The Bible teaches us that Christ will return after the Great Tribulation has commenced, and within approximately a year after the beginning of the Day of the Lord. The Day of the Lord will not end when Christ returns, but it will continue throughout the Millennium and beyond—it describes the time when God will rule in the affairs of men. After the Millennium and the Great White Throne Judgment, also known as the Second Resurrection, lasting perhaps 100 years, there will be a third resurrection for those who have committed the unpardonable sin. They will be cast in the Gehenna or “hell” fire—the “lake of fire”–to be burned up and destroyed.

We read in 2 Peter 3:10-13 that ultimately, and still during the (on-going) Day of the Lord, the heavens will pass away and the elements will melt with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up, and all these things—the heavens and the earth—will be dissolved, being on fire. This shows that both the entire physical universe as well as the earth will melt away and burn up. We then read that afterwards, God will create new heavens and “a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”

We explain in our booklet, “Angels, Demons and the Spirit World,” that the new heavens and the new earth will no longer be physical, consisting of matter, but that they will be spiritual—consisting of spirit—as God’s third heaven, where He dwells, already consists of spirit today—and has always been consisting of spirit. In fact, God, who is Spirit, created first the angels and other things within the spirit world, and after that, the physical world, which was patterned after the things in the spirit world.

Let us quote the following excerpts from our booklet:

“The heavenly Jerusalem will come down from heaven, after the physical earth and the physical heavens are burned up, and after God creates new heavens and a new earth (2 Peter 3:7, 10–13). Isaiah 51:6 adds that ‘the heavens will vanish away like smoke.’ Isaiah 34:4 tells us that ‘All the host of heaven shall be DISSOLVED,’ and that ‘…the heavens shall be ROLLED UP like a scroll.’ God will create new heavens and a new earth, which will remain (Isaiah 65:17; 66:22).

“So, just what remains or endures? Does matter last forever? Will our new solar system, if we can call it that, even have a sun and a moon? Apparently not, as we read in passages such as Isaiah 60:19–20 and Revelation 21:23.

“We find a description of God’s new creation in Psalm 102:25–26: ‘Of old You laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You will endure; Yes, they will all grow old like a garment; Like a cloak You will change them, And they will be changed.’

“In what way will God change them? 2 Corinthians 4:18 tells us: ‘…For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.’

“Note also in Hebrews 12:25–29: ‘See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.’

“Lamsa renders verse 27 in this way: ‘And these words, once more, signify the CHANGE of things which may be shaken, because they are made in order that things which cannot be shaken may remain.’

“Romans 8:18–23 tells us very clearly what those invisible things will be: ‘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, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself 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 [sonship], the redemption of our body.’

“We saw in verse 21 that the creation will be delivered from corruption ‘into’ (‘eis’ in Greek) the glorious liberty of the children of God. Moffat renders verse 21 in this way: ‘The hope being that creation as well as man would one day be freed from its thralldom [bondage] to decay and gain the glorious freedom of God’s children.’ The Revised Standard Version writes: ‘…the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and OBTAIN the glorious liberty of the children of God.’ The Luther Bible states, ‘The creation, too, will be freed from bondage of temporary existence INTO the glorious freedom of the children of God.’

“The Greek word for corruption or decay that is used in verse 21 is ‘phthora.’ It is the same word used in 1 Corinthians 15:42, where we read: ‘The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption.’ It is also used in Galatians 6:8: ‘For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption.’

“This physical creation, patterned after God’s spiritual creation, waits to be delivered from corruption to obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God. The glorious freedom, which the universe will receive, includes freedom from death. In that new universe, DEATH will be unknown, and so will decay and corruption.

“We will be changed into Spirit. Spirit endures. Spirit cannot die or decay. Spirit remains. Spirit is INCORRUPTIBLE. The universe will obtain that same freedom from decay, corruption and death. In order to obtain such freedom from death and corruption, this universe will have to be changed into SPIRIT, as we also will be changed into Spirit beings. In this way, the new heavens and the new earth will remain, for only the things that the human eye cannot see will remain.

“When the heavenly Jerusalem comes down to [the new] earth, as a spiritual city, after God has created new heavens and a new earth, it will remain as a spiritual city. It will not be changed into matter, into something physical. Why should it become physical? By that time, all of mankind who have chosen to live God’s way of life will have become Spirit beings. Physical human beings will no longer exist. God will not become a physical being. Angels will not become physical beings. Every physical thing will have been destroyed in the all-encompassing fire that burns up the earth and dissolves the physical universe, as we read in 2 Peter 3:11. This will include those humans who have willfully refused to live God’s way of life…

“It is true that Ecclesiastes 1:4 says that the earth will remain forever. However, this does not necessarily mean that this earth will remain forever in a physical state. We know that ultimately, everything physical will decay and cease to exist. After all, we will remain forever, but we will not remain in this physical body. Rather, we will be changed into Spirit beings.

