The ABI Statement of Faith

THE FUTURE

1.  The Culmination of History

1.1  The purpose of history is to demonstrate God’s glory and bring glory to God.
(Psalms 72:19, 113:4; Isaiah 6:3; Proverbs 16:4; Ephesians 1:12, 3:21)

1.2  After the Great White Throne Judgment, God will destroy the present heavens and earth and create the New Heavens and New Earth, where He will rule and receive worship forever.
(Isaiah 65:17; 66:22; 2 Peter 3:10–13; Revelation 21:2–22:5)

1.3  All sin will be absent from the eternal Kingdom of God as believers from all ages will experience their full redemption to sinless perfection in the presence of God.
(1 Thessalonians 4:13–18; Revelation 20:11–15)

1.4  Satan, the other fallen angels and unregenerate humans will be separated from God, eternally condemned to conscious torment and punishment in the Lake of Fire.
(Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:4–15)

2.  The Rapture and the Tribulation

2.1  Prior to the Tribulation, Jesus Christ will catch up (rapture) all Christians, both living and dead, to meet them in the air and they will be in His presence forever.
(John 14:3; 1 Corinthians 15:51–54; 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18; 1 John 3:2–3)

2.2  The premillennial, pretribulational rapture of the Church is imminent and can happen at any moment.
(1 Corinthians 15:52; Philippians 3:20–21; Revelation 3:11)

2.3  The seven-year Tribulation (Daniel’s 70th week) will be the fulfillment of the prophecies concerning the judgment aspects of the Day of the Lord when God pours out His wrath upon the earth through a series of catastrophic judgments.

2.4  During the Tribulation, a great number of Jewish people will believe that Jesus Christ is their Messiah and will turn to God in repentance and faith.
(Isaiah 10:20; Jeremiah 31:7–14; 31:30–34; Revelation 7:1–8)

2.5  During the seven-year Tribulation period, the Antichrist will rise to power, deceiving many, establishing a world-wide political, military, economic and religious system, and falsely establishing as God to receive worship in the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem. All who worship the Beast, the Antichrist, will receive his mark and thereby seal their eternal fate of condemnation and judgment.
(Daniel 9:24–27; Matthew 24:4–28; 2 Thessalonians 2:3–12; Revelation 6:1–19:10)

3.  The Millennial Reign of Christ

3.1  At the end of the Tribulation, Jesus Christ will return to the earth, to the Mount of Olives, along with the Church-age saints. At His glorious appearing (the Second Coming), Christ will judge the nations which have assembled against Him and His chosen people, Israel.
(Revelation 19:11–21)

3.2  Christ will then establish His kingdom for a literal 1000 years on this earth, ruling the world from the Davidic Throne in Jerusalem.
(Isaiah 9:7; 11:4; Daniel 7:21, 27; Zechariah 14:3–5; Matthew 24:30; Revelation 19:11–21; 20:4–6)

3.3  The Millennium will be a time of peace, blessing, and restoration, as the earth is returned to its original condition prior to Fall.
(Isaiah 4b–11, 65:20–25; Acts 3:19–21, 28)

3.4  During this 1000-year period, Satan will be bound. At the end of this time he will be briefly loosed and he will rally the nations against Christ. After this rebellion, Satan and those joining him will be defeated and cast into the Lake of Fire forever.
(Revelation 20:1–3, 7–10)

4.  The Resurrections and Judgments

4.1  During the present Church Age at the moment of death:

4.1.1  The souls of unbelievers (the lost) go directly to Hades, experiencing conscious torment until their resurrection to judgment.
(Luke 16:22–24; Revelation 20:11–15)

4.1.2  The souls of believers go directly into the presence of the Lord, experiencing bliss forever.
(Luke 16:22–24; 1 Corinthians3:9–15; 2 Corinthians 5:6–10; Philippians 1:21–23; 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18)

4.2  Following the Rapture, all Church Age saints will appear at the Judgment Seat of Christ to receive their just reward.
(Romans 14:10–12)

4.3  At the First Resurrection believers will be bodily resurrected to experience the full blessedness of eternal life in the presence of God forever.  At the Second Resurrection unbelievers (the lost) will be resurrected bodily to be judged at the Great White Throne Judgment according to their works, and then experience the suffering of eternal death in the Lake of Fire.
(Daniel 12:2; John 5:28–30; 1 Corinthians 15:20–23; 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18; Revelation 20:4–6, 11–15)

5.  The Eternal State

5.1  The Lake of Fire is a literal place of conscious eternal torment into which Satan and the rebellious angels will be cast, along with unbelieving humans of all times.
(Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:11–15).

5.2  The New Heavens, New Earth and New Jerusalem are literal places that will be the eternal abode of conscious bliss for the believers of all time (the participants in the First Resurrection).
(Revelation 20:4–6; 21:1–22:5)