NOTE: All comments in brackets [ ] or in parentheses ( ) as well as highlighted text (bolded and/or in blue) are from the author of this study. Bible quotations are in maroon.
If there is one thing on which a great deal of time and effort were spent by the Worldwide Church of God (WCG) prior to it becoming a mainline church of this world was on teaching what was the Gospel that Jesus preached.
Confusion has abounded and continues to this day as to what it was Jesus meant when He spoke about the Kingdom of God.
In the WCG it was taught with great emphasis and unshakable certainty that the reason for Christ’s 2nd Coming in power and glory was for Him to rule over the nations with a rod of iron and to bring into being the kingdom of God on earth over the physical nations of the world which at that time, as has been the case since the beginning of the existence of mankind, will be made up for the very greatest part of unconverted flesh-and-blood human beings as you will see as you go through this study.
It was widely considered that the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord were all punishment allowed by God and from God trying through extreme pain and suffering, the devastation of the nations of the world and the death of millions of individuals by famine, pestilence and war to shock mankind into turning to Him for help and ultimately submit to Him so as to gain salvation and become part of His Kingdom.
How can we come to know the truth of this very controversial matter? What tools do we have that can help us to find out just what is the Gospel Jesus preached? And, can we know just what is God’s Kingdom, when it will be established, over who it will rule, who will be its king and where will this kingdom be situated? There is a study on this site where this is extensively covered and which you may find useful What is the Kingdom of God?
As Christians, there is only one truly reliable source of information on all these matters and that is the Holy Bible. Either it has the answers to these questions or mankind simply cannot on its own come to know the correct answers to them.
If we are to come to the knowledge of the truth we have to be ready to abandon some of our personal and highly cherished ideas on these matters and resolve to let the Scriptures speak to us and accept what they are telling us even if they go squarely against what we have always believed.
Let’s together with an open and attentive mind examine the information given us by God in His Holy Bible. Let’s believe our Bible and not what men say the Bible says. This means that you will have to yourself do the work of verifying with your Bible whether what is being said in this study, is true or not.
You will have to do what Jesus told those listening to Him and who were trying to understand what He was saying. Jesus told them that they had to be new wineskins in which new knowledge like new wine can be poured without destroying it. In other words, Christ was telling them that if they were to understand Him they had to be ready to change their old ways of thinking (not be an old wineskin) so as to be able to receive and understand new information that they would hear from Him without their minds exploding like an old wineskin in which new wine had been poured being too rigid to expand. The old wineskin had to expand because of the gas created by the new wine fermenting in it; it could not and, it and the wine were lost. As an individual, you can choose to be a new wineskin or to remain an old wineskin unable to absorb new knowledge (new wine) because you are not able to expand your thinking (you are an old wine skin) to absorb new information essential to you being able to understand the answers to all the questions we have just asked about God’s Kingdom.
The choice is entirely yours to make with no one being able to force you to choose one way or the other.
You don’t want to become the victim of false teachings then God has provided a sure way for you to protect yourself, your Bible. If the Bible doesn’t confirm it then you are not to believe it no matter who is saying it or said it.
But of course, the dilemma facing all true Christians is that though men are untrustworthy, God works through men. God has not used, is not using now nor will He in the future use angels or other spirit beings to teach His Church or the unconverted of the nations; much more to be said on this later. The Bible was written by men under inspiration of God and in many instances they were men of no repute; men that we would call today, the little people of the world. If we had lived in the days when they carried the message God gave them, we would have considered them to have no credibility whatsoever not being part of the rich, famous, highly-educated and influential class of society or not being one of the well-known and highly-respected leaders of one of the great religions of this world. Our natural tendency would have been to ignore or ridicule them. Yet, they were the ones who had new information about what God was doing or intended to do.
This state of affairs is very true even when it comes to God’s Church where the thinking is that the criterion of truth is the established leadership in the Church (they are the high and mighty of religious organizations). If someone is not one of them, has not been trained by them and approved by them then it is impossible for that person to ever possibly have anything to say that merits thoughtful consideration. The leadership in the Church sets itself up as the source of truth and the criterion of truth for members.
This approach and attitude of mind is not supported anywhere in the Bible and in fact, quite the opposite is true. (See the following detailed study on this topic: The Ministry and God’s Truth). The ministry and the senior leaders in God’s Church (Pastor General, pastors and elders) enjoy no special relationship with God where God is using them in a special and exclusive way to reveal to them truths that add to the current truths of God’s Church. They are all but men who are all facing the same challenges as any of the other members of God’s Church to have works in their personal lives and to endure in the faith until the end of their lives. Christ coming to any congregation of God’s Church as a thirty year old man and trying to provide it with new information would be immediately rejected and expelled.
None of the books of the Bible were the work of a religious elite within God’s Church. The Old Testament was written by nobodies inspired and commissioned by God and none of the disciples were part of either the religious elite of their days or held any position of power in the civil government. They were all part of the little people of this world. Your faith, those things that you believe and say you are ready to die for, were all written into the Bible by the little, insignificant, looked-down-upon people of the world.
God, in most instances, chooses and uses the little people of the world and this, for a very definite reason.
1Co 1:26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
1Co 1:27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
1Co 1:28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
1Co 1:29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.
God’s Church is being built by God’s Holy Spirit not by the excellence of speech of the ministry or the might of men.
Zec 4:6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.
1Co 2:1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
1Co 2:4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
1Co 2:5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
You will find a lot more information on this topic as you read through this study.
