The early New Testament church believed in the 7000 year plan of God. Edward Gibbon in his famous book "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" (chapter 15) gives evidence to support that this was a fact of history:

"The ancient and popular doctrine of the Millennium was intimately connected with the second coming of Christ. As the works of the creation had been finished in six days, their duration in their present state...was fixed to six thousand years. By the same analogy it was inferred that this long period of labour and contention...would be succeeded by a joyful Sabbath of a thousand years; and that Christ, with the triumphant band of the saints and the elect who had escaped death, or who had been miraculously revived, would reign upon earth till the time appointed for the last and general resurrection."

Iranaeus was a disciple of Polycarp who succeeded the apostle John in Asia Minor (Turkey). In his work "Against All Heresies" he wrote: "For in as many days as this world was made, in so many thousand years shall it be concluded" (5.28.3).

In Halley's Handbook on page 33 we also read: "The epistle of Barnabas in the beginning of the Christian era mentioned in a belief then held that as there had been 2000 years from Adam to Abraham and 2000 years from Abraham to Christ so there would be 2000 years for the Christian era and then would come the millennium even as the six days of creation were followed by a day of rest, a seventh day of rest. Inasmuch as we are now drawing toward the close of 2000 years of the Christian era it will now be known for sure what there is to this belief."

With the last of the ten resurrections of the Roman Empire forming in the European Union which will trigger off the Great Tribulation we know that we are getting very close to the end of man's rule. Jesus said that unless those days are cut short no one would survive (Matthew 24:22). This implies that the 6 000 years will be cut short as man will have reached the end of his rope and would totally destroy himself were it not for God's intervention to cut it short.

In his book “The Incredible Human Potential” Herbert W. Armstrong says the following:

“God ordained that 6 000 years of sinning human existence PROVE FOR ALL TIME that Satan's way can result only in evils, suffering, frustration, hopelessness, and death. God is allowing Satan to deceive and sway mankind for 6 000 years to PROVE this truth, not only to the human race, but [also] to…the angels” (p.93).

Why was Satan allowed to remain on earth and sway mankind? God could have judged Satan and removed him before he created Adam. Why didn't God remove him before he created Adam?

As painful as it would be for mankind, God's decision to allow Satan to stay and tempt mankind for 6 000 years would deepen the contrast between God's way of life and the way of sin. It would allow the worst of humanity to display itself and build up the FULL range of sin and wrong experience to prove for the rest of eternity that sin hurts. A period of 6 000 years is nothing compared to the rest of eternity.

Why were we created physical and mortal? Why weren't we created as spirit beings that are immune to physical pain? There are a few possible reasons. One is to understand more deeply the lesson that sin hurts than we could have if we were created as spirit beings like the angels. Without feeling pain we are often a lot slower in changing our ways to stop doing things that are destructive to ourselves and others.

Another reason is to understand the meaning of family since angels don't experience family relationships like we do. Yet another reason is to help keep us humble and to more deeply appreciate God's greatness when we see it compared to our own minute power in comparison. Our life is so temporary in comparison. God wants to impress those lessons on our minds.

Now we know that Christ has died once for all time (Hebrews 10:12) and that Satan will no longer be an influence after the New Jerusalem comes to earth so we need to keep those points in mind for any projects God has in mind after the New Jerusalem has come down to earth.

Now the Bible is silent on this point, but let's hypothetically look at the possibility of God's family continuing to expand after the New Jerusalem comes to earth with new people being born on other planets throughout the universe. Because of the 6 000 years of suffering that has occurred on earth there will be people in God's family who have repented from every imaginable sin and suffered every imaginable kind of suffering there is. They will be able to play back and convey to anyone who has their doubts just how awful those sins are and convince them using their own experience as a reference that SIN HURTS and is just not worth it!

5] Why do we have so much suffering in the world?

Today we live in a world of such awesome progress and advancement yet at the same time is filled with terrible evil and suffering. The baffling question for so many today is “Why can't the minds that can learn to fly to the moon and back, transplant hearts, produce computers and technological marvels, solve mankind's problems that create all this suffering?”

We have just looked at a few of the major reasons for that suffering. Mankind is cut off from God and the power of His Holy Spirit that gives us the ability to live by God's way of life. We are too prone to go along with our human nature and do what is selfish without God's help. Human nature is not evil. It is neutral. It can be swayed to do good (Ezra 1:1) as well as swayed to do evil.

Human nature tends to follow the path of least resistance. Often it takes more effort to do what is right than do what is wrong. One example is giving into sexual lust rather than waiting until marriage for sex. Another is doing nothing compared to going out of our way to help others and be generous. Because of this extra effort needed to do what is right, we need the extra power that God provides through His Holy Spirit.

For the past 6 000 years God has had a “hands off” policy with this world except for calling those ahead of time who will help rule with Christ at His return. Man is suffering because of his lack of spiritual knowledge (Hosea 4:6). The knowledge of God's way of life isn't being taught or made available like it will be in the World Tomorrow (Isaiah 11:9). Most of mankind doesn't have this spiritual knowledge because it is not available to them or they have wilfully rejected God's truth.