“God will restore a condition that existed at the beginning of His creation when He first created spirit beings and spiritual things. Ultimately, all physical things, which have been patterned after things in the Spirit world, will be changed into spiritual things.”

As long-time readers of the literature of the Church of God under the late Herbert W. Armstrong know, we have emphasized that after the Great White Throne Judgment period and the third resurrection, this universe, which is presently in decay, will be replaced by a new creation. This physical universe, as it exists today, was not originally created in a state of decay. Rather, it was created to contain life. The Bible indicates that when God created the heavens and the earth, both were created in a beautiful state. However, even though the earth was created with animal life forms, there is no indication that other planets were created with life on them as well. God created life on earth, but because of cataclysmic events, caused by Satan and his angels, this earth and the entire universe became void and empty. God renewed the surface of the earth by creating modern life, but He did not renew the surface of the other planets in the universe.

As we pointed out in a recent Q&A on our future as born-again members of the Family of God, we will be God beings with the same powers and abilities which God the Father and Jesus Christ have. This would include the ability to create. However, we will always be under the authority of God the Father and Jesus Christ, and we will never do anything, including any creative act, without or even against God’s Will. The Bible has not revealed what exactly we might create, under God’s authority and direction. But the Church of God has never taught, and we can continue to say confidently, that following the third resurrection, HUMAN life will NOT be created on the new earth or the other new planets. This would begin another cycle of physical frailties, pain, sin, forgiveness of sin, death, etc. This can’t be true as we read that there will be no more death, nor pain and suffering.

We do know that before the physical creation of this universe, God created angels—spirit beings. Ezekiel 28, verse 13, reveals that the archangel Lucifer was created. Likewise, angels are listed among the creations of God in Psalm 148, verses 1-5. (But we are not suggesting that additional angels will be created in the future).

Originally, the earth was given to Lucifer and his angels to live here and to rule over the planet, so that they could also be used later to rule over the universe. But Lucifer and his angels rebelled against God, left their proper domain (the earth) and ascended to heaven to “replace” God, occupy His throne and His rule [prematurely, without being qualified] over the entire universe. They were defeated by Michael and his angels and thrown back to this earth, where they still rule today as Satan and his demons. In the process of this gigantic spiritual battle, both the earth and the universe were destroyed. God renewed the surface of the earth for man—but not the universe. Once man qualifies to enter the Kingdom of God, Satan and his demons will be replaced, and the born-again spirit members of the Family of God will rule under Christ on this earth during the Millennium and the Great White Throne Judgment, and, after the third resurrection, they will be given the awesome task, under God the Father and Jesus Christ, to rule the universe.

What exactly God has in store for us after the new heavens and the new earth have been created, we don’t know. But we do know that God says that we will rule forever and ever, and that His peace and government over the new earth and the entire new universe will have no end. God the Father will dwell on the newly-created earth, consisting of spirit, and the new Jerusalem, consisting of spirit, will come down from the third heaven, after the physical earth and the physical universe have been dissolved. Undoubtedly, the new earth will be God’s headquarters over the entire universe, and it appears that we will be assisting God, in the way that He directs.

What we do have revealed to us is that God is enlarging His Family—the Family of God. We know that we are being trained to rule with Jesus Christ—initially,  those who are part of the first resurrection, who rule during the millennial time period. After that, the great majority of people who have ever lived will be resurrected and offered their first opportunity for salvation in the ruling Family of God.

God reveals Himself as Creator, and every indication from the Bible is that we, as His Spirit-born children will participate in the limitless possibilities of creating—-for, as Jesus Christ so emphatically stated, “…with God, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE” (Mark 10:27).

Lead Writers: Norbert Link and Dave Harris

When we think of the word “church,” we need to understand that it is not a reference to a building, but rather to a group of people—the “called-out-ones”–who were given a specific purpose or commission to accomplish. This task can only be achieved with the help of God, who opens doors and provides opportunities to the church as a group of zealous and dedicated people.

Rightly understood, there is not only one purpose or even one main purpose of the church, but there are quite a few reasons for the existence of the church of God.

One main purpose can be derived from Matthew 24:14, which explains that the gospel of the Kingdom of God is to be and will be preached and published to the world as a witness.

When this has been accomplished, the end of this present evil age and civilisation will come. Christ commissioned His disciples to preach the gospel or good news until He returns. It is the church’s responsibility and duty today to fulfill this command. This is mainly accomplished by the church collectively through tithes and offerings from members and co-workers whom God has moved to support His Work, and also by our individual example of letting our lights shine.

