When you look at the scene on
this tract, what feelings do you have? Does not your heart yearn for the peace,
happiness, and prosperity seen there? Surely it does. But is it just a dream,
or fantasy, to believe that these conditions will ever exist on earth?
Most people probably think so.
Today’s realities are war, crime, hunger, sickness, aging—to mention just a
few. Yet there is reason for hope. The Hebrew Scriptures foretell that God will
create a “new heavens and a new earth” and that “the former things will not be
called to mind, neither will they come up into the heart.”—Isaiah 65:17.
These “new heavens” and “new
earth,” according to the Scriptures, are not a new material heavens or new
literal earth. The physical earth and heavens were made perfect, and the
Scriptures show they will remain forever. (Psalm 89:36, 37; 104:5) The “new earth” will be a righteous
society of people living on earth, and the “new heavens” will be a perfect
heavenly kingdom, or government, that will rule over this earthly society of
people. But is it realistic to believe that “a new earth,” or glorious new
world, is possible?
Well, consider the fact that
such ideal conditions were part of God’s original purpose for this earth. He
placed the first human couple in the earthly Paradise of Eden and gave them a
marvelous assignment: “Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth and
subdue it.” (Genesis 1:28) Yes, God’s purpose was for
them to have children and eventually to spread their Paradise over all the
earth. Although they later chose to disobey God, thus proving to be unfit to
live forever, God’s original purpose did not change. And it must be fulfilled
in a new world!—Isaiah 55:11.
In fact, it is
the Messiah, promised in the Hebrew Scriptures, who will serve as a divinely
appointed king and rule over this new world. (Psalm 2:2, 6-9; Daniel 7:13, 14)
The Messiah will rid the earth of all wickedness, and then the psalm will be
fulfilled: “The righteous themselves will possess the earth, and they will
reside forever upon it.”—Psalm 37:29.
Life in God’s
New World
The Messiah’s rule will bring earthly
benefits beyond compare, accomplishing everything good that God originally
purposed for his people to enjoy on earth. Hatreds and prejudices will cease to
exist, and eventually everyone on earth will be a true friend of everyone else.
In the Scriptures, God promises that he will ‘make wars to cease to the
extremity of the earth.’ “Nation will not lift up sword against nation, neither
will they learn war anymore.”—Psalm 46:9; Isaiah 2:4.
The whole earth will eventually be brought
to a gardenlike paradise state. The Scriptures say: “The wilderness and the
waterless region will exult, and the desert plain will be joyful and blossom as
the saffron.…For in the wilderness waters will have burst out, and torrents in
the desert plain. And the heat-parched ground will have become as a reedy pool,
and the thirsty ground as springs of water.”—Isaiah 35:1, 6, 7.
There will be every reason to be happy
in the Paradise earth. Never again will people feel hunger because of lack of
food. “The earth itself will certainly give its produce,” the Scriptures say. (Psalm 67:6; 72:16) All will enjoy
the fruits of their own labor, as our Creator promises: “They will certainly
plant vineyards and eat their fruitage.…They will not plant and someone else do
the eating.”—Isaiah 65:21, 22.
In God’s new world, no longer will
people be crammed into huge apartment buildings or run-down slums, for God has
purposed: “They will certainly build houses and have occupancy…They will not build
and someone else have occupancy.” The Scriptures also promise: “They will not
toil for nothing.”—Isaiah 65:21-23.
In time, God’s Kingdom will even
restore the peaceful relations that existed in the garden of Eden between
animals, and between animals and humans. The Scriptures say: “The wolf will
actually reside for a while with the male lamb, and with the kid the leopard
itself will lie down, and the calf and the maned young lion and the well-fed
animal all together; and a mere little boy will be leader over them.”—Isaiah 11:6-9; Hosea 2:18.
Just imagine, in the Paradise earth,
all sicknesses and physical infirmities will also be healed! God’s Word assures
us: “No resident will say: ‘I am sick.’” (Isaiah 33:24) God’s
Word also promises: “He [God] will actually swallow up death forever.”—Isaiah 25:8.
How It Is
Possible for You
This is certainly a wonderful hope, and
it is not too good to be true because God always fulfills his promises. (Isaiah 46:9, 10)
Of course, there are requirements to be met if we are to live forever in this
coming Paradise on earth. What are they?
These requirements can be found, in
part, in the Tanakh and are emphasized in the Christian Greek
Scriptures, which give specific details about the Messiah. These later
writings, known to most people as the “New Testament,” were written under the
same inspiration as was the Tanakh. The two writings together form the
Holy Scriptures, or the Bible. They contain the wonderful promise that God
“will wipe out every tear from [people’s] eyes, and death will be no more,
neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have
passed away.”—Revelation 21:4; see
also Hosea 13:14.
Jehovah’s Witnesses, the authors of
this tract, are no part of Christendom or Jewry. Rather, they accept these Holy
Scriptures as the only basis for accurate knowledge of God’s will. Jehovah’s
Witnesses are diligently working in all parts of the earth to help
people learn about Jehovah, the true God, so that they can live
forever in peace in his new world.—Micah 4:1-4.
Taken from tract issued by Watchtower Bible & Tract Society
LEARN MORE: www.jw.org
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