Another major reason is that mankind is constantly being influenced by Satan's broadcasts which move us to disobey God and live selfishly, often at the expense of others. Satan is called the “prince of the power of the air” in Ephesians 2:2. Our minds are automatically tuned into his broadcasts which we still feel even after baptism. In Matthew 4:3 he is called “the tempter”. Christians have three things that pull them in the wrong direction. We have Satan's influence, the wrong influence of this world and the pull of our own human nature.

A lot of our suffering comes as a result of our wrong choices. There is a cause for every effect. God choices will lead to good things in life. Bad choices will lead to pain and suffering. In Galatians 6:7 we read: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap”. God told Israel that if they obeyed Him good things would happen to them and if they disobeyed their actions would cause all sorts of suffering (Leviticus 26).

In his book “Between Two Truths” Klyne Snodgrass writes the following:

“There is a big difference between God's permitting events and His causing them. If God causes evil, he must be held accountable for it. If he permits evil, the responsibility for it is placed on the free will of the persons doing it. We may question why God values free will so much, but there is no doubt that he does.“Being human means being responsible for our actions and being subject to the actions of others. Our neighbour has the free will to commit murder, and we could well be the victim of his free will. To be human means to be a resident of the old age where sin (ours and others'), suffering, tragedy, and death are all commonplace. God created the world, willing to chance what free human beings would do. God may be responsible for allowing such a world to exist, but He is not directly responsible for all the events that take place” (p.146).

We also have to be careful of taking a simplistic approach when trying to understand why some people live well and others suffer.

“We cannot avoid interpreting events, but we must remember that our conclusions are based on partial understanding. If a tornado skips a church and destroys a bar, should we conclude that the tornado was sent as a judgment of God? What do we say if the tornado hits the church and misses the bar? That God wanted us to build a larger church? The tensions in the Bible keep us from drawing what seem to be the 'obvious' conclusions” (Between Two Truths, p.143).

A tragedy in our life can occur for many different reasons. It could happen because of a sin or bad choice on our part. It could happen because of someone else's sin. It could happen because of negligence on our part or that of someone else. It could happen because of time and chance (Ecclesiastes 9:11) such as being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

God will often allow christians to suffer pain and poverty to help teach them lessons such as humility and patience (1 Peter 1:6-7). Some of God's servants were quite wealthy like Abraham and Solomon. Others were quite poor yet no less righteous.

The writer of Psalm 73 saw wicked men who were quite rich and seemed to have a good life and he had a hard time trying to understand why. “I was envious of the boastful, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked…When I thought how to understand this, it was too painful for me—until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I understood their end” (Psalm 73:3, 16-17) It was only when he realized that they would be judged by God for their actions that he realized he was much better off than they were.

Wealth can lead to people caring little for God and all sorts of other problems. “Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition” (1 Timothy 6:9).

“The Bible does not allow us to view prosperity simply as either a right of Christians or a reward from God. Neither does it allow us to view tragedy as simply something from which Christians are promised deliverance, or as a judgment of God” (Between Two Truths, p.149).

Trials bring out both the best and worst in people. When we are put under the pressure of trials it tests just how good our character really is. Will we put the needs of others ahead of our own or will we be selfish? Will we fly off the handle or will we calmly handle the situation in a godly way? The pressure of trials help our character and show God what we are made of.

God is described as “sit[ting] as a refiner and purifier of silver” in Malachi 3:2-3. To be made pure gold and silver have to be heated by fire to melting point and then the impurities can be separated from the gold and silver. In the same way trials heat us up and allow God to us and remove the impurities of bad habits from our character as we learn lessons from them.

A silversmith has to constantly pay attention and monitor the temperature of the furnace so it doesn't get too hot and spoil the product. God won't give us more than we are able to bear (1 Corinthians 10:13) and He is intimately aware of what we are going through when we go through trials. How does a silversmith know when the product is ready? When he can see his own image reflecting in it. God wants to see His character in us reflecting back at Him.

We also need to remember that He has perfect timing when He intervenes for us. Our prayers can sometimes be hindered through our lack of obedience (1 Peter 3:7) and a lack of trust in Him to intervene (Matthew 13:58). At other times it just simply isn't the right time.

The apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 wrote: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ.”

In Colossians 1:24 he said: “I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ.” Christ went through an incredible amount of suffering and has become our High Priest who can sympathize with our weaknesses and the pain that we go through (Hebrews 4:15). Having said that, Christ hasn't personally suffered many of the problems that people go through in this world. He hasn't personally suffered from being an alcoholic or a drug addict or from sexual abuse or many other tragedies.

When we go through trials we fill up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ as we experience problems that He didn't personally go through. In the World Tomorrow and Great White Throne Judgment period there will be spirit-born members of the church who will be able to empathize and counsel people with all kinds of different problems that people go through because they'll have been through those kinds of trials themselves. Sometimes this is why God allows church members to suffer different kinds of tragedies so they can comfort and help those with similar problems in the future.

