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Of The Hebrew Scriptures Notice that it was not just the Levites, but the entire nation that were to become "a kingdom of priests." Yet how could this be if it were just the Levites who were actually the priests? Apparently God considered all who were Israelites to be priests and to be part of the kingdom. There were no class distinctions, however they were divided into 12 tribes separate from the Levites. They were all considered part of the kingdom and priesthood as a "kingdom of priests." Just as there were no class distinctions and all were to be part of "a kingdom of priests," there was only one hope in view. The hope for faithful Jews was not divided into two categories or two destinations, only one. The hope appears to be a resurrection as shown in Isaiah 26:16, "Your dead ones will live. A corpse of mine-they will rise up..." and Daniel 12:2, "And there will be many of those asleep in the ground of dust who will wake up, these to indefinitely lasting life and those to reproaches to indefinitely lasting abborrence." Many of the Hebrew scriptures such as Isaiah chapters 65, 35 and 25, appear to point to physical blessings that would require living on the earth in paradise conditions. However much of this was symbolic, as were the "new heavens and new earth," relating to the rebuilding of the nation of Israel after the release from captivity of the Babylonians. Also, in the Christian scriptures in Hebrews chapter 11: 8-16, we are told that Abraham and other faithful servants of God, who died before the Christ, were "awaiting the city having real foundations, the builder and maker of which is god" and "although they did not get the fulfillment of the promises they saw them afar off and welcomed them and publicly declared that they were strangers and temporary residents in the land ... But now they are reaching out for a better place that is, one belonging to heaven. Hence God is not ashamed of them, to be called upon as their God, for he has made a city ready for them." The "city," where Abraham and others are "reaching for" is described as "Heavenly Jerusalem" in Hebrews 12:22. This scripture, stating that God "has made a city ready for them that belongs to heaven," certainly sounds very similar to Jesus words to his faithful apostles in John 14:2-3, "In the house of my Father there are many abodes. Otherwise, I would have told you, because I am going my way to prepare a place for you." This is in harmony with Jesus words in Matthew 8:11 and Luke 13:29,showing Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to be in the "kingdom of the heavens." "But I tell you that many from eastern parts and western parts will come and recline at the table with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of the heavens." So, are the faithful ones of old, the "great cloud of witnesses," going to "a city ready for them belonging to heaven," Heavenly Jerusalem ? Or are they going to live on a paradise earth? Each one must use his own power of understanding on this. However, if heaven is their destination, as the above scriptures suggest, then it would have to occur after Christ's resurrection, since the heavenly hope for man was only opened up after Christ's death, resurrection and ascension to heaven. The "faithful cloud of witnesses" of the Hebrew scriptures would then wait for a long period of time "asleep" as "dust" in the ground with no "thoughts" or activity until the death and resurrection of Christ. As for the case of Elijah being "brought up to heaven" in a windstorm," Elijah appeared later in a letter to the king Jehoram of Judah. Rather then a physical death occurring, there was only a ending of his role as a prophet with Elisha taking over, and the windstorm simply transferring Elijah to the "heavens" of earth's atmosphere placing him from one place on earth to another place on earth. (Ecc 3:19-32; 9:5, 10; John 3:13; Psalms 146:3-4; 2 Chronicles 21:1, 12-15) One of the few kings of Israel who obeyed Jehovah and followed his law code, was King Solomon. It was under his reign that the nation of Israel prospered like no other time. For 40 years, Israel enjoyed peace, wealth, and comfort with the favor and blessings of Jehovah. Later in the Christian Greek scriptures, it was said, that this foreshadowed the rule of Jesus Christ, for Jesus said: "Look! something more then Solomon is here." In this context, this "something more" did not represent a king and ruler of a kingdom on a paradise earth, over the nation of Israel, but Jesus, himself as the king of a kingdom in heaven of a spiritual Israel, the "heavenly Jerusalem, with myriad's of angels." (Matthew 12:42; Heb 12:22) "The Meek Shall Inherit The Earth" In Psalms chapter 37 verses 9, 11, 22, 29 & 34, it repeatedly states that the "righteous will possess and inherit the earth." Does this mean they are to live on the earth? In the case of Physical Israel, the righteous were to both "inherit" the earth and "reside" there as well. However, when Jesus quoted these scriptures on the sermon on the mount in Matthew 5:5, he applied them solely to a