Regardless of how long it may be, we have Just One Short Life to Prepare for Eternity….
Mankind will one day live in the light forever, in the fullness of God’s love and His purpose for man in creation. Men and women will fill the universe with life, restored from every ill effect of the Fall, and bearing God’s image as they were always meant to. They will have children forever and ever, as the Scriptures say:
To Him be glory in the church and in Messiah Yahshua to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:21)
This is the eternal destiny of the Righteous people of the Nations.1They are the sheep in the parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25:31-46. See “The Righteous“
The Holy people2They are “these brothers of mine” in the parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25:31-46. See “The Holy“, on the other hand, will be as the angels, not marrying or being given in marriage.3Luke 20:31-38 They are the Holy City, the Eternal Wife of the Lamb, who made herself ready for His return by doing the deeds prepared for her.4Revelation 19:7-8; Ephesians 2:10…
Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed— on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. (Revelation 21:9-14)
Whoever fulfills all that pertains to the Twelve Tribes of Israel is the Israel of God.5Galatians 6:16
They are the suitable companion for the Messiah, because He fulfilled all that pertained to Him in the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms. He did not come to abolish these things, but to fulfill them:
Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:17-19)
It is only when all that is recorded in the Law and Prophets has been fulfilled that the original purposes of God in creation, now in abeyance, can resume. This entire age, this tragic time of death and suffering for mankind, was the necessary interlude to deal with the fall of man and to accomplish both his redemption and restoration.
It is those under the Law who cannot fulfill it. Only those who walk by the Spirit and are under grace can and will fulfill the Law.6Romans 6:14; Galatians 5:16,18 It is prophesied that there will be such a people.7Daniel 2:44-45
Only after mankind is fully restored and death is no more will the Sabbath pass away. Then there will there be a new heavens and a new earth.8Hebrews 1:10-12, Psalm 102:25-28, Revelation 21:1-4 “the Dwelling Place of God (the Holy Ones Eph 2:22) is with men (The Righteous of the Nations). They will never wear out, just as the righteous of the nations will never die. Eternal men dwelling on eternal planets circling eternal suns, spreading from solar system to solar system, galaxy to galaxy, super cluster of galaxies to super cluster in an unending, ever expanding universe full of life…
The Sabbath Day 9Most Christians do not realize that the early church kept the Sabbath. According to the New Testament, the first disciples rested on the Sabbath, and then after the sun had set, marking the beginning of the first day of the week, (Each day was considered to span from sunset to sunset, as in Genesis 1:5,8,13, Leviticus 23:32, etc. If you read this passage carefully, you will see that it was evening — the eve of the first day, not Sunday morning) they gathered to break bread, as is clear from Acts 20:7-8. It became the custom for the early church in the second century to rest on the seventh day and then have a festival on the first day of the week, at which there would be teachings and other ways of celebrating the resurrection. Ignatius wrote early in the second century: “And after the observance of the Sabbath, let every friend of Christ keep the Lord’s day as a festival, the resurrection day…” As late as the early fourth century it is recorded that Christians observed both the Sabbath and the “Lord’s Day” in their different ways. But by the end of the fourth century, Sunday had replaced the Sabbath in the minds and habits of most Christians. is the sign of God purifying or sanctifying a people who do what He says to do. Many totally miss the point Messiah came for, which was to save a people and equip them to do the will of God. Without that purpose being accomplished, all that the Law and Prophets foreshadow will never come into reality. God never intended for His will, His heart towards mankind, to remain shadowy and indistinct. He wants His nature of love to bloom in full, dramatic color. But, He is waiting on a people in unity who will do all His will. 10See also “Forgotten Law, Forgotten Purpose” in the “Constantine: Servant of God?” Freepaper
If we see that God rested in a certain thing, then we know that it is something He wanted, something He was after from the beginning. So we must not regard the seventh day lightly. He did not rest the first six days because He did not get what He desired, and He was not satisfied until He did. The seventh-day rest says that He accomplished something very significant, that His labor brought forth His heart’s desire. He delighted in what He had done in making man, male and female.
His work in making man was such that it could not have possibly been better. This is why we are to remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy, too, because it tells us why He rested — He had what He needed to accomplish His purpose in the physical creation of all that we see. This extended to all the works of His hands, to the very limits of the starry heaven. And in man, God also had what He needed to deal with His enemy in the spiritual realm, Satan, and all of his accusations.
With the Fall, the earth became God’s testing ground for man, the place to see who feared Him enough to obey his conscience, God’s quiet voice within them. It is not given to natural man to defeat the spiritual enemy of God and man. It is enough that they turn from his voice and listen to their consciences. This tests their belief in the God who sees all things to the uttermost. But God never lost sight of His ultimate purpose for man or for the earth. The testing ground of the earth was only for the purpose of regaining mankind and the earth for its real purpose — as the launching pad for the colonization of the stars, the galaxies, and the entire universe. It is restored mankind who will rule the physical universe under the loving care of redeemed man.11Revelation 22:1-5
But after the Fall, only redeemed man could accomplish what man was created for, as God’s champion, which was to destroy the works of the evil one.12Genesis 3:15 Yahshua accomplished as the “second man” what Adam didn’t, what Adam lost when he sinned and fell.13Romans 5:12-19 In His life, death, and resurrection, Yahshua broke the evil one’s legal claim over mankind due to the Fall. But the evil one’s power to deceive was not destroyed,14Revelation 12:9; 20:3 and he will not be cast into the bottomless pit15Revelation 20:1-3 until there is a people who overcome all things as Yahshua did.16Revelation 12:11 He waits for us to do just that:
But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. (Hebrews 10:12-13)
Now, in the restoration of all things prophesied by the Son of God Himself,17Mark 9:11-12 His enemies are being put under foot by brothers and sisters living together in unity, loving each other, and making an acceptable, spiritual sacrifice of their lives day by day.18Romans 12:1-2 and 15:16 They are those who remember the Law of Moses,19Malachi 4:4; Matthew 22:36-40; Romans 8:4 so as to fulfill it by the power of love.
Scriptural References and Other Footnotes