We have stated that a great number of God's creatures have rebelled and still are rebelling against His will. We have said also that God has made provision for the redemption of those human beings who wish to be delivered from the guilt, the bondage (the compulsion to disobey God), and the effects of the rebellion. To our knowledge, no provision has been made for the redemption of the angels that are in rebellion.

The issues associated with rebellion are those of will, of government, and of obedience.

God's will is being performed today at the highest level of the heavens, that is, in the area of God's throne. This is the area inhabited by the Father, by Christ, by the mighty angels who always perform God's will (the elect angels), and by those human beings whose life is Christ.

But there still is rebellion against God's will in the angels of the lower heavens, in the hearts of the people who constitute the nations of the earth, and in the hearts of the majority of the Christian people.

Current Christian teaching views the redemption (salvation) that is in Christ as the Divinely provided means for forgiveness and for the escape of the believers from the turmoil of the earth so they may live in the spirit Paradise. This erroneous view of the Christian redemption has resulted in churches that are immoral and powerless.

If every person on the earth were to be taken to Paradise, God's problem would not have been solved. Moving people from earth to Heaven, to the spirit Paradise, does not solve the problem of the rebellion against God's will. Rebellion originated in the Presence of God in the heavenlies. Adam and Eve while in Paradise, neither one inhabiting a sinful body, rebelled against God's will because of the influence of a personality that came from the heavens.

Going to Heaven does not solve the problem of the rebellion in the heart of man. Nowhere in the Scriptures is "going to Heaven" presented as the solution to the problem of rebellion. Yet, being saved from rebellion by going to Heaven is one of the fundamental principles of contemporary Christian preaching. It is an unscriptural and damaging concept. It is time now for us to abandon this tradition and to preach and teach the redemption that is in Christ.

Men everywhere are looking for the opportunity to do as they please and yet not be harmed by serious consequences. This tendency may be observed in the nations having democratic governments. It may be observed also in the current Christian tradition—live a life of sin and self-will and go to Paradise when you die. It is a destructive tendency and totally contrary to the Person and Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is of the False Prophet.

The Lord Jesus taught us to pray, "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven."

The Kingdom of God is the doing of God's will in the earth.

The Good News of Christianity is that God's will one day will be performed in the earth as it is in the highest heaven. This is the Christian Gospel. The Christian Gospel is not that sinners will be brought to Heaven. The Christian Gospel is that all rebellion and sin will be driven out of the earth, and that the people who are saved will enjoy for eternity righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

To be continued.