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Earth: The Home of the Righteous

Earth: The Home of the Righteous

Can you please prove to me where people will live when Jesus comes, will it be here on earth or in heaven? 


I don’t know if I can “prove” it, but I will walk through the evidence of Scripture as I understand it.

The Scripture tells us that the earth will be the possession of the righteous:

Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. Ps 2:8

His soul shall dwell in prosperity, and his seed shall inherit the earth. Ps 25:13

But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. 2:Pet 3:13

Jesus tells us that the meek will inherit the earth:

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Matt 5:5

The prophet Isaiah describes the place the righteous live as a safe place where there is no poisonous snake and where the leopard and goat and the calf and lion lie down together and will be led by children. And after this description the prophet states:

They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Isa 11:9

So the Bible is teaching that the earth will be renewed and the place where we live.  What may cause some confusion regarding the eternal home of the righteous is the sequence of events in wrapping up sin on planet earth and Bible passages which speak of going to meet the Lord in the air.  Basically, the sequence goes like this:

  1. Christ returns and all the righteous living are transformed and taken into the air with Christ and go to heaven. All the righteous dead are resurrected and taken into the air and go to heaven. The wicked dead stay dead and the wicked who are alive when Christ returns, die.
  2. Christ leaves earth with all the righteous from Adam down through history and goes to heaven for 1000 years.
  3. The earth is a dark, void, what the Bible calls an “abyss” where Satan and his angels stay for 1000 years. No humans are alive on earth at this time.
  4. After 1000 years Christ, the New Jerusalem, the Father, all saints and angels return to earth and the wicked from all time are resurrected.
  5. Satan marshals the wicked and they assault the city and fire comes out from God and consumes them and then the earth is made new and will be the eternal home of the righteous.

What is the evidence for this sequence of events?

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. 1Thes 4:13-17

Notice at the second coming the dead in Christ rise first – then who rises second? Would it not be the wicked, those not in Christ? And when will these two groups rise in the sequence of events?

I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.(The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years. Rev 20:4-6

Notice that the righteous rise in the first resurrection which takes place at the beginning of the 1000 years. But the “rest of the dead,” which would be the wicked, don’t live again until the end of the 1000 years.

At the beginning of the 1000 years the righteous leave the earth with Christ and the wicked are all dead, in the graves and Satan is left here to contemplate his rebellion. The Bible describes this as throwing Satan into the Abyss for 1000 years.

And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time. Rev 20:1-3

Satan is bound by circumstances beyond his control. He cannot go to heaven and he cannot raise the dead thus he is bound and can do nothing but wait for Christ to return at the end of the 1000 years.

When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. Rev 20:7-9

Notice when the 1000 years are over Satan is “released.”  Why? Because the wicked are raised at the end of the 1000 years and thus the devil now has someone to again mislead. And notice he leads the wicked to attack the New Jerusalem. But it is at that time fire comes out from God and consumes them.

And after this the earth is recreated and made new and God dwells with His people here on earth:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. Rev 21:1-3

Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. 2:Pet 3:11-13.

What a day that will be – all sin destroyed and the earth made new, free from disease, pain, suffer, no thorn, no poisonous plant, no death, living forever in perfect peace and love with our Friend and Savior Jesus Christ!

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I’m a youth leader in South Africa. We as a youth group are currently using a lot of the material on the Come and Reason site. Since we’ve started using the material, our youth group has grown.

R. V. N., South Africa

 

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Testimony 24

I wanted to thank you very much for presenting your understanding of God. I’ve always been troubled by this question: Why did Jesus have to die? Since my conversion I understood that The Father & Jesus are one, I did not have issues with that. But was there not any other way to save us than for Jesus to die? I guess I actually had a question about God – if He is so wise, how come He did not find another way? I did not see the real ‘beauty’  in the cross. Only when you explained the picture in the medical context, Jesus providing medicine for my selfishness, have I started to finally ‘see the light’. Thank you so much. Your seminar, “Healing the Mind,” are absolutely marvelous & have shared them with my family and many other people, including colleagues at work. Thanks, thanks, thanks. May God bless you abundantly in your ministry.

M. W., Australia

 

Testimony 62

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Antony N. – Hobart, Australia

 

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Testimony 70

I have been watching you for many years and have learned to love God with all my heart. I was raised by a loving Christian mother that had been lied to about who God really was, so our religious upbringing was hell fire and damnation. As soon as I was old enough and moved out, I not only left the church, I ran as fast as I could to get away from it. Sad to say, it wasn’t until the past couple of years that I learned and understand who my Father really is and how much He loves me. I understand God’s Design Laws (which make sense) and when I’m teaching my church Bible study class, I’m able to really put to use the things I’ve been learning and Holy Spirit is leading. Thank you for introducing me to my Father of true, pure love. Everyday with Him is new and exciting. One thing that breaks my heart is that I didn’t know Him sooner. God Bless you and your ministry!

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Testimony 59

I’m a native Ghanan, but am currently in France for my master’s degree. Prior to this, during my final years at undergraduate studies in Ghana, I was introduced to your ministry and I’ve been immensely blessed by what you share, especially about the Design and Imposed Laws. God richly bless you for that.

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Testimony 57

You have helped make sense of thirty two years of confusion. The material you freely provide reorganized so much of my life into such a beautiful pattern that has always been hinted at from within, but misguided with my training and what I was experiencing externally. My filipno parents, who were converted from Catholicism to SDA, were sincere and did their best to raise me the right way and I have deep respect for them. However, being immigrants and not understanding the language made for a difficult transition as I was growing up, which also applied to my spiritual growth as I learned the patterns of religion. I have been listening to as many bible study classes and reading blog posts as my time in a work truck will allow, searching for the practical applications of where spirituality and reality meet, and I thank you for helping me find that. You have helped me reach a point in which I can truly say that I love God, that I believe He loves me, and, like David, I delight in His law. God bless.

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R. N., MT, USA

 

Testimony 36

Thank you and may God continue to bless you as you share with others the intricacies of how we are all “fearfully and wonderfully made”. I must share that you have opened a whole new world to me, and I have found tremendous healing through what you have shared in two of your books, “Could It Be This Simple?” and “The God Shaped Brain.” I praise God for what you shared, what I have learned, and how I have grown and healed! My prayer is that My Precious Jesus will be seen by others in the way I live, act, talk, etc. and they may be encouraged to know He is truly a GREAT God of LOVE, desiring that no one should perish! God Bless you in your continued endeavors to present Him as He really is!

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Testimony 54

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Karen S., Portal, AZ, USA

 

Testimony 50

After coming into contact with Come And Reason Ministries, I can finally say that many of my unanswered questions have fallen into place. I discovered that my view of God’s Law was “imposed laws and rules” with “imposed punishments” and that this was the major culprit of my many unanswered questions. Thanks be to God for using you and those around you to help us who have struggled with this “infection” of thought. I have now rejected the “imposed law” concept to fully embrace “Design Law”… to look thru “Design Law,” instead of “imposed law,” is a relief.

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