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Everyone tends to judge and understand things based on their own experiences. Since they only know what they have experienced, their knowledge is so limited that many of them fail to believe in the prophecies of the Bible. People in the world would not believe or understand the prophecies of the resurrection and transfiguration and the glory that will be given to God’s people in the future, because they have not experienced it.
What they have experienced until now is not everything in the world. They should not blindly deny something that they have not experienced; they must accept and believe the true word of God instead of blindly denying it. I hope that our brothers and sisters in Zion will have faith and hope to overcome all trials, with the prophecies of the Bible as a signpost.
Hope for the invisible, eternal things
Once there was a heated dispute among some people over the place of sunrise and sunset. The fisherman defined that the sun rose from the east sea and set in the west sea. The hunter living in a mountain village refuted it by saying that the sun rose from the east valley and set in the west valley. The Eskimo insisted that the sun rose from the east plain beyond the icebergs and set in the west plain. The shepherd boy caring for the sheep in the field said that the sun rose from the east grassland and set in the west grassland. The urban merchant denied all their insistences, and raised his voice and said that the sun rose from the east forest of buildings and set in the west forest of buildings.
Since they all argued back and forth with their own experiences like that, their dispute was not resolved by mutual agreement, failing to prove whose words were true. According to their insistences, there would be five suns moving in their own way in the sky. Actually, however, that is not true. This story is an example showing how incorrect and limited the experiential knowledge of people is.
There are so many people in the world who think that the world which they have experienced is everything. However, the Bible talks about the mysterious world which we have not experienced. The Bible is the word of prophecy that God has given us as a hope, so it is beyond people’s common sense and experience. Most people would not believe what they have not experienced. However, they need to give up the wrong habit of blindly trying to deny the things that they have not personally experienced.
When we encounter trials in our life of faith, let us overcome them with hope, instead of being frustrated and discouraged by focusing on our own personal experiences. There is a beautiful and glorious world waiting for us—the world beyond human imagination and experience.
However, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” … 1 Co 2:9
All the things God has prepared for us, His loving children, are the mysterious things that we have never experienced. This mysterious and eternal kingdom of heaven is waiting for us. The glorious kingdom God has prepared for us is our final destination.
There is nothing eternal in this world. Nothing we do can ever satisfy our eyes, ears and hearts fully. Even Solomon, who had experienced all riches, wealth and honor in the world, said, “The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing” (Ecc 1:8). The earth is a place filled with such empty and meaningless things—it is a spiritual “city of refuge.”
However, God has prepared the mysterious world, which no one has ever experienced, for us His loving children. The moment when our pain and sorrow ends, we will meet the glorious world.
Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. Ro 8:23-25
What we hope for is not the world we have already experienced. It is a world prepared by God, which we have not been able to experience. So, the Bible tells us to wait for it patiently, enduring and overcoming our present sufferings and trials.
In obedience to the will of our Heavenly Father and Mother, we have been running towards the eternal world until this very day. Let us continue to powerfully run the race towards heaven till the end, so that our race will not be in vain.
The glory and hope of the transfiguration
The Bible explains in detail about the moment of the transfiguration which we have never experienced.
I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. 1 Co 15:50-58
As the Bible says, “We will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye,” the time will surely come when we, God’s people, will be changed. This is one of the many things that God has prepared for us, His loving children. God has clearly said that the glorious moment will come.
Let us think about what we will look like when we are changed in a flash. What God has prepared for His loving children is something that no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has conceived. If we walk the path of faith with this hope and goal, God will surely grant us the glory of eternal life.
As for those who argued with one another over the five suns, they would never find the answer if they kept denying a new world because they had not experienced it. Thinking about the kingdom of heaven—the kingdom of eternal life which we have never experienced, we must firmly believe the promise of God and overcome all pain and sorrow and every temptation and trial on this earth.
But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. All flesh is not the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor. 1 Co 15:38-41
God has given His creatures two kinds of bodies: heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. We have the earthly bodies now, but God will give each of us a beautiful heavenly body sooner or later.
If you want to have a beautiful appearance in heaven, please live the life of faith beautifully by praying continually, preaching the gospel fervently, studying God’s word diligently, and bearing the fruits of the Holy Spirit. God has never said anything without His will. When God commands us to do something, He intends to give us blessings through it (Dt 8:16). If we obey what God says, we can be changed into beautiful angels.
We will possess the kingdom of heaven forever and ever
God has let many gracious words, which give us hope, be written in the Bible.
“‘The four great beasts are four kingdoms that will rise from the earth. But the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever—yes, for ever and ever.’” Da 7:17-18
It is prophesied that we, God’s people, will enjoy the eternal glory and joy in the kingdom of heaven, which we have never experienced until now. So, shouldn’t we overcome the temptations and hardships which we suffer temporarily while living in this world?
We are now making efforts to receive such a glorious world as an inheritance. Overcoming trials, praying diligently and preaching fervently—all these are part of our efforts to receive it.
We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words. 1 Th 4:14-18
Meeting the Lord in the air is also something that we have never experienced up until now. We, God’s people, being changed, will live with our Heavenly Father and Mother forever in the beautiful and everlasting heavenly home prepared by God.
Heaven is definitely real, even though we have not experienced it. Hoping for the eternal kingdom of heaven, let us endure our sufferings and trials a little bit more. God never lets His children only suffer. We need to know that God wants to make us all splendid heavenly angels through trials.
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. Rev 22:1-5
The place where there is the tree of life bearing twelve crops of fruit and there is no night—that is the mysterious world which we have never experienced. The time is drawing near when we will go to such a glorious place.
We have this hope and goal, and that is why we are following the way of the truth of the new covenant without wavering. The kingdom of God is a world where there is no death or pain or sorrow. Since people in the world have never seen that world, they would not believe in it. However, God has prepared that beautiful world and is waiting for His children to run towards it.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, 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 every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Rev 21:1-5
God has promised us the glorious kingdom of heaven—the world where there is no death or pain—as an inheritance. This is the ultimate destination of our faith.
Just believing in God blindly without a goal or direction—this kind of religious life is totally meaningless. The reason we obey God’s commandments and keep the faith is to obtain the kingdom of heaven. As for the successful people in the world, they work so hard from early morning till late at night to get what they want. Even those who set their minds on the visible world make such an effort to acquire earthly things. So, isn’t it natural that God’s people, who set their minds on the invisible eternal world, should make efforts to obtain the kingdom of heaven?
Endurance is required to enter heaven
The kingdom of heaven is drawing near. Now we need to think again about how much effort we are putting forth to enter heaven. The kingdom of heaven is an inheritance which God’s people, who have hope for it, will enjoy forever. The Bible teaches us to endure a little bit more and be faithful for such a glorious kingdom.
“Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.” Rev 2:10
In order for us to have eternal life and enjoy delight forever in the glorious kingdom of heaven, God has prepared everything that no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has conceived, and is waiting for us. Hoping for the eternal world, let us always try our best to do the work of God. Not even a single moment of time we use for the gospel is meaningless. Though God gives us something so small to do, it is truly meaningful and even angels envy us for it.
Let us study God’s word diligently, pray continually and preach the gospel fervently, so that we can be changed into beautiful angels. In order to be able to stand before God without spot or blemish on the day when we are changed, let us obey God’s word, become beautifully united with one another, and cultivate good character. If we do not diligently run towards the goal of heaven but live the same way people in the world do, how can we say that we have the citizenship of heaven? We are running towards a higher ideal and goal which they cannot look forward to. No matter what trials and temptations come our way, let us overcome them and enter the kingdom of heaven without fail.