From Start to Finish – A Beautiful Story
Last Great Day 2022
(Sermon Notes) By Warren Zehrung 10/17/2022
We begin with the Offertory. When we are looking forward to the Feast each year, there is an eager anticipation – need I say, a great expectation. We’ve saved up our second tithe – and we’ve made our plans. God says:
Deuteronomy 14:26 You shall bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul wishes after, for beef, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desires: and you shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and you shalt rejoice, you, and your household.
Have you ever noticed how that before the feast you are thinking about all those wonderful meals? But, about two-thirds through the feast, that big steak or that prime rib is not as tantalizing as it once was when the feast began.
In fact, I find myself saying, I think I’ll have a sandwich today – that is what my soul desires. Now, that is not a bad thing. Sharon and I have a favorite little Mom and Pop restaurant; it is a sandwich shop that we love.
They make the best sandwiches we’ve ever eaten. One sandwich I like is called the “AVOCADO SUNSHINE.” It will make your mouth water – even at the Feast. It comes with: spinach, turkey breast, avocado, tomato, sunflower seeds, house dressing, Swiss cheese, and sprouts.
And all those delicious ingredients are held together by your choice of bread.
We have come to the Last Great Day — the greatest of all the Feasts of the Lord. In my sermon today, I am going to use the analogy of the sandwich.
The sandwich is one of the easiest meals a person can make.
You start with one piece of bread. Then you put all your ingredients on it, and then you top it off with a final piece of bread.
Voilà – there it is – the perfect sandwich!
So here is what I am going to do today. We’ll let the first slice of bread represent everything God was contemplating and envisioning before He ever began the creation.
Then, we’ll let all the superb ingredients in our sandwich be all the details of the 7,000-year Plan of God – from creation until the final judgements and adjudications of the Great White Throne Judgment. Jesus Christ, on His throne, makes the final Judgment.
That is when, with everyone who has ever lived will come before Him, and Jesus will determine who will go on to eternal life – and who will go into the Lake of Fire.
That time period was completed at sunset yesterday as we finished the seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles.
Then we’ll finish off our sandwich with the top piece of bread which will represent this final feast – the Last Great Day. Our sandwich literally represents all the Bible has to say about what God is doing.
So there is our sandwich in basically three parts:
- Before the creation is our first piece of bread…
- All the ingredients represent the Plan of God
- And then today, the final piece of bread – the Last Great Day caps it all off.
To have a proper perspective, let’s go back before the beginning of creation, and start with God the Father and Jesus Christ.
Title: From Start to Finish – A Beautiful Story
To start with, God the Father and Jesus Christ were spirit beings, and they were the only two beings that existed. In fact, nothing else existed. There were two spirit beings (John 4:24, God is Spirit:) There was not anything else in existence.
No Light, no Dark, no Up, no Down, no right, no left, no East, no West nor North or South. There were no angels, no universe, no world, no hills nor depths of oceans – nothing!
Only Jesus and His Father existed.
My specific purpose is to correct a misinterpretation about the Great White Throne Judgment and the Last Great Day that occurs all too often. These two Feast Days are not the same event, and they are not synonymous terms. They cannot be used interchangeably. They take place at different times.
To understand the difference, we can separate the 7,000-year Plan of God from God’s activities prior to creation, and after the Great White Throne Judgment when this earth will pass away.
Prior to creation is the period represented by the first slice of bread.
After the Great White Throne Judgment is the time period represented by the second slice of bread. These slices of bread bracket the Plan of God.
Revelation 21:1 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.
Brethren, when this earth has passed away, the Plan of God on earth will be completed and finished. He will have created sons and daughters to live eternally with Him. That is what this earth is for.
Why did God come up with His Plan if the first place? The goal of God’s 7,000-year Plan is to bring many sons and daughters to glory [their salvation] (Hebrews 2:10). That is the glory Jesus received again at His resurrection (John 17:5). His Plan will be completed and will have taken place when the Last Great Day begins. Brethren we were created for a purpose – and that purpose far exceeds the joys of the Millennium.
End: Offertory, We will now have Special Music and take up the offering.
The Title of today’s sermon is: From Start to Finish – A Beautiful Story
OK, we were speaking of that first slice of bread on our sandwich – representing everything God was envisioning before He ever began His Plan, starting with the creation.
