The Daily Word of Righteousness

He Will Never Die, #2

And whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this? (John 11:26—NIV)

"He who lives and believes in Me will never die." What are you talking about, Jesus?

"Did I ever tell you that to have eternal life is to go to Heaven?"

No.

"What did I say?"

You said whoever believes in You would not perish but have eternal life.

"Where do you get going to Heaven out of this?"

I guess we made it up.

"What I meant was, whoever believes in Me will have eternal life. I said nothing about going to Heaven."

"Do you want to die?"

No.

"Do you want to live?"

Yes.

"What do you mean by living?"

I mean to continue pretty much as I am, but in a world without sin, sickness, tiredness, dread, violence, and so forth—a world where little children can play in safety; a world where there are no wicked people to destroy everything and keep everyone in misery.

"Would you rather live in Paradise in the spirit world with the angels or on the earth if it were as you described? Would you rather be a spirit or be in a flesh and bone body on a restored earth?"

I would rather live on the earth in a flesh and bone body, if there were no more trouble on the earth, and be able to visit the spirit world when I wanted to.

"Your wish is granted. This is what I meant when I said, ‘Whoever lives and believes in Me will never die.'"

If there is any truth in the above dialogue, then we of today have altered the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. And the change has not been for the better. We have lost the hope of eternal life—real life among real people.

Because of the disobedience of Adam and Eve, mankind was denied access to the Tree of Life. The Tree of Life is the Lord Jesus Christ. When we partake of Him we change from a mortal animal into an immortal creation that can no longer die. This is why it is so necessary we gain eternal life in our inward nature by overcoming worldliness, lust, and self-will. If our inward spiritual nature is not renewed in God, and we then were entrusted with an immortal body, we could no longer be restored to God's Presence. We would be as Satan and the fallen angels.

Since the time of the Garden of Eden God has been perfecting a plan to restore man to the earth. The long history of the patriarchs, then of Israel, and then of the Christian Church, has been necessary in order for God to construct the kind of Kingdom that will be able to maintain paradisiac conditions on the earth.

It is God's intention that man live on the earth, that man be free from sin, that the earth be breathtakingly beautiful and marvelous, that there no longer be sorrow, pain, or death.

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. (Revelation 21:4—NIV)

The above verse is not speaking of Heaven but of the new earth. The earth!

To be continued.