Almighty God Always Keeps His Promises! by Raymond F. McNair

What has God promised? Many are unaware of God’s “great and precious”promises. Let us confidently claim His many wonderful promises!

Have you grown “weary in well-doing”? Are you taking your salvation “for granted”? Do you treat God’s gift of eternal life rather “cheaply” by neglecting so “great salvation”? In actual fact, have many of God’s people lost their “first love” (Rev. 2:4)?

As the people of God—spiritual members of the very “Body of Christ”—we need to re-examine ourselves, to see if we are seriously letting down in our zeal for God, and for the priceless gift of salvation which our gracious, loving Creator has so freely offered us! The Apostle Paul encourages God’s people as follows:

“Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? But I trust that ye shall know that ye are not reprobates” (1 Cor. 13:5-6). We are admonished to be especially careful to examine ourselves before annually partaking of the bread and wine symbols, representing Christ’s sacrifice as “our Passover” (1 Cor. 5:7; 11:28).

God’s Word speaks of our salvation as “this TREASURE in earthly vessels” (2 Cor. 4:7). The Apostle Paul tells us that God’s people have been “blessed...with all spiritual blessings” (Eph. 1:3). He also compares our salvation to the “unsearchable RICHES of Christ” (Eph. 3:8), and speaks of our salvation as the “prize of the HIGH CALLING of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13). Furthermore, he tells us that the “mystery” of God consists of “Christ in you, the hope of GLORY” (Col. 1:26-27). The Apostle Paul speaks of the “GREAT SALVATION” which God has freely offered to His people (Heb. 2:3). God’s supreme goal is that of “bringing MANY SONS unto GLORY” (Heb. 2:10).

God’s Word also states that those now being called are God’s “FIRST-FRUITS” (James 1:18), who are destined to attain “a BETTER RESURRECTION,” by taking part in the “first resurrection” (Heb. 11:35, cf. Rev. 20:5-6). But, in this world, God’s people have a tough, up-hill struggle against three obstacles: 1) Satan, 2) his evil Society (or “world”), and 3) the powerful down-pulling tendency of “human nature”—all of which we have to struggle mightily against; but through God’s Spirit we shall overcome all three of these obstacles (1 Cor 10:13)!

Great and Precious Promises The Apostle Peter assures us, “But you are a CHOSEN GENERATION, a ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, HOLY NATION, His own SPECIAL PEOPLE, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous LIGHT; who once were not a people but are now the PEOPLE OF GOD...” (1 Pet. 2:9-10). Peter also informs us that God, “according to His divine power hath given unto us all things [including His] exceeding GREAT and PRECIOUS PROMISES: that by these ye might be partakers of the DIVINE NATURE...” (v. 4).

The Bible reveals that those whom the Father has called out of this evil world of darkness and superstition, are highly favored by God, and are promised very great rewards in the soon-coming Kingdom of God—if we will only “hang in there” and not let anyone or anything ever turn us aside from diligently following God and His way into His glorious Kingdom. Jesus Christ promises us, “And, behold, I come quickly; and MY REWARD is with Me. To give every man according as his work shall be” (Rev. 22:12)!

How are many of God’s people missing out? Many brethren do not familiarize themselves with numerous important promises which our heavenly Father has given His people. God intends us to take advantage of His many promises, but we must first know precisely what God has promised in His Word. We must therefore familiarize ourselves with His many promises, then, we can actually claim those promises when in need—if we meet the biblical conditions which God says we must conform to.

What are some vital conditions we must meet before God will answer our prayers? 1) We must “ask in [absolute] faith” (James 1:6), otherwise, we will vainly attempt to claim His promises (vv. 5-8). The Bible tells us that we must really believe God and His Word, if we expect Him to hear our prayers (Matt. 21:22). 2) Always remember, “whatsoever we ask, we receive because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight” (1 John 3:22). 3) Here is another very important condition we must meet: “And this is the confidence [faith] that we have in Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us. And if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him” (1 John 5:15). But how can we know God’s will? We need to diligently study His Word, so that we know what He has actually promised. “Wherefore, be ye not unwise, but understanding what the WILL OF THE LORD is” (Eph. 5:17).

