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56f. Resurrection and the Change – Part 6

14th May 2007 by Arthur Eedle

Part 6. “The Kingdom shall be given to the saints” (Dan.7:27)

In rapid succession we have now covered the subjects of the “who”, “how” and “when” of resurrection. It remains in this number to attack the question of “where” and “why?”  It is a common belief amongst Christians that either at death, or certainly at resurrection, we shall be living “upstairs” with the Lord. As the old song put it, “If heaven’s not my home, Lord what shall I do?”  Is there any substance in this belief?  It is time to investigate the problem by looking at appropriate Scriptures, and once again,unwrapping any pictorial language we may find.

The best place to start is Hebrews chapter 11, and the testimony of Abraham. “By faith Abraham sojourned in the land of promise as a foreigner , . . . for he looked for a city . . . whose builder and maker is God.” (Verses 9 & 10)   Paul went on to say, “All these died in faith . . . they desired a better country, that is, a heavenly.”  (Verses 13 & 16)  On the surface it would seem unquestionable that these O.T. saints were looking for heaven as their home, rather than the earth, in the days of resurrection. But is this so?

In Philippians, Paul said, “I press onwards towards the mark for the prize of the calling on high of God in Christ Jesus.”(Phil.3:14)  Again, it seems obvious, on the surface, that Paul was looking for a “heavenly home.”  But was he?

Jesus consoled His disciples with the words, “I go to prepare a place for you . . . and I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, you may be also.”  (John 14:2-3)  There doesn’t seem to be any doubt about that, does there?  Our Lord is in heaven. He went there to prepare a place for His disciples. When He returns, He will take them to heaven to be with Him. Is that what our Lord meant?

And as we quoted in part 4, “He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”  (Matt.24:31) This sounds very much like a heavenly assembly meeting, rather than anything on earth.

Where then is the place that God has set apart for His saints?  Where did Abraham expect to go?  Where is the “city not made with hands”?  Is it not the subject of John’s revelation?  Isn’t this the “New Jerusalem”, the “heavenly city” of chapter 21?  We fully accept that it is. But it is precisely there that we must go to get the whole picture.

“I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven.” (21:2)   And again in verses 9 & 10. “Come hither, and I will show you the Bride, the Lamb’s Wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.”

These verses tell us a lot. First of all, the city is not a structure, but a people. The city is the Bride, not an abode for the Bride. All the multifarious descriptions given in the chapter relating to the city are but picture language, and must be interpreted as such. Even in Isaiah’s day, this truth was presented. “The sons of those who afflicted you shall come bending unto you; and all those who despised you shall bow themselves down at the soles of your feet, and they shall call you ‘The City of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.'” (Isa.60:14) Furthermore, we find Paul telling the Ephesians, “Jesus Christ is the Cornerstone, in whom all building, being fitted together, grows into a Holy Temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling-place of God in spirit.” (Eph.2:20-21)  Peter also understood this truth when he said, “You, as living stones, are being built into a spiritual house.” (1 Pet.2:5)

In the second place, we note that the New Jerusalem “comes down”, “descends”, from heaven. Having thus descended, where does it touch down?  Clearly on the earth. During the six thousand years in which God has been taking out a “people for His name”, He has been building His saints into a heavenly Jerusalem (to use the figure) and once this “building” is complete, the time arrives when its function is about to begin, and the place where it begins is on the earth.

Dear old Moshe Cohen, in his dream, saw this happening. First of all he saw a company of saints rising to meet the Lord, and then the whole company coming back down to earth. And for what purpose?  In his dream he saw them as an army, or a company of armies. And this leads us on to the next topic.  We have seen something of the “where”, and we must now seek an answer to the “why?”

