Questions and Answers about the Kingdom
Many of you have asked questions about God’s Kingdom, so in the lesson today I will answer your questions.
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Question: Jesus Christ said there will be no marriages [in the Kingdom]. Paul said we will be changed into immortal bodies because flesh and blood can’t inherit the Kingdom of God. We now hear about old people and small children in the Kingdom yet are immortal bodies? Families having more children means there will be marriages.
Answer: During the 1000-year reign of Christ, there will be two very different groups of people.
The first group is the saints. They will rise to eternal life when Christ returns “at the last trumpet” (1 Corinthians 15:52). They will have immortal, spiritual bodies like Jesus Christ (verses 48-49). Jesus said, “those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; nor can they die anymore” (Luke 20:35-36).
The second group is “everyone who is left of all the nations” (Zechariah 14:16). These are the humans who survived the Day of the Lord. They will still be physical, will marry, and have children during the first 1000 years of God’s Kingdom on earth.
The Bible says that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 15:50). Only the saints will inherit the kingdom, because they are “sons of God” (Luke 10:36). And the sons of the King are the ones who inherit the kingdom from their Father. They are the ones who will rule with Christ for 1000 years (Revelation 20:4).
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Question: We are told there will be no more sorrow, no pain, no death, everything is new but now we are told in the Kingdom if a nation will not go to worship in Jerusalem there will be no rain in that country, they are even talking about plagues as punishment for not attending Sabbaths and [Feast of] Tabernacles.
Answer: During the 1000 years there will still be pain, death, and sorrow (but much less than today). The prophecy about no more pain, death, and sorrow in Revelation 21:4 comes after the 1000 years is finished (see Revelation 20:7-15).
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Question: The building of the temple again in Jerusalem is ok, but for sacrifices to resurface is not ok. This act would disqualify the wholesome sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary where His Blood was shed for the forgiveness of sins. The most acceptable sacrifice is that of the Lord Jesus, and when Jesus is on the Throne in Jerusalem does it mean the work of His sacrifice has finished?
Answer: Ezekiel 40-48 is clearly a prophecy about the future, because it has not happened yet, and it says there will be sacrifices in the temple. So first we must believe what the Bible says, and then try to understand it.
Notice that Paul said, “it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4). The animal sacrifices never took away sins. Instead, they pointed to Christ, who “Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:12).
All sacrifices for sin point to the ONE sacrifice of Jesus. The sacrifice of Jesus is the only sacrifice that ever took away sin. The animal sacrifices only teach us about the ONE sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
So the sacrifices in the future temple will not take away sin. They will not disqualify the sacrifice of Jesus. They will only teach people about the sacrifice that Jesus already made.
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Question: Will people die during Jesus’ reign of 1000 years?
Answer: The Bible says, “No more shall an infant from there live but a few days, Nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days; For the child shall die one hundred years old, But the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed. … as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people, And My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands (Isaiah 65:20, 22).
Notice that someone who dies at 100 years old will be considered a mere child (so apparently some will die), but most people will live very long lives “as the days of a tree.”
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Question: Kindly let me also know the difference between the Jews religion and other religions. Since the Bible says that Christianity has a root from the Jews, why are there two religions under one same God?
Answer: Modern Christianity and modern Judaism are clearly two different religions.
But God said, “I am the LORD, I do not change” (Malachi 3:6).
Paul said, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8)
So did God create two different religions? Or have both Jews and Christians rejected part of the scriptures in order to create two new religions out of the single Way described in the Bible?
The Bible says that the saints who lived before Christ came were justified in the same way the saints are today—by faith in Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:6-9; John 8:56). Just like us, the prophets had to demonstrate their faith by obeying God. The Apostle John wrote, “He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in Him” (1 John 2:4).
Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets” (Matthew 5:17). The true Church of God is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone” (Ephesians 2:20).
If we want to please God, we must follow the original Way revealed in the Bible, not man-made religions that reject the first or second half of the Bible.
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Question: Ceremonial law was done away when Jesus died on Calvary including the Feast of Tabernacles.
Answer: This teaching contradicts the Bible, which says the Feast of Tabernacles will be kept in the future. If our theology doesn’t match the Bible, we need to change our theology, not the Bible.
I explain how Christ fulfilled the law in this article:
How Did Jesus Fulfill the Law?
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Question: If God made the world and owns everything on and in it, please explain how Satan now rules the Earth?
God created everything, including the angel we later became Satan. God says Satan, “you were perfect in your ways, from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you. …Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty …” (Ezekiel 28:15, 17). This angel became proud, and decided to rebel against God: “you have said in your heart, ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God … I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:13-14).
Notice that the angel who became Satan had a throne on earth before he went up to heaven to fight with God. God made this angel ruler of the earth before he rebelled, and the Bible shows that God has not removed Satan from this position yet (Luke 4:5-7), because God is allowing him to test people until Jesus returns. “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).
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Question: Where are the souls/spirits of the dead now!?
Acts 2:25-31 describes the “souls” of David and Jesus going to “hell.” But the words translated “soul” in the Bible don’t mean soul, and the words translated “hell” don’t mean hell (they are both mistranslations).
In Acts 2, the word translated “soul” refers to the dead bodies of David and Jesus. In the Bible, a “soul” can die (Ezekiel 18:20). People are “souls” and so are animals (Genesis 2:7; 1:24). The words translated “soul” usually mean a living creature, a person, the self, or the body. It is not something separate from a person.
The “hell” that David and Jesus went to is just the grave. So Acts 2 is simply saying that the dead bodies of David and Jesus were put in the ground after they died, just like most people.
The Bible also teaches that God has given humans a spirit that gives us human understanding (1 Corinthians 2:11). When we die, “the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it” (Eccl. 12:7 NKJ). But this spirit is not conscious without a body. ”For the living know that they will die; But the dead know nothing” (Ecclesiastes 9:5). “His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; In that very day his plans perish” (Psalm 146:4).
Death is described like sleep. “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt.” (Dan. 12:2 NKJ) “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.” (1 Thess. 4:14 NKJ)
So when we die, we are unconscious while we wait for a resurrection. Belief in immortal souls, heaven, and hell entered Christianity (from Greek philosophy) after the Bible was written. The Bible teaches resurrections, not heaven and hell.
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Question: Are some people already in heaven, like Moses, Elijah, Enoch, Mary the mother of our Lord Jesus?
Answer: This article explains where these people are: Common Questions about Heaven
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Question: Could you explain the Rapture to me? Where do those who go with Christ end up?
The word “rapture” isn’t in the Bible. Those who in the first resurrection will rise to meet Jesus in the air and go to heaven for a few days, where they will stand “on the sea of glass” (Revelation 15:2) and take part in the “marriage of the Lamb” (Revelation 19:7-9). Then they will return to earth with Christ to reign for a thousand years (Revelation 19:11-14; 20:4).
I explain more here: Rapture or Safe Place?
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Question: in God’s kingdom God is God, but Jesus is also there, meaning there are two—God and Jesus? When the Bible says they are one, what does that mean?
During the 1000 years, God the Father will still be in heaven. He will come down later (see Revelation 21).
Jesus will be the King on earth for 1000 years. “Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power” (1 Corinthians 15:24).
John 1:1-3 explains how both Jesus and the Father are both God.
John 17:20-22 explains that God is one in the same way He wants us to be one. Obviously the followers of Jesus are not one person, but many. But they should be “perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Corinthians 1:10) just like Jesus and His Father.
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I hope these questions and answers were helpful!
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