Revelation 20:4-6 - The Difference Between Life and Death
“I was envious - of the arrogant - when I saw the prosperity - of the wicked.” Have you ever felt that way? Those words are from Psalm 73 in the OT. They summarize a normal experience for those who trust in and obey God: we see people going against God’s ways often with seemingly better results.
And so it can appear as though the difference between believers and non-believers
favors the non-believers. We begin to think that those who reject Christ are better off.
But God’s Word repeatedly urges us not to think that way.
There is a tremendous difference between knowing God and not knowing Him. Those who know Him enjoy the benefit in this life and after this life, though it’s not always obvious to us on this side of the grave. But we need to see and understand the difference in order to walk by faith in our lives.
So what’s the difference? What difference does it make whether you believe in Jesus and follow Him now or not?
Well, simply put, it’s the difference between life and death.
Jesus reveals this in Revelation 20. He uses this vision to help his people come to the same conclusion that the writer of Psalm 73 came to. Remember, he was envious of the arrogant when he saw the prosperity of the wicked. But if you read further in his psalm, he says, “Behold…the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches…when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end.”
In these few verses of Revelation 20 today, Jesus Christ brings us into the sanctuary of God – so we can see and understand.
Now in the first three verses of the chapter, we learned that with the coming of Christ into world, Satan has been bound for the gathering of God’s people to Himself. As Jesus says in Mark 3, the strong man has been bound. As He says in John 12, the ruler of this world has been cast out, and Christ the Son is drawing people from all nations to Himself. During “the gospel age” – a period of time in which we now live, which is referred to symbolically as 1000 years – God's enemy is restricted so that the gospel may spread and the Church may grow. And during this time, those who trust in Jesus are set free from sin and death to love and obey God.
But in verse 4, there’s a new scene in John’s vision – thrones in heaven. The sanctuary of God!
In the books of Daniel and Matthew, these thrones are associated with the saints in glory. Christ reigns (or rules), and His people reign with Him.
Now, I’ll say more on what it means to “reign” shortly, but one aspect of the reign, you see here, is “the authority to judge.” To understand this, let’s begin with the original audience – the early church for whom John first wrote down these visions. So many martyrs were dragged before the Roman government and judged by their persecutors. They were put to death and went to be with Jesus in eternity. But they were right. God was with them – and in heaven with Christ, they sit alongside Him. They sit with the divine Judge – on his side. So, the tables have turned. The roles have flipped.
And this next sentence confirms it. John sees, “the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.” 1000 years is a long time from a human perspective, but it’s no more than a day to God. These Christians who were executed on earth were immediately resurrected in heaven.
The end of verse 5 calls their entrance into heaven “the first resurrection.” This first resurrection is the event of dying in Christ and ascending to reign with Him. The soul of the believer leaves earth and goes to heaven. And there, the believer “comes to life.” They live again.
This is so encouraging for anyone who has seen their dear loved one or friend die in Christ. Death feels so final. That’s one reason why we grieve as we do. But we have great hope. Eternity for a Christian is filled with life and freedom. Free from sin, from pain and death. And one signal of that hope – one sign of the life and freedom of heaven – is the life and freedom that those who trust in Christ by faith have right now – in this life.
You see, for believers, sin is no longer our living lord. Sin doesn’t rule over us. I’m sure if you’re a Christian, your actual experience with this feels very up and down. Sin affects us but it does not have the absolute control it had when we were dead in sins. We have been made, as the apostle Paul says in Ephesians 2, “alive in Christ.”
And so here’s the first point for you: those in Christ experience life and freedom now;
upon death, they will continue to, but in much greater measure. We will be brought to life then and we will reign with Christ then. But Scripture teaches that believers are alive in Christ now and we reign with Him now.
Have you ever heard that – that we reign with Him? What does it mean? This is fascinating. It makes so much sense. Reigning with Christ results from the restoration of how humans were created in the beginning.