I very well remember that, as a young boy of about 12 years old, I observed an “engraved image” of a so-called “angel” of God as it was depicted on the headstone of a relative of mine. And I also vividly remember thinking the following thought: “I wish God had made me an angel, rather than a human being.” In my immature, childish thinking, I thought it would have been much better if God had not made me subject to sickness, injury, pain, suffering and death. I reasoned that it would have been much better if God had made it so that I did not get sick, or didn’t get tired after working hard helping with the many chores that had to be done on our farm, gathering in our crops, caring for our livestock, cutting our own firewood from a nearby forest, etc. I thought how much more wonderful it would have been had God created me as a spirit-composed “angel” rather than a lowly flesh and blood human being! But how wrong I was!

I later came to see that God has given His human servants many “great and precious promises” as recorded in His Word. Jesus Christ promised that the “meek” will “inherit the earth” (Matt. 5:5, see also Psa. 37:11, 22, 29). But God has never given such a promise to any of His angels! God’s Word tells us, “Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? And if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we [humans, then glorified] shall judge angels?” (1 Cor. 6:2-3). I also later concluded that we humans must learn valuable lessons through suffering! Christ himself learned through suffering: “Though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered” (Heb. 5:8).

And we are plainly told, “For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world [Gk. oikoumene] to come, whereof we speak. But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? ...Thou madest him a little lower than the angels.... Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet.... But now we see not yet all things put under him” (Heb. 2:5-8). We are also told that Jesus, the “Captain of our salvation” (Heb. 2:10), has already qualified to rule this world, along with those glorified humans who will “overcome” and “qualify” to rule with Him!

Nowhere in the Bible are we told that the “angels” of God will be put over the then-glorified, immortal saints in the Kingdom of God. And nowhere does God’s Word say the angels will “inherit the earth.” We are plainly told that “The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’S: but the EARTH hath He given to the CHILDREN OF MEN” (Psa. 115:16). Since Christ was a man, born of a woman, He will also inherit this earth along with the countless billions of brethren who will eventually accept God and His way; and together we shall “inherit the earth” as our eternal inheritance. God solemnly promises His saints that this beautiful earth will forever be our inheritance (Psa. 37).

After God makes this old earth into a beautiful “new earth,” and places the New Jerusalem here on this renewed new earth, God and Christ will both make their abode with the then-glorified, immortal saints (Rev. 20, 21, 22; 2 Pet. 3:7-14). But how is it that, of over two billion “Christians,” nearly all believe the reward of the saved will be to go to “Heaven” to live forever? Nothing could be further from the Truth! God and Christ will come to this re-formed new earth and will forever dwell with us (Rev. 21 & 22).

The Bible clearly reveals that glorified humans will inherit this earth after it is renewed and made very beautiful. God promises, “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth.... And I John saw the HOLY CITY, NEW JERUSALEM, coming down from God out of heaven.... And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men [who will then have become immortal spirit beings] and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all TEARS from their eyes; and there shall be no more DEATH, neither SORROW, nor CRYING, neither shall there be any more PAIN: for the former things are passed away” (Rev. 21:1-4, see also Isa. 66:17). What a wonderful time that will be when, instead of men going up to heaven to dwell with God, He will bring “heaven” to this earth, where He and Jesus Christ will then dwell with mankind.

What will this new earth then be like? “And there shall be no more curse: but the THRONE OF GOD and the LAMB shall be in it [the New Jerusalem]; and His servants shall serve Him: And they shall see His face and His name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no more night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall REIGN for ever and ever” (Rev. 22:3-5).

A Most Amazing Prophecy What does God’s Word mean when it says God will “PLANT the HEAVENS”? “I have put My words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee with the shadow of mine hand that I may PLANT THE HEAVENS, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion [God’s children], THOU ART MY PEOPLE” (Isa. 51:16). Is it reasonable to believe that, once God has saved all of the “humans” who freely accept His free offer of immortality, that He and His children will just “sit back and enjoy themselves” as they live on the beautiful, newly re-formed earth? Is it not more likely that God will use those who are redeemed from the earth to help Him “harvest” countless trillions of “people” whom He will later create and place on other planets? In any case, it is certain that we will not just sit around idly doing nothing through eternity.

After God has perfected His work here on this earth, making it His own perfect Universe-ruling Headquarters, will He then use the glorified saints to continue the awesome task of assisting Him in taking salvation to countless trillions of other humans whom He will create and place on other “planets”—thereby giving them immortality if they obey Him and qualify, just as He has done with us “humans” on this earth?