heavenly reward, as the context shows. For instance, verses 3 and 10 state, "since the kingdom of the heaven belongs to them." Verse 8 states that Jesus deciples "will see God" and verse 9 calls them "sons of God." So why then does verse 5 state "they will inherit the earth?" (Psalms 37:9, 11, 22, 29, 34; Matt 5:5) It can be compared to God, who informs his son, Jesus, that he will "give nations as your inheritance and the ends of the earth as your own possession." Jesus is not to physically reside on the earth and possess it, but rather, he is to inherit the rule of the kingdom, from the heavens, having the earth as his possession, inheritance, dominion and "foot stool." Along side Jesus, will be ALL his deciples, the "righteous" and "meek" ruling from heaven with him who will also "inherit the earth." The Greek word for "inherit," kleronomeo, Strongs # 2816, is defined to mean "receive as one's own or as a possession." Here they will inherit the earth as their possession. How though will they "reside and dwell upon" the earth?" Certainly, this can be compared to Revelation 21:3, which states: "For the tent of God will be with mankind and he will reside (dwell) with them." Here God was not to physically "reside" on the earth, but God was to inhabit, dwell and reside inside all Christians on earth, with his holy spirit, making their bodies "temples." As Apostle Paul stated: "Do you not know that you are God's temple, and that the spirit of God dwells in you." and ."..you, too, are being built up together into a place for God to inhabit by spirit." It is in this sense, that God was to "reside" on the earth. (1 Cor 3:16; Eph 2:22) According to the context of Matthew chapter 5, along with the entire Christian Greek scriptures, there will be No Christians, who will "reside" on the earth physically, but rather they will obtain the "one hope" a "heavenly calling" and reward. They will then "reside" on (over) the earth in a spiritual sense by their spirit, as they rule over the earth, having it as their "possession" and "inheritance." It is much more likely, that "those who do not have the law (of Christ) but do by nature the things of the law and are are excused" (Romans 2:14-16) will be the ones who are "resurrected" and will physically "reside" on the earth under the heavenly rule of the kingdom and will later under go the final test of Satan. God will then "reside" with them, with his spirit, possession of the earth and rulership from the heavens. (Psalms 2:7, 8; John 5:28-29; Rev 20:7-10; 21:6; 1 Cor 6:2-3; 3:16 Matt 5:35) The Christian Heavenly Hope The Resurrection - When?
The former covenant, not the law itself, was done away with, "for Christ is the end of the former covenant in the law" and these legal requirements were "nailed to the cross," for they were only "a shadow of the things to come" and "Christ Jesus fulfilled the former convenant of the law." No longer would God's people have to be "declared righteous by their works" of sacrifice through laws, policies, rules and regulations, but rather "faith in Christ" along with works or acts of loving kindness would find favor with God. The physical priesthood was done away and "for since the priesthood is being changed, there comes to be of necessity a change also of the law," the law of love through faith in Christ. (Romans 10:4; Galatians 2:15-21; James 2:14-25; Heb 7:12; James 2:8) A new nation of Israel would be formed. However this nation would not be a physical nation located on the earth, but rather it would be a "spiritual nation" located in the heavens, "a spiritual house for the purpose of a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices." No longer would the membership be restricted and limited to the physical descendants of Abraham, for both Jews and Gentiles could now become part of "Abraham's seed." They would be called "spiritual Israelites" and be symbolically "circumcised in their hearts," unlike the physical nation of Israel who had to be circumcised in the flesh. Their high priest would be Christ Jesus and like the physical nation of Israel, they would be a 'kingdom," "a chosen nation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for special possession.." However this nation would be spiritual in the heavens, "not a holy place made with hands, which is a copy of the reality, but heaven itself." (1 Peter 2:5; Galatians 3:26-29; Rev 5:10; 1 Peter 3:9-10; Heb 9:24; Romans 2:29) Like the physical nation of Israel this spiritual nation of Israel does not have class distinctions and does not have two or more destinations of salvation, it has only "one hope." This hope is to enter in the "kingdom of kings and priests" residing in the heavens. For there is only "one body and one spirit even as you were called in the one hope to which you were called, one Lord , one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and is all." Eph 4:4-6 Nowhere do the Christian scriptures give a physical hope on earth, but it is a spiritual hope to be part of the "body of Christ" in the "kingdom of the heavens," living as a spirit creature and ruling with Christ Jesus in the heavens. This "kingdom of the heavens is the goal toward which men press, and those pressing forward are seizing it." (Eph 4:4-6; Rev 5:10; Rev 20:6; Eph 4:12; Heb 3:1; Matt 11:12; Luke 16:16) As far as John 10:16 goes, which states: "And I have other sheep,
