What happens to the billions of human beings who have lived and died without ever knowing the true God?
What about the people who lived centuries before Jesus Christ? What about those born into cultures dominated by religions they inherited from their parents? What about children who died before they were old enough to understand anything about salvation?
Are they lost?
Traditional Christianity has struggled with these questions for centuries, but the Bible provides an answer that is both encouraging and far greater in scope than many realize.
Jesus Christ gave an important clue during one of God’s annual Holy Days. On what John calls “the last day, that great day of the feast,” Jesus stood before the people and cried out:
“If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink” (John 7:37).
Christ was speaking during the Feast season described in Leviticus 23. The symbolism of that final day points toward a time when the opportunity for salvation will extend to those who lived and died without understanding God’s truth. The final day of the Holy Day season is the one Jesus was referring to in his dramatic announcement in John 7!
The Last Day, The Eighth Day
But there is more to this day—and more to God’s plan—than the resurrection of those billions of people. The final three chapters of Revelation describe three great events that bring the human phase of God’s plan to completion and then take us beyond it.
First comes the Great White Throne Judgment and the resurrection of those who never received their opportunity for salvation.
Then comes the final judgment of those who ultimately reject God’s offer of life.
Finally, Revelation takes us beyond physical human existence itself, into the New Heaven and New Earth described in its final two chapters. These three great events are all represented in this final Festival, the Last, or Great Day.
Where is all of this leading? Isaiah gives us an important description of God in Isaiah 57:15. He calls Him the High and Lofty One “Who inhabits eternity.”
God doesn’t just live forever. He inhabits eternity.
And ultimately, the purpose of the One who inhabits eternity is to bring His children into eternity with Him.
The Great Resurrection
Revelation 20 begins by describing the resurrection of God’s saints and their reign with Jesus Christ for 1,000 years. But tucked into that description is an important statement:
“The rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished” (Revelation 20:5). Who are “the rest of the dead”?
After describing the thousand years and the final rebellion that follows, John sees a great white throne.
“I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life” (Revelation 20:12).
These people were dead. They had been dead. But now they are alive and standing before God!
And significantly, the Book of Life is open to them. This isn’t a picture of billions of people being resurrected so God can condemn them for failing to understand something they were never given an opportunity to know.
Jesus plainly said in John 6:44, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.” If they hadn’t been drawn to God’s purpose in the first 6,000 years of human existence–they will be–in the Great White Throne Judgment!
Consider the implications. The overwhelming majority of humanity has never experienced that calling. Billions lived centuries before Christ. Others spent their entire lives in cultures where the God of the Bible was unknown. Some died as infants or young children. Countless others simply believed the religion or philosophy dominant in the culture into which they happened to be born.
Did God lose them? No. Their opportunity is still ahead of them.
Can the Dead Live Again?
Ezekiel was given one of the Bible’s most vivid visions of resurrection. In Ezekiel 37:1–14, the prophet sees a valley filled with dry bones. God asks him, “Son of man, can these bones live?” Then something astounding happens.
The bones come together. Sinews and flesh appear upon them. Skin covers them. Breath enters them. And they live. These aren’t immortal spirit beings. They have been restored to physical life.
Notice their condition before God resurrects them: “Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!” (Ezekiel 37:11).
They believed everything was over. God tells them it isn’t.
He opens their graves, restores their lives and then promises, “I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live” (verse 14).
That helps explain why the Book of Life is open in Revelation 20. These people aren’t resurrected to hear a sentence pronounced against them. They are resurrected to learn, understand and choose.
Isaiah may give us another glimpse of this period. Isaiah 65:20 describes a time when one dying at a hundred years of age is still described as a child. While the passage doesn’t explicitly identify itself with the Great White Throne period, it is consistent with the principle that those resurrected are given time to learn God’s way before judgment becomes final. Think about what such a resurrection means.
People separated by death for thousands of years will live again. Families will be reunited. People who endured some of the darkest periods of human history will awaken to life. Those who never knew Jesus Christ will learn who He is. Those who lived under spiritual deception will finally understand truth.
This isn’t their second chance. It will be their first genuine opportunity.
Eventually Christ’s invitation—“If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink”—reaches everyone.
