Wednesday: The everlasting Kingdom
God created a perfect world. Sin entered, and that perfect world became severely marred. The story of redemption tells us that Jesus entered human history so that, among other things, the original perfection will be restored. The redeemed will live in a perfect world where love reigns supreme.
Image © Steve Creitz from GoodSalt.com
As we have seen, love can exist only in a moral universe, only in a universe with moral beings, and to be moral they must also be free. This prompts the question: could evil arise again?
How do Daniel 7:27, John 3:16, and Revelation 21:4 help to answer the question about whether evil will arise again? What is the significance of the term everlasting?
When God created the universe, there were conditions attached to its stability. This is most evident in Genesis 2:17, where Adam was warned that violation of God’s expressed command would result in death. The very mention of death indicates that the concept of eternity from a human perspective was conditional. Adam would have experienced eternal life only if he maintained loyalty to God.
However, in the recreated earth, death will no longer be a reality, which means that we will live forever, a fulfillment of the many promises of Scripture. Whether rebellion could occur is really a moot point. The fact is, it won’t.
Read Jeremiah 31:31-34. What principle do we see here that helps us to understand why evil won’t rise again?
The Messianic kingdom will be comprised of people who maintained loyalty to God throughout their religious experience. In the face of persecution and personal struggles, they chose the path of obedience and demonstrated their willingness to live lives of divine service. God promises to inscribe His law in their hearts so that they will naturally do the things that are pleasing to Him. In the kingdom of Christ, sin is entirely vanquished, and righteousness reigns supreme.
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What do ye imagine against the LORD? He will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time. Naham 1:9
God is going to destroy sin. Jesus is going to bring his people from earth into heaven. He will say to the angels, who have watched sin start, develop and grow, ``you can trust me with these people they will not sin again. ``
Jeremiah 31:31-34 leaves me with the implicit impression that the whole Earth's population, every person living (after the 1,000 years) will have a memory of the consequences of sin, even though the Lord Himself will not remember their sin.
I think that evil will not arise a second time because we would be the witness to what sin could do to a planet. God's temple, the New Jerusalem would dwell in planet Earth. The Spirit of Prophecy says that Christ would forever bear the marks of what He went through to redeem us. After His resurrection, in John20:27 He told Thomas,"Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side:"
As we see in Jeremiah 31:33,34.....But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: "I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
That right there is a Wow! moment. We will all be in accordance, serving the Lord and His law will be in our minds, and Jesus will blot out our sins and remember them no more. Now correct me if I am wrong, but sin will not be remembered and we will be perfect through Christ as if sin never existed. In fact, Sin will not even be a word or even the thought of sin will ever be thought of when the world is made perfect again. In as the same, being immortal will not even be a question or even a thought in our minds. If this is so, and we will not even know what sin is or death is or will have a recollection of such, will the scars in the hands and feet of Jesus heal and will He then be made whole again? The scars are reminders of his death and saving of our sins and if they should still be there, then we will be constantly reminded of sin and death. Hmmmmmm,
Quite an interesting thought,,which verse says no thought of sin will ever be thought of,?reffer me please in the light of revelation 21:4..blessings
I don't understand. How can we remember sin no more if we are reminded that Jesus died for our sins by his scars?
Where do you get the idea that sin will be forgotten? God will not "remember"(not bring to mind, or mention) any sins that were washed in the blood of the Lamb. They are gone, as far as any guilt or condemnation is concerned. Yet, they are historical facts and God forgets nothing, knowing the past/present/future always. (No...cannot understand that in the least, but He has proven it so)
I don't expect that we will dwell or even reflect on our sinful past, but will be forever joyful of what God has done in mercy for sinners as we enjoy the holy atmosphere of eternity "faultless in the presence of His glory with exceeding joy". The term "justified" means to be seen as without fault.
That confuses me even more...
Robert,
How the redeemed will relate to the past earthly experience is probably not clear to us. If they are going to rejoice about overcoming then they at least have to reflect/think about what it is they overcame. Otherwise overcoming does not mean much.
If Jesus bears marks then the question arises what are they for? To point to the cross. So what is the significance of the cross? It was the ultimate expression of love through sacrifice for sin and sinners.