which are not of this fold. those also I must bring, and they will listen to my voice, and they will become one flock , one shepherd.,"
the context shows that this applies to the Jews and the Gentiles, not a heavenly class of Christians and a earthly
class of Christians. For the other sheep are the sheep that were not inside of the pen and No man or group of men or religious group has the right or authority to tell individuals to skip over portions of the bible and say to themselves "this does not apply to me." "For EVERYONE believing that Jesus is the Christ has been born from God, and EVERYONE who loves the one that caused to be born loves him who has been born from that one." (1 John 5:1) All Christians are anointed and part of the body of Christ. There are no earthly class of Christians who are not part of the body and outside the spiritual nation of Israel. For "unless anyone is born again (or anointed), he cannot see the kingdom of God....You people must be born again," which is the only "one hope" of ALL Christians. (1 John 5:1; John 3:1-8; Eph 4:1-6) Notice how Apostle Paul speaks about two groups, not an earthly group and heavenly one, but a fleshly one and a spiritual one, in Romans 8:5-10, "The minding of the flesh means death, but the minding of the spirit means life and peace, because the minding of the flesh means enmity with God ..... You are in harmony, not with the flesh but with the spirit, if God's spirit truly dwells in you. But, if anyone does not have Christ's spirit, this one does not belong to him. But if Christ is in union with you, the body indeed is dead on account of sin, but the spirit is life on account of righteousness." It is clear from this scripture, that being in harmony with the flesh is "enmity with God," while being in harmony with the spirit is "righteousness." And the point is, this spirit must "dwell in you," you must be anointed or born again, in union with Christ, otherwise you are against God in harmony with the flesh. You can not be in harmony with the spirit and not have it dwell in you. "You must be anointed (born again)." As Paul wrote in Colossians 1:27-28 "It is Christ in union with you, the hope of this glory. He is the one we are publicizing admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present EVERY MAN complete in union with Christ." Notice here that every man was to be complete in union with Christ. The only way one can make the claim that there is an earthly, physical
hope for Christians, is to ignore the very promises stated for Christians in the Greek scriptures as though they
do not apply to them and then apply the prophesies for the physical nation of Israel in the Hebrew scriptures to
the spiritual nation of Christians. This would certainly be "grieving the holy spirit," which is to dwell
inside Christians and make all members part of the body of Christ. Also, many of the prophesies in the Hebrew scriptures
are symbolic and have been fulfilled through the physical nation of Israel in both a literal and symbolic sense.
Although the possibility of these Hebrew scriptures still applying to the future earth can not be ignored either.
Also the scripture in Isaiah 25:8, "He will actually swallow up death forever, and the Sovereign Lord Jehovah will certainly wipe the tears from all faces. And the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for Jehovah himself has spoken." This scripture is almost identical to Revelation 21:4. It is interesting that the first part of this scripture was quoted by Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:54, and he did not apply it to some earthly paradise, but with regard to the resurrection of Christians and their passing from "mortality to immortality." Yet even though this passing on from mortality to immortality had not happened yet, in another sense it had. For the spirit was given them as a "token of their inheritance" and the "promise" was there, thus Paul could quote Isaiah 25:8 and Hosea 13:4 and say "death, where is your sting ?" For the sting of death was at that time gone, showing how "death was swallowed up forever" at that very time, not limited to some distant future time. For at that very time, they were made "alive in spirit."(Eph 1:14; Eph 2:1) Also in 2 Corinthians 5:17, Paul states almost the identical language to that of Revelation 21:5. Notice "And the one seated on the throne said: 'Look! I am making all things new.' Also, he says: 'Write, because these words are faithful and true." - Revelation 21:5 And "Consequently, if anyone is in union with Christ, he is a new creation, the old things passed away, look! new things have come into existence." - 2 Corinthians 5:17 Again this supports the thought that "all things were made new" in the "new creation" of those "in union with Christ" during the first century and not sometime in the distant future, applying to a paradise earth.
