Paradise on Earth

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onewithhim
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Paradise on Earth

Post #1

Post by onewithhim »

When I learned that the Bible speaks of a restored Garden of Eden and the restoration of mankind to the perfection and endless life that Adam forfeited, I was thrilled. Who doesn't want to keep living on this beautiful earth, with our loved ones, and being able to do all the things we love to do---endlessly?

If God said to you today, "When do you want to die?" would you say "now!!"? I don't think very many people would say that.

We CAN live forever here on Earth. The Bible tells us that we can.

Matthew 5:5
Psalm 37:9-11,29

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Post #1471

Post by JehovahsWitness »

Checkpoint wrote:Where have you "been promised a paradise here"?

The bible doesnt mention anyone by name when it comes to living forever on the earth, it simply offers this as a hope for those judged by God as righteous.
PROVERBS 2:21, 22

For only the upright will reside in the earth and the blameless will remain in it. As for the wicked, they will be cut off from the earth

Its not for us to say who will be included as being judged as "blameless" but all the Jehovah's Witnesses I know hope to be,
Isaiah 11: 9
There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain; for THE EARTH shall be filled with knowledge of the LORD, as water covers the sea." -- New American Bible

Ecclesiastes 1: 4
"One generation goes and another comes; but THE EARTH is forever*."

Proverbs 2 v 21, 22 Douay-Rheims Bible
"For they that are upright shall dwell in THE EARTH, and the simple shall continue in it. But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it. -- King James Bible

Matthew 5: 5 American Standard Version
"Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit THE EARTH."

Matthew 6 v 10 Young's Literal Translationn "Thy reign come: Thy will come to pass, as in heaven also on THE EARTH."

Psalms 115:16 "The heavens belong to the LORD, but he has given THE EARTH to all humanity." New Living Translation (©2007)

PSALMS 72v8
May he also rule from sea to sea And from the River to the ends of THE EARTH. New American Standard Bible (©1995)

Psalms 37:29 "The righteous themselves will possess THE EARTH, and they will reside forever upon it."

Psalms 37:11:
"But the meek ones themselves will possess THE EARTH, and they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace."



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http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... 81#p826681


"For if we live, we live to Jehovah, and if we die, we die to Jehovah. So both if we live and if we die, we belong to Jehovah" -
Romans 14:8

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Post #1472

Post by marco »

Checkpoint wrote:
Where have you "been promised a paradise here"?

Surely the first step is for a person to be persuaded they are special or chosen. Then they flick through the pages and warm to the suggestion from John 10: "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me." although "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard" one can guess what waits. There is something comforting in having Earth with the thorns removed. Muhammad realised this too, and made appropriate promises to warm very human hearts.

It is sad but interesting to see how people can take an ordinary line and inject into it the splendour of everlasting meadows and greener than green valleys. One can suspect metaphor but the Revelation passage:

" Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,�[a] for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. "

starting with the suspicious "I saw" is neither literal nor figurative; it's a dream sequence, denying the words of Christ that "eye hath not seen." We can all dream.

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Post #1473

Post by onewithhim »

Checkpoint wrote:
onewithhim wrote:
Checkpoint wrote:
onewithhim wrote: Thanks to everybody who have participated on this thread. It is my hope that even more people will contribute their thoughts on this.
:D
Is the "Paradise on earth" of this thread the same as the one promised in Revelation 2:7?
To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to eat from the tree of life in the Paradise of God.
I think those sentiments were directed to the anointed who will rule with Christ, but of course the idea would extend to those on the earth, who have been promised a paradise here.
Hmmn..

I'm not sure about those things.

Would you say you and most of your JW friends are included in "to the one who overcomes"?

Is it sound and scriptural to extend an idea that targets a specific group, to another group that lacks what separates that first group?

Where have you "been promised a paradise here"?
I can't believe that you don't remember the answers to these questions that have already been asked and answered. This is where I wonder how many Checkpoints there are. LOL!

1) As was already explained, Jesus was directing his statements to the anointed co-rulers, but it would apply to the "other sheep" as well. Both groups have their paradise hope.
2) We are all of "one flock" with "one shepherd." (John 10:16) Some of us will rule with Christ and most of us will live on Earth under His guidance. The anointed ones will have their paradise in heaven.....the rest of us will enjoy our paradise on Earth.
3) We have been promised a paradise throughout the Scriptures. I can't count how many times I have posted the Scriptures that spell it out. Maybe you can go back to the OP and read it again.


:study:

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Post #1474

Post by Ylari »

hi, I'm new here...i like this theory.

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Post #1475

Post by onewithhim »

Ylari wrote: hi, I'm new here...i like this theory.
Hallo!! Willkommen!! Wie geht's??

I'm glad to see you here, and I'm glad you find Paradise on Earth something that sounds good to you. Is it something that you want to check out further? (You could start by going through the thread, reading all the posts. :D )


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Post #1476

Post by Checkpoint »

onewithhim wrote:
Checkpoint wrote:
onewithhim wrote:
Checkpoint wrote:
onewithhim wrote: Thanks to everybody who have participated on this thread. It is my hope that even more people will contribute their thoughts on this.
:D
Is the "Paradise on earth" of this thread the same as the one promised in Revelation 2:7?
To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to eat from the tree of life in the Paradise of God.
I think those sentiments were directed to the anointed who will rule with Christ, but of course the idea would extend to those on the earth, who have been promised a paradise here.
Hmmn..

I'm not sure about those things.

Would you say you and most of your JW friends are included in "to the one who overcomes"?

