Part 9

Naturally Created Human Life On The New Earth

Isaiah prophetically described the time of better conditions coming on the New Earth. “For, behold, I create new (freshened) heavens and a new (freshened) earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.” (Isaiah 65:17).

Some ask whether or not there also will still be naturally created human physical life on the New Earth for all eternity. We see in Gen 1:26-28 God’s originally intention was that man, made in God’s image, man was to “multiply and replenish the earth,” and have “dominion over every living thing” on the earth. This will come to pass.

1.) By the time of Revelation chapter 21 and John’s description of the eternal Kingdom of God on earth the members of “the body of Christ” have already been dwelling “eternal in the heavens” (2Cor 5:1) for about one thousand and seven years already.

2.)  The resurrected glorified Kingdom believers of Israel were resurrected one thousand years before, at the start of the Millennium. They already have served to co-rule with Christ on earth as the “priests of God” in the Christ’s Millennial Theocratic Kingdom .

3.) The lost that refused salvation in Christ, the Devil and his angels, the Antichrist, and the False Prophet are all in “the lake of fire.” 

4.) The dead and martyred resurrected, glorified, Kingdom believers of Israel will have their co-rulership with Christ extended from the Tribulation to serve under Christ on the new Earth forever.

But who will they rule, serve and bless under Christ on the New Earth? 

They will rule, serve and bless the natural human physically alive believers on the New Earth, those living believers who survived the Tribulation and Millennium (Rev 5:10, 20:6, and 22:5).

Now consider these following points concerning the natural human physically alive believers on the eternal New Earth.

(Portions of this below were taken from www.netbiblestudy.com/ where information “is offered free for use in the Lord’s work.”

1. God assures Israel that they will be an “eternal people – forever!” (Isaiah 66:22-23 and 59:21). The word translated “descendants,” in these verses comes from the Hebrew word, “Sera” which means organic “seed, fruit, plant or posterity.” This word is used 273 times in the Old Testament and in every case; it means natural physical seed – either seed sown in the ground or the natural seed of man. Many of those who will dwell in the Eternal Kingdom are those who believed and lived through the Tribulation and Millennium and on into the Eternal Kingdom .

They will have human bodies, but the Tempter and Accuser, Satan, will have been destroyed to never again tempt or accuse the believers in human bodies. Christ has made sin “of no effect” (Rom 6:6-7). Sin and death will no longer reign. “… there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”(Rev 21:4). The “Sin” nature of the Evil one in man’s flesh body will have been made absolutely “of no effect.” These believers will now be free from the “Tempter and Accuser,” and his “fiery darts of the enemy.” They will have full, unhindered, identification with the cross as the place of their death with and in Christ (Rom 6:1-7) and so they will ably manifest and actualize Christ’s victorious indwelling life in their human living upon the New Earth. Just as Jesus of Nazareth was “tempted in all ways as we are, yet without acts of sin” (Heb 4:15), so will they will now live by His life in them as their overcoming life; “I am crucified with Christ,” it is “no longer I that live, but Christ who liveth in me” (Gal 2:20).

2. Rev 21:3-4 says “men” (Gk. anthropos, human beings) will dwell in the tabernacle of God; that is His habitation, or dwelling place, now on earth. God Himself “dwell with them” when the Holy City of the New Jerusalem comes down from heaven to live with them on earth – throughout eternity. Verses 24-26 continue by speaking of the now saved of the “nations” (Gk., ethnos, Gentiles) that will enter the New Jerusalem and bring glory and honor to God in His habitation on earth.  The resurrected glorified saints of the Old Testament and Tribulation will have already been with Him for the 1,000 years that followed the “1st Resurrection” of Rev 20:6a, at the beginning of the Millennium.

3. “The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel , saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth THE HEAVENS, and layeth the foundation of THE EARTH, and formeth THE SPIRIT OF MAN within him.” (Zech 12:1) This verse indicates “the heaven” (the sun, moon, rains, etc) are for “the earth,” the earth was made “for man” because man, by his human spirit, was to become the eternal abode of the “Spirit of Christ” (Rom 8:9, 1Cor 6:17, Col 1:27).

