Paradise on Earth

[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

[Miles]

We are all little children to God; and God has kindly explained to us that what seems long to us, really isn't long at all. All part of divine education.

Did god do it with words you "little children" understood?

Yes, here is his explaination ....

2 PETER 3: 8, 9

Beloved, do not let this one thing escape your notice: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance

Is there anything in this explanation that cannot be understood?

How about if we take your quote to mean

2 PETER 3: 8, 9

Beloved, do not let this one thing escape your notice: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance

Where does this leave his "short time"? To his audience, shouldn't the event have been right around the corner, so to speak? [A "short time" would not be 3,000 years.] Particularly when he says The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness. (And I understand "slowness" quite well, thank you.)

slow·ness
/ˈslōnəs/
noun: slowness
1. the quality of moving or operating at a low speed.
source: Oxford Languages

,

[JehovahsWitness]

That means that flesh and blood cannot go to the heavens to rule with Christ. That is where Paul and all the early Christians were going. They would all be changed into spirit persons. Those of us here on the earth will remain in our flesh and blood bodies.

Exactly, this is why Jesus sometimes refered to it as "the kjngdom of the heavens"


JW

[JehovahsWitness]

[Replying to onewithhim in post #2539]
Absolutely, Jesus is clearly God's son. Why would anybody think otherwise?

I think that trinitarians believe Jesus is Gods son but equal in position, power, age and authority to the Father.



JW

[myth-one.com]

That means that flesh and blood cannot go to the heavens to rule with Christ. That is where Paul and all the early Christians were going. They would all be changed into spirit persons. Those of us here on the earth will remain in our flesh and blood bodies.

Exactly, this is why Jesus sometimes referred to it as "the kingdom of the heavens"

JW

Paul and all the early Christians are resting in their graves awaiting the Second Coming and their resurrection to everlasting spiritual bodied life.

Jesus instructed us to pray for the Kingdom of God to come to the earth:

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:10)

After the Second Coming and Jesus' defeat of Satan, that prayer will be answered. The earth will once again become part of the kingdom:

The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 11:15)

There is only one Kingdom of God, and no flesh and blood humans can inherit it.

And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God;... (I Corinthians 15:49-50)

And all humans are flesh and blood, so there will never be and human member of the Kingdom of God.

To inherit the Kingdom of God mankind must change by being born again of the Spirit as a spirit.

John 3:5-7
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. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

Here is a description of those humans born again as spirits into the Kingdom of God:

Revelation 7:16
They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.

That does not describe any human being!!

There are only two type of bodies -- natural and spiritual. Natural bodies (such as humans) hunger, thirst, and they warm up when sunlight shines on them. So Revelation 7:16 does not describe any natural body. It can only refer to the other type of body -- spiritual bodies which Christians will become when born again of the Spirit as spirits! Those bodies do not need food, or water, the sun shines through them, and they don't need or generate any heat!

Paul wrote the following verses to compare the physical human Christian body which dies a physical death and is buried, to the new body in which deceased Christians will be resurrected:

It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. (I Corinthians 15:42-44)

The human body which is buried is corruptible, dishonored, weak, and a natural body. This is the physical body which is buried like a seed, or sown, when we die. At the resurrection, Christians are raised up with incorruptible, glorified, powerful, spiritual bodies. And once one is born with an everlasting spiritual body, they have everlasting life and can never die.

Only then can they live on the earth eternally. It's so simple!

[onewithhim]

When Jesus [said] you will be with me in Paradise ... this could be referencing "the kingdom of God"

Lets just take the words as in the text and not swop one word for the other.

The thief said "remember me when you get into your kingdom" and Jesus replied "You will be with me in paradise". If he had wanted to say "You will be with me in my kingdom" he would presumably had said that. As it is Jesus gets his kingdom and the thief gets paradise.

The kingdom : A heavenly Government ruled by Jesus and fellow corulers all mighty SPIRIT PERSONS in heaven.

Paradise*: Human FLESH AND BLOOD subjects of said kingdom living on a paradisaic (gardenlike) earth.

* the word PARADISE in bible times meant "garden"

To learn more please go to other posts related to...