Unless aspects of the memory of then perfect beings were erased, in which case the nail marks and cross would have to be explained (recounting of the sin problem), then it is reasonable to expect some reflection.
It seems there is greater advantage in recalling the event of the cross and what was associated with it than in completely forgetting there was something called sin. Apparently the cross and the symbolic nail prints play a role in sin not arising again.
Perhaps it is not a problem to retain knowledge of sin (think about it) and still be joyful. In fact the knowledge may boost the experience.
In what way Larry?
Hugh, it seems we agree on the basic idea of sin not being forgotten. God will not remind us of our past failings in the light of our ultimate victory gained by faith through the power of the Holy Spirit. The redeemed will praise God for eternity for His grace that allowed them to pass from death to life eternal. The 24 elders praise God and the Lamb saying: "for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests:". None who have benefited from God's grace given in Jesus before the world began will forget it, though the details of their sins will be irrelevant. The "abundance of peace" will delight them forever. (Ps 37:11)
I see saints living by faith having been justified,,sin and death having been destroyed and hence have no power over the saints anymore,,after 1000 years,,all iniquity forgiven and all men are living in tune with God's law,,no more mediation for our sins because the sin problem has forever been dealt with,,Revelation 21:4, in essence
Jeremiah 31:31-34...God writes in our minds and our hearts his law so that his remembrance is eternal,,so that His moral character found in His law is engraved onto our mind(our brains,,conscience) for every decision making,our hearts(hearts,cardiovascular system)for constant supply/reminder of His moral wealth in the soul temple and wired in the genetic make up of the redeemed so that by faith we claim His righteousness and thereby no sin ever be conceived in the mind and perfect universe to come,,.amen
Dickens, are you suggesting the power of choice will be removed? God writes His laws in our minds in THIS life because we ask Him to. This life is where we find that perfection of character that admittance to heaven requires. One small sin removed man from paradise and one small sin will keep us out.
There will always be opportunity to depart from God's will as there was since creation began, but after seeing God's mercy and grace revealed in Jesus, who would desire it?! Not just those who have experienced sin, but also the sinless creatures of His creation and the creation yet to be born. The Love of God manifested in Jesus will be the song of the redeemed for eternity, and the detour of sin will not be chosen, without God needing to remove the possibility. If He did, Satan's claims would be true.
Love cannot exist without a choice.
Hi Don. To answer your question about whether or not we will know what sin is or recall the past, I would say we will. The major question in the lesson about how do we know sin will not arise again requires it. Recall sin arose in a pristine universe. The law in our hearts does not remove our free will. What will secure the universe will be our choice. We will know what sin is and why it is not an option. Christ will always bear the markings of His sacrifice. (Zech 13:5) These also will stand as a reminder of who God is, so we will not doubt him, and what sin is, so we will abhor it. Wiping our memory banks would only place the universe in jeopardy. The angels would have to recount our own story to us to convince us God is love. Now when we say we "forgive and forget" we never really forget. How can you? It is virtually impossible. But we do give up the right to hurt or hurt others because of the said offences. They are past and we leave them there. Can an omniscient God forget, really? God takes an oath to leave our offences in the past for good, never to be brought up again. Until His ministry in the sanctuary is complete our confessed sins may be brought up again if we by our actions prove we want to keep them. If the Israelites did not humble themselves they would have been cut off on the day of atonement. The very day they could have received eternal forgiveness. Our happiness in heaven will not be based on our not knowing the bad of the past, but our knowing we were redeemed. And that requires a knowledge of sin.
I would agree James, and add that "I will remember your sins no more" is saying that God will not bring them up or mention them. How can One who sees and knows all forget? When our children were little they made the mistakes of the immature, but we don't constantly remind them of these things in the presence of others. We "forget" them and admire their present maturity and successful achievements as they accepted what they were taught by loving parents. We see the record of sin removed WITH the scapegoat. Only Satan would willingly accuse any of their past, but God never will, though it is fresh in the memory of Him who is not confined by time.
We have His exceeding great and precious promises, and the marks on Jesus prove Him faithful to keep His promises.
How can we sing the song of the redeemed if we don't understand why and what we were redeemed from?