Sometimes terrible tragedies strike those of us in the church. Such trials will either strengthen or weaken our character. When we do go through trials we need to examine whether those trials and tragedies have strengthened or weakened our character in certain areas. If we find our character has been weakened by those trials (For example, if our capacity to give and reach out to others has been weakened) then we need to seek God's help in strengthening us in those areas.

Deep pain can also be beneficial from the point of view in that it can often lead to deeper repentance. The deeper the pain that people suffer as their life falls down around them, the more motivated they often are in making up for their mistakes. Take the apostle Peter, for example. He was deeply humbled and wept bitterly after he denied Christ three times (Luke 22:33-34, 54-62). The pain of that experience played a big part in ridding himself of the impatience that often got him into trouble. He became extremely motivated to make up for his mistakes and became a great pillar in the church.

Deep pain can also deepen our appreciation for God's way of life and life in general. There are the old sayings that you don't know what you've got until it's gone and you can't really appreciate life until you've been burned. When we have it so easy and are well off financially (say, compared to people in third world countries) we can take our blessings and friendships for granted. Anyone who comes close to losing their life almost always finds themself much more appreciative of life and their friends.

God does work in mysterious ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9) and He often doesn't give us any idea why He lets us suffer at times like Job. Sometimes God doesn't make sense but we must remember that He has a much greater perspective than we do. He may not let us in on why we are suffering, like in the case of Job, but He can see opportunities and dangers that we can't see.

God does love us all deeply as can be seen in the incredible sacrifice that Christ made. He doesn't cause suffering but when He allows suffering in our lives it is for a purpose. God is a fair God and He is a God of love and it is important that we trust in Him and believe in that, even when He doesn't seem to make sense at times.

6] What is salvation?

What does it mean to be saved? Webster's Dictionary defines salvation as “Preservation from destruction, failure or other evil.” When it comes to God's plan for mankind what destruction or evil are being saved from? Webster's Dictionary offers another definition for salvation. It says that salvation is “the saving of man from the spiritual consequences of sin; especially deliverance from sin and eternal damnation”.

This definition is an accurate one according to the Bible. If we are being saved from the consequences of sin then we need to find out what sin is. In 1 John 3:4 it says that “sin is the transgression of the law” (KJV). But what law?

In Romans 7:7 Paul wrote: "Why, had it not been for the Law, I would never have known what sin meant! For I had not known lust, except the Law had said, Thou shalt not covet" (Moffatt Version). God's law defines what sin is. It tells us what is right and wrong and tells us what will work and what won't work. This law says: "Thou shalt not covet." That law is the Ten Commandments. Sin, which is breaking God's law, is old word that means to miss the mark.

If sin is breaking God's law then what is the penalty for breaking that law. We find the answer in Romans 6:23 which says: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

All of us only have a brief temporary life. Unless we receive the gift of eternal life we will all die – the ultimate penalty for sin. Only God has immortality (1 Timothy 6:16). In Romans 3:23 we read that “ALL have sinned” and therefore all of us have earned the death penalty! How can we be freed from that death penalty and have a chance of eternal life?

Living a perfect life from now on won't free us from the death penalty just as a man convicted of committing murder last month does not erase his sentence by being law-abiding this month. All of our law keeping from here on cannot erase the penalty for our PAST law-breaking. So how can we be freed of that death penalty?

Paul tells us how in Romans 5:7-8: “For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Jesus Christ has paid that penalty on our behalf so we don't have to pay it. How can one person's death pay the penalty for all mankind? By the simple fact that it was Christ through who God created mankind. As our Creator His life was worth more than all of our lives put together.

Paul goes on to say: “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” (Romans 5:9-10).

A couple of words that he uses here which you may not understand that well are justified and reconciled. Justified means to make right or be found innocent. We talk about left or right justifying text in a document which means to make it line up right. We are justified by Christ's blood. We are made right or pronounced innocent because Christ paid the sentence of death for us.

We are reconciled to God through Christ's sacrifice. To reconcile two people means to bring them back together again in peace. Our sins have cut us off from God (Isaiah 59:2) but we can be brought back to God when that penalty is paid for us and we choose to accept what Christ has offered. Accepting this offer of Christ paying the penalty for us is part of what we mean we accept Christ as our personal Saviour.

Another old English word that comes up in the Bible is sanctification. What does it mean to be sanctified? The word sanctify means to be set apart by God. It has nothing to do with how good we are. It means God has set us apart from the rest of the world. The word saint comes from sanctify. It is a word that applies to all christians (Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:2, 2 Corinthians 1:1). It has nothing to do with how good a life we live. It simply means God has set a christian apart from the rest of the world through giving them the Holy Spirit.

Salvation is a process. We are “saved now” from past sins. We are “being saved” from the sins (bad habits) that have earned us the death penalty and then we shall be “fully saved” at the resurrection to immortality.