How can we know today what the Father and Jesus were considering prior to creation beginning at Genesis 1:1 – before they put their Plan into action?
The Plan of God will culminate in man being thrust forth as brilliant eternal spirit beings into the immortal Family of God at the Last Great Day.
That is after the Great White Throne Judgment of Revelation 20:11.
There were no people back at Genesis 1:1; there were no prophets or witnesses to what Jesus and the Father were actually thinking back before creation.
How then can we be privy to the interactions between the Father and Jesus?
Inspiration before Creation
Actually, we know a great deal about their thoughts before creation, because many of the things they were reflecting upon were later revealed to the prophets and writers of the Bible. They were thinking about how they would recreate and expand their very God Family. They would change mere man into God beings like themselves (1John 3:2).
Jesus, Himself, tells us that the Father loved Him before the foundation of the world (John 17:24).
We will see that pure Godly wisdom preceded the creation. The first Divine attribute was pure Godly wisdom.
God the Father and Jesus Christ purified Their Wisdom thoroughly, “seven times over” before they began their Beautiful Story.
Psalm 12:6 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. [methodically and thoroughly, systematically and exhaustively smelted – leaving only 100% sterling silver]
That means that God considered every contingency to the Nth degree – Before He began His creation. Jesus’ brother James wrote of God’s wisdom:
James 3:17 The wisdom that is from above is first pure…
The Scriptural record is clear – God possessed pure Wisdom before the creation ever began. God had not yet made an angel, a star—nothing.
Let’s begin in Proverbs 8 where the Beautiful Story of the Last Great Day begins. Wisdom speaks. This is wisdom personified speaking:
Proverbs 8:11 “I am Wisdom…”
God fashioned wisdom, God developed pure wisdom.
This is wisdom personified here – if Godly wisdom could speak…
Proverbs 8:22 The LORD possessed me [wisdom] in the beginning of His way, before his works of old. [before creation itself.]
Even before the earth existed, there was Godly Wisdom.
Proverbs 8:23 I [wisdom] was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.
Proverbs 8:24 When there were no depths [ocean depths], I [wisdom] was brought forth; when there were no fountains [springs] abounding with water.
Proverbs 8:25 Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I [wisdom] brought forth:
Proverbs 8:26 While as yet He [God] had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world.
Before there was a universe:
Proverbs 8:27 When He prepared the heavens, I [wisdom] was there: when He set a compass upon the face of the depth:
Proverbs 8:28 When He established the clouds above: when He strengthened the fountains of the deep:
Proverbs 8:29 When He gave to the sea His decree (Genesis 1:9-10), that the waters should not pass His commandment: when He appointed the foundations of the earth:
The wisdom of God is a most wonderful thing:
Proverbs 8:30 Then I [Wisdom] was by Him, as one brought up with Him: and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him;
Working in the English language, we miss out on many of the original Hebrew language’s idioms, nuances and subtleties. We have received this translation of: Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
But, early Hebrew writings express Genesis 1:1 in another deeper way because of expressions in the words we tend to overlook:
Genesis 1:1 With wisdom, God created the heavens and the earth.
Wisdom is the starting point of all existence and found in every facet of creation. God wisely envisioned the entire history of the world – even to the most minute detail.
What did the Father and Jesus say to one another? What did they do? What were they thinking? Thankfully, they gave many of the answers of these questions to the Prophets of Old – who recorded them in the Bible for our edification.
We are told by Jesus that He and His Father’s Plans were so comprehensive that they included a list of the names of His people who would be in the Kingdom of God on the Last Great Day (Matthew 25:34, Revelation 17:8). God’s Plan was so comprehensive that you and I brethren were included in it from before creation:
Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
Ephesians 1:4 According as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.
Today, we are nearing the end of the 6,000 years since the creation began. Very soon, just after the coming Tribulation and the fulfillment of the Day of Atonement, we will be going into the Millennium to finish the 7,000-year Plan of God.
The Millennium ends with the final judgements and adjudications of the Great White Throne Judgment.
Jesus, as Judge, will make the final decision as to who will go into the Lake of Fire and brimstone, and who will inherit the Kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world (Ezekiel 18:4,20, Matthew 25:31-46, Romans 6:23).
