The Bible teaches that it is the potential and destiny of man to enter the Kingdom and Family of God; that is, to become an immortal and eternal God being. Much information on this intriguing subject is provided in our free booklets, “The Gospel of the Kingdom of God” and “God Is a Family.” We will be quoting at length from these and other booklets throughout this Q&A.
Those who are called and chosen in this day and age, are to qualify for entrance into God’s Kingdom, when Jesus Christ returns to this earth. But what, exactly, will they be? And what powers will they have?
The Bible tells us that we, who are called today, will be what Christ is today. We will be like Him, as He is. We will share the Father’s and His very divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). The only exception is that we will not have the same authority as Christ, as Christ has not the same authority as the Father. God is—and always will be—a hierarchical Family—with God the Father on top, under Him Jesus Christ, and under Christ those who are to be born into the very Family of God.
But even though Christ is under the Father, He still has—and always had, as a God being—the unlimited power to create life. God the Father created everything—the visible as well as the invisible—through and by Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1:1-2; Colossians 1:15-16).
Notice what we wrote in our free booklet, “God Is a Family,” pertaining to man’s potential:
“In Hebrews 1, verse 2, it says of Jesus Christ that God the Father ‘…has appointed [Him] heir of all things.’ It is further revealed in Hebrews 2:7 that although man was created ‘for a little while’ lower than the angels, as the margin has it correctly, he will ultimately have ‘…all things in subjection under his feet’’ (verse 8).
“The eighth chapter of the book of Romans presents us with even more astounding proof of the tremendous future God has in store for man. ‘For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption [correctly translated, ‘son-ship’] by whom we cry out ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit Himself [Itself] bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together’ (verses 14–17).
“Romans 8:18–19 continues: ‘For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.’
“These two short verses open up the truth of the vast master plan of God and the very purpose for man’s creation—to increase His Family by having sons and daughters born into His very Family! We are told in 2 Corinthians 6:17–18, ‘Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” “I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the LORD Almighty.”’
“After explaining that mankind was to become conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ, God shows the underlying purpose in His plan in Romans 8:29: Christ was to ‘be the firstborn among many brethren.’ So important is the purpose of God in bringing many sons and daughters to glory that He was willing to give His only begotten Son in fulfillment of His objective (compare John 3:16). Romans 8:32 also clarifies this point: ‘He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?’
“‘All things’ means exactly that—it includes rule over the entire universe AND the unending future of God’s Kingdom. Man is to become a ‘joint heir’ with Christ in ‘all things’…”
We will become members of the God Family—God beings. We will be “like Christ”—sons and daughters of God, with Christ being our elder brother. We are to inherit “all things” with Christ. We will rule with and under Christ for all eternity. It is therefore obvious that we will be able to do what Christ is capable of doing.
We will be ruling angels. We will be possessing much higher powers than they do.
Notice the following additional excerpts from our booklet, “The Gospel of the Kingdom of God”:
“In 1 John 3:1-2, we read: ‘Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God…. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be [we are still flesh and blood—we have not been changed yet to spirit beings], but we know that when He is revealed [when Christ comes back in power and glory, to establish the Kingdom of God on this earth], we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.’
“No human being can look at God in His glorified state, as He is, and live. But when we are changed, we can look at God and His Son Jesus Christ in their glorified state and live. Why? Because we will be like them, Jesus Christ being the image of God the Father. And what does it mean to be like Christ? To bear His image? It means that we will look like He looks. And how does He look in His glorified state? Let’s read Revelation 1:14-16, which gives us a glimpse of what Christ looks like today: ‘His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire. His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters…and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength.’ That’s exactly how we will look too, when we are changed and are in the Kingdom of God…
“Christ will establish this Kingdom, the Kingdom of God, on this earth. It’s a Kingdom ruled by God. It’s a Kingdom composed of God—the Father and Jesus Christ. But remember… we also will be in that Kingdom…
“We will be like Christ, we will bear His image, we will look like He does, we will be in God’s Kingdom, we will reign with Christ. What does this all mean? Does this mean that we will be like the angels of God—higher in essence than man, but lower in essence than God? No, because Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 6: 3 that we will rule over, and judge, angels. So we will be higher than the angels. Further, angels won’t be in the Kingdom of God, because they are not God…the Bible is very clear that whoever is in the Kingdom of God must actually be God. We must become God beings, sharing in Christ’s glory, the firstborn of many brethren.
“That is indeed a mystery that only very few understand today—that God is a Family, consisting presently of God the Father and the Son Jesus Christ, but that God is enlarging His Family. We are already called His children, but we have not been glorified yet. And when we are glorified at the time of our resurrection to eternal life, we will be entering the Kingdom of God, as literal God beings, as glorified sons and daughters of God, made immortal…
“That we are to become members of the God Family, or God beings, is clearly taught in scripture. Let’s look at a few more proofs.
“In Psalm 17:15, we read about man’s potential: ‘As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.’ David understood that we will look like God when we are resurrected. Also Philippians 3:20-21: ‘For our citizenship is in heaven… [Our names are written in heaven, where God is. We belong to Him, we are His children. We belong to a different country, a heavenly government, which will come down to this earth when Christ returns.]…from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body.’ We already read that we shall bear the image of Christ, we will look like He does, in His glorified state.
“But more than that—we will actually BE GOD BEINGS. We are told that it is our potential to be filled with the fullness of God. That is what it says in Ephesians 3:19. Paul wants us ‘to be filled’—ultimately—‘with all the fullness of God.’ What does this mean? It means that we will be God beings…
“Christ Himself confirmed this human potential in John 10:31-36: ‘Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?” The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.” Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, You are gods?’ If He called them gods, to whom the Word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, You are blaspheming, because I said, I am the Son of God?”’”