In order to understand the Bible one must be called, have followed his calling and be remaining faithful. All 3 elements are essential. Simply being called is not enough as the Scriptures show.
Rev 17:14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
One of the root causes of true Christians not understanding what is the kingdom of God is an incomplete understanding of what is conversion.
Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.
Christ clearly and plainly tells us that though many are called it is the few of the many called that are chosen. (Mat 22:14) Why, isn’t God’s Church the called out ones?
How can one be called and not chosen?
They are not chosen because they refuse to follow their calling and decide to remain in the world out of which God is calling them. They refuse to submit to God and change their lives to bring it into agreement with the requirements of God’s law.
God’s truth is only knowable by human beings by God placing His Spirit with the individual or by God’s Spirit dwelling in them. God’s truth is not information that can be acquired through man’s 5 physical senses that limit him to knowing and understanding physical and material knowledge. God’s truth is of another order, it is spiritual i.e., for man to be able to know and understand it, another spirit needs to be added to his human spirit, God’s Spirit which then will teach him all things.
Joh 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
Christians are not taught of men, they are taught of God, ALL of them.
Joh 6:45 It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.
1Th 4:9 But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.
God’s Spirit in a true Christian working with the human spirit in man which gives man’s animal brain mind power is the means by which all true Christians are taught by God. And what does it mean to be taught by God? Isn’t God teaching men through the ordained ministry in His Church? Here is what Paul says regarding men teaching spiritual truth to other men.
1Co 3:4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?
1Co 3:5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?
1Co 3:6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
1Co 3:7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.
1Co 3:8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.
1Co 3:9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.
In the congregations of the First Century Church there were some who considered some teachers better than others and were giving all their attention to them. But Paul tells them that the one that is giving them understanding of their teachings is God working in their minds through the Holy Spirit; it is not the doing of any man. Individual Christians are God’s husbandry i.e., they are being cared for and nurtured by God to produce spiritual growth in them. It is God doing the building; building them by increasing in them their understanding of His spiritual truth. God is the one building His Church.
He calls men to repentance and upon belief they are taught by God’s Holy Spirit. The sum of those called, chosen and faithful are God’s Church.
1Co 2:1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. [Paul did not come to the congregations of his days as a gifted orator. It is not through excellency of speech that God’s truth can be understood rather it is only possible by having God’s Holy Spirit.]
1Co 2:6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: [in their attitude of obedience to God and thus have God’s Holy Spirit dwelling in them] yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
1Co 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, [God’s truth is a mystery to the world; it is not a mystery to God’s elect] even the hidden wisdom, [it is hidden from all those who do not have God’s Holy Spirit] which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
1Co 2:8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
1Co 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, [God’s truth cannot be perceived by man’s 5 physical senses] neither have entered into the heart [mind] of man, [those not converted] the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. [Those who have been called, chosen and are remaining faithful.]
1Co 2:10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
1Co 2:11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but [by] the Spirit of God.
1Co 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
1Co 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1Co 2:14 But the natural man [the unconverted] receiveth not [does not understand nor accept] the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. [Can only ever be known by God’s Holy Spirit revealing it; showing it; teaching it to the converted.]
Men do the planting and the watering but the growth, the increase is by God for individual Christians are God’s workmanship and are the result of God building them up in their understanding of the Scriptures. It is not something that any man can do.
Paul further explains that he and the ministry of God’s Church do not have the power to impose on Christians what it is they are to believe because even if they wanted to, they can’t.
2Co 1:23 Moreover I call God for a record upon my soul, that to spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth.
2Co 1:24 Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand.
Here again is something very important to understand regarding the authority of the ministry and the ability of men to teach God’s spiritual truth to other men. Paul, an apostle, and by extension those ordained to the ministry, have no authority to exercise control over what Christians believe. Their role is to be helpers of their joy which is the knowledge that they have been given of God’s truth. They do not have the ability to compel anyone to believe any of God’s truth or to force them to keep on believing it should they decide to no longer do so.
Why?
Because Christians stand by faith i.e., based on what they have chosen to believe. This means that no one can force them to believe something against their will. The decision to believe or not the truth is entirely up to them.
Why?
Because God created man with absolute free moral agency which means that there is no power on earth or in heaven that can force him to choose something against his will. God placed before Israel and mankind a choice.
Deu 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
In order for Israel and mankind to be able to choose, it is absolutely essential that they have the freedom and ability to do so. If there is a higher power that can impose its will upon men whether this be other men or spirit beings, then men are not free to choose. The choices that they would then make would be those of the higher power which dominates them and God could not hold mankind responsible for making wrong decisions nor could He credit them with making good ones. They would not have minds of their own nor be in full control of their decision making power.
Why was it necessary for man to be created with the absolute, unhindered freedom to choose?
Because God has purposed to reproduce Himself through mankind and to share with those who inherit salvation His very nature and be God as God is God. In order to do so while preventing another rebellion as occurred with Lucifer and the angels that followed him, man had to be a being of CHARACTER i.e., he had to be entirely free to choose God’s truth upon being given to have knowledge of the truth and to submit himself to God because this is what he has freely chosen to do. There must be nothing forcing him to do so for the decision he makes to be his own. And, he has to keep on making that decision every day for the rest of his life. That is repentance i.e., the decision to withdraw from the ways of the world which are evil and to resolve to live a new life seeking to the best of his ability to obey God in all things upon being given to know the truth.
This firm attitude of obedience to God in this life while a physical, flesh-and-blood being will become part of the spirit in man which at the time of death will return to God who gave it.