The physical Earth was created to be inhabited by Holy Spirit indwelled physical human beings that were promised the Earth as an “eternal inheritance” from the very beginning (Psa 37:9-11, 22, 29 and 34; 60:21; 69:36; 82:8; Matt 5:5 and 25:34).

David wrote of the faithful of Israel ; “… his seed shall inherit the earth.” (Psa 25:13). These passages were spoken to earthly people and will be fulfilled after the Millennium on the New Earth. Earthly surviving believers will inherit the Earth, under the rule of the resurrected glorified saints of Israel who will co-reign priests under Christ, forever. Dan 7:13-27 tells us Christ’s kingdom on earth will “never be destroyed.” Isa 9:6-7, says of Christ’s earthly government “there will be no end…from that time on and forever.” Luke 1:32-25; “Jacob’s house will reign on earth forever…and there will be no end… from that time on forever.”

The Scriptures tells us that the resurrected glorified saints of Israel are to reign as “kings and priests” on earth forever. How could they be “priest” forever without worshippers to minister unto? How could they be “kings” (Rev 5:10) forever without a kingdom and subjects, to reign over? 

Israel ’s resurrected glorified saints are to rule and bless the world under Christ as King. In Rev 5:9-10; 11:15; 20:4-10 we can see that natural people will live on Earth during the Millennium, not having glorified bodies as the resurrected glorified saints do, nor will they have the same privileges as the saints. Rather, the living believers are the subjects of the eternal benevolent Kingdom that Christ, and His resurrected glorified saints are said to reign over.

The living believers will marry and reproduce natural generations of men on the eternal New Earth wherein no sin dwells. By contrast, concerning the resurrected glorified believers; “when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven.” (Mark 12:25)

4. God created man to live forever in his natural physical body. It’s only because man sinned that we see God’s penalty for sin, which is physical, spiritual, eternal death, come to the fore. God’s plan foreknew the need of Christ as Savior to die for men. That plan included placing His own “Spirit of life” within every believer who would freely and willingly receive Him out of their recognized need. God will have gained spirit–birthed children of every age, those who are to be born of His Spirit-loins by His “Seed, which is Christ” (Gal 3:16, cf. 1Pet 1:23). God will have gained both a regenerated, heavenly glorified, people (“the church, which is His body”) to reign in heaven… and He will have gained a born-again, resurrected, glorified Israel who will reign over the coming generations of natural people on the new earth.

Why did the Lord permit the “fall of man (in Adam)” and the “fall of Israel ”?

If the fall and the Savior had not come, then all men would have continued as natural people forever. There would have been no class of glorified saints taken from the human race to help God administer the affairs of heaven and earth in place of Satan and His angels. After the Millennium, natural men will be fully redeemed and will live on the New Earth, just as Adam did before the fall, to carry out God’s original purpose of replenishing the Earth with natural people (Gen 1:27-31; 9:12 and Isa 45:18). At that time, with the Tempter and Accuser (the Devil) destroyed and the truth of the cross the “Sin” nature of the Evil one in man’s flesh body will have been made absolutely “of no effect” (Rom 6:6-7). It was Sin that brought forth death (James 1:15b). “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:2). There is no sin in the Eternal Kingdom . Man’s identification with the Lord’s all-sufficient work at the cross will be actualized in their human living.

5. The Bible plainly declares that there will be “eternal generations” of natural peoples who will inhabit the Earth. In the following verses note when the phrase, “all generations to come,” or “from generation to generation,” translated from the Hebrew word “Hebraism,” meaning “perpetual generations – generations that continue forever and ever.” (Gen 9:12; 13:15; 17:7-8 and verse 19; Exo 3:15; 12:14 and verse 42; 27:21; 30:8 and 21; 31:16; 40:15; Lev 3:17; 6:18; 10:9; 17:7; 23:14, 21, 31 and 41; 24:3; 25:30; Num 10:8; 15:15; 18:23; Deut 5;29; 12:28; 28:46; 29:29; 2 Sam 7:24-29; 1 Chron. 23:25; Psalm 12:7; 45:17; 72;5; 79:13; 89:4; 100:5; 102:12 and 24; 106:31; 119:90; 135:13; 145:13; 146:10; Isa 9:6-7; 51:8; 59:21; Jer 31:35-36; 32:38-40; Eze 37:24-28; Lam 5:19; Dan 2:44-45; 4::3; and 34; 7:13-18; Joel 3:20; Luke 1:32-25; and 54-55; Rev 11:15.)

