What About Those Who Have Justly Died? – Q&A #4 (Resurrection Handbook – Part 25)

Length: 6 Minutes

Let’s go over a couple more questions regarding those who have justly died and God’s will for everyone to live.

Is it God’s will to raise everyone from the dead? What about people that have undergone capital punishment (executed for severe crimes)? 

Ultimately, it is the will of God that everybody would live. Jesus died for everybody. In a case where someone has been put to death justly to preserve the lives of others, I would defer to the Lord’s judgment. Here’s why.

Obviously, if this person was going to continue to put other people’s lives or safety in jeopardy, the Lord would not raise them right now because God is for the preservation of life, not destroying it (Luke 9:56). So, if one person remaining dead means preserving more lives of the innocent, the Lord would not raise that person right now. That’s a truth. No apologies need to be made for that.

The reason I would defer to the judgment of the Lord is because, like anyone, people who have been executed justly can be changed. There was a criminal being crucified with Jesus, and Jesus made it clear that this man was converted to salvation. So that’s a perfect example of a criminal who would be a good candidate to raise (Luke 23:43).

The Lord knows the results of raising people from the dead, and therefore, as always, we should rely on His leading to work through us. 

In speaking about all of this, do not allow people to make exceptions when it comes to the resurrection of the dead. That is the potential danger when speaking about things like this. People start thinking that there are exceptions to the phrase, “God wants everyone to live.” But there is not. Jesus died for everybody! This includes people who have been executed justly for crimes. God’s will is for everyone to live. Full stop. It’s just a matter of whether raising that person from the dead would result in more harm to human life or not, because God is for preservation of life.

Ezekiel 33:11 (NKJV) Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.

How do we reconcile the vengeance of God with resurrection?

If you have been around Reform Church long enough, you know that God is not judging anyone for their sins anymore. But there is a kind of vengeance that God does demonstrate today. There is a vengeance that God takes in defense of the church, toward anyone that would oppose us or harm us. This deserves a lengthy explanation, so consult our other teachings on this topic. This is a particular kind of vengeance that applies today, in the new covenant. It’s a vengeance that God takes, not against people, and not for their sins, but for the safety and defense of the church (Romans 12:9).

For those that know that this is a reality, what place does this vengeance have with resurrection? There are moments in the Bible (even in the New Testament) where God has put people to death or threatened their life when they were trying to harm the church (such as Nabal, Ananias and Sapphira, and Abimelech when he took Abraham’s wife, in Genesis 20:3). How does this make sense with God’s desire for people to live and be raised?

None of this contradicts God’s desire for people to live. This vengeance that we’re speaking about is not God devaluing human life. It is God prioritizing the lives of his children when someone forces that decision upon Him. 

When someone who will not receive from God comes against someone who has, if the church will receive it, God will not allow an unbeliever to harm a believer (namely, His bride, the church).

This is the exact scenario that Pharaoh found himself in, when he came against the children of Israel. This was before the law, so you know that God was not judging him for his sins (Romans 4:15 and 5:13). This was purely defense for the people of Israel. God ended Pharaoh’s life, because of the threat he was to the lives of God’s people. God’s will was for Pharaoh to live as well, but God’s obligations are to his kids who have received from Him. 

In a situation like that, someone is going to get harmed, either the person posing the threat or the church being threatened. And if the church will receive it, God will ensure that it’s not the church.

You would certainly harm someone in defense of your children, if a person came to harm them. Is that because you devalue the other person’s life? Is that because you don’t want them to live? No, you were faced with a choice of whose life to prioritize. So you prioritized the lives of your innocent children, whom you have an obligation to. You would do the same for your family or for your country.

So this vengeance is not a contradiction with God’s desire for people to live. This is God prioritizing life, when someone poses a threat, not God devaluing even the lives of those who don’t believe on Him. 

In fact, the disciples wanted Jesus to call fire down from heaven and consume a group of people, but Jesus rebuked them and said that He did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. Here’s the interesting thing: Jesus said this specifically about a group of people that had rejected Him in unbelief. He did not want to destroy their lives. He came to save them (Luke 9:56). And they did not pose a threat to His disciples, so there was no need for this type of vengeance. It’s a perfect example of how Jesus is not even destroying the lives of people who don’t believe. 

This vengeance we’re talking about is not for people’s unbelief. It is not for their sin. In fact, it’s not against them at all. It’s for the church (Isaiah 54:15).

We had a part of this series where we stated that God is not killing people to “call them home to heaven.” This is entirely true. God is not arbitrarily putting unbelievers to death, let alone calling a believer home to heaven. This defense against threats to the church does not contradict that at all. 

Death is a bad thing that Jesus came to redeem everyone from. It’s never a good thing. And it is certainly not used as a utility to bring Christian’s home to heaven. God is always for life. But when God’s kids are under threat, and God is faced with a choice of who will end up being harmed, you can be sure that his obligations are toward those who have believed and are willing to receive from Him. 

It’s not a devaluing of life. It’s a prioritization of life when someone forces that choice upon Him. 

Please listen to our teaching on this topic, because there’s much more to learn. 

Read the whole handbook here

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