The tools, which are utilized by the church to accomplish this task include radio, Internet programs, sermon CDs and DVDs, as well as written publications in the form of booklets, letters and updates.

The core of the gospel includes the fact that the Kingdom of God will be established and rule on and over the earth; that it is our potential to enter the Kingdom or Family of God as born-again immortal God beings; that Jesus Christ will return to rule the world with the resurrected saints (spirit-born members of the Kingdom of God) during the Millennium and the Great White Throne Judgment period to help others to achieve the same potential, which has been offered to us today; and that we will ultimately rule under God and Christ for all eternity.

The gospel message includes the fact that God, in the Person of Jesus Christ, became man so that man could become God.

The gospel is not only about Christ and His life here on earth, but includes also the message that He brought from God the Father. Christ came to reveal God the Father and to demonstrate through the Bible that God is ONE Family–not just one Being. This fact was clearly revealed in the Old Testament, and the righteous saints such as Abraham, Moses or David knew about it, but in general, neither the Jews nor the Gentiles understood this marvellous truth.

The gospel entails what is required by man to achieve his ultimate goal of becoming God through obedience to God’s immutable laws and statutes. Even though God grants us His gift of eternal life in His very Family by grace, He will not force this gift upon us when we show Him through our disobedience that we do not really want and appreciate it. God knows that a life in disobedience to Him brings only misery and pain, and He does not want to give us eternal life in unhappiness. God can and does only give us good gifts.

Another purpose of the church’s ministry is to baptize those whom God is calling into the body of Christ, which is the Church, so that God can give them the gift of the Holy Spirit. We read in Matthew 28:19-20: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in[to] the name [or possession] of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age…”

Notice also the responsibility of the church to teach those who are baptized. This describes another purpose of the church– to tend and feed the lambs and the sheep; that is, the flock of the church members who through the gift of the Holy Spirit within them are now better equipped to understand the deep things and mysteries of the gospel. We read more about this purpose in John 21:15-17:

“So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?’ He said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.’ He said to him, ‘Feed My lambs.’ He said to him again a second time, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?’ He said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.’ He said to him, ‘Tend My sheep.’ He said to him the third time, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?’ Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, ‘Do you love Me?’ And he said to Him, ‘Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed My sheep.’”

This purpose is primarily accomplished through the inspired speaking and counselling of the ministry and others assigned by the ministry to that task.

As individual members, we have the responsibility to grow in Jesus Christ’s grace and knowledge. This can be accomplished by using the tools God has given us, including prayer, Bible study, meditation and fasting, with the goal to develop a close and firm relationship with God who gives us His grace abundantly. Christ’s knowledge is also increased in us through the acceptance of inspired oral and written messages. In fulfilling our individual mission and commission in this way, we fulfill also our responsibilities by being able to give an answer for the hope that lies within us—but we will only do so regarding those who really want to know the truth, and not regarding those who merely ask to so that they can argue with us.

There are certainly additional purposes for the existence of the church, but in this Q&A, we have concentrated on some of the major reasons. To recall, the church is to preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God in all the world, to baptize those God is calling, and to teach and spiritually feed those whom God has called.

Individually, church members are to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ and to support the great effort of the collective body of Christ to proclaim the good news to the world in these end times.

If we remain true to this task and responsibility, we shall be given eternal life in the Kingdom of God. As God beings, we will be in a unique position to do so much good for all of mankind, serving them as kings and priests under Christ’s merciful rule.

Lead writers: Rene Messier and Norbert Link

In the Q&A in Update 234 of March 10, 2006, the question of the first two verses in 1 Corinthians was discussed, and the conclusion was that “1 Corinthians 11:1 can, and must be taken at face value: We are to follow Paul or any other servant of God ONLY to the extent that he follows Christ.”

In this Q&A, let us look specifically at the meaning of “imitate”. “Mimetes” (pronounced mim-ay-tace) is the Greek noun to be translated as “imitator” (see Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries). The Greek verb, which means “to mimic” or “to imitate”, is “mimeomai” (see Young’s Analytical Concordance).

Note the different translations of 1 Corinthians 11:1:

The Authorized Version (old King James Bible) says “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.”

The New King James states: “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.”

Moffatt says: “…copy me.”

The Living Bible says: “…and you shall follow my example, just as I follow Christ’s.”

The 20th Century New Testament says: “Imitate me, as I myself imitate Christ.”

The New English Bible says: “Follow my example as I follow Christ’s.”

Also, 1 Corinthians 4:16 states: “Therefore I urge you, imitate me”.   The word for “imitate” is again a translation of the Greek noun “mimetes”,  which is used altogether seven times in the New Testament. The Greek verb “mimeomai” is used four times.

