Human Imperfection, Teboho Kibe [read a book .txt] 📗

came to believe in an immortal soul. The faithful Jewish remnant that stuck to the inspired Hebrew Scriptures and accepted Jesus as the true Messiah certainly did not believe in inherent immortality. So for these the idea of a Messiah ruling the earth from heaven and of themselves becoming corulers with him in heaven was all the more revolutionary.

In a letter to early Christians who had received this very special call to become priests and kings with the heavenly Messiah, the apostle Peter wrote: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for according to his great mercy he gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an incorruptible and undefiled and unfading inheritance. It is reserved in the heavens for you . . . But you are ‘a chosen race, a royal priesthood.’”—1 Pet. 1:3, 4; 2:9.

The apostle Paul also wrote about this exceptional call to heavenly life, saying: “He saved us and called us with a holy calling . . . now it has been made clearly evident through the manifestation of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has abolished death but has shed light upon life and incorruption.” (2 Tim. 1:9, 10) If life in heaven had been the hope of the faithful remnant among the Jews, why did Christ have to “shed light” on this “holy calling” to incorruption? No, this call to heavenly life was clearly something quite new for these early Christians chosen from among the Jews and the Gentiles.

THE HEAVENLY HOPE FOR A LIMITED NUMBER OF “CHOSEN ONES”

But do all those who accept Christ and hope to live forever receive this “holy calling” to incorruptible life in the heavens? Indicating that this special calling is meant for a limited number of ‘elect’ (Authorized Version) or “chosen ones,” Paul adds: “On this account I go on enduring all things for the sake of the chosen ones, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in union with Christ Jesus along with everlasting glory. Faithful is the saying: Certainly if we died together, we shall also live together; if we go on enduring, we shall also rule together as kings.”—2 Tim. 2:10-12.

If all who are saved are called to “everlasting glory” in order to “rule together as kings” with Christ Jesus, over whom are they due to rule? And if all are to become “a royal priesthood,” on behalf of whom are they to act as royal priests?

Consider the following: In his letter to the Galatians, Paul says of Christians chosen from among Jews and non-Jews who have been “baptized into Christ” that they “are really Abraham’s seed, heirs with reference to a promise,” and he calls them “the Israel of God.” (Gal. 3:26-29; 6:16) And in his letter to the Romans, the same apostle speaks of the “sacred secret” of non-Jews being called by God because of the “lack of faith” of many Jews, adding—and this is a key passage—“until the full number [“complete number,” TEV] of people of the nations has come in.” He explains that “in this manner,” that is, by Gentiles being called to fill out the required number, “all Israel will be saved.” Obviously this refers to spiritual Israel, the “ones chosen” from among Jews and non-Jews who are “really ‘Israel’” or “truly Israel.”—Rom. 11:7, 17-26; 9:6 (The New English Bible); 2:28, 29.

Since non-Jews would receive this “holy calling” only until the “full number” was reached of those making up “the Israel of God,” logically the number of such spiritual Israelites is limited. Well, what is that number? Look up Revelation 7:1-8. There a definite limit is set on the number of Christians who are “sealed” to become a part of spiritual Israel. That this limited number is not chosen from among the angels is proved by Revelation 14:1-4, where this same number is said to be “bought from the earth,” “bought from among mankind as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.”

For these 144,000 spirit-begotten, anointed Christians their Bible-based hope is a heavenly hope. After having part in “the first resurrection,” they “will be priests of God and of the Christ, and will rule as kings with him for the thousand years.”—Rev. 20:6.

But if these “ones chosen” are “firstfruits,” logically other fruits are to follow. And if they are to “rule as kings,” who will be their subjects and what is the hope of such? Again, ask yourself this question: When the long-awaited Messiah came to the Jews, did he confirm their original belief in a future life through resurrection, or did he come out in favor of their newly found pagan concept of inherent immortality of the soul? In bringing to light a heavenly hope, did Jesus Christ mean that all those saved would go to heaven? Or do both the Hebrew and the Christian Greek Scriptures hold out to millions the hope of everlasting life on earth?

FUTURE LIFE BY RESURRECTION

Far from teaching the pagan concept of inherent immortality of the human soul, Jesus showed that any hope for future life depends on the resurrection. He stated: “For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted also to the Son to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to do judging, because Son of man he is. Do not marvel at this, because the hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who did good things to a resurrection of life, those who practiced vile things to a resurrection of judgment.”—John 5:26-29.

Interestingly, some modern-day theologians of Christendom are coming around to the idea that inherent immortality is unsupported by either the Hebrew or the Christian Greek Scriptures. For example, The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology (Vol. 3, 1978) emphasizes “how unfamiliar the OT [Old Testament] is with the concept of a soul separate from the body, or a soul which becomes separate from the body at death.” And again: “Matt. 10:28 teaches not the potential immortality of the soul but the irreversibility of divine judgment of the unrepentant. . . . The NT [New Testament] sees man essentially as a unity and promises the transformation of the whole person, and not just the survival of a part. . . . there can be no immortality without prior resurrection.”