Rhymed Repetition There are parallel visions in Revelation 7, the 144,000 (Rev. 7:4-8) and the "multitude which no man could number" (Rev. 7:9). They are the same people. Rhymed repetition is a favorite device among poets to achieve emphasis. The art of rhyme is to nearly but not quite duplicate sound. The near-identity of sound provides emphasis; the slight difference in sound heightens awareness of meaning. The rhyming of sounds is a commonplace in poetry. Hebrew poets (who are the ones St. John grew up with) rhymed not sounds but meanings. They put alongside one another not attention-getting sounds but awareness-evoking meanings. The sentence in Psalm 34:3 is typical:
There are three rhymed meanings: 1. Exalt / Magnify 2. The Lord / His Name 3. With Me / Together St. John does this too, but he rhymes visions, as, for instance, in Revelation 7: two parallel pictures, like enough to provide emphasis by repetition, different enough to tease the mind into active participation. He is providing us a picture of what happens to persons who live by faith in a world noisy with evil. St. John hears the number of the sealed 144,000. When he looks he sees a multitude that no man can number. Sound is "rhymed" with sight. People who live by faith in Jesus Christ are protectively sealed against evil by the Spirit. St. John hears God's declaration of the total number-absolutely complete, not a single one missing, the all-inclusive 144,000 (12 squared, then multiplied). When he himself looks, he sees that this definite total known to God is a numberless multitude beyond calculation from any human point of view. Similarly, these people are all Israel, that is, God's people from his standpoint, from our standpoint, they come from "every nation under heaven. (1) In relation to this, the "other sheep," of John chapter 10, were clearly the Gentiles and not men who are void of God. The "great crowd," of Revelation chapter 7, are nothing more than another description of, the same as, the figurative 144,000, but restated in a more descriptive way to another imaginative sense as a "great crowd." (Romans 8) Truth reveals that all of humanity fall in being the "Israel" of God, as each and every one of us live a life of "struggle" and "wrestling" with our egos and Spirit of God that lives within each one of us. The name Israel that was originally given to Jacob means "to struggle." And this struggle is precisely what the entire realm of humanity does as they wrestle in various stages of spirituality. For this we call can say we all are part of Israel, for all of us have God both within us and around us, permeating life into every living thing. Literal verses Symbolic If "everyone" or all those "believing in Christ" are, to enter into the "kingdom of the heavens," then what about the 144,000 mentioned in Revelation 7:1-8 ?
Does this number of 144,000 apply to a literal number of persons who are "sealed" out of "every tribe of the Israel? Is the nation of Israel listed in the subsequent verses, apply to the literal nation of Israel?. This must be read with the context to come up with an answer, contemplating and asking ourselves: Are the "four angels" literal? Are the "four corners of the earth" literal ? Is the action of the "wind might blow" a literal action? Are the "slaves" that are "sealed of our God in their foreheads" represent a literal seal on their literal foreheads? Revelation is written in symbols, applying to our senses of touch, taste,
sight and sound. Where some applications are literal, it is only a guess, as the book of Revelation is written
in signs and mostly symbolic. This would lead us up to the "144,000 who are sealed of our God in their foreheads."
The context shows this number is symbolic, just as the seals in their foreheads are. Next the 12 tribes of Israel
are mentioned and again it shows to be symbolic, for two of the tribes listed, Joseph and Levi, were not part of
the original physical 12 tribes of Israel. As the Watchtower Society and some others teach that the 144,000 are
a literal number, while the 12 tribes listed are symbolic are both inconsistent and unreliable in theology, second
guessing to conform to slant to organizational dogma. To follow consistency in scripture when interpretation, either
both the 144,000 and the 12 tribes are literal or they are both symbolic. According the the previous and subsequent
verses, it shows that this number and the tribes listed are both symbolic as most of the book of Revelation is,
a book retelling the entire scriptures using imagination and poetry to bring us in the experience that pen and
paper descriptive historical accounts can not do.