And so, judging based on the different translations, the words “follow” and “imitate”, as well as “follower” and “imitator,” seem to be interchangeable – but are they?

The Dictionary definitions are as follows:

“Follow” is defined as, “go after as an admirer; strive after; aim at”.

“Imitate” is defined as, “mimic: try and get as close to the real thing as possible; impersonators”.

In 2 Timothy 2:14, we read; “Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers”.  Even though we are not to strive about words, translating words correctly with their full intent and meaning is important.

Therefore an imitator, by definition, gets as close to the original as possible.  And that must include fruits.

There are many so-called followers of Jesus Christ, but they want to do their own thing. They twist and turn when it comes to imitating Christ – as one UK celebrity once said that “he gave his heart to the Lord and he didn’t have to change anything!”   He would have considered himself to be a follower of Christ. But he certainly didn’t imitate Christ because he kept doing what he was doing before, and that certainly wasn’t keeping the Sabbath, the Holy Days and God’s Law.  However, we have to imitate Christ – we must get as close to Christ’s actions and Way of Life as we possibly can.

In Luke 4:16 we read of the time when, as the sub-heading states ”Jesus was rejected at Nazareth”:  “So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.”                   

Now if the world’s Christianity was mimicking Paul (who was himself a Sabbath keeper), they would be mimicking Christ who kept the Sabbath. Paul said to “imitate me as I imitate Christ”. However, most of Christ’s followers keep Sunday today and are therefore not mimicking or imitating His (and Paul’s) actions. They follow as they see it, but they don’t see the need to do precisely as Christ did.

Likewise, in John 7:37-38 we read of Jesus keeping the last day, that great day of the feast, speaking of the Last Great Day or the Eighth Day, immediately following the seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles: “On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”  

If we imitate Christ, we will keep the annual Feast Days, as He did—and as Paul did as well (For more information, please read our free booklet, “God’s Commanded Holy Days”). As we know, many “followers” ignore this and do what is right in their own sight. But imitators can’t.

It also precludes us from imitating a man – or men – whose fruits are not good. We should not ever follow such a man.  

Today, people, modern icons, personalities, politicians, pop stars, sportsmen and women and even church leaders can and do have a following—and many times, people even try to imitate their conduct and behavior–but breaking the first and second commandments can loom large in their lives if they are not careful.

But why did Paul say to imitate him as he imitated Christ? It is easier to imitate a physical example than just reading about it; examples are seen and then imitated.   A good impersonator will be difficult to tell from the real person if the imitation is very good.   And that’s how we should be in relation to the way we imitate Jesus Christ.   Examples are important and they can be good or bad.   So it was perhaps easier for the disciples of Paul’s day to imitate a physical example (Paul) than just reading or hearing about the great example of Jesus Christ, and that is probably why Paul said to imitate him as he imitated Christ.

But if any leader says, “follow me as I follow Christ”, and he is very deficient in some areas, it can be distracting and some can get mixed up.   Conduct – the fruits of a person’s life – is all part of doctrine.

We read in 1 Timothy 1:8-10:  “But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine.”           

Here it describes actions, the way we behave, what we do, and it says, “if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine”.   So conduct or behaviour is part of doctrine, and if therefore any person’s conduct or behaviour is unacceptable (like lying, stealing, committing adultery, being a drunkard, etc.), then he is going contrary to sound doctrine, and we shouldn’t try to imitate him. We should not even follow him. The true imitation of Christ can be lost in the poor example of a human being, with other human beings not being able to discern as they should.

So we need to know – and be sure – what Scripture says and imitate any leader only according to revealed Scriptural instruction and not even follow him, when he adds on any unbiblical unnecessary, unwanted, unwarranted or personal additions or baggage.

The Christian life, as revealed in the Bible, is one of overcoming and growing spiritually toward the goal of being spiritually mature like Christ. God expects us, as Spirit-begotten Christians, to be developing more and more of the very character of Christ as we learn to imitate His Way of Life.

To imitate means to get as close to the original as possible. It indicates being skin-tight. To follow is a much looser term and whilst it can be correct and necessary in many ways (compare Matthew 4:19; Mark 8:34; 1 Peter 2:21), the word “imitate” includes “following” Christ, but it is much more all-encompassing. To imitate is to do everything Christ did and wants us to do according to His perfect example. So this is not striving after words but making sure that we fully understand the difference and take to heart that the original meaning of the Greek word “mimetes” is to be an imitator of Christ. And that is much more critical than just being a “follower”.

That is why imitator is the correct translation of “mimites,” and this is vital. Otherwise, it could slightly lead us off track. We are not just to follow, but also to imitate–always with Christ and the written Word of God as our focus.

Lead Writers: Brian Gale (United Kingdom) and Norbert Link