But Everyone Must Choose
An opportunity for salvation doesn’t remove the necessity of choice. The Bible describes another resurrection and final judgment. Daniel wrote that some of the dead would awaken “to everlasting life” while others would awaken “to shame and everlasting contempt” (Daniel 12:2).
Jesus spoke similarly in John 5:28–29, describing a “resurrection of life” and a “resurrection of condemnation.”
Paul was even more direct, saying there would be “a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust” (Acts 24:15).
God can provide every opportunity. He can teach His truth, demonstrate that His way works, remove Satan’s deception and offer His Spirit. But God allows human beings to choose.
Moses expressed that fundamental principle thousands of years ago: “I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life” (Deuteronomy 30:19).
That choice eventually confronts every human being.
Judged According to Their Works
Revelation 20:12 says the dead are “judged according to their works.” That statement should cause all of us to stop and think.
None of us would want to stand before God claiming that our own record of works is sufficient to justify us.
Paul wrote that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
David asked the question even more directly: “If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?” (Psalm 130:3).
The answer is obvious. None of us. But David immediately adds something that changes everything:
“But there is forgiveness with You” (verse 4).
That is the enormity of what God offers mankind.
The books of our lives contain plenty that needs forgiveness. But Revelation says another book is opened—the Book of Life.
Our past doesn’t have to determine our future. God promises concerning those who repent: “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more” (Hebrews 8:12).
Those resurrected in the Great White Throne will need exactly what Christians need today: repentance, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, God’s forgiveness and His Holy Spirit.
But ultimately, every individual must choose.
When Death Itself Dies
Revelation then describes the final consequences for those who knowingly and ultimately reject God’s offer of life. “Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death” (Revelation 20:14). Notice the terminology.
It is the second death. Those who finally reject God’s offer of eternal life receive the consequence they have chosen. The punishment is permanent because its result is permanent.
Unpleasant as it may seem, this final judgment allows for everyone to choose God’s way or face the “second death.” This also is part of the meaning of the “Last” or “Great Day.”
But something else happens in this passage that is easy to overlook.
Death itself is destroyed.
Paul had written about this years earlier: “The last enemy that will be destroyed is death” (1 Corinthians 15:26). For all of human history, death has been our enemy. Every family has experienced it. Every generation has faced it. Every civilization eventually succumbs to it.
But eventually death itself dies. There are no more human beings waiting in graves. No one remains who has not received an opportunity. Everyone who will choose life has chosen it. Death has served its purpose.
The physical human story has reached its conclusion.
But God’s plan hasn’t. There is still a third meaning of this final Feast Day in God’s Holy Day plan.
Beyond the Great White Throne
Revelation 20 ends. Revelation 21 begins:
“Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away” (Revelation 21:1).
Peter described this same future in 2 Peter 3:10–13, when he wrote that the present heavens will pass away and the elements will be dissolved, followed by “new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”
This theme isn’t confined to Peter and John.
Psalm 102:25–27 says the heavens and earth will perish and be changed. Isaiah 51:6 says the heavens will vanish and the earth will grow old like a garment. Isaiah 65:17 speaks of God creating new heavens and a new earth. Jesus Himself said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (Matthew 24:35).
Everything we presently see around us is temporary. God’s purpose isn’t. Then John sees the Holy City, New Jerusalem, descending from God.
And a voice announces: “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them” (Revelation 21:3).
Now we begin to understand where the entire plan has been going. The Millennium isn’t the ultimate goal. The Great White Throne isn’t the ultimate goal. Even the “Great Resurrection” isn’t the ultimate goal.
The goal is family—God dwelling with His children.
What Will Eternity Be Like?
Revelation 21 and 22 don’t tell us everything about eternal life, but the imagery gives us fascinating glimpses.
First, eternity is safe. Revelation 21:4 tells us there will be no more death, sorrow, crying or pain. Satan has been removed. Rebellion has ended.
John describes New Jerusalem as having a great wall, yet Revelation 21:25 says its gates are never closed.
Why build a wall and leave the gates open? Throughout history, cities closed their gates because enemies might enter. But there are no enemies outside this city. There is nothing left to fear.
The imagery is one of complete security.
Perfect Symmetry
John next gives the dimensions of New Jerusalem. Its length, breadth and height are equal (Revelation 21:16).
