Was God’s original plan to have humans live on the earth forever?
Question:
Thank you, sir, for using the word of God in answering questions. God bless you for that.
Sir, I was studying the Bible with two Jehovah's Witnesses members. I was told most of the righteous will be in the big crowd and enjoy paradise on earth. I was also told that was God's original plan for mankind. They gave an example: if Adam and Eve did not sin, God's original plan was for humans to live forever on the earth. They said that only the first fruits, the 144,000, will go to heaven and reign as kings and priests with Jesus. They also asked me this question: If I think all the righteous will go to heaven, then upon whom would they reign as kings? We cannot all be kings and priests without any subjects.
I would be glad if you could use the Bible to clear this for me.
Thank you.
Answer:
Since we are told: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will" (Ephesians 1:3-5), we can rightly conclude that God planned to save mankind through His Son before He even created the world. This means that when Adam and Eve, God wasn't scrambling for Plan B. He knew that men would sin and need a Savior before men existed. Thus, the Jehovah's Witnesses' assertion is false. There never was a plan for man to live forever on the earth.
Regarding the 144,000, see:
Regarding reigning, see: The Christian's Reign.