A HEAVENLY AND AN EARTHLY HOPE

Jehovah’s Witnesses do not deny that the Christian Greek Scriptures teach that some Christians receive “the heavenly calling.” (Heb. 3:1) What they do deny is that such “heavenly calling” does away with God’s original purpose to have the earth cultivated into a paradise and filled with a righteous race of men and women. They cannot accept the idea that all the prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures foretelling the restoration of paradise on earth have become dead letters. They are all the more convinced of this because the promise of “a new earth” in which “righteousness is to dwell” is confirmed in the Christian Greek Scriptures.—2 Pet. 3:13; Rev. 21:1-4.

Serious Bible study has led Jehovah’s Witnesses to believe that the Christian Scriptural hope is twofold: The gift of immortality in heaven for a limited few, and everlasting life on earth for the greater number. The heavenly hope to “rule as kings” with Christ is offered as an exceptional “grace” (AV) or “undeserved kindness” to 144,000 “elect” (AV) or “chosen ones,” starting with the apostles and early disciples of Christ. (Luke 12:32; Rom. 5:17; 8:33; Rev. 5:9, 10; 7:1-4; 14:1-4) Of these, only a few “remaining ones” of those who have ‘survived to the presence of the Lord’ are at present alive on earth.—1 Thess. 4:14-17; Rev. 12:17.

The earthly hope is the original hope to which Adam and Eve could have attained, if they had stayed under Jehovah God’s sovereignty and not sought moral independence. (See the first three chapters of Genesis.) Man “is earthly by nature.” (1 Cor. 15:47, The Jerusalem Bible) His natural aspirations and yearnings are earthly. “To Jehovah the heavens belong, but the earth he has given to the sons of men.” (Ps. 115:16) And the Bible states plainly that Jehovah ‘did not create the earth for nothing, but formed it to be inhabited.’ (Isa. 45:18) Therefore the hope of everlasting life on earth in paradisaic conditions is both natural and Scriptural. It is nothing of which to be ashamed.

THE MILLENNIAL HOPE FOR TWO GROUPS

Since the 144,000 spiritual Israelites are the “seed” or “true descendants of Abraham” and the “true heirs of his promise” (Gal. 3:26-29, Phillips), then it is well to remember that the promise given to Abraham also stated: “By means of your seed all nations of the earth will certainly bless themselves.” (Gen. 22:16-18) The prophet Daniel also spoke of “peoples, national groups and languages” over whom the “son of man,” Jesus Christ, will exercise from “the heavens” the “kingdom and the rulership.” This he does together with the “chosen ones,” spoken of as “the holy ones of the Most High.”—Dan. 7:13, 14, 27, footnote; 2 Tim. 2:10.

The early Christians were not unfamiliar with these prophecies that speak of two groups: the “seed” and the “nations,” the “holy ones” and the “national groups.” Confirming this, after having spoken of those who will be “joint heirs with Christ” and who will be “glorified together” with him in heaven, the apostle Paul speaks of human “creation” whose “eager expectation” is to be “set free from enslavement to corruption,” or sin, and to “have the glorious freedom of the children of God.” (Rom. 8:15-21) Writing to Christians who, like himself, shared the heavenly hope, the apostle John spoke of Christ as “a propitiatory sacrifice for our sins [those of the “chosen ones”], yet not for ours only but also for the whole world’s.”—1 John 2:2; 3:1-3.

When John wrote those words, most likely he had already received the Revelation in which, after having seen the 144,000 “sealed” spiritual Israelites, he saw “a great crowd, which no man was able to number, out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues.” These survive the “great tribulation” and are guided by the “Lamb,” Christ Jesus, “to fountains of waters of life.” (Rev. 7:4-17) And, of course, it was in that same Revelation that John also had a vision of the millennial reign of Christ, which again mentions two groups: those “having part in the first resurrection,” who “will rule as kings,” and “mankind,” who will be blessed by God and who “will be his peoples.”—Rev. 20:1–21:8.

Today, the millennial hope triumphs in the hearts of those of the “little flock” called to “sit on thrones” with Christ in heaven to reign for a millennium. (Luke 12:32; 22:28-30) That hope of the millennium has been embraced also by those of the “great crowd” who have joined the remaining anointed Christians in proclaiming “this good news of the kingdom . . . for a witness to all the nations.” (Matt. 24:14) These two groups were represented at the celebration of the Lord’s Evening Meal held on March 31, 1980. Those partaking of the emblems of the bread and the wine were only 9,564 worldwide, indeed just a few “remaining ones” of the 144,000 who are to rule with Jesus in his millennial kingdom. But along with these, 5,717,092 others attended as observers, thus showing appreciation of Jehovah’s grand arrangement made possible through the sacrifice of his Son. These rejoice in the prospect of everlasting life on a paradise earth.

THE MILLENNIAL HOPE STILL LIVES!

Yes, the millennial hope remains very much alive today. It will become a reality following the “great tribulation,” as Christ and the 144,000 “chosen ones” commence their reign in heaven for 1,000 years, and the “great crowd” of sheeplike ones, together with billions of resurrected ones on earth, enter into untold blessings in the earthly realm of that Messianic kingdom.—Matt. 25:34; Rev. 20:12, 13.

Mankind is in dire need of such a hope today. Worldly-wise men are not unfamiliar with this hope. Thus, the