Matthew 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the [eternal] Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Let’s look at the second slice of bread that brackets our sandwich. It is a beautiful story! From start to finish.
Now we have come here to the Last Great Day which begins after the 7,000-year Plan of God. That is still a thousand years from now.
We will finish the beautiful story of how God the Father and Jesus Christ will realize their desire on the Last Great Day with a host of their Saints in their eternal Family.
Brethren, here is an important question to ask ourselves. “What comes after the Millennium at the end of the 7,000 Plan of God?” We know the answer to that question. “We have now come to the Last Great Day.” It comes after the 7,000-year Plan of God. It is the time of new beginnings after the harvest. Eight “8” carries the idea of a new beginning.
In the Old Testament, it is called simply, the 8th Day:
Leviticus 23:36 Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: [that is the Feast of Tabernacles] on the eighth day shall be an Holy Convocation unto you. [note that the eighth day is a separate Feast Day]
Brethren, is the eighth day a part of the 7,000 Plan of God, or is it a distinct Feast that ushers in the realization of the goal of God Himself?
If I asked you which of the seven Feasts of the Lord is the greatest, which would you pick? We certainly seem to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles in a big way. In John 7, Jesus is observing the Last Great Day.
We have come to the Last Great Day — the greatest of all the Feasts of the Lord. That is why it is referred to as the last day, that great day of the Feast.
We get the name, the Last Great Day, from a reference to this day by Jesus Christ in John 7:
John 7:37 In the Last Day, that Greatest Day of the Feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
John 7:38 He that believeth on me, as the Scripture has said, out of His belly shall flow rivers of Living Water.
The New King James Version has these words of Jesus crying out – “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
You might note here how Jesus mentions Living Water, an obvious inference denoting the Holy Spirit (John 7:39). In the Last Great Day, everyone will be spiritual beings because this earth will have fled away (Revelation 20:11).
There will be a new earth! Not this one we are standing on now! This earth will have been utterly obliterated – before the coming of the Day of God.
Then, the Greatest Day of God will be ushered in at the Last Great Day—and the time of the New Heavens and a New Earth will begin as we saw in:
Revelation 21:1 And 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.
It should be clear that a delineation takes place after the Great White Throne Judgment at the end of the Millennium, and prior to the Last Great Day. All whose names were not written in the Book of Life, the incorrigibly wicked, will have been judged by Jesus according to their evil works and cast into the lake of fire prior to the Last Great Day. (Revelation 20:15).
Jesus will reign and rule over the Earth in the soon coming Millennium. And then He will relinquish everything to His Father at the Last Great Day—and be subject unto Him.
Jesus will be enthroned as King of kings, and Lord of lords during the Millennium, but there will come a future time at the Last Great Day, when God the Father will be over all.
On this day, today, we are noting the interval between this temporary physical earth – not yet purified, and the perfect Everlasting Spiritual Kingdom of God in the New Heavens and New Earth. We see here the separation between the physical Earth—ruled by Jesus Christ during the Millennium—and the Eternal Spiritual Kingdom of God.
Day of God
The Day that God has looked forward to since before creation began is the Day the Father and Jesus will see many sons and daughters brought to glory in their eternal Family. Peter put it this way:
2Peter 3:12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the Day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
Christ must reign over mankind until He has vanquished all things that are contrary to God’s perfect way. Those who are called to become the Father’s firstborn children of His new creation will have been redeemed from sin by the blood of Jesus Christ (Exodus 34:20).
Ezekiel 43:27 …upon the eighth day… I will accept you, says the Lord GOD.
God the Father will then reclaim the Kingdom placed under the rule and care of Jesus Christ until Jesus shall have put down all rule and all authority and power (1Corinthians 15:24).
In the end, when Jesus has completed His work on earth, including the 1,000-year span of the Millennium, He will yield up the Kingdom of God on earth to God the Father’s sovereignty at the Last Great Day (1Corinthians 15:24).
1Corinthians 15:24 Then comes the end…
The End of what? The end of the millennium, the end of the earth, the end of Christ’s rule over the Kingdom of God on earth, the end of Christ’s enemies, the end of death, the end of the heavens, the end of the universe, the stars, the sun and the moon, the end of the galaxies, the sky, asteroids, the end of everything physical.