Because we continue to sin in this life we need to ask God to forgive us regularly so the new sins that we commit after baptism don't leave another death penalty hanging over us again. We are not fully and completely saved until the resurrection to immortality when our character is fully set and we will not sin ever again. Let's look at this three stage process of salvation.

In Ephesians 2:8 we read: “For by grace you have been saved [PAST TENSE] through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” The word grace simply means gift. This grace spoken of here is the gift of forgiveness made possible through Christ's sacrifice. This gift is made possible when we repent of our sins and those sins are washed away when we are baptized.

Repentance simply means to turn around and go in the opposite direction. To repent means to turn from the direction of sin (the GET way of life) and start obeying God and live by His laws. We may stumble as we strive to walk God's way but we are trying our best to live by ALL of God's way of life.

Ephesians 2:8 plainly says that salvation is a gift from God. We cannot earn it by anything that we do. The offer of God's Holy Spirit is available to everyone but there are conditions which we have to meet before he gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit. We have to repent and be baptized.

In Acts 2:38-39 we read: “Peter said to them, 'Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call'”.

Salvation is and will always be a gift which we can NEVER earn but if we never fulfil the conditions of repentance and baptism (Acts 2:38-39) He'll NEVER give it to us. Repentance is an ongoing condition to retain the Holy Spirit within us (Psalm 51:11). In his booklet “Just What Do You Mean…Conversion?” Herbert W. Armstrong writes:

“There is a sense in which true conversion does take place at a definite time -- all at once. But it is also true that in another sense conversion is worked out gradually -- a process of development and growth. Now NOTICE carefully!

“WHEN does one really become a Christian? It is when he receives God's Holy Spirit. In Romans 8:9 we read that unless we have the Holy Spirit, we are not Christ's -- not Christians. There is a definite TIME when God's Spirit enters into one. At the very moment he receives the Holy Spirit, he is, in this first sense, converted. Yes, all at once! If he has Christ's Spirit, he is CHRIST'S -- he is a Christian! The very Life of God has entered into (impregnated) him. He has been begotten as a child of God. But does that mean his salvation is complete? Is he now fully and finally 'saved'? Is that all there is to it? Is he now, suddenly, perfect? Is it now impossible for him to do WRONG? No! FAR FROM IT!” (p.2).

In 1 Corinthians 1:18 we read: “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved [PRESENT TENSE] it is the power of God.” Because we continue to sin in this life we need to ask God to forgive us regularly so the new sins that we commit after baptism don't leave another death penalty hanging over us again.

God is reproducing Himself through us and wants us to become a part of His family. God knows that if He wants to have a harmonious family He would have to have givers, not getters. He doesn't want anyone in his family who are rebellious like Satan. He needs to be sure that we will always follow Him for the rest of eternity. God wants to builds His character in all of us so we can join His family. Remember that God can't build His character in us instantly. It takes time and must be DEVELOPED by the CHOICE of the one in whom it comes to exist.

“Perfect, holy and righteous character is the ability in such separate entity to come to discern the true and right way from the false, to make voluntarily a full and unconditional surrender to God and his perfect way -- to yield to be conquered by God -- to determine even against temptation or self-desire, to live and to do the right. And even then such holy character is the gift of God. It comes by yielding to God to instill HIS LAW (God's right way of life) within the entity who so decides and wills” (Mystery of the Ages, p.58).

In Revelation 3:21 Christ says to the Laodiceans: "To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with me on my throne, as I also overcame." We have to be overcomers and overcome just as Christ did.

What does it mean to overcome?

1) Overcome the world or society's temptations to sin - "For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world; our faith" (1 John 5:4).

2) Overcome Satan's pulls - "I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one. (1 John 2:13).

3) Overcome evil / sin - “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:21).

Overcome does not mean to be TOTALLY PERFECT in this life. We are only humans and we can never obtain absolute perfection in this life. The majority of the time (maybe 80/90/95%) of the time we can live good, just lives. It's the other 5/10/20% that is 100 times more difficult, yea, near impossible the closer we get to 100%, so from that perspective there is a lot in this life that we can accomplish in terms of developing character as we allow God to build His character in us.

In his booklet “Just What Do You Mean…Conversion?” Herbert W. Armstrong writes:

“But if, while walking down this lighted path with God, one stumbles and falls down, does God kick him aside? [1 John 1:9]: 'If we [we who are Christians -- it is not talking about the unconverted] confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.' So notice the 'IF.' 'If we confess our sins.' When we stumble, we must admit it -- we must repent of it -- we must ask forgiveness. If we deny it, or blame it on somebody else, we shall not be forgiven. We must confess it -- to God!” (p.10).

Those sins are washed clean and we again have a perfect record in God's eyes even if we have a hard time forgiving and forgetting ourselves. If we fail to confess our sins, if we persist with our sins (Hebrews 10:26) that record stays until such a time that we repent. Romans 5:10 says that “we shall by saved by His life”. “Christ's death removes your past guilt - but it requires a living Saviour, the life of Christ as a daily High Priest at the right hand of God the Father, to forgive you on a daily basis” (How to Get Rid of Guilt, p.31).

