So if God's purpose never changed(Gen. 1:27,28) and Adam and Eve could be alive today had they not sinned. . .

Question

Why is it such a difficult concept for people to believe we could live forever in paradise on earth? (Ps 37:10,11,22,27-29,34)

10 And just a little while longer, and the wicked one will be no more; And you will certainly give attention to his place, and he will not be. 11 But the meek ones themselves will possess the earth, And they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace. 22 For those being blessed by him will themselves possess the earth, But those upon whom evil is called by him will be cut off. 27 Turn away from what is bad and do what is good, And so reside to time indefinite. 28 For Jehovah is a lover of justice, And he will not leave his loyal ones. To time indefinite they will certainly be guarded; But as for the offspring of the wicked ones, they will indeed be cut off. 29 The righteous themselves will possess the earth, And they will reside forever upon it. 34 Hope in Jehovah and keep his way, And he will exalt you to take possession of the earth.

I understand the overpopulation concern expressed by many of you. However, if this was God's original purpose for the earth, don't you think the CREATOR of all life could find a solution to that problem?

Answer 1

Please read Isaiah chapter 65 in its entirety.

Jehovah's Witnesses understand the Scriptures to teach that God's Kingdom will soon replace all earthly governments.
(Daniel 2:44) God of heaven will set up a kingdom... It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite

That Kingdom will rule over the vast majority of mankind, most of whom will have been raised from the dead after Armageddon.
(John 11:23,24) Jesus said to her: “Your brother will rise.” Martha said to him: “I know he will rise in the resurrection on the last day.”
(Acts 24:15) There is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.

Until that resurrection, there is no suffering in "hell", or the grave. Sometime after the resurrection, death and "hell" will themselves be destroyed.
(Ecclesiastes 9:5) For the living are conscious that they will die; but as for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all
(Ecclesiastes 9:10) there is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheol ["hell"]
(Revelation 20:14) And death and Hades ["hell"] were hurled into the lake of fire

While a limitted number of humans will be resurrected to heaven to share in ruling over mankind, the vast majority (literally more than 99.9%) of Jehovah's Witnesses expect an EARTHLY hope, the same hope given to Adam and Eve.
(Genesis 1:28) God blessed them and God said to them: “Be fruitful and become many and fill THE EARTH and subdue it [caps added]
(Genesis 2:17) You must not eat from it, for in the day you eat from it you will positively die [so never eating from that tree means never dying]

Interestingly, the Scriptures are full of references to this earthly hope.
(Psalms 37:11) 'the meek will possess the earth'
(Proverbs 2:21) 'upright will reside in the earth'
(Isaiah 45:18) 'God formed the earth to be inhabited'
(Matthew 5:5) 'the mild will inherit the earth'
(Revelation 21:3) The tent of God is with mankind

Learn more:
http://jw-media.org/beliefs/trueworship.htm
http://watchtower.org/e/jt/

Answer 2

2 Pet 3:5 For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water,

6through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water.

7But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.


Destroying the old earth during the flood only destroyed the wicked.

It is the Destruction of ungodly men, Not the destruction of the literal planet.

Jehovah doesn't have to destroy the earth to make it new, He only needs to cleanse the earth, so it is now new.

Just as in Noah's time.

2 Peter 3, has to agree with

Prov 2: 21For the upright will live in the land
And the blameless will remain in it;
22But the wicked will be cut off from the land
And the treacherous will be uprooted from it.



Just as in Noah's day, the righteous remained on the earth.

.

Answer 3

GOD HAS A PLAN TO SAVE THE OFFSPRINGS OF ADAM

2Pet.3:13; Isa.65:17; 66:1,22,23; The promise is a new heaven and a new earth as the life sustaining earth was lost in the flood, and for life eternal, Rev.21:1-5; All is made new, as it was before Eden. No more sea, gives more land space.
With life eternal, spaces and places no needed:
Cemetaries are gone.
Hospitals, medical facilities, labs, nursing homes and funeral home are gone.
No orphanages, no churches or saloons, no insurance buildings.

Gal.4:26;
Jerusalem which is above is the mother of us all. Rev.3:12; From them, they come down out of heaven from God, Thousand for the new heavens and billions for the new earth.
Job.19:25,26;
His redeemer has him in the flesh to see God. Rev.14:1-6,7; These are with the redeemer.
1Cor.15:22-28,51-53; This is of the heavenly for new heavens, and he earthly for the new earth.

Answer 4

Umm... the world would be overpopulated then... because no one would die. You and I would not be here today because there would be no room.

Why is it such a difficult concept for people to understand the world only has so much space?

If you think about it, the "righteous themselves" will forever possess the Earth ---- example - Martin Luther King Jr. , Mother Teresa .. all those other people who have done great things will always be remembered on Earth.

Answer 5

Obviously, overpopulation would be an issue, but keep in mind that God's purpose was for us to fill the earth with our offspring. There would come a time when procreating would cease. When the purpose of filling the Earth would be fulfilled; done; complete.

Answer 6

I'm not sure of the question but I look forward to living forever because that is what God's purpose is for humans.

Answer 7

Death is necessary for everything. Without death, the world would overpopulate (this is happening even with death as we speak!) and life would become miserable as humans are pit against other humans in a scenario of increasingly scare resources and living space.

Answer 8

I believe that the place of eternal life is the Garden of Eden revisited, as if the fall never happened.

From your question, I think you may be Jehovah's Witness. Please be aware that some Christians of different denominations share this belief as well.

Answer 9

Well, for one, in just a few generations we would totally overpopulate the Earth.

Answer 10

Because they were fools and ate from the wrong tree. Who the hell gives a crap about good and evil. They should have eat from the tree of life. Then everyone would have eternal life. We could just lay around sinning all day and it wouldn't be evil.