One can envision what conditions will be like in the future for the New Earth. Had man not sinned, children would have been born to live forever, animals would never have been man’s enemy, but rather, would have always been utilized by man for his own good. There would have been no “thorns and thistles (Gen 3:18), pain of childbirth (Gen 3:16) – or curse of any kind on the earth. There would have been no sufferings, pain, tears, failures, sin, death, or any of the other present effects of man’s rebellion and sin. Certainly every man can conceive of these wonderful conditions that would have been man’s for all of eternity had he chosen to eat of the “Tree of Life” in the Garden of Eden and remained true in obeying God.

Those who will not rebel with Satan, at the end of the Millennium, will not die; they will continue on the Earth forever as natural body people. The rebels who will have aligned themselves with Satan during that time will be destroyed from the Earth (Rev 20:9). Once Satan and his followers are destroyed, the curse, and all its effects, will be removed and man will be able to live forever in his natural body and carry out God’s original creative plan to replenish natural life on the Earth.

During this present age, God is preparing those of Israel who believed and were saved in the OT who currently dwell in the Paradise of Heaven to reign over coming generations of natural people on the New Earth. They will have had their “natural” bodies “changed” to spiritual, glorified, resurrected bodies (Rev 20:6). There will also be eternal generations of natural people. When the phrase, “a thousand generations,” is used, it is also translated from the Hebrew word, that means, “perpetual generations – generations that continue forever and ever.” (Deut 7:9; 1 Chron. 16:15; Psalm 105: 8 and 90:10).

6. There are a number of Scriptural passages that speaks of God making an “eternal, everlasting,” covenant with natural man and beast. (Gen 9:16; 17:7 and 19; Exo 31:16; Lev 24:8; Num 18:19; 2 Sam 23:5; 1 Chronicles 16:17; Psa 105:10; Isa 55:3; 61:8; Jer 32:40; 50:4-5; Eze 16:60 and 37:26.)

7. Eternal lands were promised to Abraham, and his natural posterity, forever. How could the following Scriptural promises from God’s Word be true if both parties of the covenants were not eternal? Gen 13:15; 17:6-8; 48:4; Exo 32:12-13; Lev 25:23, 30 and 34; Deut 4:40; Psa 111:5 and 9; 2 Chron. 20:7; Isa 60:21; Luke 1:32-35, Matt 19:28

8. The Scriptures prove that David’s natural physical seed, his earthly throne and kingdom with its earthly subject, are all eternal and will be ruled by Christ forever. (2 Sam 7:11-17 and verses 24-29; 22:52; 23:5; 1 Kings 2:45; 9:3-5; 1 Chron 17:7-15 and verses 22-27; 22:10; 28:4-9; 2 Chron 13:5; 21:7; Psa 89:3-4 and 35-37; 145:13; Isa 9:6- 7; Eze 43:7-9; Dan 2:44-45; 7:13-14 and 18-27; Micah 4:7; Luke 1:32-35; Heb 1:8; 12:28; Rev 11:15and 22:5.)

9. Planting and harvesting, summer and winter, day and night, will go on while the earth remains eternally. (Gen 8:22; Psa 104:5; Eccl 1:4; Isa 65:21-25; Mic 4:3-4; Joel 2:18-32 and 2:1-21.) The physical natural believing people who have come out of the Tribulation period into the Millennium and from the Millennium into the New Earth will plant, and harvest, on the earth forever – they will plow, sow, reap, and enjoy the fruits of their labors.

