Since the overcomers will inherit eternal life in the millennium, they will not be hurt of the second death. In Revelation 2:11 the Lord Jesus says, “He who overcomes shall by no means be hurt of the second death.” Due to the fall and the entering in of sin, every man must die once (Heb. 9:27). This first death, however, is not the final settlement. All the dead will be resurrected and pass through the judgment of the great white throne at the close of the millennium, that is, at the conclusion of the old heaven and the old earth, except those who through faith in the Lord Jesus have been recorded in the book of life. As a result of this judgment, they will all be cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death as the final settlement (Rev. 20:11-15). Hence, the second death is God’s dealing with man after man’s death and resurrection. Because the overcomers have overcome death through their faithfulness unto death under persecution and have left nothing requiring further dealing by God after their resurrection, they will be rewarded with the crown of life and will not be touched, or hurt, any more by the death after resurrection, which is the second death.
For the overcomers to inherit eternal life in the millennium also means that they will eat of the tree of life in the paradise of God-the New Jerusalem. Revelation 2:7b says, “To him who overcomes, to him I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” Here the paradise of God is the New Jerusalem, of which the church is a foretaste today. Strictly speaking, to eat of the tree of life in the paradise of God refers to the particular enjoyment of Christ as our life supply in the New Jerusalem in the coming millennial kingdom, because this is a promise of reward made by the Lord to His overcomers. The enjoyment of Christ as the tree of life in the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and the new earth will be the common portion of all God’s redeemed people, whereas the particular enjoyment of Him as the tree of life in the New Jerusalem in the coming millennial kingdom will be a reward only to the overcoming believers. If we overcome all the distractions in the church’s degradation to enjoy Christ as the tree of life in the church today, we shall be rewarded with the eating of the tree of life in the paradise of God in the coming age. This will also be a fuller enjoyment of the eternal life.
The overcomers will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Matthew 13:43a says, “Then the righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” Daniel 12:3 speaks of the same thing. “They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever.” Today the believers shine as lamps, but in the coming age the overcomers will shine as the sun.
Those who will shine as the sun are the sons of the kingdom (Matt. 13:38) as the righteous. According to Matthew 5:20, these sons of the kingdom will have the surpassing righteousness. They will be righteous to such an extent that their entire being will shine. This righteousness is the indwelling Christ lived out of us so that we may live in the reality of the kingdom today and enter into its manifestation in the future.
The overcomers as the righteous, the sons of the kingdom, will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father, the heavenly part of the millennium. We are sons of God the Father, and God is light (1 John 1:5; 1 Tim. 6:16). The divine light, which is God Himself, is, of course, much greater than the light of the sun. When in the millennium the overcoming believers enjoy the Father as light, they will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
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