The Gospel of the Kingdom of God is not the good news that if we believe in Jesus we will go to Heaven when we die. It is the good news that we will be raised from the dead and live once again on the earth.

The Christian salvation is pointed toward the restoration of what was lost in Eden. It is not a plan to change everything and place man in the spirit realm. God is not making all new things. He is making all things new—all the things to which we are accustomed.

Now, what did the Lord Jesus mean when He said we would not die but continue to live in Him? He meant that we would be alive as we know life, although temporarily unable to occupy our flesh and bone body. That will come later.

If we are abiding in Christ (and numerous members of the Christian religion are not abiding in Christ), if we truly are living as part of His Divine Life, then we will never die. When our body sleeps in physical death we still will be alive. This does not mean we will go to Heaven. It means we still will live.

The Lord Jesus meant exactly what He said.

All right, we still are living after we die. Remember, we are not speaking of every church member but of those who are living in Jesus. You can take "the four steps of salvation" and be perfect in your doctrine and still not be living in Jesus. To live in Jesus is to consciously day by day be addressing all the issues of your life to the Lord. You must be aware at all times that you are living by His Life, partaking of Him in every thought, word, and action.

We still are living after our body goes to sleep, but where are we? It doesn't matter where we are. The point is that we are consciously alive in the Presence of the Lord, just as we were on the earth. Nothing has changed.

Nothing has changed! Can you hear this? Nothing has changed except for the fact that temporarily we are not inhabiting a material body.

"What can I do if I still am alive?"

You can do anything you want to do. God will put into your heart what He wants you to be doing, and His will and yours will be the same. We are to be cultivating this sameness of will today. It is of the greatest importance in the Kingdom that God is working in us to will and to do His good pleasure.

You will be alive and enjoying yourself without the inconvenience of an aging body.

I have no doubt many or most of the dead are on the earth assisting their loved ones and otherwise doing the Lord's will.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. (Hebrews 12:1—NIV)

To be continued.