Post by Cindy on Oct 20, 2016 10:03:29 GMT -5
The Bible isn't about the earth, it's about God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I believe we will always have the Bible, for Jesus said: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” (Matthew 24:35) When heaven and earth pass away,is when the new heavens and earth are made for us to live in eternally with God. Therefore we will always have His Word. We are told over and over that Jesus is the Word, He is Truth, the Way, Life and Light, etc. We're also told that it is His Word that makes us wise, gives us understanding and teaches us everything we need to live a life worthy of Him. We will always need wisdom and understanding, and we will always need to live our lives according to His Word, even in Heaven (which will be the new earth!). The big difference will be that we won't have a sin nature anymore and Satan will no longer be around to bother anyone, which also means that there will be no world system to beware of either. However, just because we will no longer sin, doesn't mean that we won't want to know God's Word and study it. In fact, since we won't have a sin nature and all that, it means the opposite - that we will greatly desire to be in His word as much as we can.
Jesus is the Living Word and we will be with the Living Word, but our bibles are also the Living Word which is eternal. There's no reason to think that we won't have our bibles. For one thing, we know we will have them during the Millennial Kingdom time, even though our Home will be in New Jerusalem (Heaven). There will be lots of people on the earth during that time and they will still need God's Word. It's very possible that some of us will be given jobs on earth and that may include teaching His Word. Although evangelism and all that goes with it, will be Israel's main job during the Millennium, that doesn't mean that the Lord can't or won't use some of us for that too. After all, He promised that we would also rule with Him then.
No, I don't believe we'll suddenly know all that's in His Word, or suddenly know "everything" like so many think. This is usually from misunderstanding these scriptures: “For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.” (1 Corinthians 13:9–10) Notice that when perfection comes, only the imperfect disappears - the Bible is God's Word and is perfect, so it will remain. Then it says: “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” (1 Corinthians 13:12) This is talking about how we will have full understanding of "love" and will love perfectly, not that we will know everything or know the bible perfectly. Perfect love will cause perfect obedience, and as we will no longer have a sin nature, we will finally have perfect love for God and each other, which brings about the perfect fulfillment of the law too. Remember the 8 verses before this one were all about love. “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 7:12) “The commandments, “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”” (Romans 13:9) Also see 1 James 2:8, 1 John 4:7-11, and 1 John 4:19-21.
Our minds will certainly be much better and sharper and able to hold much more, but we will still have to use them. If you think about it, it wouldn't be fair if God just dumped the knowledge of His Word into everyone's mind when they got to Heaven. Those of us who have spent many hours studying His Word, and have done our best to apply it to our lives, would then be no different from those who had ignored God's command to study His Word and didn't know any of it when they died, or those who only had a little knowledge of it. I know many people like to think that everyone will be "equal" in Heaven, like some sort of communism, but that's simply not what the bible says. God's Word teaches us that God will reward those who have obeyed Him and will take away rewards from those who did not. They will still be saved, still be in Heaven (obviously) but they won't get the rewards they could have had if they'd obeyed Him. (nor is it just obedience - it has to to with our heart attitude when we do works for the Lord and obey Him.) We receive our rewards at the Bema Judgement, which is also called the Judgement Seat of Christ. We are not judged for our sins, those were taken care of at the cross. We're judged for what we've done since we've been saved. That's what Paul's talking about when he says: “If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.” (1 Corinthians 3:12–15) It's why John, Paul, and Peter all tell us to be careful so that we won't be ashamed when we see the Lord, and is part of what Jesus is talking about when He tells us to build up treasure for ourselves in Heaven that will last for eternity. There are lots of scriptures about this that show that some will have a great amount of treasure and rewards, and some won't have much or any at all, but will still be saved. God certainly doesn't have to reward us for doing what we should do, obeying Him, but amazingly, He does! Anyway, this among other things shows that we won't all suddenly know it all.
Like McGee, though I'm no where near as good as he is, I can't wait to get to heaven so I'll be able to study His Word even better (maybe even getting to hear our Lord teach!) and hopefully, I'll get to teach it during the Millennial Kingdom as well, if not in Heaven too!
Jesus is the Living Word and we will be with the Living Word, but our bibles are also the Living Word which is eternal. There's no reason to think that we won't have our bibles. For one thing, we know we will have them during the Millennial Kingdom time, even though our Home will be in New Jerusalem (Heaven). There will be lots of people on the earth during that time and they will still need God's Word. It's very possible that some of us will be given jobs on earth and that may include teaching His Word. Although evangelism and all that goes with it, will be Israel's main job during the Millennium, that doesn't mean that the Lord can't or won't use some of us for that too. After all, He promised that we would also rule with Him then.
No, I don't believe we'll suddenly know all that's in His Word, or suddenly know "everything" like so many think. This is usually from misunderstanding these scriptures: “For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.” (1 Corinthians 13:9–10) Notice that when perfection comes, only the imperfect disappears - the Bible is God's Word and is perfect, so it will remain. Then it says: “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” (1 Corinthians 13:12) This is talking about how we will have full understanding of "love" and will love perfectly, not that we will know everything or know the bible perfectly. Perfect love will cause perfect obedience, and as we will no longer have a sin nature, we will finally have perfect love for God and each other, which brings about the perfect fulfillment of the law too. Remember the 8 verses before this one were all about love. “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 7:12) “The commandments, “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”” (Romans 13:9) Also see 1 James 2:8, 1 John 4:7-11, and 1 John 4:19-21.
Our minds will certainly be much better and sharper and able to hold much more, but we will still have to use them. If you think about it, it wouldn't be fair if God just dumped the knowledge of His Word into everyone's mind when they got to Heaven. Those of us who have spent many hours studying His Word, and have done our best to apply it to our lives, would then be no different from those who had ignored God's command to study His Word and didn't know any of it when they died, or those who only had a little knowledge of it. I know many people like to think that everyone will be "equal" in Heaven, like some sort of communism, but that's simply not what the bible says. God's Word teaches us that God will reward those who have obeyed Him and will take away rewards from those who did not. They will still be saved, still be in Heaven (obviously) but they won't get the rewards they could have had if they'd obeyed Him. (nor is it just obedience - it has to to with our heart attitude when we do works for the Lord and obey Him.) We receive our rewards at the Bema Judgement, which is also called the Judgement Seat of Christ. We are not judged for our sins, those were taken care of at the cross. We're judged for what we've done since we've been saved. That's what Paul's talking about when he says: “If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.” (1 Corinthians 3:12–15) It's why John, Paul, and Peter all tell us to be careful so that we won't be ashamed when we see the Lord, and is part of what Jesus is talking about when He tells us to build up treasure for ourselves in Heaven that will last for eternity. There are lots of scriptures about this that show that some will have a great amount of treasure and rewards, and some won't have much or any at all, but will still be saved. God certainly doesn't have to reward us for doing what we should do, obeying Him, but amazingly, He does! Anyway, this among other things shows that we won't all suddenly know it all.
Like McGee, though I'm no where near as good as he is, I can't wait to get to heaven so I'll be able to study His Word even better (maybe even getting to hear our Lord teach!) and hopefully, I'll get to teach it during the Millennial Kingdom as well, if not in Heaven too!
!!