Job 32:8 But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.
Ecc 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
And this spirit will contain man’s resolute decision to obey God in all things to the best of his ability.
At the time of the resurrection, man’s attitude of obedience to God in all things will become a permanent and unchangeable part of the new glorified spirit being created. There will be no possibility of rebellion in God’s Kingdom once it is established. This is why it will be a kingdom in which dwells the righteousness of God as every member of the kingdom will forever be in full and perfect voluntary submission to God and have God’s righteousness in them.
The central and critical point of understanding that has to be remembered is that God, in order to be able to reproduce himself through man, had to create a being who had mind power and absolute free moral agency so as to be able to freely make decisions without any higher power being able to influence his decisions one way or the other so as to be a being of character.
For God to be able to hold man responsible for the decisions that he makes, he has to be fully free to decide.
All this, up to now, is nothing new in terms of what has always been taught in the Church. Everybody used to talk about the need to develop character and indeed, it is the truth. A sustained, willful and unforced desire to obey God in all things is the requirement for salvation.
God tells us that the Holy Spirit only leads, it does not compel or force obedience.
Rom 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
This is in keeping with the requirement we have just examined for man to be a being of CHARACTER i.e., he must voluntarily and freely choose to obey God when given to know the truth.
God will not force obedience; He will only give man the choice to do so or not and He will leave him completely free to choose life or death.
This is how God’s plan of salvation works. Character is essential for salvation and character requires that man be completely free to choose to obey God when given to know the truth.
Without the requirement for CHARACTER there is no possible salvation as God will not grant eternal life to beings whose obedience has not been assured once resurrected as glorified spirit beings who are immortal.
This being the case, is it possible that during the Millennium and the Last Great Day God will radically change the administration of His plan of salvation for mankind, invalidate a very great number of Scriptures and begin to force mankind to obey Him by subjecting it to famine, pestilence and war on a very large scale resulting in the death of millions and the destruction of man’s current civilization to begin a new one?
Mat 24:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Mat 24:22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.
As Christians, and here I am repeating myself, there is only one truly reliable source of information on all these matters and that is the Holy Bible; not what men say the Bible says but what the Bible says. Our firm resolve must be to let the Scriptures speak to us and accept what they are telling us even if what they tell us goes directly against what we have always believed.
Let’s now review the information given us by God in His Holy Bible regarding what are some of the key characteristics of the kingdom of God.
The Kingdom of God
We are all familiar with the Scriptures where Christ plainly told Nicodemus that men have to be born again to be able to enter the Kingdom of God.
Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?
Joh 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Joh 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
In order for men to enter the Kingdom of God they must be born again from their flesh-and-blood, mortal, physical existence to glorified, immortal, spirit being existence. This is made clear by Christ when He says “…..what is born of the flesh is flesh and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:6); they are two entirely different things. Those born of the Spirit are then spirit beings like God and the angels are spirit beings and, as such, are then able to enter and be part of a kingdom which is wholly made up of spirit beings. God the Father is a spirit being, the Logos or Spokesman who became the Christ, is a spirit being. Together they now constitute the Kingdom of God to which many others are to be added. The essential nature of God the Father and of the Logos is that they are spirit beings. The only way a human being can become part of their kingdom is for that human being to also become a spirit being. And, to become a spirit being that can enter the kingdom of God man has to be born of the Spirit of God.
Paul in the well-known resurrection chapter of the Bible, 1 Cor 15 gives us more information that adds to Christ’s words that being born according to the flesh and being born according to the spirit are two entirely different things.
1Co 15:35 But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?
1Co 15:36 Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:
1Co 15:37 And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:
1Co 15:38 But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.
1Co 15:39 All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.
1Co 15:40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.
1Co 15:41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.
1Co 15:42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
Men’s physical flesh-and-blood bodies subject to decay and death which is the body with which all men are born, at the time of death is buried in the ground like the seed of a plant and there it is to remain and decay until the time of the resurrection when it will be raised in incorruption i.e., with a body not subject to decay and death; with a spirit body in which dwells immortality. This is explained by Paul in 1Cor15:44 below.
1Co 15:43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
1Co 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
This is simply another way of reiterating Christ’s words that what is born of the flesh is flesh and what is born of the spirit is spirit.
1Co 15:49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
Jesus also said that “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.“(John 3:3) This verse explains well the distinction Christ makes between flesh and spirit in John 3:6. Those born of the flesh i.e., born of women are flesh and those born of water and the Spirit (John 3:5) by a resurrection from the dead (Rom 1:4) are spirit.
Those born of water and the Spirit are those who have been spiritually conceived by God the Father through being called, accepting their calling and being baptized (God’s Holy Spirit then enters them and dwells in them; they are then born — conceived and not yet actually born — of water (baptism) and of the Spirit). They are then begotten or conceived of God’s Holy Spirit; they become spiritual embryos who all through their lives as flesh-and-blood, mortal, human beings must grow in knowledge and understanding. Their actual birth or being born again as immortal, glorified spirit beings will occur at the time of the resurrection of the dead who were called, chosen and remained faithful until the end of their natural lives.
In John 3, Christ tells us that the Kingdom of God is not something that flesh-and-blood men can see.
Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
Flesh-and-blood men cannot see the Kingdom of God because in order to become part of it men must first be born again as glorified, immortal spirit beings. And Christ tells us that those who are born again are like the wind which no one knows where it came from or where it goes and which goes wherever it wants to. Christ’s uses the wind as an example of how those born again have become spirit beings invisible to flesh-and-blood human beings. Physical-material human beings cannot see the wind in the same way that they cannot see spirit. And Jesus plainly tells us that flesh-and-blood human beings cannot enter or become part of God’s Kingdom.