William Hendriksen points out that in our originally created state in the image of God, mankind “held the threefold office of prophet, priest, and king.” Maybe you’ve heard of these. The prophet knows and speaks God’s truth. The priest can come to God in worship, and the king rules and subdues God’s world. Hendriksen says that when man was made, “As prophet his mind was illumined so that he knew God. As priest, his heart delighted in God. As king his will was in harmony with God’s will. This threefold office, lost through the fall, is restored by God’s grace.”
When a person is born again by God’s Spirit, they can know, love, and obey God. Hendriksen says, “The joyful response of the believer’s will to the will of Christ – that response which is true freedom – is the basic element in this reigning with Christ. Even during the period before death Christians rule the world by means of their prayers, in the sense that again and again judgments occur in answer to prayer.” Christians reign with Christ even as we live this life – and in death we will continue to, but with much greater measure. This is not the experience of everyone.
John sees another group in this vision. In verse [5] he sees “The rest of the dead.” This group is contrasted with the group in verse 4. These are the ones who worshiped the beast and its image, and they received its mark. These are non-believers who have died. John says they, “did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.”
Does this imply that when non-Christians die they go into a comatose-type state? No, it doesn’t. Various other passages tell us that those dead in sins die and they go to hell. What’s being contrasted here is not a conscious group and an unconscious group. Rather, one group experiences life and freedom after death on earth, and the other group experiences the opposite of that after they die.
Those who die dead in sins will continue to be on the other side. Their experience now is death and bondage. They are slaves to sins. So they can’t truly know, or love, or obey God. Those who are not born again cannot please God, but faith is necessary for that.
And so this second point comes into focus here: that those without Christ experience death and bondage now; upon death, they will continue to, but with much greater measure.
The spiritual state of these two groups intensifies tremendously upon death. Take a look at the end of verse 5. John adds, “This is the first resurrection.” But he’s not referring to what happens to these non-believers when Christ returns. Notice in verse 6 that John speaks of “the second death.”
In these verses, he explicitly mentions “the first resurrection” and “the second death.” So, logically, there must be a second resurrection and a first death.
Let me try to clarify this. The first death is when you die in this life. It’s physical. Both Christians and non-Christians experience it. But Christians enter eternal life, while non-Christians enter separation from God. This is the only death Christians experience, because Christ has defeated death for us. The second death is something only non-Christians experience. It’s also spiritual. This will occur when Christ returns.
Now, the first resurrection is something only Christians will experience. It’s spiritual. This happens when we enter heaven and God’s holy presence after we die. And the second resurrection is something that both Christians and NCs experience. It will be physical, and it will occur when Christ returns. The souls of believers will be united with our resurrected, immortal bodies, and we will be with Christ. The souls of non-believers will be united with their bodies, at which time both soul and body will be sent to hell.
Simon Kistemaker has a good summary of this. He writes, “Those who belong to Christ die once but rise twice (spiritually and physically), whereas those who have rejected Him rise once but die twice (physically and spiritually).”
The difference is not always glaringly obvious to us on this side of the grave. But it’s no less true. And it’s no less real.
Now look at verse 6. John concludes that “Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection!” This confirms that only believers experience it. Then he says, “Over such the second death has no power.” That confirms that only non-believers experience that.
Notice the benefit to believers. John says, “but they will be priests of God and of Christ,
and they will reign with him for a thousand years.” “Blessed and holy” describes all of the people of God, both living on earth and living in heaven. We see that over and over in Scripture. And elsewhere in the Bible, it’s confirmed that all who are in Christ are, in a sense, priests and kings right now.
How so? Well, as priests we can go before God in worship. And as kings, we reign alongside God. A priest can bring acceptable worship to God, and a king can offer acceptable service to God. This reflects God’s promise all the way back in Exodus 19. God told ancient Israel, “if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’”
If you trust in Christ today, you are secure in that covenant of God. We heard this earlier today in worship from 1 Peter 2, where the apostle Peter told the churches and tells us today: “you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
If you are in Christ, these realities are yours now: to know, and love, and serve God. Upon death, these glorious joys will only increase in intensity. Increased joy. Increased peace. Increased comfort and blessing. But if you are not in Christ, there will only be an increase in pain, and emptiness and death, for you will be much further from God than you are right now.
