In what at least one person has referred to as, quote, “the best movie scene I’ve ever watched,” in this part of Avengers: Endgame, we see the Avengers assembling for their final battle. On its own, that would be cool enough. But this scene is especially poignant because many of those gathering having just been resurrected from the dead.  Five years before this moment in the MCU, half of the universe was snapped from existence. They were gone, seemingly forever. But then the Avengers brought them back—they resurrect them from the dead—in order to fight against Death.

On its own, this is a great scene—but I think it’s made all the more powerful by its clear parallels to the story of Scripture.  You see, Scripture also speaks of a final defeat of Death (at the hands of someone who died in order to save everyone else, no less) and the resurrection of the dead.  And we’re thinking about an Avengers-style resurrection today not just because of Endgame, but because the story that Scripture tells us says that, someday, we will all experience a resurrection from the dead.

The past several weeks here at Conciliar Post, we’ve been in a series called The Good Place, where we’ve explored ideas about heaven, hell, and the afterlife. As we’ve looked at these ideas, we’ve learned that death is not the end—there’s an afterlife that we need to be ready for. And we’ve seen how Scripture speaks about different destinies for humanity, namely, the Bad Place and the Good Place.

Not the End of the Story?

But today, we’re looking at the news that not even the Good Place and Bad Place are the end of the story. No, no. According to Scripture, no matter what you think about the Good Place and the Bad Place, those places are not where you are doing to spend eternity.  Yes, I know you may have heard that you’re going to spend eternity in heaven, perhaps even in church. But that’s not quite what Scripture says.  Yes, there’s an afterlife, there’s a life after death. But Endgame is more accurate that you might think, because there’s also a life after the life after death.

There are several passages of Scripture that point to this, but perhaps the clearest is Revelation chapters 20 and 21. For context, most commentators—even when they disagree on everything else that Revelation says—largely agree that this end section of Revelation speaks to the end of time and the time beyond time. Now, when the Bible talks about the future, things get confusing. But I think we can still decipher at least the general picture of what Revelation says happens at the end. Listen with me, beginning in Revelation 20.11:

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” (Revelation 20.11-21.8 NIV)

Alright, so this is what some people refer to as Judgment Day, the time at the end of time when everyone will be resurrected from the dead in order to stand before God and give an account of what they’ve done in life. People don’t come back through portals in space-time, but this is still people coming back from the dead.  And what’s important to note here is that this is something that happens after people have been in the Good Place or the Bad Place. What’s being described here is NOT what happens after death—it’s what happens after what happens after death. And result of this moment of judgement is either the second death or ending up in the new heavens and new earth.

In other words, your destiny isn’t just life after death—it’s life after life after death. Death isn’t the end of your story—and neither is the afterlife. At the end of all things, everyone will be resurrected from the dead.  Jesus spoke of this in John 5.28-29 when He said, for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.  In the words of N.T. Wright, “Salvation, then, is not ‘going to heaven’ but ‘being raised to life in God’s new heaven and new earth.” (SurpHope, 198) In other words, those following Jesus will experience resurrected and restored reality in the New Heavens and New Earth.

Now, I know that might be a lot to wrap your head around, especially if you’ve operated under the assumption that you’re going to spend eternity in heaven if you’re following Jesus. So I want to make sure we’re really understanding what life after life after death means for us. And I think there are several things worth noting.

Reality Will Be Changed

First, it means reality will be permanently changed.  The Apostle Paul puts it this way: in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. (1 Corinthians 15.52) Scripture uses numerous images to describe what’s happening here, including the great harvest, the victorious battle, the colonization of earth by citizens of heaven, new birth, and the marriage of heaven and earth. But my favorite way to talk about this is as restoration.

Have you ever restored something? Have you ever taken something that was broken or battered and made it like new again?  One of my proudest moments from this past year was buying an old lawn tractor at an auction—one that didn’t run and had all sorts of problems—and then restoring it to life again! Now, I sold it before I made it completely new. But the act of taking something that doesn’t work and then giving it new life—that’s restoration!  And that’s how we need to about the new heavens and new earth—not as replacements for this reality, but as this reality restored.  Sometimes, Christians will say that the world is not our home—but that’s just not the story that Scripture tells. Scripture tells us that, in the beginning, God created the world for us. And it tells us that here at the end, the world will be restored as our eternal home.

God Wins

This connects to another key part of God’s story: that God wins.  Disease, disaster, and death aren’t the end of the story. God is. The enemies of God—Sickness, Sin, Satan, those who follow him—they don’t win. God wins. And if God really and truly defeats His enemies, then we should expect His victory to be total and complete.

In human warfare, victory is rarely complete. Even a quick look at military history will tell you that. As one example of many, in World War I, the Allied Powers defeated the Central Powers and even forced reparations out of them. But twenty years later, many of the same countries were at war again. Whatever victory was supposed to occur at the end of World War I was hardly complete—in fact, many historians trace certain causes of World War II directly to the “victory” of World War I. And that’s just one example of the many we could point to about how claiming victory over an enemy is not the same as completely defeating them.  But when we look at God’s final victory over disease, disaster, and death, we see the message of complete and total and utter victory. God wins—totally and forever.

Brokenness Doesn’t Change God’s Story

And this, I think, communicates something vital but often overlooked: that brokenness doesn’t change God’s Story.  God’s plan for reality wasn’t overthrown by the rebellion of evil. God didn’t envision one thing, only to have Adam and Eve irreparably screw things up. God’s plans for the world weren’t irrevocably ruined by Satan.

You know how our plans go. Our plans are constantly having to change. When Hayley and I tried to buy a house back in 2022, nothing went according to plan. We had to adapt and change on the go, we had to give up certain ideas and adopt new ones. We ended up doing something totally different than what we envisioned.  But that’s not how God’s plans work.  It’s not that God created us, we screwed up, and now there’s a change of plans to fix things. No, what happened is that God created us, we screwed up, and then Jesus came to fix what was broken and make it even better than before.  God really wins. And it’s a complete victory. It’s restorative victory. It’s victory that makes things even better than the way they were before. Things will be radically different—radically renewed—but the new creation will have continuity with the creation in which we’re living right now.

Resurrection Restores

And all of this happens through resurrection.  Someday, the world will be restored—and we will be too. Paul puts it this way in 1 Corinthians 15.42-44: So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.

Our restoration occurs in our resurrection. We’ll be changed and God will have His final victory. In the same way that a new heavens and new earth will be changed, so also these bodies will be restored. Our bodies—the bodies we have right here and now—will be raised from the dead and transformed into immortal bodies.  To again hear from Paul: When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15.54-55) And speaking as someone who has plenty of problems with this body, I’m really looking forward to my restored, resurrected body.

And in case you’re wondering, this is why Jesus’ resurrection is such a big deal in the New Testament. Because not only is Jesus’ resurrection the death blow to death itself, but it’s a sign of our coming resurrection from the dead too.  To hit you with Paul one more time: If there is not resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. (1 Corinthians 15.13-14) In other words, Jesus’ resurrection gives us hope—hope for our future resurrections and for the life after the life after death.

And THAT is why life after life after death is a such a big deal. Because the end of the story isn’t escaping the brokenness of this world for the fun things of the Good Place. No—God’s victory is more total than that. The end of the story is restoration and resurrection from the dead. THAT is what we get to look forward to.

This post originally appeared as a message at Arise Church.

Image courtesy of URC.