Whether or not Isaiah 51:16 implies that God will create human-like beings on other planets, we know that all of God’s glorified saints will have a very productive and glorious future in the everlasting Kingdom of God, where we are told that we “shall reign for ever and ever” (Rev. 22:5). Since we are to “reign forever,” it is quite natural to ask: “Over what, or over whom, will we reign?”

Think seriously about that for a moment! What an awesome future will be given to us as we serve God with joy and accomplishment in our Father’s eternal Kingdom (John 14:2)! What a wonderful future we all have to look forward to—if we continue “keeping God’s commandments,” and “doing those things which please Him!”

The Apostle Peter unveils the mind-boggling magnitude of God’s promises to His people. He reminds us that God, through “His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to [eternal] life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceeding great and PRECIOUS PROMISES, that through these you may be partakers of the DIVINE NATURE, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Pet. 1:2-4).

What does Peter mean by us partaking of the “divine nature”? Clearly, he means that God will elevate man from his lowly carnal, weak and beggarly state of human frailty up to the very God plane by placing us all in His great “DIVINE FAMILY”—for whom the “WHOLE FAMILY in heaven and earth is named” (Eph. 3:15). Most professing Christians somehow cannot grasp this simple fact that we are all to be elevated from the human plane up to the divine plane, according to God’s Master Plan.

This same apostle further explains what he means: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has BEGOTTEN us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation.... In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes...may be found to praise, honor and glory [at His Coming] whom having not seen you love [and] rejoice with joy unexpressable...full of glory” (1 Pet. 1:3-8).

Peter then takes us back to a pre-historic time frame when God formulated His great Master Plan by which He would later offer salvation to all humans who would accept His free gift of immortality. He says we were [redeemed] “with the precious blood of Christ, as a LAMB without blemish and without spot. He [Jesus] indeed was FOREORDAINED before the foundation of the world [kosmos], but was manifest in these last times [but, says Peter] God...raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God” (vv. 18-21). True Christians must be “born again [more properly translated, “BEGOTTEN again”] not of corruptible seed [sperm] but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever” (v. 23).

Many have failed to understand that, even before the beginning of the world, God Almighty formulated a great Master Plan by which He would make salvation freely available to the countless billions of humans whom He planned to create here upon this beautiful earth. The “Golden Text” of the Bible states: “For God so loved the world that He GAVE His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish [die in the Second Death, Rev. 20:6, 14] but have everlasting life” (John 3: 16).

What is God’s transcendent purpose for “man” here on this earth? God promises us that He fully intends to bring “many sons unto glory” (Heb. 2:10). He will eventually give everyone who will have lived upon this earth a chance to understand and follow Him and His way. It is His will that all be “saved.” “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the TRUTH.... Who gave Himself a ransom for all...”(1 Tim. 2:3-6).

But God made us humans free moral agents, and He requires that each of us must freely choose to obey Him and follow His way, after He first reveals His Truth to us—which He will do in His own time and way (John 6:44)! God will never force anyone to choose “life” and “His way.” However, He will require everyone to choose whether or not they are willing to live forever under Him and His way of “love” (1 John 4:8, 16).

Many have never fully considered that the greatest gift anyone (whether God, angels or man) ever gave was the GIFT/SACRIFICE of God’s obedient Son on behalf of all humanity, in order that we might: 1) be forgiven our sins, 2) and receive the Spirit of the resurrected, indwelling presence of Christ into our hearts and minds, thereby granting us eternal life (John 6:47-58). When the Father agreed to give up His Son to die on behalf of all mankind, this was the greatest gift that any being could ever make! We all need to realize more fully the mind-boggling magnitude of the “divine Sacrifice” made on behalf of both the Father and His dear Son! That “gift” will eventually result in the saving of countless billions of humans who will be crowned with immortality, after they voluntarily accept the Father’s priceless gift (that is, “Christ’s sacrifice”) on their behalf.

The Apostle Paul speaks of God’s great “mystery” of salvation in the following words. He says that this “MYSTERY...has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the RICHES of the glory of this MYSTERY among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you the hope of glory [immortality]” (Col. 1: 26-27). Mankind’s only hope of achieving immortality is through Jesus Christ and through Him alone (John 10:1-30). Jesus is the “STONE” which the “religious authorities” of the first century AD rejected. And Peter tells us, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:11-12; Acts 2:38-39)!