Joh 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Stop for a brief moment here and give your mind the time to fully grasp and understand what is being said in 1 Cor 15 and in John 3. Jesus tells us clearly that God’s Kingdom cannot be seen by flesh-and-blood human beings and that it is impossible for flesh-and-blood human beings to enter God’s Kingdom or to become part of it.
Human beings that have died in the past and, those now alive cannot see or enter into the Kingdom of God and neither will be those to be born in the future. Flesh-and-blood, physical-material human beings whether converted or not cannot see spirit and God’s Kingdom is wholly made up of spirit beings.
Flesh-and-blood human beings as all of us are cannot know of the existence of spirit beings such as God and the angels but by revelation from God. All of man’s science is based on discovering the properties of physical matter and rejects all notions that there are such things as spirit beings because the proof of their existence cannot be made by physical-material means. Man’s 5 physical senses limit him to being able to understand the physical and material world in which he lives but he cannot know or understand things that are spirit without an additional spirit being added to his human spirit. This is extensively covered by Paul in 1 Cor 2 of which I will only quote verse 11. Please feel free to read the verses leading up to it and after it.
1Co 2:11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
Basically what this verse is saying is that men understand the things of other men because they have in them the same spirit as other men. In the same way, for men to be able to know and understand the things of God, they must have in them another spirit, God’s Holy Spirit. They can then understand the things of God having in them the same spirit as God in the same way that men can understand the things of other men because they have the same spirit in them.
And of course, it should go without saying, that as long as we are flesh-and-blood material beings we cannot at the same time be spirit beings. Can we in this life be born as a spirit being? If so, we would then become invisible to other human beings who are not spirit beings.
What does Christ say about those who are born again (not only begotten or conceived but actually born)?
Joh 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
Joh 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
Those born again are like the wind which cannot be seen. No one has ever seen or can see the wind; it is invisible to flesh-and-blood men just like spirit is. Then what is it that Jesus meant when He said that men must be born again? All those who today say they are born again are still visible to us; they are not like the wind that you can’t tell from where it comes or to where it is going and which goes wherever it wants to. Flesh-and-blood men are the results of an actual physical birth; can they while remaining flesh-and-blood be actually born as a spirit being which is like the wind? Do flesh-and-blood men who say they are born again in this life become like the wind as Jesus says is “…..every one that is born of the Spirit?“
If we are being honest with ourselves, we know that the answer is, no; they are not as described by Jesus.
Can we know for sure what it is that Jesus meant by being born again? There are many who hold to the view that when one becomes converted they are born again.
Was there ever a man that was born again and can we examine how that occurred as a means of clarifying what Jesus meant He said that one has to be born again to be able to see and enter the Kingdom of God?
The First Man Born Again
In the Bible we read that Jesus was begotten (conceived we would say today) of God the Father in the womb of the physical woman Mary. At the time of His being conceived, Jesus was not yet born; He would have to grow in Mary’s womb for 9 months before being actually born as a human being. Being begotten or conceived and being born is not the same thing; that which has been conceived needs to grow to the point where it can be born. There is a time interval between the conception (begettal) and the actual birth (being born).
Luk 1:30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
Luk 1:31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
Luk 1:32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
Luk 1:33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
Luk 1:34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
Luk 1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost [“Spirit” it should read] shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
Christ’s father is God and therefore Christ is God’s son. God became a father with the conception and birth of Jesus. And Christ who before His incarnation as a man was the Logos, the Word, the Spokesman who dwelt in eternity with God, upon being born of the virgin Mary, became the Son of God.
Towards the end of His mission on the earth Christ sought to reassure His disciples for He was about to be taken and die on the stake and they would personally see this happen. He didn’t want them to become disheartened so He explained to them what was really going to happen to Him by telling them the following:
Joh 16:17 Then said some of his disciples among themselves, What is this that he saith unto us, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me: and, Because I go to the Father?
Joh 16:18 They said therefore, What is this that he saith, A little while? we cannot tell what he saith.
Joh 16:19 Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and said unto them, Do ye enquire among yourselves of that I said, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me?
Joh 16:20 Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.
Joh 16:21 A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.
Joh 16:22 And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.
Joh 16:23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.
Jesus told His disciples that what was about to happen to Him would make them very sorrowful, they would sorrow like a woman when she is in travail knowing she would have to go through a painful period of time while giving birth. But they would also be like a woman after having given birth. They would no longer remember the anguish they felt when they saw Christ taken and nailed to the stake because in a little while they would see Christ after His resurrection being alive again and speaking with them as He was then doing and they would greatly rejoice like a woman on seeing her new-born child.
Christ would die as a flesh-and-blood human being born of woman and be born again as a glorified spirit being with the glory that He had before He voluntarily divested Himself of His Godhead (Philip 2:6-8) to become a man born of woman for the purpose of living a perfect sinless life as a human being and dying on the stake as God’s perfect sacrifice for the sins of mankind. As such Christ is the first flesh-and-blood man to be born again from the dead to glorified spirit life.
Col 1:18 And he [the resurrected Christ] is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Christ is the first human being to be born again from the dead as a glorified spirit being. The Logos or Spokesman had divested Himself of His godhead to fully become a man born of the flesh. He was fully a man and fully God. His mother was Mary and His Father was God.
