WHAT IS "THE LAST DAY"?

     In John 6 Jesus talked about something I had never focused on before. He used a phrase repeatedly, four times to be exact. Here it is: “I will raise him up on the last day”. Many people have repeatedly heard the term “the last days”, but what does Jesus mean by repeating, four times, the singular “last day” phrase? To get some clues I’ll read the four verses where He used the phrase. Here they are:

1. John 6:39: "This is the will of him who sent me: that I should lose none of those he has given me but should raise them up on the last day." 
2. John 6:40: "For this is the will of my Father: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him will have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
3. John 6:44: "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day."
4. John 6:54: "The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day."

     The Bible mentions the “last day”, or “the last days” 16 times. All Christians have an opinion of what “the last days” means. They would likely say “It’s toward the end of the earth”, or “It means the seven-year tribulation. It’s a generalization about a period of time characterized by an increase of signs and wonders, and troubles on the earth leading up to the antichrist coming into power. But it’s not specific. Even Daniel in the Old Testament talked about “the last days.”
     But what do we know from the four verses where Jesus used the phrase—"the last day”?
     First of all, it’s a very singular defined event. And secondly, each verse implies that it includes a specific type of person or specific types of people:

1. In Verse 39 Jesus said, and I’m paraphrasing, “Jesus isn’t going to lose any person that God has given to Him, and He will raise each of them up on the last day.”
2. In verse 40, Jesus went on to say, and again I’m paraphrasing, “Every person that sees and believes in Jesus will have eternal life, and again, He will raise him or her up on the last day.”
3. In verse 44 Jesus said that no one—get that—“no one” can come to Jesus unless God directly draws him or her. And for the third time, He said, “I will raise him up on the last day.”
4. Lastly, in verse 54 Jesus said something that made some people cringe to the point where many stopped following Him, not realizing that what He said was symbolic. Jesus said that everyone who eats His flesh and drinks His blood will be raised up on the last day.

     So who are the people that Jesus was referring to that would be raised up on the last day? It seems clear that it is every born-again believer whom Jesus defines very clearly four times. It doesn’t refer to anyone else!
     And when is the last day? It makes sense to me that “the last day” Jesus was referring to is the day of the Great White Throne Judgement explained in Revelation 20 where the dead are brought to life—and where those whose names are found in the Book of Life enter the new heaven, the new earth, and the New Jerusalem—and those whose names are not found in the Book of Life are thrown into the lake of fire.
     The last day is what every Christian is waiting for with great expectancy. It’s where there will be no more wars or fighting, no more greed, and no more pain and suffering. It will begin the time when every Christian will experience the love, majesty, and splendor of Jesus!
     In conclusion, after “the last day”—will come the start of “the first day”—where Christians will spend an eternity in the new heaven, the new earth, and the New Jerusalem!