The Awful Fate of the Wicked

If we reject Jesus Christ as our only Savior, then we can never be saved, nor can we receive God’s free gift of immortality (Heb. 6:1-12)! God will not force His great gift of Christ’s sacrifice on anyone! “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the TRUTH, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.... Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, he will be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God under foot, counted the blood [Christ’s blood] of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? ...It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (10:1-39).

If we willfully reject His wonderful gift of immortality and choose the “way of death” (Deut. 30: 15-20), we will, of necessity have to experience the “second death” which is eternal death (Rev. 20:6-15). The incorrigibly wicked will become mere “ashes” under the feet of the righteous (Mal. 4:1). By their own choice, they will forever pass into total oblivion!

Notice how Paul described the awful fate of those who willfully turn from God and His way: “Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we NEGLECT so GREAT SALVATION?” (Heb. 2:1-3; 6:1-11; 10:26-31).

What are some of the important “mysteries” contained in the overall “mystery” of God which Christ and the N.T. apostles mentioned? God’s Word fully explains many mysteries that His people can understand. Here are a few of the many “mysteries” and important questions which are clearly explained in the Word of God:

1) Who and what is God? 2) Who and what are the “holy angels” of God? 3) Who and what is man? 4) Who and what are the Devil and his angels? 5) What is man’s incredible potential and future destiny? 6) What is man’s reward—to live forever in heaven with God and His angels? 7) Or, is man’s destiny to inherit this beautiful earth, and dwell therein forever (Matt. 5:5; Psa. 37)? 8) Exactly what is salvation? 9) And how may we freely receive God’s wonderful gift of immortality? 10) Why must men suffer, and especially why innocent people suffer and die at the hands of evil men? 11) Why didn’t God create men as “spirit beings” so they would not have to suffer so much anguish, pain, misery and death? 12) Was there a better way for men to have been given salvation?

The Bible reveals the answers to the above questions. It is clear that if there had been a way for God to “create perfect character instantly” by divine fiat, He would have done so! Such perfect spiritual character in any “free moral agent” can only be the result of: (a) free choice of such a being to choose for himself, and (b) he must be given a sufficient period of time in which to prove he really wants to choose God’s way, and have a firm resolve to stick by that decision!

Let us never treat God’s wonderful offer of salvation cheaply! How much do we treasure God’s freely offered gift of salvation/immortality? Do we treat our salvation rather cheaply? Or, do we look upon it as a precious “PEARL of great price” (Matt. 13:46)? “For it is...God who commanded light to shine out of darkness who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God.... But we have this TREASURE [of salvation] in earthen vessels that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us” (2 Cor. 4:6-7).

Do we really highly prize this treasure of God’s Truth—which contains many very important “mysteries”? When Christ’s disciples asked Him to explain the meaning of a parable of the “Sower,” Jesus told them, “To you [My disciples] it has been given to know the MYSTERIES of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that ‘Seeing they may not see [and] may not understand’” (Luke 8:10).

Isaiah’s version of this says, “Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and CONVERT, and be healed” Isa. 6:10).

Truly, God’s Word contains sound answers to all of man’s spiritual questions and gives realistic solutions to all of the spiritual problems that confront mankind. Why, then, are so many ignorant of the answers to the important spiritual questions? Many simply do not really diligently study and live by the Word of God (2 Tim. 2:15). If, like the noble Bereans, we have open minds (Acts 17:11), and if we obey God and “keep God’s commandments”—then “whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight” (1 John 3:22).

Further, we are told, “And this is the confidence [faith] that we have in Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will He heareth us” (5:14). And the Apostle James tells us, “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss....” God does not hear the prayers of those who refuse to obey Him and are unwilling to do those things which please Him. We are told that “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do His commandments” (Psa. 111:10).

The Prophet Isaiah also tells us that if we cease committing wickedness, and really obey God, then He will hear us and answer our prayers (Isa. 58:3-14). “Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you that He will not hear” (59:1-2). Verses 3-19 further explain the importance of living upright, godly lives—if we truly want our prayers to be heard by the Most High Creator God.