Notice that this "great crowd" is "standing before the
throne," the same place the 144,000 are standing in Revelation 14:3, "And they are singing as if a new
song before the throne
and before the four living creatures and the elders, and no one was able to master the song but the 144,000, who
have been bought from the earth." The same identical Greek words are used both verses. enopeeon and thronos. If the "great crowd" in Revelation 7:9-17 are said to be "in sight
of the throne" and are not said where their actual location is, then why are they interpreted to be on the
earth when the same expression "in sight of the throne" is used to describe the 144,000 in Revelation
14:1-5 which shows their location to be in heaven? As shown below in Strong's Concordance, one of the meanings
of enopion is: "
to be directly in the occupied place, in that place which is before," as noted in definition 1a. Strong's Number: 1799 ("BEFORE")
However, there is much more to this. For the "great crowd" in
Revelation chapter 7 are described as being in the temple in verse 15. This is important, for the Greek word used
here in naos. There
are two Greek words used to describe the temple, naos and herion. Herion
is used to describe the entire temple, while naos is used to describe the "divine habitation" or the sanctuary with the "holy"
and "most holy" areas only. Here, in the "holy," only the priests were allowed to enter and
in the "most holy" only the high priest was allowed to enter. No Non-Israelites could ever enter the
temple, including any foreigners and alien residents who resided in Israel.
The Watchtower Society further tries to get out of this situation, by describing the "great crowd" of Revelation chapter 7 to be in the earthly court yard of the temple, where Gentiles and outsiders were supposedly allowed to enter. And since the "great crowd" are not spiritual Israelites, they would only be allowed to enter into this courtyard, which the Watchtower Society interprets to be the earth. Yet the scriptures clearly show in Revelation 11:2 "the courtyard that is outside the temple (naos)" was to be "cast clear out to the nations...because it has been given to the nations and they will trample the holy city underfoot for forty-two months" This courtyard was rejected by God, given to the nations to trample on, not to the "great crowd" of faithful worshipers of God and Christ. The nations would be in opposition to God and would trample on this "courtyard that is outside the temple" for "forty two months" or as shown in Luke 21:24: .".. and Jerusalem will be trampled on by the nations, until the appointed times of the nations are fulfilled." There is much more that can be said in detail on this subject of the "great
crowd" of Revelation chapter 7, and can be found in the booklet entitled "Where Is The Great Crowd Serving God ?"
written by the former secretary to the Governing Body, Jon Mitchell. The Greek word in Revelation 5:10 for "over" or "on"
is epi.
In Jeremiah 1:9-10, Jehovah told him to "be over nations and over the kingdoms, in order to uproot and
As Apostle Peter stated, in 1 Peter 2:9 "You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for special possession, that you should declare abroad the excellencies of the one that called you out of the darkness into his light." Notice how they were already at that time "a chosen race" and a " kingly priesthood" or a "kingdom of priests." This can also be found in Revelation Rev 5:10, "You made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God and they are to rule as kings (over) (on) the earth." They were already a "kingdom and priests of God" in a spiritual sense. They were part of God's "royal priesthood" or family and were empowered as royal representatives to speak God's word. This is in harmony with Colossians 1:13, "He delivered us from the authority of the darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of his is love." Notice here, that these Christians of the first century had already been transferred into the kingdom in a spiritual sense. The Watchtower puts a different meaning into this scripture, claiming it to be a different kingdom between Jesus and his anointed followers, however, there is no scriptural support for this. For this kingdom is the same kingdom preached throughout the Christian Greek scriptures, showing how the ruling in this kingdom had already begun on earth with the royal privilege of obtaining the gifts of the holy spirit and the declaring of "the good news of Jesus Christ and his kingdom." True, the Christians of the first century, were still on earth and had not received their "fill" of resurrection, "putting on "immortality" and began "ruling as kings" as spirit creatures in the "kingdom of the heavens," however they had already been made "alive with Christ" into a "new creation" with