Before His being taken away to be tried and put to death, Christ asked His Father to give Him back the glory which He had before becoming a man; the same glory He had before the world was.
Joh 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
God the Father was able to glorify Christ when He was born again by a resurrection from the dead with the same glory that He had before becoming a man. God will also glorify in the same way, all those who have been called, chosen and remained faithful, at the time of their resurrection from the dead.
Rom 8:29 For whom he [God the Father] did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he [His Son, Christ] might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Rom 8:30 Moreover whom he [God the Father] did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
Those who are called by God the Father are to be conformed to the image of his son i.e., He would do for them what He did for Christ. Christ after lying dead for 3 days and 3 nights was resurrected back to the glory He had before becoming a man born of woman i.e., a flesh-and-blood human being like we all are. And those whom God the Father called and who are justified i.e., have had their sins forgiven, in the resurrection will be raised up glorified like Christ so that Christ through His own resurrection from the dead as a glorified spirit being may be the firstborn among many brethren. Those born again at the time of the resurrection of God’s saints will be born as glorified spirit beings and be among the many brothers of Christ sharing in the very same glory.
Christ was fully a man as made clear by the following verses.
Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
In order for Christ to be tempted like any other man He had to be fully human Himself.
Rom 1:3 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;
Rom 1:4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:
Jesus was a descendant of David according to the flesh. He was born of woman as all men are and was a physical human being in every sense of the word. But he became the son of God with power i.e., after His death on the stake and resurrection, He was not born again as a human being but as a spirit being inheriting the very nature of his Father, a God being. Christ was born again to spirit life and “……declared to be the Son of God with power…..” by a resurrection from the dead. He first had to die as a human being to be then born again by a resurrection to spirit life as the Son of God with power, the powers of God which all those who are born again will also have. Christ was born again by a resurrection from the dead into God’s Kingdom as all true Christians will be.
In this life, true Christians are only begotten or conceived of God’s Holy Spirit; they are not yet born spirit beings; they are spiritual embryos which spiritually speaking must grown in knowledge and understanding of the Scriptures which is their spiritual nourishment so as to become spiritually mature and be ready to be born again at the appointed time as glorified spirit beings in God’s Kingdom.
I think at this point, based on what we have seen so far, we can safely conclude that flesh-and-blood human beings whether converted or not cannot see the Kingdom of God and that even those who are converted cannot see it or be a part of it as long as they are flesh-and-blood. In order to become part of God’s Kingdom, Christ plainly stated that one must be born again to spirit life by a resurrection from the dead.
Let’s now examine at length the different stages of the conversion process as this will give us more understanding of God’s Kingdom and of the Gospel or good news Christ gave to his disciples.
Conversion
God since the foundation of His New Testament Spirit-begotten Church on the day of Pentecost with its first members being the apostles, has been calling out men to come out of the world and live their lives according to God’s law. Until the Millennium arrives, God is not calling everyone though it is still many.
The first part of the conversion process is being called and Christ says that:
Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.
Those who are not chosen are those who decide not to follow their calling after God has shown then enough truth that they have to make the decision to come out of the world or to return into it and continue their lives as before. Christ plainly tells us that it is the few that choose to follow their calling. Are we willing to accept this or does this offend us so much that we choose to believe that just about everyone called will be saved because God is a God of love and mercy and doesn’t want to see anyone lose their salvation and that therefore this verse must somehow mean something different than what it very plainly says? Our minds are very powerful and can, if we choose to do so, blind us to certain realities we find too horrible to contemplate.
Christians have to keep control of their emotions if they are to be able to see the truth as offensive to them as some of it may be. They have to accept to change their previous beliefs when they are clearly shown to be wrong when compared to the truth of the Bible. This can be a very painful experience which God likens to being scourged (See Heb 12). However painful it may be, we have to endure God’s correction or become bastards i.e., we no longer have God as our Father spiritually speaking. We have to accept God’s truth when it is revealed to us no matter how much it goes against our personal desires for things to be different than what the Bible is showing us.
When called, God will give us sufficient information for us to be taken to the crossroads where we realize that we have to make a decision: either submit to God or go back to our lives in the world. If we go back into the world, we again become spiritually blind and God’s Spirit will not call us a second time. But if we follow our calling and commit ourselves to obey God, we are then chosen.
But being chosen is only part of the process; upon entering or becoming part of God’s Church the new convert must be careful to fully abandon his previous life and not try to maintain some of his past practices while in God’s Church by reasoning his way around God’s law in order to be able to do so without feeling guilty of any wrongdoing.
Christ commands those that are coming into God’s Church following their calling to do the following:
Mat 7:13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
Mat 7:14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
New converts must be ready to change their lives. Having one foot in the world and one foot in the Church in order to maintain certain beliefs or conducts that are not in accordance with the truth while remaining a member of one of God’s Church congregations leads to loss of salvation and many are those among the chosen that will do so (Matt 7:14).
Mat 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Luk 16:13 No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Christians cannot lead a double life and hope to get salvation. Trying to reconcile certain practices and beliefs of the world with the truth of God leads to losing God’s truth.
So it is that many are called but few are chosen and of the few that are chosen it is the many that take the broad way of compromise with the world and lose their salvation. This means that the many of those called and chosen lose their salvation by either not following their calling or returning into the world after having followed it for a while. This is why God’s Church is the “little flock.”
The preceding Scriptures, if we will believe them, clearly show that there will not come a time when just about all of humanity but for a few rebels will become and stay converted. Many are called but few are chosen and of those who are chosen, it is the many that take the broad way that leads to loss of salvation. In other words, there will be no mass conversion of humanity where just about everybody will become and stay converted according to these very plain and easy to understand Scriptures.