That recalls the Holy of Holies in Solomon’s Temple, whose dimensions were also equal (1 Kings 6:20). Under the Old Covenant, God’s presence was represented within that inner sanctuary. Access was restricted. A veil separated it from everyone else. But John says there is no temple in New Jerusalem.
Why?
“For the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple” (Revelation 21:22).
There is no restricted room representing God’s presence. There is no veil separating God from His children. In a sense, the whole city has become the Holy of Holies because God dwells with His family. The symmetry is fitting. Nothing is incomplete. Nothing is unfinished.
God began in Genesis 1:26 with the declaration, “Let Us make man in Our image.”
Now the work has reached its intended result.
Unity Without Uniformity
John also says something intriguing about the nations. “The nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it” (Revelation 21:24).
God doesn’t appear to erase everything distinctive about the peoples He created.
Throughout human history different peoples have developed different strengths, experiences, abilities and accomplishments. Tragically, those differences have also produced rivalry, suspicion, nationalism and warfare.
None of those divisions remains here. Whatever is honorable and worthwhile is brought into harmony with God. There is diversity without division and unity without uniformity. The strengths of God’s children contribute to one family.
Beyond Eden
Then we arrive at the final chapter of the Bible. John sees “a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Revelation 22:1).
We’ve seen that water before. Jesus stood on the Last Great Day and cried, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.”
Now the water isn’t pictured as a cup. It is a river.
And beside that river stands something we haven’t seen since the opening chapters of Genesis.
The Tree of Life.
Genesis begins with mankind having access to that tree. Satan enters. Sin follows. Adam and Eve reject God’s instruction and are expelled from Eden. Access to the Tree of Life is removed.
Now look at Revelation. Satan is gone. Sin is gone. Death is gone. The curse is gone.
And the Tree of Life is there again. But God’s plan hasn’t taken mankind back to Eden.
It has taken us beyond Eden.
In Eden there were two physical human beings.
Now there is an immense family of glorified children dwelling eternally with the Father and Jesus Christ.
Does Perfection Mean Nothing Ever Changes?
Revelation 22:2 contains an intriguing statement. The Tree of Life continually produces fruit, and its leaves are “for the healing of the nations.”
That doesn’t have to imply that immortal members of God’s family become sick. The imagery can point toward God’s continuing provision—continuing well-being, benefit and growth.
Sometimes when we think of perfection, we unconsciously picture everything becoming static, as though nothing changes, nothing develops and nothing remains to be accomplished. But why should perfection mean stagnation?
God is infinite.
Could His children ever exhaust everything there is to learn about Him? Could creativity ever be exhausted? Discovery? Accomplishment? Relationships within an enormous family of eternal beings?
Notice how active the imagery of Revelation 21 and 22 is.
The river flows. The tree produces. The nations walk. Their glory and honor are brought into the city. God’s servants serve Him. And Revelation 22:5 says they “shall reign forever and ever.”
Eternal life has purpose.
Purpose doesn’t end when the problems end.
We don’t know everything God has planned for eternity. He hasn’t told us.
But He has told us enough to know that eternity isn’t endless inactivity.
It is life.
The God Who Inhabits Eternity
The Bible begins with mankind losing access to the Tree of Life and leaving the presence of God. It ends with mankind restored to the Tree of Life—and God coming to dwell with His children.
That brings us back to Isaiah 57:15. God identifies Himself as the High and Lofty One “Who inhabits eternity.”
Think about the magnitude of what God has been doing from the beginning. The God who inhabits eternity created human beings so that one day we could inhabit eternity with Him.
The Great White Throne is an essential part of that plan. But it isn’t the end.
It is part of the road to something far greater:
The Great White Throne—and beyond.
For Further Study
The biblical Holy Days provide a framework for understanding God’s plan for mankind. Beginning with the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, they proceed through His return, the establishment of the Kingdom of God, the resurrection of those who have never had their opportunity for salvation, and ultimately God’s purpose of bringing His children into His eternal family.
For a more complete study of these annual festivals and what they picture, the United Church of God offers the free study guide God’s Holy Day Plan: The Promise of Hope for All Mankind | United Church of God It explains each of the biblical Holy Days and how together they reveal the unfolding plan of God.
The booklet can be read online or requested free of charge from the United Church of God at United Church of God