And so here’s our final point today: consider the present and future state of your relationship to and with God. Are you with Christ? Do you have Christ? It’s the difference between life and death.
Let’s bow in prayer as we go now to the Lord’s table.
And so it can appear as though the difference between believers and non-believers
favors the non-believers. We begin to think that those who reject Christ are better off.
But God’s Word repeatedly urges us not to think that way.
There is a tremendous difference between knowing God and not knowing Him. Those who know Him enjoy the benefit in this life and after this life, though it’s not always obvious to us on this side of the grave. But we need to see and understand the difference in order to walk by faith in our lives.
So what’s the difference? What difference does it make whether you believe in Jesus and follow Him now or not?
Well, simply put, it’s the difference between life and death.
Jesus reveals this in Revelation 20. He uses this vision to help his people come to the same conclusion that the writer of Psalm 73 came to. Remember, he was envious of the arrogant when he saw the prosperity of the wicked. But if you read further in his psalm, he says, “Behold…the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches…when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end.”
In these few verses of Revelation 20 today, Jesus Christ brings us into the sanctuary of God – so we can see and understand.
Now in the first three verses of the chapter, we learned that with the coming of Christ into world, Satan has been bound for the gathering of God’s people to Himself. As Jesus says in Mark 3, the strong man has been bound. As He says in John 12, the ruler of this world has been cast out, and Christ the Son is drawing people from all nations to Himself. During “the gospel age” – a period of time in which we now live, which is referred to symbolically as 1000 years – God's enemy is restricted so that the gospel may spread and the Church may grow. And during this time, those who trust in Jesus are set free from sin and death to love and obey God.
But in verse 4, there’s a new scene in John’s vision – thrones in heaven. The sanctuary of God!
In the books of Daniel and Matthew, these thrones are associated with the saints in glory. Christ reigns (or rules), and His people reign with Him.
Now, I’ll say more on what it means to “reign” shortly, but one aspect of the reign, you see here, is “the authority to judge.” To understand this, let’s begin with the original audience – the early church for whom John first wrote down these visions. So many martyrs were dragged before the Roman government and judged by their persecutors. They were put to death and went to be with Jesus in eternity. But they were right. God was with them – and in heaven with Christ, they sit alongside Him. They sit with the divine Judge – on his side. So, the tables have turned. The roles have flipped.
And this next sentence confirms it. John sees, “the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.” 1000 years is a long time from a human perspective, but it’s no more than a day to God. These Christians who were executed on earth were immediately resurrected in heaven.
The end of verse 5 calls their entrance into heaven “the first resurrection.” This first resurrection is the event of dying in Christ and ascending to reign with Him. The soul of the believer leaves earth and goes to heaven. And there, the believer “comes to life.” They live again.
This is so encouraging for anyone who has seen their dear loved one or friend die in Christ. Death feels so final. That’s one reason why we grieve as we do. But we have great hope. Eternity for a Christian is filled with life and freedom. Free from sin, from pain and death. And one signal of that hope – one sign of the life and freedom of heaven – is the life and freedom that those who trust in Christ by faith have right now – in this life.
You see, for believers, sin is no longer our living lord. Sin doesn’t rule over us. I’m sure if you’re a Christian, your actual experience with this feels very up and down. Sin affects us but it does not have the absolute control it had when we were dead in sins. We have been made, as the apostle Paul says in Ephesians 2, “alive in Christ.”
And so here’s the first point for you: those in Christ experience life and freedom now;
upon death, they will continue to, but in much greater measure. We will be brought to life then and we will reign with Christ then. But Scripture teaches that believers are alive in Christ now and we reign with Him now.
Have you ever heard that – that we reign with Him? What does it mean? This is fascinating. It makes so much sense. Reigning with Christ results from the restoration of how humans were created in the beginning.
William Hendriksen points out that in our originally created state in the image of God, mankind “held the threefold office of prophet, priest, and king.” Maybe you’ve heard of these. The prophet knows and speaks God’s truth. The priest can come to God in worship, and the king rules and subdues God’s world. Hendriksen says that when man was made, “As prophet his mind was illumined so that he knew God. As priest, his heart delighted in God. As king his will was in harmony with God’s will. This threefold office, lost through the fall, is restored by God’s grace.”
