved shall walk in its light; and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honor into it" (vs 23-24). They will go there to learn and grow!

Verse 25: "And its gates shall never be shut by day; for there shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. And nothing that defiles shall ever enter into it, nor shall anyone who practices an abomination or devises a lie; but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life" (vs 25-27).

Rev. 22 concludes the final chapter of the meaning of the time referred to as the Last Great Day. Jesus leaves an admonition to us to not let down on our calling. It's easy to grow weary in this evil world we live in today, but we have to stay strong, and we have to understand:

Revelation 22:12: "And behold, I am coming quickly; and My reward is with Me, to render to each one according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last. Blessed are those who keep His commandments, that they may have the right to eat of the Tree of Life, and may enter by the gates into the city" (vs 12-14).

This means we're working to clean up our lives now and yielding ourselves in obedience to Christ, following Him, living by every Word of God, not just the parts that we like that are easy. This means that we have to work. We have to plant the right seeds in our lives: 'We reap what we sow'!

• it means to be reconciled to each other, that we hold no grudge
• it means that we should not be judging each other over foolish little things

Instead, we need to have a deep respect, impatience, and Godly love, one toward another!

Why do we need to do that? Because that is the way that God lives, and that is the way that God wants us to live!

It means to turn from Satan's way to God's way. God wants us to do this so that we will not perish. God doesn't want anyone to perish in this world.

We're told not to love the world or the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him!  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, that's not of the Father, but it's the world.

And the world passes away, and the lust thereof. But he who does the will of God abides forever. Jesus wants to remind us that the city that's established on earth by God the Father will be inhabited only by who? By the righteous!

• God does have a plan
• He's working it out
• He's called us to be part of it

Scriptural References:

• Isaiah 40:1-2
• Ezekiel 36:33-34
• Revelation 20:7-10
• Ezekiel 37:1-14
• Isaiah 65:17-20
• Revelation 20:11-15
• 1 Corinthians 15:22-27
• Revelation 21:1-5, 23-27
• Revelation 22:12-14

Scripture referenced, not quoted: Zephaniah 3

JF:bo/po
Transcribed: 11/13/24

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