Daniel speaks in the plainest language. “The Court shall sit in judgment, and the [little horn’s] dominion shall be taken away, to be consumed and destroyed to the end. And the Kingdom and the Dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, and their kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey them.” (Dan.7:27)

An important part of this dominion, Jesus promised to His twelve disciples. “And as for you, who have followed me, when the Son of Man, in the regeneration, when He shall sit on the throne of His glory, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones judging (i.e. ruling) the twelve tribes of Israel.” (Matt.19:28)

Once the Kingdom of God has been established on earth, a great deal of change is required, a mega-shift in politics, and the destruction of all that relates to terror, murder, perversion, vice, and all the other most beastly ways of fallen humanity. Daniel was told that it would be destroyed “unto the end.”  This is why Moshe Cohen saw the Lord returning as the Conqueror, the Commander in Chief of all His armies. There will be no sudden change in the hearts of men, and some will even try to evade being subject to the new dominion, by scurrying off to the caves to hide. No, when the Kingdom of Heaven begins, it will be a gradual process, and it will not be accomplished in a day. As a mustard seed in germination, it will grow from very small beginnings, but become great. The stone which destroys the great image of Nebuchadnezzar, grows and fills the earth, according to yet another picture of the Kingdom.

The saints will be granted the Kingdom, and in resurrection they will have the ability to exercise dominion righteously, wisely, and compassionately, something that could never be achieved by mortal man. This world’s ills cannot be rectified by any up and coming religious movement such as “Dominion Theology”. Their intended goals may be good in themselves, but they would be as corrupt as the rest of us when it comes to dominion. To quote the well-known saying of First Baron Acton, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”  But he also said, “The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern.” (1881)

To sum up, we have seen that the Heavenly Home that believers have thought of as an eternal resting place, is a mis-interpretation of Scripture. The word “heavenly” refers not so much to place as to dimension.  Jesus said that His Kingdom was “not of this world.” (John 18:36) In other words it does not have the character of human kingdoms. Those who have been trained and prepared in a world of suffering, as disciples of Jesus, become “living stones” in God’s Temple. They, and they alone, in resurrection have the type of character that God is looking for in respect of world-government.

And yes, we shall depart when the trumpet sounds, and the angels come to collect us. The Lord is planning on a delightful gathering of His children. But this will only last for a season until we are all made ready for the task down here.  It is on earth that the Kingdom of God is needed.

Filed Under: The Wellspring Tagged With: Expository Items

About Arthur Eedle

Arthur was born in 1931, and became a Christian in 1948. At London University he gained a 2nd honours degree in Physics. He went on to get a Teaching Diploma, and throughout his career life taught physics in England, Kenya, and Hong Kong. Coupled with his love of science, he was a keen student of Greek and Hebrew, and gave many lectures on Biblical subjects. Read more

The Wellspring

1. God’s Megaphone

1st September 2001 By Arthur Eedle

2. Suicide

1st October 2001 By Arthur Eedle

3. Petra

12th October 2001 By Arthur Eedle

4. Two different Gods?

20th October 2001 By Arthur Eedle

5. I AM

23rd October 2001 By Arthur Eedle

6. “Not I but Christ”

25th October 2001 By Arthur Eedle

7. How I Love Your Law!

27th October 2001 By Arthur Eedle

8. The Jewish Problem

2nd November 2001 By Arthur Eedle

9. The Evaluation of Coincidence

15th November 2001 By Arthur Eedle

10. Gracious Uncertainty

30th April 2002 By Arthur Eedle

11. Jasper & Sardius

8th May 2002 By Arthur Eedle

12. Antithesis

19th May 2002 By Arthur Eedle

12a. The Essential Role of Free Will in Universal Reconciliation

17th June 2002 By Arthur Eedle

13. The Importance of Earnest

10th August 2002 By Arthur Eedle

14. The Millennium

14th August 2002 By Arthur Eedle

15. Cancer – A Personal Testimony

17th December 2002 By Arthur Eedle

16. C.S.Lewis on the New Year

1st January 2003 By Arthur Eedle

17. Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow

5th January 2003 By Arthur Eedle

18. Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI)

12th January 2003 By Arthur Eedle

19. “The Intolerable Compliment”

12th January 2003 By Arthur Eedle

20. The Power and Practice of the Truth

22nd February 2003 By Arthur Eedle

21. The Power and Practice of the Lie

1st March 2003 By Arthur Eedle

22. The Use and Abuse of Power

8th March 2003 By Arthur Eedle

23. What on earth is happening?

29th July 2003 By Arthur Eedle

23a. A reply to “What on earth is happening?”