In Romans 8:11 we read: “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” As long as we have God's Holy Spirit when Christ returns or at death if we die beforehand then God will resurrect us to immortality at Christ's return.

If we continue to regularly strive to overcome sin and confess our sins when we stumble we will continue to have the Holy Spirit. We can lose the Holy Spirit by deliberately turning from God's way of life or from neglecting to live God's way.

“It is only the one who QUITS and GIVES UP (Hebrews 10:38) -- who REJECTS God, and God's WAY, and rejects Christ as his Saviour -- who neglects or turns FROM this direction of GOD'S WAY, in his mind and heart (in his inner INTENT) who deliberately and intentionally in his mind -- or, from continued neglect -- TURNS FROM Christ -- who is lost.”

In Matthew 24:13 we read that “he who endures to the end shall be saved [FUTURE TENSE]" (see also Matthew 10:22 & Romans 5:9).

We shall be finally and completely saved at the resurrection to immortality. Our character will be fully set for eternity. In a prophecy about the future in Hebrews 12:22-23 we read: “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect”.

Through a divine miracle which we may never fully comprehend, God will be able to set our character at the resurrection so we can never sin again. The apostle John wrote in 1 John 3:9 that “Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.” At the resurrection we will have God's perfect, holy and righteous character for the rest of eternity if we continue to live God's way and have God's spirit within us at Christ's second coming.

In his booklet “Just What Do You Mean…Conversion?” Herbert W. Armstrong writes:

“But, someone may ask, what if one's life is cut off, and he dies before he has attained this perfection? Is he saved, or lost? The answer is that we shall never obtain absolute perfection in this life. “I said, earlier, that a person who is converted does receive the Holy Spirit at a definite time -- all at once! Not the full measure Christ had -- he is not at once full grown spiritually -- only a spiritual babe in Christ. Yet he is then a changed, converted person -- changed in mind, in attitude, in the direction he has set himself to travel.

“Even though he has not yet reached perfection -- even though he may have stumbled under temptation, and taken a spiritual fall -- as long as, in his mind and heart, he is earnestly striving to travel GOD'S WAY, to overcome and grow spiritually -- as long as God's Spirit is in him -- as long as he is being LED BY the Spirit of God, he is a begotten SON OF GOD. If, anywhere along this life's journey, that life is cut short, such a man will be resurrected -- saved -- immortal in God's Kingdom” (Just What Do You Mean…Conversion?, p.15-16).

7] How can God change us from matter to spirit beings?

How God will bridge the gap between man and God and transform us from beings made of matter to spirit beings at the resurrection? Herbert W. Armstrong explains this in his book “The Incredible Human Potential”:

“Matter is NOT Spirit -- cannot be converted into Spirit. HOW, then, can God change mortal material MAN into immortal, Spirit-composed GOD?…To make it possible to bridge the gap -- or to make the transition of MANKIND, composed wholly of MATTER, into SPIRIT beings in God's Kingdom, then to be composed wholly of Spirit, and at the same time to give MAN a MIND like God's -- God put a spirit in each human.

“In Job 32:8 we read, 'There is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding'…It is NOT a spirit person or being. It is not the MAN, but spirit essence IN the man. It is NOT a soul -- the physical human is a soul… It is that nonphysical component in the human brain that does not exist in the brain of animals…The SPIRIT in man RECORDS what the brain comes to know, even the attitude, the facets of CHARACTER, not only of the human brain, but also of the whole body. It keeps the imprint even of the fingerprints…

“Compare it to a sculptor's . The sculptor may want to produce a bronze statue of a man. The sculptor might use clay to form a clay model -- or plaster of paris. Then the sculptor makes a of the model he has formed and shaped. The is a hollow form, made from the finished model. Into the is poured molten liquid bronze which then solidifies. The is removed, and the bronze figure is an EXACT copy of the original model.

“The spirit that is in every human acts as a . It PRESERVES the human's MEMORY, his CHARACTER, his FORM AND SHAPE. Now I do not conceive, naturally, that the spirit is a hollow form. But it supplies the same purpose as the sculptor's .

“If one has received the Holy Spirit, then in the resurrection, God will provide a SPIRIT BODY, formed and shaped by the Spirit moud. The resurrected being will be COMPOSED of SPIRIT, not matter as the human model was. In the resurrected SPIRIT form he will suddenly come ALIVE. It will seem like the next flash of a second from his loss of consciousness at time of death. He will have all his memory intact. He will look as he did in human life in form and shape…

“The CHARACTER which he allowed God to build within him will be there. He will be alive FOREVER! And, like God the Father, by his own will, he will have been made so that he CANNOT sin (1 John 3:9). The body that comes in the resurrection is not the same body that was flesh and blood in this human lifetime. God does not turn flesh and blood matter INTO Spirit. The flesh and blood physical body, after death, decomposes and decays, but the spirit that was IN that body, like the sculptor's , preserves all the form and shape, the memory, and the character INTACT. And that , being spirit does not change -- even though the resurrection may take place thousands of years after death” (p.71-72, 86-87).