10. The natural physical kingdom believers will be the ones that will marry and have children forever, and live a normal natural life just as man would have done if he had not sinned and eaten of the “Tree of Life” in the beginning.  Thus we must distinguish between the two classes of eternal people of Adam’s race, the natural believers who will be the subjects of the kingdom forever, and the immortal, spiritual, resurrected, heavenly, glorified saints of all ages who will be the rulers and heirs of the kingdom forever. (Gen 17:13; Exo 12:14 and 24; 27:20-21; 28:29 and 43; 29:9; 30:8 and 21; 31:16-17; 40:15; Lev 16:3:17; 17:7; 23:14 and 21; 24:3; Num 10:8; 15:15; 18:8 and 23; 19:10 and 21; 1 Chron 15:2; 23:13; 2 Chron 2:4; 2 Kings 17:37; Psa 125:1; Isa 45:17; 55:13; 60:15-20; Exo 45:14 and Zech 14:16-21.)

11. Most of the passages quoted in this study concerning the Lord’s Eternal Kingdom on earth use the words “everlasting, forever and perpetual,” when speaking of the existence of natural physical man. These are the same words that are used to denote the eternal existence of God, the existence of natural man must be as eternal as the existence of God. We have no right to take such words to mean anything but what they say, unless such is plainly implied in the passage where they are found, or statements found elsewhere to the contrary. Any usage of the words, in any passage of Scripture, other than that of an eternal sense, is always made clear in the passage itself. When these words are used dispensationally, and in connection with eternal things, they mean eternal in every case.

12. God gave recognition to His intention to have a perpetual race through the “tree of life” when He drove Adam from it (Gen 3:24). The eternal life of the resurrected glorified saints will not depend on access to “the Tree of Life” because they will live in their glorified spirit-bodies. They have immortal, incorruptible, resurrected, glorified bodies by the virtue of their transformation by the Spirit of God. “Who (Christ) shall CHANGE OUR VILE BODY, THAT IT MAY BE FASHIONED LIKE UNTO HIS GLORIOUS BODY, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.” (Philippians 3:21)

Now we know the purpose “the tree of life” has on the new Earth in the New Jerusalem… it is for the preservation of natural human life. “And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and TAKE ALSO OF THE TREE OF LIFE, AND EAT, AND LIVE FOR EVER: 23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims , and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of THE TREE OF LIFE.” (Genesis 3:22-24)

If the above passages mean what they say then they prove the perpetuity of the human race as natural physical beings. This would have been the case if man had not sinned. When death, the penalty for sin, is destroyed after the Millennium, because sin ceases to be, life will automatically go on through the medium of natural preservation via “the tree of life” (Revelation 2:7 and 17; 22:2).

In view of the perpetual multiplying of the race, an obvious question would be, “How can the earth hold so many coming generations?”

This may be answered by the following observations. The “how” of many revealed parts of God’s eternal plan is not yet clear. We are not asked to understand how certain things will be brought about, but rather, we are simply asked to believe what is plainly written in God’s Word. The how of God’s entire plan is in His hands. Is the God Who created all things, and foretold eternal plans, now limited in His power to bring these things to pass? Nonetheless, the how of this question of “over-population” seems to be answered by Psa 8 and Isa 40:29-31. These passages tell us that common, natural man was supposed to have power and dominion over all the works of God’s hand, which would include all the planets. Since Christ came to restore man’s dominion over “all things” (Hebrews 2:7-10), it seems logical to believe that, in the future restoration, man will have power over, and access to, the planets, which are a part of God’s handiwork. This being true, God could, then, take care of all future generations, whenever necessary, by populating other planets. Keep in mind that Hubble Space Telescope discovered galaxies 55 millions light years from the Earth. After the restoration, it will be possible for vast multitudes of people to live on the earth. In addition, once the ground is freed from the curse its productivity potential will return to what it was prior to the curse!

Remember too, that when the Earth is made “New,” there will not be any wilderness or desert waste land, no steaming jungles, frozen arctic, or wide expansions of arid, barren lands, but rather, the whole Earth will be fruitful, fertile and productive.  And, if God should ever need more room – the Creator of the vast universe certainly could push its wide borders out a few billion light years.

Nothing is impossible to God!