What are you going to believe?
Again, knowing and understanding this makes it clear that since the foundation of God’s New Testament Spirit-begotten Church that it is the few that have remained faithful and who have been sealed for the resurrection as unpleasant a realization as that may be.
What will happen during the Millennium and the Last Great Day? Will God radically change the administration of His plan of salvation for those living during the Millennium and those that will rise up in the resurrection of the Last Great Day?
God says He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow; He changes not (Heb 13:8).
And God’s plan of salvation for mankind requires that those who are to be saved be individuals of CHARACTER i.e., upon having been given to know the truth God will not force them to obey Him. They have to freely and self-willingly chose to obey Him without anything or anyone forcing them to do so. It has to be their decision free from any form of coercion. God’s Spirit only ever leads (Rom 8:14); it will not force anyone to become converted or to remain converted. This freely taken decision of obedience to God and its maintenance through the years until death will be a part of the human spirit which God will use at the time of the resurrection to bring men back to life and which will ensure there will never be another rebellion as occurred with Lucifer and the angels that sinned.
As a spirit being, this attitude of obedience to God in all things becomes permanent making it possible for God’s Kingdom to be made up of a large number of individuals with their own personalities, independent mind power and be a single body with every part working in full cooperation and harmony with all the others to provide exactly what the body of Christ needs in a similar way that our human bodies are made up of millions of cells all working together for the well being of the body.
1Co 12:12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
1Co 12:13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
1Co 12:14 For the body is not one member, but many.
1Co 12:15 If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?
1Co 12:16 And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?
1Co 12:17 If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?
1Co 12:18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.
1Co 12:19 And if they were all one member, where were the body?
1Co 12:20 But now are they many members, yet but one body.
Given all the things we have been examining let’s now review what the Scriptures say about what will happen during the Millennium and by extension during the Last Great Day.
What About the Millennium?
God says that during the Millennium He will pour out of His Spirit upon all flesh (Joel 2:28) and that is very true. But, as we have just seen, being called and being chosen are two different things. Being called is the first part of the process, The called out one must decide to follow his calling in order to be chosen. God tells us that it is the few that are chosen which therefore means that of the many called it is the many that do not follow their calling. They choose to remain in the world and thus remain unconverted.
And, we have just seen that of those chosen, it is the many that choose the broad way that leads to perdition and it is the few that enter in by the strait and narrow gate. This means that of the few that are chosen, it is the few that will gain their salvation by staying converted all their lives.
In practical terms, this means that although during the Millennium God will pour out of His Spirit upon all flesh there will be no mass conversion of the nations.
In practical terms, this also means that the vast majority of the world’s population as is the case today will remain unconverted and, if unconverted, unteachable when it comes to learning God’s spiritual truth.
I fully know how shocking this may be to a lot of you reading this study but this is what the Scriptures say and I like you, wish it would be different but all are given the same chance at salvation and God to be a God of justice must ensure the equal application of the conditions established for salvation to all of mankind.
Teachability
As we know, God’s truth is spiritual and in order for someone to be able to understand it, the Holy Spirit must be present in their mind.
Those who refuse their calling (the many) or who become converted and go back into the world (the many) are not teachable because their attitude toward God’s truth is as follows:
Rom 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
We also know that those who were once given to know the truth can never know it again if they abandon or forsake it.
Heb 6:4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
Heb 6:5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
Heb 6:6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
Those who go back into the world after being given to know the truth are irretrievably lost. They have again become spiritually blind as they were before being called. This is why it is impossible to make them realize they have left the faith. As far as they are concerned they have never left it. It would take a second calling from God to remove the blindness come over them and God will not do it as that would require Christ to be sacrificed again.
So, according to the Scriptures, the vast majority of people living on the earth now and during the Millennium and the Last Great Day will be unconverted or carnal-minded.
A carnal mind is the mind with which we are all born. There is no Holy Spirit in it and it is impossible for it to know God’s truth or to be subject to God’s law (Rom 8:7). All those called who rejected their calling and all those converted who go back into the world become carnal-minded. The Holy Spirit that they had while called or chosen leaves them never to return and they again become hostile toward God and His law as they were before their calling.
During the Millennium the very great majority of mankind will remain unconverted though all will have been called. The nations will be unteachable as they are hostile to God’s law and without God’s Holy Spirit they cannot submit to it. Carnal-minded individuals cannot be taught God’s spiritual law which is knowable only by revelation.
Gal 1:12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
God’s spiritual truth is knowable by man only by revelation from God which requires that God’s Holy Spirit be with or in the individual to whom God’s truth is to be revealed.
So what was Christ’s Gospel message?
The Gospel Message
Based on the Scriptures we have just been reviewing can we reconcile what they tell us with the teaching that Christ is coming back to this earth a second time in power and glory to put down all rebellion against God and to rule over the nations of this world and bring about world peace?
Was the good news that Christ brought from God the Father that He, Christ would take over the rule of the nations to finally bring peace to the world by putting an end to war and the corrupt governments of men which is the root cause of just about all of the misery, war and destruction in the world.
Is it God’s intention to establish His government on earth and to have it replace the governments of men across the nations during the Millennium? Was that what Christ meant when he preached the Good News of the Kingdom of God?
God’s Rule
God will not rule by force over mankind. He is not doing so now, has not done so in the past and will not do so in the future.
