{"id":46671,"date":"2015-12-10T19:44:00","date_gmt":"2015-12-11T01:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=46671"},"modified":"2022-04-21T20:59:56","modified_gmt":"2022-04-22T01:59:56","slug":"was-gods-original-plan-to-have-humans-live-on-the-earth-forever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-gods-original-plan-to-have-humans-live-on-the-earth-forever\/","title":{"rendered":"Was God&#8217;s original plan to have humans live on the earth forever?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Question:<\/h2>\n<p>Thank you, sir, for using the word of God in answering questions. God bless you for that.<\/p>\n<p>Sir, I was studying the Bible with two Jehovah&#8217;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&#8217;s original plan for mankind. They gave an example: if Adam and Eve did not sin, God&#8217;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.<\/p>\n<p>I would be glad if you could use the Bible to clear this for me.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you.<\/p>\n\t<h2>Answer:<\/h2>\n<p>Since we are told: &#8220;<em>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<\/em>&#8221; (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&#8217;t scrambling for Plan B. He knew that men would sin and need a Savior before men existed. Thus, the Jehovah&#8217;s Witnesses&#8217; assertion is false. There never was a plan for man to live forever on the earth.<\/p>\n<p>Regarding the 144,000, see:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-are-the-144000\/\">Who are the 144,000?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/isnt-there-a-distinction-between-the-144000-and-the-great-multitude\/\">Isn&#8217;t there a distinction between the 144,000 and the great multitude?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Regarding reigning, see:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-christians-reign-2\/\">The Christian&#8217;s Reign<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; 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&#8217;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&#8217;s&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[699,355],"class_list":["post-46671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-eternal-life","tag-jehovahs-witnesses"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2482,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-new-world-translation-an-accurate-translation\/","url_meta":{"origin":46671,"position":0},"title":"Is the New World Translation an accurate translation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 8, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What do you think about The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures? Is it an accurate translation? Answer: The New World Translation is the product of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, the publishing arm of the Jehovah's Witnesses denomination. Though it claims to be a literal translation\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":46755,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-144000\/","url_meta":{"origin":46671,"position":1},"title":"The 144,000","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 20, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Revelation 14:1-5 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses teach that the kingdom of heaven will be established after the \u201cend times\u201d with 144,000 faithful saints chosen by God to becomes spirits and to rule with Christ for the millennium. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0These rulers, they say, will govern the earth\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Audio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":86957,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-to-study-with-jehovahs-witnesses-or-mormons-but-not-join-these-religions\/","url_meta":{"origin":46671,"position":2},"title":"Is it wrong to study with Jehovah&#8217;s Witnesses or Mormons but not join these religions?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 4, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Will God forgive someone if they did bible studies with Jehovah's Witnesses or Mormons but didn't join these religions? Answer: Why would God be against someone rejecting teachings that are contrary to God's teachings? \"I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":89510,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/heaven-on-earth-no\/","url_meta":{"origin":46671,"position":3},"title":"Heaven on Earth? No!","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 18, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Garland M. Robinson Where will the redeemed be in eternity when this life is over? The Bible teaches they will go to be with the Lord in heaven (John 14:1-3). Yet, some are saying the heaven we've always hoped for does not exist -that it's not going to be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":67984,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jesus-the-king-of-kings\/","url_meta":{"origin":46671,"position":4},"title":"Jesus, the King of Kings","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 9, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer The scriptural concept of kingship starts in Genesis 1. God is the sovereign Creator who made male and female in His image and gave them dominion over the creation (Genesis 1:26-29). The idea is that humanity rules with God according to His will. In the garden, we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":63794,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/will-the-earth-remain\/","url_meta":{"origin":46671,"position":5},"title":"Will the Earth Remain?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 2, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Psalm 37:1-22 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I believe that all here understand that the earth was never created to be a permanent home to mankind \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In contrast to Jesus\u2019 words, the earth and its heaven will cease - Mark 13:31 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0God is eternal, but the world He made\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sermon&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46671\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}