JayJayDee
Avid JW Bible Student
That's funny! Because not one apostle or disciple preached it! So either the disciples preached in error or that was not the Gospel of the Kingdom. "JESUS" is the "GOOD NEWS" of the Kingdom.
PLEASE show me one verse where the disciples or apostles preached "PARADISE EARTH"
Since all of the first Christians were anointed, and taken into the "new covenant", the Christian scriptures were written by them and to them. This did not mean though, that the faithful ones of the OT did not have a hope. Yet Jesus clearly stated that one must be "born again" to gain entry into the kingdom. None of the pre-Christian servants of God had a "heavenly calling" like Paul wrote about. (Heb 3:1) None of them expressed the hope of going to heaven...in fact the Jewish disciples of Jesus believed that God's kingdom would be on earth. Even as Jesus was ascending to heaven, they believed that he was going to establish his kingdom in Israel at that time. (Acts 1:6) The outpouring of God's spirit at Pentecost cleared things up for them....but it did not reveal everything at once. Gradually the "sacred secret" unfolded.
As Pegg has said...there are two hopes...one is for anointed ones to join Christ as rulers in his heavenly kingdom and the other is for the righteous who are to live on earth forever. Remember that the paradise God planted was Just a small are, like a blueprint. They were told to "fill the earth and subdue it"...what did that directive mean? Paradise conditions were to be spread earth wide by their own hard work and creativity. Exercising God's qualities, it should have been a wonderful future ahead of them. Satan had other ideas, but God was always one step ahead of him. God's first purpose would remain the same, no matter what the devil did to derail it.
Consider this....all who go to heaven must leave their sinful flesh behind in order to be "born again" as spirit sons of God. This is so that they can exist in heaven. Flesh and blood cannot go there but are confined to the earth as they must depend on what the earth supplies in order to keep living. This is what it means to be mortal.
Since Jesus said they these ones will be "kings and priests" to rule with Christ, (Rev 20:6)....over whom will they rule? And for whom will they act as priests?
Those who go to heaven are made perfect...immortal and incorruptible. Priests need sinners for whom to perform their duties and kings do not rule over other kings. So over whom do these priests rule?
The apostle John tells us....
Revelation 21:1-5...."Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea no longer existed. I also saw the Holy City, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband. Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look! God’s dwelling is with humanity, and He will live with them.They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will no longer exist; grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer exist, because the previous things have passed away. Then the One seated on the throne said, “Look! I am making everything new.” He also said, “Write, because these words are faithful and true.” (NASB)
New Jerusalem is God's kingdom...the "bride of Christ" seen coming down from heaven to extend their rulership over the earth. "Humanity" will be the ones ruled and offered the services of these God-appointed priests.
As for the paradise.....it was a paradise on earth where God placed the first humans......God's purpose did not dissolve just because man sinned....paradise will be restored under the rule of the kingdom...just as at the beginning...there will be no death or pain or outcry in grief because God will have removed all causes of suffering. The former earth will pass away....not the literal planet, but the wicked system of things that has been operating and getting steadily worse since the rebellion in Eden. What is removed is wickedness and all who practise it. This s why Jesus could offer the evildoer alongside him a place in paradise. He will be among the "unrighteous" dead that Jesus will bring back to life in the earthly paradise. He was not taken into the new covenant and he did not prove his loyalty to Christ in his lifetime. But at the last moment he acknowledged Jesus as the Christ. Deathbed confessions do not earn people la place in heaven.
The good news of the kingdom is that the earth will go back to being what God first purposed for humankind! Even the dead will benefit when Jesus calls both the righteous and unrighteous ones out of their graves (John 5:28, 29) to start life again without the influence of wicked ones or satan to spoil their efforts.
John saw two groups in his Revelation, attributing salvation to God and the Lamb. One was a finite group seen in heaven with Jesus. These he said were "bought from the earth as firstfruits" and the other group was a large unnumbered crowd, who are also saved. (Rev 7:4, 9, 10, 13, 14; Rev 14:1-3) Those who share in the "first resurrection" are the "kings and priests" so these go to heaven first and then later, the resurrection of the dead can be carried out on earth. It's all there in the scriptures if you take off the "everyone's going to heaven" glasses.