“What is Jesus Christ telling us here? That He, the Son of God who had become man, would be God again. But also, that it is man’s potential to become God beings as well. Although stated in a present tense, Christ was mainly referring to the future, speaking about future things as if they already existed (cp. Romans 4:17). God created man so that man could become God—a member of the God Family… as Christ is the Son of God, so will we be sons and daughters of God. Of course, God the Father will always be greatest of all, and Christ will always be greater than we. But still—we will be God beings in the Family of God, literal children of our loving Father, and brothers and sisters of our elder brother Jesus Christ. What an awesome potential—what a destiny!”
The fact that we, as God beings, will of course have the ability to create, as God the Father and Jesus Christ create, is expressly confirmed in Scripture.
1 Corinthians 15:45 tells us that Christ is “a life-giving spirit.” That is, He is a Spirit being who can give and create LIFE. In fact, that is what He did before He became a human being. That is what He is doing today, and what He will continue to do after His return. We know, for instance, from the book of Revelation that all living things in the oceans and rivers will have died before His return (Revelation 16), but we also read in several passages that there will be fish in the Millennium (Ezekiel 47). This shows that God will create LIFE – in this case, physical fish. He created life when the surface of the earth was renewed; and He created (“had prepared” or “had made”) a great fish to swallow up Jonah (Jonah 1:17).
This understanding has wide-ranging consequences. Some have wondered about the fate of our pets, when they die. Even though the Bible does not say anywhere that animals will be resurrected, as human beings will be, there is also nothing in the Bible that says that they will not be. We read that animals have a spirit, and while Solomon states that the spirit in man will go back to God who gave it, he wonders about the fate of the spirit of animals, without giving a decisive answer (Ecclesiastes 3:21). Consider that God can CREATE animals—including those resembling our pets. When scientists can clone animals today, how much more will God the Father and Jesus Christ be able to create or recreate animals that God had created in the first place?
Since we will be as Christ is, we will be given the same capabilities.
Romans 8:20-23 tells us that the entire creation waits for us. Why? Ultimately, to be transformed into the glorious liberty of the children of God. The entire physical creation will be freed from corruption – it will become spirit, too. (For more information, please read our booklets, “God Is a Family” and “Angels, Demons and the Spirit World.”). But as will be explained in a subsequent Q&A, that won’t happen until God creates new heavens and a new earth—which will be long after Christ’s return.
But what will occur prior to God’s new creation? It says that the present creation waits for our manifestation as Spirit beings. We will, already at that time, do something with this earth. Consider that the earth will be in a terrible state, still suffering from the aftermath of nuclear wars and waste. And so, we read that the ruins will be rebuilt; and that the earth will become a beautiful paradise. We will assist Jesus Christ to beautify it, which includes, CREATE physical life.
Please note Isaiah 58:10-12: “You shall be like a spring of water whose waters do not fail” (or: “never run dry,” New Jerusalem Bible). Primarily, this talks about our role in the Millennium, directing the rebuilding of old places that had become waste. BUT, there is also an overriding meaning, hinting at our ultimate potential—to be a continual spring of living fresh water regarding others, giving them health and REAL life.
Notice Christ’s words in John 7:37-38, where we read that out of our hearts will flow rivers of living water. That is, God’s Spirit will flow out of us to create LIFE. Christ is a life-giving Spirit, and so we will be, because we will be God too, and we will be like Christ, as He is. We, as God beings, will have the power and awesome privilege to heal and create, UNDER the leadership of God the Father and Jesus Christ. God’s living waters in us will flow out of our hearts like rivers of living waters.
In addition, Christ said in John 4:14, referring to the Holy Spirit, that the “water that I give him will become in him a FOUNTAIN of water springing up into everlasting life.” We will be fountains of living water, leading to life.
An interesting Scripture can also be found in the book of Proverbs. Although it speaks primarily about our own mind and its effect on our own body, it can also be understood as referring to the mind of others and the effect on others. Notice Proverbs 14:30: “A sound heart is life to the body” –not just our own body, but also the body of others. To have a sound mind is a result of the Holy Spirit, which is a Spirit of soundness. And with God’s Holy Spirit, we will be able to impart real “life” to the physical world.
The biblical truth is overwhelming. Once we have entered the Family of God as immortal God beings, we will have the same abilities and capabilities which God the Father and Jesus Christ have. We will be ruling angels. We will be healing people. We will be assisting Christ in judging mankind. And we read that we will rule for ever and ever.
Rule over what and how? This will be the subject of a subsequent Q&A. For a short preview, let us conclude by quoting some excerpts from our free booklet, “The Gospel of the Kingdom of God”:
“When we become members of God’s Family, we will be ruling this earth, as we have seen, for a thousand years, together with Christ who received His authority and power from God the Father. But what after that? What is going to happen once the thousand years have expired? Our reign will never stop. Notice Revelation 22:4-5, which speaks about a time long after the 1000 years: ‘They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads [the name of God will be their name as well]…the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.’
“What will we do for all eternity? Over what will we reign, forever and ever? We have not been told everything yet, but one thing we do know: We will beautify our entire universe. Notice Romans 8:18-23: ‘For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility… in hope; because the creation itself [the entire universe] also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption [better translated ‘sonship’], the redemption of our body.”
“This passage indicates that once we are God beings and full members of the God Family, we will participate in the process of beautifying and finishing the creation of the presently unfinished universe. The universe is in decay—the planets are, from all that we can tell, waste and empty. But it is our human potential to become God and to free the universe from decay and corruption under the leadership of Jesus Christ.”
HOW, exactly, this is going to be accomplished will be the subject of a subsequent Q&A.
Lead Writer: Norbert Link