When a person is born again by God’s Spirit, they can know, love, and obey God. Hendriksen says, “The joyful response of the believer’s will to the will of Christ – that response which is true freedom – is the basic element in this reigning with Christ. Even during the period before death Christians rule the world by means of their prayers, in the sense that again and again judgments occur in answer to prayer.” Christians reign with Christ even as we live this life – and in death we will continue to, but with much greater measure. This is not the experience of everyone.
John sees another group in this vision. In verse [5] he sees “The rest of the dead.” This group is contrasted with the group in verse 4. These are the ones who worshiped the beast and its image, and they received its mark. These are non-believers who have died. John says they, “did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.”
Does this imply that when non-Christians die they go into a comatose-type state? No, it doesn’t. Various other passages tell us that those dead in sins die and they go to hell. What’s being contrasted here is not a conscious group and an unconscious group. Rather, one group experiences life and freedom after death on earth, and the other group experiences the opposite of that after they die.
Those who die dead in sins will continue to be on the other side. Their experience now is death and bondage. They are slaves to sins. So they can’t truly know, or love, or obey God. Those who are not born again cannot please God, but faith is necessary for that.
And so this second point comes into focus here: that those without Christ experience death and bondage now; upon death, they will continue to, but with much greater measure.
The spiritual state of these two groups intensifies tremendously upon death. Take a look at the end of verse 5. John adds, “This is the first resurrection.” But he’s not referring to what happens to these non-believers when Christ returns. Notice in verse 6 that John speaks of “the second death.”
In these verses, he explicitly mentions “the first resurrection” and “the second death.” So, logically, there must be a second resurrection and a first death.
Let me try to clarify this. The first death is when you die in this life. It’s physical. Both Christians and non-Christians experience it. But Christians enter eternal life, while non-Christians enter separation from God. This is the only death Christians experience, because Christ has defeated death for us. The second death is something only non-Christians experience. It’s also spiritual. This will occur when Christ returns.
Now, the first resurrection is something only Christians will experience. It’s spiritual. This happens when we enter heaven and God’s holy presence after we die. And the second resurrection is something that both Christians and NCs experience. It will be physical, and it will occur when Christ returns. The souls of believers will be united with our resurrected, immortal bodies, and we will be with Christ. The souls of non-believers will be united with their bodies, at which time both soul and body will be sent to hell.
Simon Kistemaker has a good summary of this. He writes, “Those who belong to Christ die once but rise twice (spiritually and physically), whereas those who have rejected Him rise once but die twice (physically and spiritually).”
The difference is not always glaringly obvious to us on this side of the grave. But it’s no less true. And it’s no less real.
Now look at verse 6. John concludes that “Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection!” This confirms that only believers experience it. Then he says, “Over such the second death has no power.” That confirms that only non-believers experience that.
Notice the benefit to believers. John says, “but they will be priests of God and of Christ,
and they will reign with him for a thousand years.” “Blessed and holy” describes all of the people of God, both living on earth and living in heaven. We see that over and over in Scripture. And elsewhere in the Bible, it’s confirmed that all who are in Christ are, in a sense, priests and kings right now.
How so? Well, as priests we can go before God in worship. And as kings, we reign alongside God. A priest can bring acceptable worship to God, and a king can offer acceptable service to God. This reflects God’s promise all the way back in Exodus 19. God told ancient Israel, “if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’”
If you trust in Christ today, you are secure in that covenant of God. We heard this earlier today in worship from 1 Peter 2, where the apostle Peter told the churches and tells us today: “you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
If you are in Christ, these realities are yours now: to know, and love, and serve God. Upon death, these glorious joys will only increase in intensity. Increased joy. Increased peace. Increased comfort and blessing. But if you are not in Christ, there will only be an increase in pain, and emptiness and death, for you will be much further from God than you are right now.
And so here’s our final point today: consider the present and future state of your relationship to and with God. Are you with Christ? Do you have Christ? It’s the difference between life and death.
Let’s bow in prayer as we go now to the Lord’s table.
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