1Corinthians 15:24 Then comes the end, when He [Jesus Christ] shall have delivered up the Kingdom to God, even the Father; when He, [Jesus Christ] shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
Jesus will have been been ruling as King of kings, and Lord of lords; over the entire earth for the entirety of the Millennium.
1Corinthians 15:25 For He [Jesus Christ] must reign, till He [God the Father] has put all enemies under His [Jesus Christ’s] feet.
Psalm 110:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD [the Father] said unto my Lord [Jesus Christ], Sit thou at my right hand, until I [the Father] make thine enemies thy footstool.
Hebrews 10:12 But this man [Jesus Christ], after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God [the Father];
Hebrews 10:13 From henceforth expecting [waiting] till His enemies be made His footstool.
No sin, deceit or corruption of any kind will enter into the eternal Kingdom of God. All will be pure, holy, perfect, and without blemish before God.
1Corinthians 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
Death was never a part of the Plan of God. Jesus will remove death.
1Corinthians 15:27 For He [God the Father] has put all things under His [Jesus Christ’s] feet (John 13:3, Psalm 8:6). But when He says all things are put under Him, it is manifest that He [God the Father] is excepted, which did put all things under [Jesus Christ].
Let’s ask ourselves why Paul mentions that the Father puts all things under Jesus Christ’s feet? I believe what is happening here is a legal requirement in the court of heaven, equivalent to the Father’s acceptance of Christ life’s work as in the Wave Sheaf Offering when, after His crucifixion, He ascended into heaven (John 20:17). Certainly Jesus Christ’s life’s work was acceptable—and yet it required the Father’s ratification and stamp of approval for acceptance.
Leviticus 23:11 And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you:
God the Father expressed His approval of His Son a number of times:
2Peter 1:17 For [Jesus Christ] received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to Him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
In the same way that it was necessary for Jesus Christ to receive the Father’s formal ratification and stamp of approval after His life’s work two-thousand years ago, Paul shows us in 1Corinthians 15:27, when the Father says that He has put all things under Jesus Christ’s feet, that He officially accepts Jesus’ work of the Millennial Kingdom as well.
To understand this concept more fully, we must realize that the Father was in Jesus the entire time doing the miraculous works. 2Corinthians 5 clarifies how God the Father was in Christ in everything Jesus did—and yet, the Father gives His Son, Jesus Christ, all the credit for a job well done.
2Corinthians 5:19 …God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself.
As we come to the commencement of the Last Great Day, Jesus will have accomplished the entire 7,000-year Plan of God on earth perfectly, and will be delivering up (vs 24) all the righteous and perfected Saints into His Father realm. The Father will once again place His stamp of approval on Christ by ratifying and exonerating His work. Indeed, Jesus is the successful, victorious conqueror and His Father accepts, recognizes and puts all things under Jesus Christ’s feet (Psalm 8:2,4,6)! Paul specifically quotes (Psalm 8:6). The Father is recognizing that the work of Jesus is successfully completed.
Having established the Kingdom of God on earth, we know that it is Jesus Christ who is reigning and ruling on the earth, who shall have delivered up the Kingdom to God, even the Father.
1Corinthians 15:28 And when all things shall be subdued unto Him [God the Father], then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him [God the Father] that put all things under Him, that God [the Father] may be all in all.
All in all, refers to the time when all things righteous will have come together within God the Father’s sinless divine realm.
The Last Great Day stands alone—it goes on forever—all eternity with the Father! In my analogy, the Last Great Day is the second slice of bread.
Revelation 21:2 And I John saw the Holy City, New Jerusalem, coming down from God [the Father] out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Hebrews 11:10 For [Abraham] looked for a City which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
This is it, the Holy City, New Jerusalem! That is what Abraham sought! Not Old Jerusalem, but New Jerusalem, a city comprised of the Saints of God!
The theme of John’s Gospel is, “Jesus as the Son of God.” John wanted to go farther back than any of the other Biblical writings in order to include to the entire beautiful story that Jesus had shown him. In my analogy, John is painting a picture of that first slice of bread – before creation began. It is the oldest story in the Bible – here in John Chapter 1. John is revealing what God the Father and His Son, Jesus were doing before the world began.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
A part of that Wisdom is that God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ would handle differing roles within the 7,000 year Plan of God.
