New Life from God
begins when our spirits live

God gives new life to his people on earth when they say yes to our Lord Jesus. New life in Christ comes as we are resurrected from the old self to the new life of power and love by the Spirit.

The 1,000 Years

In the seventh vision, the 1,000 years covers the Gospel Age of the Christian Church. This lasts until just before the return of Christ when Satan leads a short brutal persecution. The number ten in the Bible points to completeness. Ten times ten times ten equals 1,000. Therefore, complete times complete times complete gives us the full and complete time of the Gospel Age.

Rev. 20 is not difficult to understand. All one needs to do is remember the sequence: Christ’s first coming is followed by a long period during which Satan is bound; this in turn, is followed by Satan’s little season; and that is followed by Christ’s second coming, that is, his coming unto judgment.[i]

^4aAnd I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; (Rev. 20:4a, KJV).

Beheaded for Jesus

John saw souls (psuche), indicating “living people, the breath of life, and our souls.”[ii] The word indicated “the vital force of life, the breath of our spirit,” and points to the Spirit of God. The Creator breathed life into Adam when he created new life in Adam. Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit into his disciples after his Resurrection (John 20:22). God created new life in his disciples.

John saw the … souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus. What does this mean? John saw our spiritual souls or spirits. He didn’t see physical bodies. Jesus permitted John to view the spiritual part of his Church made up of redeemed people.

Because John saw the spirits of people and did not see their physical bodies, this then symbolizes a living picture of the spiritual Church of Jesus Christ. I understand that Revelation and the 1,000 years show us God’s view of the spiritual part of his Church on earth.

New Life in our Spirits

The Bible said that Jesus died for us, and we died and became new creatures in him. Because he died for us, we should no longer live for ourselves, but live for him who died for us. When we follow Christ, he makes us a new creation. Our old self has passed away; the new life has come (2 Cor. 5:14–17).

We make Jesus Lord of our life when we commit our lives to the Savior. The Bible says our old self was crucified with Jesus. We died with Christ, and we live with him. We should consider ourselves dead to sin but have new life in God (Rom. 6:4–11).

New life in Christ comes when our spirits live

New Life begins after our spirits rise to life

Our Redeemer raises our spirits to new life, and yet our body is dead because of sin. The Holy Spirit lives in us and creates new life with God out of the old dead life (Rom. 8:10, 11). The souls beheaded for the witness of Jesus gives us a spiritual picture of saints living on earth. They die to the world and themselves, and yet they live their new Christian lives in the Lord. God sees each of his children as living resurrected saints (Eph. 2:10–13).

They didn’t worship the beast nor take … his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands. Throughout the Gospel Age, followers of Christ have refused the influence from the beast. These children of God, whom God sealed, belonged to the Lord.

[i] Hendriksen, MoreThan Conquerors, p. 222.

[ii] Souls, psuche, G5590. Breath, life, or soul.

Text of, New Life, from pages 285-286 of "Walking Through Revelation With a Common Man"