In the days of ancient Israel which was a fully carnal nation which never was given access to God’s Holy Spirit, God ruled over them through Moses. He did not force Israel to obey Him but He did punish them for their sinfulness. In New Testament times, God’s nation is no longer a physical nation but a spiritual nation made up of all those who have been called, chosen and faithful. And, He rules over them because they have chosen to obey Him; not out of fear of any physical or mental punishment He would use to force them to obey Him.
These are the only ones over which God will rule; He will not force anyone to obey Him.
WHY?
The central and critical point of understanding that has to be remembered is that God in order to be able to reproduce himself through man had to create a being who had mind power and absolute free moral agency so as to be able to freely make decisions without any higher power being able to force his decision one way or the other.
For God to be able to hold man responsible for the decisions that he makes, he has to be fully free to decide.
This is nothing new in terms of what has always been taught in the Church. Everybody used to talk about the need to develop character and indeed, it is the truth. A willful and unforced desire to obey God in all things is the requirement for salvation.
God tells us that the Holy Spirit only leads, it does not compel or force obedience.
Rom 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
This is in keeping with the requirement we have just examined for man to be a being of CHARACTER i.e., he must voluntarily and freely choose to obey God when given to know the truth.
God will not force obedience; He will only give man the choice to do so or not and He will leave him completely free to choose life or death.
This is how God’s plan of salvation works. Character is essential for salvation and character requires that man be completely free to choose to obey God when given to know the truth.
Without the requirement for CHARACTER there is no possible salvation as God will not grant eternal life to beings whose obedience has not been assured once resurrected as glorified spirit beings in whom dwells eternal life.
This being the case, is it possible that during the Millennium and the Last Great Day God will break from past practices and invalidate a very great number of Scriptures and begin to force mankind to obey Him by subjecting it to famine, pestilence and war on a very large scale resulting in the death of millions and the destruction of man’s current civilization to begin a new one?
Spiritual Gog and Magog
Shortly after the end of the Millennium we read in Rev 20 about a group of people whose number is as the sand of the sea coming up against Israel to destroy it.
Rev 20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Rev 20:8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
Rev 20:9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
These individuals are not the same people as the Gog and Magog who were destroyed early on during the Millennium (See Ez 38-39); this end-time Gog and Magog come from the four quarters of the earth; they are not from a specific region. And, their number is so great that God they are as many as the sand of the sea, a number so great as to be uncountable. All of them are deceived by Satan the devil.
But wait; did not God pour out of His Holy Spirit upon all flesh during the Millennium and did not everyone except a few incorrigibly wicked individuals become converted? Did not Christ return in power and glory as the King of kings and Lord of lords and with the resurrected saints take over the governments of men, carry out vast reeducation campaigns in the true value of life resulting in just about everyone becoming converted and eager followers of the truth. Was this state of affairs not maintained for 1,000 years with the nations being deeply converted, joyfully keeping the annual and weekly holy days and, ever growing in knowledge and understanding of the truth as they spend time in fervent prayer and daily study of their Bible while enjoying the safety, security, peace and abundance from a world finally at peace.
If this be the case, how do we have this uncountable multitude of Satan-deceived people from all over the world converging on Israel to destroy it right after the end of the Millennium?
Did they lose their deep conversion and zeal for the truth which had been reinforced through hundreds of years of worldwide true and sincere Christian living, the minute Satan was loosed from the bottomless pit?
Rev 20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Rev 20:8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
But, Christ says that true Christians cannot be deceived:
Mat 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
Why is it that Christians cannot be deceived?
If after having been given to know the truth there was a power in the universe that could again deceive true Christians then that power would be mightier than God. And, true Christians departing from the truth they had received could not be held responsible by God for having done so as they would be under the irresistible influence of a higher power.
How do true Christians again become deceived?
They again become deceived when they make the decision to leave the truth they have been given and return into the world out of which God had called them. God has created man with absolute free moral agency i.e., there is no power on earth or in heaven that can force him to believe something he has not chosen to believe or to keep on believing the truth once he has decided to no longer do so. God has given man the absolute freedom to choose so that the choices that he makes will be his own and not that of a higher power working its will through him. Having freewill makes it possible for God to hold man responsible for the decisions he makes. Man’s freedom to choose is a key requirement of God’s plan of salvation for mankind.
The world is not now being judged because it is deceived and if there was a higher power that could deceive man after he having come to the knowledge of the truth, God would not be able to judge him.
1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
Therefore, the only individuals that can be deceived by Satan are those who were either never called (but during the Millennium all will be called; Joel 2:28); those who were called and refused their calling by choosing to remain in the world (Mat 22:14); and those who accepted their calling but later on abandoned the truth they had to go back into the world (Mat 7:13).
The many are called (Mat22:14) but the few are chosen and of the few that are chosen or who are entering into God’s Church, it is the many that take the broad way that leads to perdition (Mat 7:13). Altogether, they are the ones constituting this great group of people from the four corners of the earth that are deceived by Satan and who gather to march against Israel to destroy it.
The only way a truly converted person can again become deceived by Satan is by that person willfully turning against the truth of God they had been given to know and returning into the world out of which God had called them. Falling away from the truth is not something that occurs despite the sincere and abiding desire of a truly converted Christian to remain with and live the truth to the best of his abilities. It happens by the freely and willfully taken decision of a truly converted Christian to go back into the world where he again becomes irretrievably spiritually blind.