What will it be like to in the first resurrection and be a God being? When changed into spirit, will we have the amazing ability to suddenly appear out of nowhere and even pass through solid objects? In John 20:19-26 Jesus, with His spirit body, suddenly appeared to the disciples after they had shut the doors of the room they were in. In Luke 24:38-43 we read how Jesus was able to transform himself into flesh and bone when he wanted to and He even ate with the disciples after His resurrection.

Just after His resurrection, Christ would not let anyone touch Him because He had not yet ascended to His Father's throne in heaven (John 20:17) but later that day Christ allowed His disciples to touch Him (Matthew 28:9). This shows that He had travelled to heaven and returned to earth on the same day! Our spirit bodies be capable of travelling through space at incredible speeds much faster than light.

Can you imagine what the first resurrection will be like when we will be beamed up to meet Christ in the clouds? All of a sudden we will have ALL of the emotions, the sensory powers, the knowledge and the very power of God! Imagine never getting sick, never getting tired, being full of power, energy, intelligence and able to travel across the galaxy in seconds.

8] What does it mean to be born again?

We have seen that God is a family and that He wants to expand that family. Let's now look at how we can be begotten and born into that family. What does it really mean to be born again!

In Romans 1:20 we read: “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made.” God has patterned many things He has created in the physical world after things in the spirit world. Some of our animals are patterned after the appearance of certain features of the angels. The tabernacle that God told Israel to make and the Ark of the Covenant were also patterned after the pattern seen at God's throne in heaven (Revelation 11:19). Likewise, the way in which a baby is born is patterned after how God plans to reproduce Himself through mankind.

By understanding how a baby is born we can better understand how God plans to reproduce Himself through us human beings. All human life comes from a tiny egg called an ovum which is produced inside a human mother. This ovum has a very limited life of about 24 hours unless it is fertilized by a sperm cell from a male. Compared to eternity, our human life, of an average of 70 years, is very limited indeed (1 Peter 1:24). Once the tiny sperm cell combines with the ovum the genes from both the mother and father join and create a new life! A human being has been conceived but it is not yet a born human being. It still has a long way to go before that momentous day. Human life has merely been begotten, not born.

The apostle Paul shows how receiving God's spirit at baptism is just like a sperm and an egg joining together when a new life is begotten. In Romans 8:15-17 he wrote: “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father'. The Spirit [itself] bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together”.

God has put a spirit component in our brains called the spirit in man (1 Corinthians 2:11) which gives us emotional self-awareness and a mind that animals do not have. The spirit in man in each of us is like the ovum and God's spirit is like the sperm from the father (1 Peter 1:23). At baptism the two unite to form a newly begotten spiritual life. A new God being has been begotten but he or she still has a long way to go before he or she is born into God's family. God's divine spiritual nature (2 Peter 1:4) has been imparted to the newly converted person after they have been baptized and received God's spirit through the laying on of hands. God's nature, given as we develop the fruits of God's spirit, is like the genes that come from the father. God the Father then becomes a real father to us every bit as much as our own human father is in this very real process of spiritual reproduction if we choose to be baptized!

We won't be born until later but the moment we receive God's spirit we truly become a child of God (1 John 3:1). The same is true of a baby in its mother's womb. It may not yet be born but it is a child of its parents already. To take away that life through abortion as many do is just as wrong in God's eyes as it would be to kill a baby after it's already born!

A human life begins with a fertilized egg no bigger than a pin point. During a period called gestation which normally lasts for nine months it will grow thousands of times bigger. As it grows, the physical organs and characteristics gradually are formed. A heart forms and begins to beat. Other internal organs begin to form, then the head, legs and arms. Finally hair begins to grow on the head and facial features take shape. During this time it must be nourished and protected by its mother as it grows in the womb.

Just as the human sperm cell is the very smallest of all human cells, newly begotten christians start out with a very small measure of God's Holy Spirit and character. In the parable of the sower Christ explained that he who received seed on the good ground “bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty” (Matthew 13:23). As we grow in God's character the measure of God's spirit grows in us many times over. Just as a human embryo develops all the different organs and features of a baby, so too, we must grow (2 Peter 3:18) and develop the fruits of God's spirit which are “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness [and] self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).

Like an embryo in its mother's womb is nourished, we must be nourished by spiritual food. Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). The church acts as our mother providing that spiritual food through the messages that we receive through the ministry.

The apostle Paul wrote the following about how the church acts like our mother: “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-15). The church helps protect us from being tossed to and fro by false doctrines just as a mother protects her child in her womb. [Please note that the church being like a mother is a completely separate analogy to other places where we are told that the church is like a virgin who will marry Christ at His second coming.]