4th August 2003 By Arthur Eedle

24. Equality

17th August 2003 By Arthur Eedle

25. Paul to the “Ephesians”

31st August 2003 By Arthur Eedle

26. Mystery

3rd September 2003 By Arthur Eedle

27. Ephesians 1:15-23

10th September 2003 By Arthur Eedle

28. Ephesians 2:1-10

27th September 2003 By Arthur Eedle

29. Ephesians 2:11-22

6th October 2003 By Arthur Eedle

30. Cain and Abel

19th January 2004 By Arthur Eedle

31. Laying the Foundation of the Lord’s House

1st February 2004 By Arthur Eedle

32. Tomorrow’s Bread

22nd February 2004 By Arthur Eedle

33. Grace Parables

27th February 2004 By Arthur Eedle

34. The Responsibility Factor

5th March 2004 By Arthur Eedle

35a. Our Wilderness Journey. Part 1

13th March 2004 By Arthur Eedle

35b. Our Wilderness Journey. Part 2

14th March 2004 By Arthur Eedle

36. Genetic Modification in the Bible

20th March 2004 By Arthur Eedle

37. Arthur’s Testimony

28th March 2004 By Arthur Eedle

38. Identified with Christ

31st March 2004 By Arthur Eedle

39. It Would Have Been Better…

6th April 2004 By Arthur Eedle

40a. Friday’s Man was nailed upon a Cross

9th April 2004 By Arthur Eedle

40b. Sunday’s Man was nowhere to be found

11th April 2004 By Arthur Eedle

41. Jeremiah’s Cryptogram

11th May 2004 By Arthur Eedle

43. The Gospel of Humanism

14th August 2004 By Arthur Eedle

44. Cosmetic Christianity

5th September 2004 By Arthur Eedle

45. EXPERIENCE versus KNOWLEDGE

6th September 2004 By Arthur Eedle

46. “Just a wearyin’ for you”