Is it sound and scriptural to extend an idea that targets a specific group, to another group that lacks what separates that first group?

Where have you "been promised a paradise here"?
I can't believe that you don't remember the answers to these questions that have already been asked and answered. This is where I wonder how many Checkpoints there are. LOL!

1) As was already explained, Jesus was directing his statements to the anointed co-rulers, but it would apply to the "other sheep" as well. Both groups have their paradise hope.
2) We are all of "one flock" with "one shepherd." (John 10:16) Some of us will rule with Christ and most of us will live on Earth under His guidance. The anointed ones will have their paradise in heaven.....the rest of us will enjoy our paradise on Earth.
3) We have been promised a paradise throughout the Scriptures. I can't count how many times I have posted the Scriptures that spell it out. Maybe you can go back to the OP and read it again.


:study:
Hi onewithhim,

I can understand your reaction, and thank you for bearing with me.

Let me clarify my two questions/concerns as of now:

1) You wrote to me about two different Paradises.

One is heavenly, the other is earthly. One has rulership, the other has no rulership, but is ruled over.

2) Where is any Paradise found in Revelation 20?

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Post #1477

Post by JehovahsWitness »

Checkpoint wrote:

2) Where is any Paradise found in Revelation 20?

Jehovahs Witnesses take a wholistic approach to scripture ; the word "paradise*" (which is relatively rare in the bible) does not have to be seen in every book for it to be a bible teaching. Revelation speaks of God wiping death from mankind (Rev 21:3, 4). Death has never been a feature in heaven, so this is a blessing humans (who live on earth) will enjoy.

Since the bible promises countless times, earthly subjects to Messianic rule, the biblical view is that the rulers in HEAVEN (mentioned jn Revelation 20) will have subjects on EARTH. Revelation doesnt have to have the expression "an earthly paradise" for the above to be true*



* Revelation is largely symbolic, the primary meanjng of the word paradise is GARDEN, so its mention of the word in Rev 2:7 is symbolic, not literal (there is not reason to believe there are literal trees or plants in heaven)


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INDEX: More bible based ANSWERS
http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... 81#p826681


"For if we live, we live to Jehovah, and if we die, we die to Jehovah. So both if we live and if we die, we belong to Jehovah" -
Romans 14:8

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Post #1478

Post by Checkpoint »

JehovahsWitness wrote:
Checkpoint wrote:

2) Where is any Paradise found in Revelation 20?

Jehovahs Witnesses take a wholistic approach to scripture ; the word "paradise*" (which is relatively rare in the bible) does not have to be seen in every book for it to be a bible teaching. Revelation speaks of God wiping death from mankind (Rev 21:3, 4). Death has never been a feature in heaven, so this is a blessing humans (who live on earth) will enjoy.

Thank you, but you have not actually answered my question.

I asked about Revelation 20 only.

Since the bible promises countless times, earthly subjects to Messianic rule, the biblical view is that the rulers in HEAVEN (mentioned jn Revelation 20) will have subjects on EARTH. Revelation doesnt have to have the expression "an earthly paradise" for the above to be true*



* Revelation is largely symbolic, the primary meanjng of the word paradise is GARDEN, so its mention of the word in Rev 2:7 is symbolic, not literal (there is not reason to believe there are literal trees or plants in heaven)


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Post #1479

Post by JehovahsWitness »

Checkpoint wrote: Thank you, but you have not actually answered my question.

I asked about Revelation 20 only.

I do believe I have presented my thoughts on Revelation 20.
JehovahsWitness wrote:... the rulers in HEAVEN (mentioned in Revelation 20) will have subjects on EARTH. (Revelation doesnt have to have the expression "an earthly paradise" for [this] to be true).


JW

I would add that Revelation 20 speaks of a first resurrection (which implies there are two types of resurrection. The first being to heavenly kingly life so the second would be a resurrection to another type of life.

It aslo speaks about Satan being released to mislead those living on the earth, so again threre is the notion of rulers living "with Christ" (who sits at the right hand of God, who lives in heaven) and yet at the same time people on earth.

Jesus rule cannot mean anything but paradise for those living under it, so those that obey Jesus and his co-rulers will be in "paradise" on earth both during Satan's on confinement and after his ultimate destruction,






JW
INDEX: More bible based ANSWERS
http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... 81#p826681


"For if we live, we live to Jehovah, and if we die, we die to Jehovah. So both if we live and if we die, we belong to Jehovah" -
Romans 14:8

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Post #1480

Post by onewithhim »

JehovahsWitness wrote:
Checkpoint wrote: Thank you, but you have not actually answered my question.

I asked about Revelation 20 only.

I do believe I have presented my thoughts on Revelation 20.
JehovahsWitness wrote:... the rulers in HEAVEN (mentioned in Revelation 20) will have subjects on EARTH. (Revelation doesnt have to have the expression "an earthly paradise" for [this] to be true).


JW

I would add that Revelation 20 speaks of a first resurrection (which implies there are two types of resurrection. The first being to heavenly kingly life so the second would be a resurrection to another type of life.

It aslo speaks about Satan being released to mislead those living on the earth, so again threre is the notion of rulers living "with Christ" (who sits at the right hand of God, who lives in heaven) and yet at the same time people on earth.

Jesus rule cannot mean anything but paradise for those living under it, so those that obey Jesus and his co-rulers will be in "paradise" on earth both during Satan's on confinement and after his ultimate destruction,






JW
Are there any comments for Jehovah'sWitness concerning the clearly explained point of view above?


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