Not all babies make it to that moment of being born into the world. Sometimes a woman has a miscarriage when a baby doesn't develop properly. Likewise, we can be a spiritual miscarriage if we don't grow in God's character after we have received God's spirit. Those who have received God's spirit through baptism and the laying on of hands can lose out if they turn their back on God's calling through deliberate choice or by neglect. Paul encourages those who have received God's spirit not to “neglect so great a salvation” in Hebrews 2:3. Paul was aware that he could lose out and become a spiritual miscarriage. He said, “I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:27).

After a period of nine months on average comes the big day when the baby is finally born. At the resurrection those who have God's spirit will be transformed and be born into God's family on the same God level of existence as God the Father and Jesus Christ.

The apostle Paul puts its this way: “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body” (Philippians 3:20-21). In Romans 8:19-23 Paul wrote that the creation groans and travails in pain like a mother in labour as we look forward to being delivered from this world and our mortality and receive our glorious new bodies.

1 Corinthians 15 is often called the resurrection chapter. Paul explains the resurrection in that chapter this way: “Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming…

“The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body…Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:20-23, 42-44, 50-53).

Many people in the Protestant churches teach that we are born again when we accept Christ as our Saviour. Are we born again in this life at baptism or are we born again at the resurrection?

When Nicodemus came to Jesus He said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water [baptism] and the Spirit [at the resurrection], he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh IS flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit IS SPIRIT” (John 3:5-6). He isn't just a spiritual person who's living a good life. If one is born of the spirit HE IS SPIRIT! Christ went on to explain it further:

“Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:7-8). Notice that the person, NOT the effects of his conversion is compared to the wind. A spirit being in God's family is powerful and invisible just like the wind but much more powerful.”

Colossians 1:18 (and also Revelation 1:5) says that Christ is the "firstborn FROM THE DEAD". We are born of God when we are raised from the dead (or changed) at the resurrection. Paul wrote that “we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose…to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:28-29). Christ through His life and His resurrection from the dead became the pioneer of how God is reproducing Himself. Jesus is our elder brother to those who are in the church and He is the firstborn among many brethren in this wonderful process of spiritual reproduction.

There is a little bit of confusion on this subject because of the Greek word used by Christ when He said we are to be born again. The Greek word is “gennao”. Gennao is an all-inclusive term describing the whole process from conception to birth. A good example of another all-inclusive term to illustrate this kind of word can be found in the German language. The German language uses the same word for an heir as it does for an inheritor. It describes any or all parts of the inheritance process.

The Greek-English dictionary defines gennao this way: "to procreate (properly of the father, but by extension of the mother); BEGET, be born, bring forth, CONCEIVE, be delivered of, gender." Strong's Concordance defines gennao this way: "to procreate (prop. of the father, but by extens. of the mother); fig. to regenerate: - bear, BEGET, be born, bring forth, CONCEIVE."

There are a few places in the New Testament where the word gennao is mistranslated referring to christians as already “born again” (1 Peter 1:23) and “born of God” (1 John 3:9, 4:7, 5:1, 4). By understanding what the rest of the New Testament says about this subject and the double meaning of the word gennao we can see that gennao in those verses should be translated as “begotten” rather than “born”.

9] Can man really become God?

The apostle Paul in the first two chapters of the book of Hebrews goes into some detail explaining our ultimate human potential. Let's look at some highlights of these exciting couple of chapters. He starts off the book of Hebrews by describing the contrast between Jesus Christ and the angels:

“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds…

“For to which of the angels did He ever say: 'You are My Son, today I have begotten You'? And again: 'I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son'? But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: 'Let all the angels of God worship Him'…To which of the angels has He ever said: 'Sit at My right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool'? Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?” (Hebrews 1:1-2, 5-6, 13-14).

The angels are called “sons of God” in Job 1:6 and Job 38:7 but this is only in the sense that they were creations of God. Paul here is saying that the angels are not begotten sons of God in the same way Jesus Christ is. The angels are sons of God only in a figurative sense - not real begotten and born sons of God like Jesus Christ is through the process of spiritual reproduction that we just looked at.

Paul highlights two important things that are different between Jesus and the angels – Jesus was appointed heir (and now inherits) all things (Hebrews 1:1) and Jesus was begotten and then born of God at the resurrection (Colossians 1:18). Paul then goes on to show that what makes Jesus different from the angels are the same two things that will make us human beings different from the angels at the resurrection. We will also be begotten and then born sons of God just like Jesus Christ and we also will inherit all things. Paul goes on to say the following in the next chapter:

“For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels. But one testified in a certain place [David in Psalm 8], saying: 'What is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You take care of him? You have made him a little lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, and set him over the works of Your hands. You have put ALL THINGS in subjection under his feet.' For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left NOTHING that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him” (Hebrews 2:5-8).

Herbert W. Armstrong in Mystery of the Ages explains these verses this way: “Is it possible God could mean what He says ('all things')? Nothing excluded? In the first chapter, the Moffatt translation of the Bible renders the Greek word translated 'all things' as 'the universe.' In other words, for those willing to believe what God says, He says that He has decreed the entire universe -- with all its galaxies, its countless suns and planets -- everything -- will be put under man's subjection.