13th September 2004 By Arthur Eedle

47. Islam by ex-Muslims

24th September 2004 By Arthur Eedle

48. Six Particular Men

9th April 2006 By Arthur Eedle

49. Ten “Everlasting” wonders in Isaiah

13th April 2006 By Arthur Eedle

50a. Missing the Mark. Part 1

18th April 2006 By Arthur Eedle

50b. Missing the Mark. Part 2

21st April 2006 By Arthur Eedle

51. The Mark of the Beast

29th April 2006 By Arthur Eedle

52. Irreducible Complexity

2nd May 2006 By Arthur Eedle

53. No historical Jesus?

4th July 2006 By Arthur Eedle

54. The Power of God’s Spoken Word

17th March 2007 By Arthur Eedle

55. God’s chosen fast

19th April 2007 By Arthur Eedle

56a. Resurrection and the Change – Part 1

1st May 2007 By Arthur Eedle

56b. Resurrection and the Change – Part 2

7th May 2007 By Arthur Eedle

56c. Resurrection and the Change – Part 3

10th May 2007 By Arthur Eedle

56d. Resurrection and the Change – Part 4

12th May 2007 By Arthur Eedle

56e. Resurrection and the Change – Part 5

13th May 2007 By Arthur Eedle

56f. Resurrection and the Change – Part 6

14th May 2007 By Arthur Eedle

56g. Resurrection and the Change – Part 7

15th May 2007 By Arthur Eedle

56h. Resurrection and the Change – Part 8

16th May 2007 By Arthur Eedle

56i. Resurrection and the Change – Part 9

17th May 2007 By Arthur Eedle

56j. Resurrection and the Change – Part 10

18th May 2007 By Arthur Eedle

56k. Resurrection and the Change – Part 11

21st May 2007 By Arthur Eedle

56l. Resurrection and the Change – Part 12

22nd May 2007 By Arthur Eedle

56m. Resurrection and the Change – Part 13

23rd May 2007 By Arthur Eedle

56n. Resurrection and the Change – Part 14

24th May 2007 By Arthur Eedle

56o. Resurrection and the Change – Part 15

25th May 2007 By Arthur Eedle

56p. Resurrection and the Change – Part 16

27th May 2007 By Arthur Eedle

57a. Before He Comes – Part 1

31st May 2007 By Arthur Eedle

57b. Before He Comes – Part 2

8th June 2007 By Arthur Eedle

57c. Before He Comes – Part 3

10th June 2007 By Arthur Eedle

57d. Before He Comes – Part 4

11th June 2007 By Arthur Eedle

57e. Before He Comes – Part 5

12th June 2007 By Arthur Eedle

57f. Before He Comes – Part 6

13th June 2007 By Arthur Eedle

57g. Before He Comes – Part 7

14th June 2007 By Arthur Eedle

57h. Before He Comes – Part 8

18th June 2007 By Arthur Eedle

57i. Before He Comes – Part 9

19th June 2007 By Arthur Eedle

57j. Before He Comes – Part 10

24th June 2007 By Arthur Eedle

57k. Before He Comes – Part 11

29th June 2007 By Arthur Eedle

57l. Before He Comes – Part 12

30th June 2007 By Arthur Eedle

57m. Before He Comes – Part 13

3rd July 2007 By Arthur Eedle

58. Free Will Versus God’s Sovereignty

28th August 2007 By Arthur Eedle

59. Rules of Engagement

10th October 2007 By Arthur Eedle

60. Cameo. Part 1

15th October 2007 By Arthur Eedle

61. Cameo. Part 2

18th October 2007 By Arthur Eedle

62. Cameo. Part 3

26th October 2007 By Arthur Eedle

63. Cameo. Part 4

28th October 2007 By Arthur Eedle

64. In His Hands

1st November 2007 By Arthur Eedle

65. The Starlings

5th November 2007 By Arthur Eedle

66. “Dead Truth”

13th November 2007 By Arthur Eedle

67. “Dead Sin”

18th November 2007 By Arthur Eedle

68. “Dead Faith” and “Dead Works”

2nd December 2007 By Arthur Eedle

69. “Dead Worship”

18th December 2007 By Arthur Eedle

70. A Pseudo-Bunyan Author

19th March 2008 By Arthur Eedle

Article Series

  • All our Yesterdays (30)
  • Before He comes (13)
  • God's Spoken Word (37)
  • Mysteries of Science & Faith (8)
  • New Series (101)
  • Newsletter (2)
  • Original Series (109)
  • Prophecy considerations (5)
  • Recognising the Hand of Judgment (33)
  • Resurrection and Change (16)
  • Seekers Corner (14)
  • Simple Statements on Serious Subjects (6)
  • The City of God (18)
  • The Millennial Octave (23)
  • The Restitution Times (22)
  • The Song of Solomon (6)
  • The Standard (19)
  • The Wayside Pulpit (107)
  • The Wayside Pulpit 2015 (96)
  • The Wellspring (101)
  • The Wellspring 2017 (55)

Index of Topics

Arthur & Rosalind Eedle's Personal Testimonies Discipleship Expository Items Good and Evil Human Pre-Existance Jane Leade. Philadelphian Numerology in the Bible Quotations from other Authors Resurrection and the Change Ron Wyatt. Archaeology Science Topics The Kingdom of God the Millennium and the Return of Christ The Sabbath Day Universal Reconcilliation

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