THE KINGDOM, THE MILLENIUM and ...THE EARTHLY PARADISE

As for "thiefs" and "liars" getting into "paradise", well there might be exceptions I do not know of, but the liars may be in "paradise", within the rule of the king, "the Word of God" (Revelation 19:13), but according to Revelation 22:15, they will remain outside the "gates" of Jerusalem, and under the "rod of iron" (Revelation 19:15). Nice enough if you don't come afoul of the "king" (Zechariah 14:16-17), but apparently there will be "weeping and gnashing of teeth" for the "wicked" (Matthew 13:49-50). The "kingdom" is referenced with respect to the people living under their own "grape vine" (Micah 4:4), such as owning their own land, and turning their spears into pruning hooks, which is to say, the "great reset", reimagined socialism, whereas you will own nothing and be happy, will soon come to a raging stop. As for "pruning hooks", apparently, if one is lazy, they will not be happy, for there is focused energy required for using a pruning hook.

The thief obviously changed his mind about Christ, and that is why Jesus told him that he would be in Paradise. He was not wicked.

[myth-one.com]

The thief obviously changed his mind about Christ, and that is why Jesus told him that he would be in Paradise. He was not wicked.

Being "wicked" no longer disqualifies one from Paradise:

Romans 6:14
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

[JehovahsWitness]

The thief obviously changed his mind about Christ, and that is why Jesus told him that he would be in Paradise. He was not wicked.

Exactly, anyone that doesn't know Jesus came to give a chance of repentence to liars, theives, even murderers ...hasn't understood Christ at all. People Jesus judges as incorrigibly wicked will have no place in paradise obviously Jesus judged the evildoer that died at his side NOT to be incorrigibly wicked.

ACTS 24:15

New Living Translation
I have the same hope in God that these men have, that he will raise both the righteous and the unrighteous.

English Standard Version
having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust.

Berean Standard Bible
and I have the same hope in God that they themselves cherish, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.

[myth-one.com]

That means that flesh and blood cannot go to the heavens to rule with Christ. That is where Paul and all the early Christians were going. They would all be changed into spirit persons. Those of us here on the earth will remain in our flesh and blood bodies.

Exactly, this is why Jesus sometimes referred to it as "the kingdom of the heavens"

JW

God's will is not presently being done on the Earth, so the Earth is not now included within the Kingdom of Heaven.

In fact, Jesus instructed us to in the Lord's prayer to pray for the Earth to become part of the Kingdom of Heaven:

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:10)

Why would our Lord instruct us to pray for the kingdom to come if the earth is already "the kingdom of the heavens" as you claim?

Where exactly in the scriptures did Jesus refer to the earth as "the kingdom of the heavens"?

[2ndpillar2]

When Jesus [said] you will be with me in Paradise ... this could be referencing "the kingdom of God"

Lets just take the words as in the text and not swop one word for the other.

The thief said "remember me when you get into your kingdom" and Jesus replied "You will be with me in paradise". If he had wanted to say "You will be with me in my kingdom" he would presumably had said that. As it is Jesus gets his kingdom and the thief gets paradise.

The kingdom : A heavenly Government ruled by Jesus and fellow corulers all mighty SPIRIT PERSONS in heaven.

Paradise*: Human FLESH AND BLOOD subjects of said kingdom living on a paradisaic (gardenlike) earth.

* the word PARADISE in bible times meant "garden"

To learn more please go to other posts related to...

THE KINGDOM, THE MILLENIUM and ...THE EARTHLY PARADISE

As for "thiefs" and "liars" getting into "paradise", well there might be exceptions I do not know of, but the liars may be in "paradise", within the rule of the king, "the Word of God" (Revelation 19:13), but according to Revelation 22:15, they will remain outside the "gates" of Jerusalem, and under the "rod of iron" (Revelation 19:15). Nice enough if you don't come afoul of the "king" (Zechariah 14:16-17), but apparently there will be "weeping and gnashing of teeth" for the "wicked" (Matthew 13:49-50). The "kingdom" is referenced with respect to the people living under their own "grape vine" (Micah 4:4), such as owning their own land, and turning their spears into pruning hooks, which is to say, the "great reset", reimagined socialism, whereas you will own nothing and be happy, will soon come to a raging stop. As for "pruning hooks", apparently, if one is lazy, they will not be happy, for there is focused energy required for using a pruning hook.

The thief obviously changed his mind about Christ, and that is why Jesus told him that he would be in Paradise. He was not wicked.

Apparently, we haven't reached the point whereas "you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked" (Malachi 3:18), whereas those who break the Commandments, such as "thou shalt not steal" would be numbered among the sinners/wicked, as they have transgressed the law. Right now, we are in era whereas the "doers of wickedness are built up" (Malachi 3:15), such as no prosecution of thieves in Progressive districts, and no cash bail is required for felons.

[onewithhim]

The thief obviously changed his mind about Christ, and that is why Jesus told him that he would be in Paradise. He was not wicked.

Being "wicked" no longer disqualifies one from Paradise:

Romans 6:14
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

See post 2687.