God the Father would live a “hallowed,” Holy, perfect existence – no sin or imperfection ever coming into His Holy presence (Isaiah 59:2).
That is the very reason why the entire earth had to be purged entirely, previous to the Last Great Day!
Jesus Christ would die for mankind – having become sin, in our stead. God the Father would have to gloriously raise Jesus back to the eternal glory that He had before the world. Remember how Jesus prayed:
John 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
What an incredible Plan they had – even before anything existed. Jesus goes by a lot of different names because many of them describe the numerous roles, duties and responsibilities that He carries. We, God’s people, may speak of Jesus Christ boldly – because His true identity has been revealed to His brothers and sisters, but not the world. Here in John 1 we find that the beloved apostle, John, calls Jesus by the name “Word” or more correctly in the Greek, Logos.
John 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.
John reveals that Jesus and God the Father were together at the beginning of our beautiful story. There was nothing else in existence, no space, no angels, no universe or planets.
John 1:3 All things were made by Him [Jesus]; and without Him was not anything made that was made.
John 1:4-5 In Him [Jesus] was life; and that life was the light of men. And the light shone in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
To this very day, the world does not comprehend how Jesus meticulously observed these annual Holy Days that we are privileged to keep – that reveal the Plan of God – – truly the darkness comprehended it not. Later, John would record these words of Jesus to His Father:
John 17:3 This is life eternal, that [the saints] might know you [Father] the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
It is God’s desire that His people have insight into, and know the Beautiful Story that the world is not yet privileged to know. How and why did God come up with the idea to create mortal man?
Before launching into their Plan, they made absolutely certain that it was perfect and infallible in every way.
They took into account every possibility, and covered every contingency so that nothing what so ever would ever destroy their perfect Plan to bring mankind into their Family—the Family of God (Ephesians 3:14-15).
They would create man—a mortal being with the ability of replicating itself; that would be capable of putting on Godly character and Godly characteristics; that would ascend out of darkness; that would eventually shine like the light of the stars of heaven (Daniel 12:3); and become spiritual relatives of the Father and His Son.
God’s Plan was to open their close-knit God-Family to others! It was the most splendidly designed Plan conceivable!
What a Beautiful Story!
In what will remain forever the ultimate decision of God, they elected to include humankind in their God-Family.
Because, God the Father and Jesus Christ loved one another before the foundation of the world, they did not see it as an intrusion to invite us into their God-Family.
Brethren, that will come to fruition on this day—The Last Great Day!
John 17:24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou loved me before the foundation of the world.
Their Plan is an expansion of their perfect love. For the Father and Jesus, opening the God-Family to others was an act of sharing and giving of their Spiritual substance and very essence. They wished to share their Eternal God Life with an extended Family. Their desire is to bring many sons and daughters to glory (Hebrews 2:10).
This mind-boggling concept—that we have been created to be like God, as His sons and daughters, was not an afterthought or a fallback notion—it was the very objective for all creation—that we might be filled with all the fullness of God! Paul wrote that very thought to the Ephesians:
Ephesians 3:19 To know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge so that you might be filled with all the fullness of God.
That is an enormous statement, “That you might be filled with all the fullness of God!” Our little minds are completely incapable of being filled with all the fullness of God. We have to be changed a lot before that can happen!
The entire cosmic universe exists for the sole purpose of bringing many men and women to the glorious state of God Himself (Hebrews 2:10).
The stars would not exist at all in the night sky except for the fact that God decided in His great expansive love to create man in His image. Man would have to have Godly character to be in the Family of God.
Mankind, beginning imperfect, a change – a cleaning up – would have to take place for man to be able to come into God’s Holy Presence. Jesus would have to die for their sins. Jesus had perfect Faith that His Father would restore His God-Life!
Jesus Christ is spoken of in Revelation 13:8 as … the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
The Father and Jesus thought this concept through – before they began the creation. That is the first slice of bread in my analogy. Peter also spoke of the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
Notice the timing of their decision that Jesus would die for the salvation of mankind—it was before the creation began.
1Peter 1:20 Who [Christ] verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world.
That means that Jesus with His Father decided that He would die for the sins of man – prior to the beginning of creation itself. The Plan of God – the ingredients of my sandwich analogy, all the fixings, are the process of Salvation God has worked out for us.