God's holy spirit, which was at that time given to them as a "token of their inheritance" making them "ambassadors of Christ." As Paul stated, "It is not that I have already obtained it or already reached the goal - no, I keep pursuing it in the hope of taking hold of that for which the Christ Jesus took hold of me." Yet he could also say with confidence "God (has already) raised us up with the Christ and seated us with him in heaven," and "we are citizens of heaven." (1 Cor 7:7; 12:4; 2 Cor 5:5, 20; Eph 1:14; 1 Cor 4:8; 1 Cor 15:54; Eph 2:2, 5-6; Phil 3:1, 20) Jesus, quoting from Daniel 12:2, states in John 5:28-29: "Do not marvel at this because the hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice and come out those who did good things to a resurrection of life, those who practiced vile things to a resurrection of judgment." And Apostle Paul stated in Acts 24:15 "And I have hope toward God, which hope these themselves, also entertain, that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous." Notice that there will be "unrighteous" who will be resurrected. One possibility of this, could be the following. 1. "The Righteous" - (Heavenly Reward) These include All the followers of Christ, who will enter the kingdom of the heavens and rule with Christ Jesus All followers of Christ obtain the spirit. There are none that are followers of Christ without the spirit. (Romans 8:9) 2. "The Unrighteous" - (Gehenna - Destroyed or Burned). Those who will receive the "resurrection of judgment" (RS) "will rise to face judgment"(Phillips) and "will rise to be condemned" (NIV) This certainly agrees with Daniel 12:2 and Hebrews 9:27, that these "unrighteous" persons will not be resurrected to a paradise earth, but "face judgment" and "be condemned" at that very time. They will rise from Sheol (the grave) and be put in Gehenna (destroyed or burned). These folks went beyond a sin against Christ, which will be forgiven but "sinned against the Holy Spirit, which will not be forgiven in the system of things and that to come." (John 5:28-29) 3. 3. Paradise - Is there such a literal reward? Persons who "live in Christ" have Christ in them. As God's Spirit dwells inside them they are slowly transformed into new creatures in Christ. Living on earth, God inhabits them by His Spirit, thus they rule from both on the earth and over the earth from Heaven. But the real paradise suggests not a physical restoration of the earth, as the Witnesses so simplistically narrow the complexity of God's mysterious and inner spirit connection, but an internal spiritual paradise, walking with, being with, living with God, fully transformed to a direct communicative relationship, as Adam and Eve had before their fall. Heaven is even now mirrored in created things. All God's creation invite us to forget our vain cares and enter into our own hearts, which God Himself has made to be paradise and our own. In this sense we can repeat Jesus' words, "the kingdom of God is within us." It is not a literal government, as we know in the human, fleshly sense of the word. Rather, if we have God dwelling within us, making our souls His paradise, then the world around us can also become for us what it was meant to be for Adam-his paradise. But if we seek paradise outside ourselves, we cannot have paradise in our hearts. Those included in the "righteous" that are resurrected would be those who served God faithfully in the days before Christ, such as, the "great cloud of witnesses" described in Hebrews chapter 11, as well as all those who put faith in Jesus Christ and have demonstrated this faith with acts of loving kindness and mercy to others. These Christians would all be of the "anointed" or "born again," and be part of the body of Christ and rule with him in the "kingdom of the heavens." Will those righteous "great cloud of witnesses" who are "reaching out for a better place, one belonging to heaven," of Hebrews chapter 11, be included in the "kingdom of the heavens?" Verses 8-16 seem to indicate this to be so, along with Matthew 8:11 and Luke 13:29. And as shown above, the ruling that the anointed Christians are to do, has shown to have already begun in the first century, in their having the "royal" privilege of speaking God's authoritative word to others, not the ruling as a literal government over the earth sometime in the distant future. (Matthew 5:5; John 5:28-29; Acts 24:15) When pertaining to Paul's words of the so called "Rapture," in one sense, Christians, being anointed with God's Spirit, sealed with God's Spirit as a guarantee, a promise, a token of their future, having it now, inheritance of living in "Heavenly Jerusalem," not on a paradise earth. Having this guarantee of God's Spirit dwelling in them, sealing their future, in that sense they were already, at that very time, raised up, again only