“But wait a moment! Before you disbelieve, read the next words in the same eighth verse: 'But now we see not yet all things [the endless universe] put under him [man].' Remember (verse 5), this is speaking of the 'world to come' -- not today's world. But what do we see now, today? 'But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels [or, 'for a little while lower'] for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour.'

“Man, other than Christ, is NOT YET 'crowned with glory and honour.' But see how Christ is already crowned with glory and honor. Continue: 'For it became him, for whom are all things [the entire universe] and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings...for which cause he [Christ] is not ashamed to call them brethren' (verses 10-11).

“In other words, Christians having God's Spirit are joint-heirs with Christ to INHERIT all that Christ already has inherited. He is now in glory! He has already inherited the entire universe. He sustains it by His power. Man, if he is converted, having God's Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9), is now only an HEIR -- not yet a possessor” (p.292-293).

In Hebrews 2:11 he says that “he [Christ] is not ashamed to call them [christians] brethren”. Jesus Christ is our older brother and God the Father becomes our real father when we are baptized into God's church. At the resurrection we will be born sons of God in the same way Jesus that is and then we will inherit all things – THE UNIVERSE!

The terms begotten and born of God which are never applied to angels but are to those in the church show that God really is reproducing Himself through us to one day be literal, not adopted or figurative sons of God! Just as there are differences of talent and authority in human families, so too, are there such differences in the family of God. God the Father is both the head of the family and the giver of all the talents and powers that we will share.

In 1 Corinthians 6:2-3 Paul wrote: “Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Do you not know that we shall judge angels?” Now if we won't become God beings in the future what's so special about us that would give us the right to rule over or manage angels in the World Tomorrow?

At the resurrection we will be on a level above the angels even though they have been around a lot longer than us “lowly” human beings and they are a lot more powerful at this time. This situation provides a wonderful opportunity for the angels to develop humility and a willingness to serve God in this phase of God's great plan.

“To illustrate the primary activity of God's angels today, we might consider the status of the young son of a wealthy man. While still a child, he may be under the care of an adult servant or guardian designated by his father. The servant is older, farther advanced in knowledge, much more developed physically and mentally—but far lower potentially. For when the son is mature, he will inherit his father's wealth and power. Therefore the servant, older and more mature, is only a servant 'ministering' to the young 'heir.' Likewise, angels are ministering to spirit-begotten humans today” (Ambassador College Bible Correspondence Course – Lesson 14, p.13).

The first commandment in Exodus 20:3 tells us that no other being or kind of being can be worshipped except for God. In Revelation 22:8-9 we see that we are not supposed to worship angels: "Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel...Then he said to me, See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets and of them which keep the words of this book. Worship God."

God ONLY can be worshipped. Now the Greek word that is used here for worship is "proskuneo". John was FORBIDDEN to "proskuneo" the angel. In the same book in Revelation 3:9 Christ says the following to the Philadelphia church: "I will make them [false christians] come and WORSHIP before your feet and know that I have loved you." The Greek word used in Revelation 3:9 is EXACTLY THE SAME GREEK WORD, "PROSKUNEO" that is used in Revelation 22:8-9 - the worship which could only be directed to God and not to angels.

In Micah 4:4 we read a beautiful verse about the millennium which says: “But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. For all people walk each in the name of his god, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever.” As well as serving the Father and Jesus Christ, people in the millennium will walk in the name [or follow the authority] of their regional gods – you and me if we make it into God's kingdom.

10] What will we be doing for eternity when we are born into God's family?

Mainstream Christianity would have us believe that when we die we go to heaven for all eternity playing harps or whatever, yet the Bible tells us that what God has planned for us for the rest of eternity is far more exciting! Paul describes our incredible future in these words in Romans 8:18-23:

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation [the universe] waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation [the universe] itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (NIV).

The universe is currently in a state of decay. It is running down and is eagerly awaiting our birth into God's family so it can be set free from that decay. Once we are finished fixing up planet Earth, the whole universe with its billions and billions of stars and planets awaits us. God is in the creating business and we will join the family business of creating and beautifying the entire universe for all eternity with God the Father and Jesus Christ.

“These scriptures indicate we shall impart life to billions and billions of dead planets, as life has been imparted to this earth. We shall create, as God directs and instructs…It will be an eternal life of accomplishment, constantly looking forward in…joyous anticipation to new creative projects, and still looking back also on accomplishments with happiness and joy over what shall have been already accomplished…With God's great master plan of seven thousand years finally completed -- the mystery of the ages finally revealed, and with the re-creating of the vast universe and eternity lying ahead, we come finally to THE BEGINNING” (Mystery of the Ages, p.296-297).

This incredible potential is being offered by God to you and me if we choose to live by His way of life, develop godly character and endure to the end! God is reproducing Himself through us and He wants to share His wonderful God level of existence with each and every of us! That is our incredible human potential!