The great multitude from the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth and the number of whom is as the sand of the sea (Rev 20:8) which shortly after the end of the Millennium rise up against the camp of the saints to destroy it (Rev 20:9) and are destroyed by God proves the truth of Matt 22:14 and Matt 7:13. There will be no mass conversion of the nations during the Millennium and Christ will not take over the governments of this world and force man to have peace and be happy.
This was not the good news message that he brought from the Father.
So, what is the Gospel of the Kingdom of God that Christ spoke about?
Conclusion
In light of all we have been examining, can we understand what is the Gospel proclaimed by Christ?
As we have just seen, even during the Millennium when God pours out of His Spirit upon all flesh, there will be no mass conversion of the nations. The post-millennial Gog and Magog who are from the four corners of the world and whose number is as the sand of the sea make it very clear that the nations of the world for the greatest part did not become or stay converted. This uncountable multitude did not lose their conversion the minute Satan was loosed from the bottomless pit. Satan could deceive them because they were not converted for as Jesus said, the elect cannot be deceived.
We know God’s spiritual truth cannot be taught to the unconverted and is knowable only by revelation from God. The world for the most part will be unconverted and it will be impossible to teach it God’s spiritual truth.
We also know that the unconverted are carnal-minded and that they are hostile to God’s law and indeed cannot be subject to it. (Rom 8:7)
So what did Christ mean when He spoke about the Gospel. What is the Good News He had from the God the Father for mankind?
The Good News from God the Father given to us through Christ is that there is coming a time when the governments of men will end and that a new kingdom will follow the ending of the kingdoms of men, God’s Kingdom.
This kingdom will be made up of spirit beings which will be men who during the 7,000 year time span given mankind will have been called, chosen and faithful. They will become part of God’s Kingdom through their being resurrected as glorified spirit beings sharing in the very nature of God. They will be God as God is God and their attitude of obedience to God in all things will ensure that all members of God’s Kingdom will always work in full harmony and cooperation with all other parts of God’s Kingdom under the direction of God the Father and Christ
God will close off His plan of salvation for mankind by creating a new heaven and a new earth after the destruction of the wicked in the Lake of Fire. There will then be no more flesh-and-blood men alive and God will create a new heaven and a new earth in which dwells righteousness; it will be the righteousness of God that will be found in every member of God’s Kingdom.
The Gospel is the good news that one day those called, chosen and faithful will inherit the Kingdom of God and become God as God is God no longer being subject to hunger, thirst, pain, death and the physical laws of the material universe. They will inherit bodies that do not grow old and die and will spend eternity involved in works of creation in an infinite new heaven and earth under the direction of God the Father and Christ.
Rev 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
This occurs after the coming of the Lake of Fire and the burning up of the wicked at the time of the 3rd resurrection. There are then no flesh-and-blood human beings left alive on the earth. God then creates a new heaven and a new earth and after its creation the new Jerusalem comes down from God out of heaven.
Rev 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Rev 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
After the end of God’s plan of salvation for mankind when there are no more flesh-and-blood human beings on the earth and after the new heaven and the new earth are created, God then comes to dwell with men on this new earth and these men are all glorified spirit beings. They are His people, God will dwell with them and He will be their God.
Rev 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
The physical material world and the flesh-and-blood men who inhabited it have passed away. They, the current heaven and earth, and the flesh-and-blood men that did not become glorified spirit beings were all burnt up in the Lake of Fire. Only God’s elect are then left and they are the men that become part of God’s Kingdom.
Rev 21:5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
Rev 21:6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
They will be beings in which dwells immortality.
Rev 21:7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
Physical, mortal men who have been called, chosen and who have remained faithful all their lives will inherit all things i.e., the new heaven and the new earth and they will be the sons of God.
Heb 2:5 For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak.
Heb 2:6 But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him?
Heb 2:7 Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands:
Heb 2:8 Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him
God’s new heaven and earth is the inheritance of God’s sons.
All the others, the wicked and the unfaithful, those who did not overcome will die the 2nd death; their consciousness will forever be ended and no resurrection will ever be possible for them.
Rev 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
The Good News is that mortal men can become immortal spirit beings, share in the very nature of God and, under the direction of God and Christ, participate in the administration of God’s government over the new heaven and earth created by God.
And so we come to the end when God’s Kingdom is fully established:
Rev 21:6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
Hopefully, I have succeeded in making things clearer and that you now understand that the Kingdom of God can never exist among flesh-and-blood human beings as it is a kingdom made up wholly of spirit beings. It is a kingdom that cannot be seen by human beings and which human beings cannot enter while still human beings. Those inheriting God’s Kingdom as born sons of God are those who in this life were called, who followed their calling and endured in their calling until the end of their physical lives at which times they were sealed by the Spirit for resurrection to eternal life as glorified spirit beings fully sharing in God’s very nature. They will be Gods as God is God with the same powers but which they will exercise only under the direction of God. Their attitude of obedience to God while human beings will have become a permanent part of their spirit being ensuring perfect harmony and cooperation between God and His glorified saints and among themselves in a way that was completely impossible while they were still human beings. This is why God’s Kingdom will only come into being after the full end of God’s plan of salvation for mankind when the wicked are burnt up in the Lake of Fire and God creates a new heaven and a new earth.
God’s glorified saints will be one with God the Father and Christ as Christ is one with the Father. Altogether they will constitute a single body made up of many parts where each part contributes what is needed for the well being of the body.
Eternity will be a joyful and satisfying time of ongoing creation by God’s Kingdom as its members put the final finishing touches on the new heaven and earth created by God which will be infinite.
God's Spiritual Nation 