God has made His Holy Days and Plan known to His Church today – while at the same time concealing these marvelous events from the world. He begins with the weekly Sabbath day – which pictures the Millennial rest we’ve just enjoyed:
Leviticus 23:3 Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the Sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.
Passover means Jesus died for us – and eventually for all mankind.
It is A Beautiful Story
Unleavened Bread means – Jesus is the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. We must live sinless lives as He gave us example:
A Beautiful Story
Pentecost –God sent His spirit so that we could live according to His more perfect way. There will be the better resurrection of the first-born Saints.
It’s A Beautiful Story.
Trumpets pictures the return of Christ, and God’s judgment against this evil world.
Jesus, with His army of resurrected Saints with Him, will pour out the last remaining plagues on this Earth in preparation for the world tomorrow.
Jesus will come – that’s A Beautiful Story
Atonement tells us the Jesus has not forgotten to save all the repentant world that will finally embrace Him.
A Beautiful Story
Feast of Tabernacles shows that Jesus will bring and establish His Father’s Kingdom over all the earth for 1,000 years – and then the Great White Throne Judgment.
A Beautiful Story
And then – today pictures the ultimate fulfillment of God’s desire from time immemorial.
Last Great Day – Jesus will have purified all whose names are written in the book of life – before turning all in all over to His Eternal father – with New Jerusalem – the Heavenly City forever more. (Revelation 20,21,22).
A Beautiful Story
God has been working and building toward this great crescendo since before the beginning of time!
The Last Great Day will be the Commencement, Beginning, Inauguration, Culmination, the desired result of God’s works.
The Feast of Tabernacles is sometimes called the Feast of Ingathering, and sometimes called a Sacred Feast to the LORD your God. Those seven days represent the Feast of Tabernacles and the final harvest of mankind.
Yesterday, the final day of those seven days pictured the completion of the Millennial rule of Jesus Christ, and that huge harvest of converted souls that day will have brought together—the gathering in of the fruit. That seventh and final day of the Millennium is not the Last Great Day.
Today is, The Last Great Day—a new beginning. The Eighth Day follows after those seven days.
We find that the Scriptures describe the transitional period of God’s Plan between Jesus’ Millennial rule, and the Greatest Day when God the Father will begin to rule for all eternity.
Have you ever thought of this? What will everyone living throughout the 1,000-year Millennium be looking forward to? Actually, they will be looking forward to the eternal Kingdom of God – wherein God the Father reigns and rules.
The ultimate Greatest Day of God will come about, not on this earth, but in the New Heaven and New Earth. A spiritual New Heaven and New Earth – if we can believe it. Only spirt will remain!
The Greatest Day is the fulfillment of the Feast of the Last Great Day when the Millennium will have come to an end, and Jesus will have delivered up the Kingdom to His Father—after the seven-thousand years of Creation will have been fulfilled.
When we understand the meaning of this Greatest Day of God, we rejoice greatly! Absolutely nothing of this present evil world will remain.
Once the dead, all who have ever lived, have been judged in the Great White Throne Judgment—every man according to his works, there will be no more need for this old physical earth—it will have passed away. (Revelation 21:1)
The Last Great Day is the great resurrection to eternal life in the Kingdom of God—eternal spiritual life!
Nothing of this physical world will become a part of God the Father’s eternal realm.
We are seeing that transition here into the Last Great Day — Greatest Day of God: Brethren, this is what today, Last Great Day represents:
When Jesus’ work of redemption and salvation has been completed on this old Earth, holiness will abound. Jesus will then relinquish all of His authority and rule to His Sovereign Father. That will be the Greatest Day!
Revelation 22:1 And he [one of the seven angels] shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of [both] God [the Father] and of the Lamb.
Revelation 22:2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Revelation 22:3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and His servants shall serve Him:
Revelation 22:4 And they shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads.
Revelation 21:1 And 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.
Revelation 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Revelation 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
Revelation 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
Revelation 21:27 And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defiles, neither whatsoever works abomination, or makes a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
This day pictures that coming Day when God’s most fond desire and wish, from before time, that His family expand to more God Family. We are made to be in the eternal image of God the Father and Jesus Christ. We do not see that yet, but we see it in this picture of the Last Great Day!
End: From Start to Finish – A Beautiful Story