in the sense of having the Holy Spirit on them as a guarantee, for the future of being literally "raised up," and "transformed" as "new creatures in Christ," and could rightly quote from Hosea, "death, where is your sting?" This is not the same as the resurrection, which has not occurred. (1 Corinthians 15:51-52; Hosea 13:14) Persons who "live in Christ" have Christ in them. As God's Spirit dwells inside them they are slowly transformed into new creatures in Christ. Living on earth, God inhabits them by His Spirit, thus they rule from both on the earth and over the earth from Heaven. But the real paradise suggests not a physical restoration of the earth, as the Witnesses so simplistically narrow the complexity of God's mysterious and inner spirit connection, but an internal spiritual paradise, walking with, being with, living with God, fully transformed to a direct communicative relationship, as Adam and Eve had before their fall. Heaven is even now mirrored in created things. All God's creation invite us to forget our vain cares and enter into our own hearts, which God Himself has made to be paradise and our own. In this sense we can repeat Jesus' words, "the kingdom of God is within us." It is not a literal government, as we know in the human, fleshly sense of the word. Rather, if we have God dwelling within us, making our souls His paradise, then the world around us can also become for us what it was meant to be for Adam-his paradise. But if we seek paradise outside ourselves, we cannot have paradise in our hearts. Although they were already, "raised up" and "seated in the heavenly places," with their sealing and guarantee of their future inheritance, the actual and literal "rapture" will be a future event that has not occurred. An event that will happen at the "blowing of the last trumpet." The traditional interpretation is that our bodies will be totally transformed to put on the incorruptible, we being raised "as spiritual bodies." (1 Thessalonians 4:12-18 and 1 Corinthians 15:20-58)
Perhaps the earth will be transformed into a beautiful physical paradise
and "will be made to be inhabited" with persons who will adjust their lives to serve the true God and
contribute to the restoration of the physical earth, for Peter and John do speak of a "new earth," Mankind eventually be fully transformed with God's Spirit, as humans, equaling the condition Adam
and Eve were in before they sinned against God and were cut off from the Garden of Eden, the very place to connect
fully with God's Spirit. When humans reach that fully transformed level as new creatures in Christ, they then can
fulfill God's Kingdom rulership on "earth as it is in heaven." They would rule physically on the earth,
yet as fully transformed people with God's Spirit inside of them, God would be ruling through and with them from
heaven. As they now fight to subject their souls to be servants of God's Spirit that dwells within them, the end
result would be God's Spirit meshing, bonding with them, fully transforming them as children of God, ruling on
earth, housing God's Spirit, thus ruling from heaven. Despite the posibility
of living in a physical paradise earth, the promise for All those "in Christ," not limited to 144,000, are a "heavenly calling,"
a "citizenship in the heavens." One thing is for sure, that God's purpose of having all of creation loyally
serving him out of faith and love will come true. (Isaiah 45:18; Rev 21:1) |
part of the fold, as the Gentiles were. For the Gentiles, foreigners and alien residents were allowed
to live in Israel, but could never become part of the fold or the flock. But with the change of the law, Christ
Jesus "made the two parties one and destroyed the wall in between that fenced them off" so that they
could be "one flock." No fence would separate the Gentiles removing them from the fold, for they would
"become one flock" and have "one hope." For Christ "abolished the enmity , the Law of
commandments consisting in decrees, that he might create the two peoples in union with himself into one new man
and make peace; and that he might fully reconcile both peoples in one body to God through the torture stake, because
he had killed off the enmity by means of himself. And he came and declared the good news of peace to you, the ones
far off, and peace to those near, because through him we, both peoples, have the approach to the Father by one
spirit. (Eph 2:12-18) "You are all, in fact, sons of God through your faith in Christ Jesus. for all of you
who were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor freeman,
there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in union with Christ Jesus. Moreover, if you belong to Christ, you are part
of Abraham's seed, heirs with reference to a promise." (Galatians 3:28-29) (John 10:16; Eph 2:12-18; Gal 3:28-29;
Eph 4:4-6)