An angel of God told the Prophet Daniel, “But thou, O Daniel... many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.... And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand” (Dan. 12:4, 9-10). Thus we see that spiritual understanding of the Word of God is dependent upon two things: 1) our obedience to God and our implicit faith in Him and His Word, and 2) God’s willingness to reveal such spiritual knowledge and understanding to us, when the time has come for Him to reveal such knowledge.

The really big question is: “Do we really value God’s freely given offer of salvation to us? Do we truly prize the many infallible promises He has given us? Here are a few of the many hundreds of promises which Almighty God gives His people:

1) God promises eternal life to all who accept Jesus Christ, and obey Him by keeping His commandments (Matt. 19:16-29; Rev. 22:14-19). “In hope of ETERNAL LIFE which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began” (Titus 1:3). 2) God promises life and health to those who live by His Word (Prov. 3:1-10; 3 John 2). 3) Our Creator promises divine healing to those who are sick, if we meet His conditions of faith and obedience (Exod. 15:25; James 5:13-16; Mark 16:17-18). 4) Our great God promises complete forgiveness of all our sins (Psa. 103:3; Isa. 1:17-20; Rom. 8:1). 5) God also promises—that His holy angel(s) will protect His people (Psa. 34:7; Matt. 18:10; Acts 12:15). 6) He also promises to give His people badly needed wisdom, understanding and knowledge (James 1:5-8). Much wisdom and knowledge is provided in the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. 7) God promises us that we will “inherit the earth” as our eternal inheritance (Matt. 5:5; Psa. 37). 8) And the Great God also promises that all true “overcomers” will “inherit all things” (Rev. 21:7)! We will become co-inheritors with our Creator God, Who will graciously share all of His creation with all of His children! Besides these promises, He has given us literally hundreds more in His Word!

What will we do with the wonderful knowledge of God—containing many infallible promises, and of God’s gracious offer to freely bequeath immortality to all who voluntarily choose to obey Him and His Word? We have been offered a tremendous “spiritual birthright” which guarantees us immortality, to live in perfect peace, joy and unity for all eternity. Will we forget God’s many solemn promises to bless us with such transcendent blessings? Will we to treat “cheaply” our wonderful spiritual birthright? Will we, like Jacob’s profane brother Esau, “despise” our spiritual birthright, and give up that wonderful birthright for the Satanic clever enticements found in this world’s cheap pleasures, riches and deceitful allurements (Gen. 27:30; Heb. 12:14-17)?

“But ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the CITY of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem [the New Jerusalem, Rev. 21, 22], and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and CHURCH OF THE FIRSTBORN which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the SPIRITS OF JUST MEN made perfect” (Heb. 12:22-23). God is “perfecting” in “His people” the “spirits” of just men and women, who have voluntarily yielded to Him and His way of life.

God is helping us overcome all wrong attitudes and “imperfections of the spirit” which we have acquired by contact with Satan’s utterly corrupt world. God is eliminating the rough edges in our character, and is “polishing” our spiritual character so it will forever shine as the STARS of heaven. But we must cooperate with Him if we are to overcome the imperfections in our character, by receiving more and more of the perfect “mind” and “character” of Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 2:16). After going through many “fiery trials and tests,” our God-like character will shine like polished gold that has been refined in the fire (1 Pet. 1:6-7)!

The Prophet Daniel describes the time of the First Resurrection (the “resurrection of the just”) when God’s people “shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the BOOK [Book of Life]. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake [be resurrected], some to everlasting life.... And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the STARS for ever and ever” (Dan. 12:1-3)!

Those who will be with Christ at His glorious Second Coming (1Thes. 5:13-18), will be among the relatively few who have been “CALLED, and CHOSEN and FAITHFUL” (Rev. 17:14). Jesus warned, “Many be CALLED, but few are CHOSEN” to become members of His True Church, the spiritual “Body of Christ” in this N. T. Church Age (Matt. 20:16)!

The Prophet Malachi also describes this process of spiritual refinement, and the end result, which will produce beautiful God-like character: “Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the LORD.... And they shall be Mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up MY JEWELS, and I will spare them.... Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not” (Mal. 3:16-18).

Daniel and Malachi describe the wonderful “First Resurrection” (the “better resurrection”), when Christ will tell His obedient children, “Come, ye blessed of My Father, INHERIT THE KINGDOM prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 25: 34). The righteous will then be given joyous “ETERNAL LIFE” in God’s glorious Kingdom—and will forever shine “as the stars” in heaven above (Dan. 12:3)!