The Real Life
“The original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan”, lied to Eve. He told her she “certainly will not die”, if she ate of the “fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden”. Thus, “the woman was thoroughly deceived and became a transgressor”. Since then, Satan has been “misleading the entire inhabited earth”.
Why did he do this? What was his goal?
He exposed himself when he again tempted a perfect human. With the last of his three temptations, he showed Jesus “all the kingdoms of the world and their glory”. He then told Jesus: “All these things I will give you if you fall down and do an act of worship to me.”
And there we have it. Satan’s true goal. He greedily wants the worship of mankind. We also see part of Satan’s goal when Jesus referred to him as “the ruler of this world”. Satan wants to rule the world and receive the worship of mankind.
Did this angel who became Satan think he would be able to steal rulership over the earth and the worship due to Jehovah and continue to live indefinitely without any adverse consequences? Perhaps, but the Bible doesn’t say.
But if so, imagine the wonderful humiliation Satan must feel over Jehovah choosing to give us what Satan wanted. Rulership over the earth and mankind. And although Jehovah is the only one who should be worshiped, mankind will be required to obey us as their kings. And we will forever be honored and have the gratitude of all mankind for our efforts to raise them to perfection.
And we will have immortality. Imagine that! Completely independent life, without needing to rely on anyone or anything, including Jehovah himself, to sustain our life.
And an incorruptible spirit body. A body that is completely beyond the ability of anyone or anything to harm in any way.
How wonderful it is to be “children of God”! How wonderful it is to be so blessed by him!
Satan wanted to use us as tools to steal glory for himself. But Jehovah will use us to embarrass and humiliate Satan. Freely giving us what Satan so desperately wanted. And we accept this glory, with Jehovah’s blessing. Yes, “the God who gives peace will crush Satan under” our feet. Indeed, regarding Jesus, Jehovah told Satan: “He will crush your head”. And when Jehovah’s word tells us that Jehovah “will crush Satan under” our feet, he is making clear that we will share in the fulfillment of this first prophecy. We will join Jesus in humiliating, embarrassing, and ultimately destroying Satan.
How miserable our existence is to Satan! We are the thorn in his side, and a source of great irritation to him. Jehovah will give us all that Satan wanted and more. He will give us weak and fleshly creatures immortality and incorruption, rulership over the earth, and the adoration of all mankind.
Satan knows this and it causes him to grind and gnash his teeth. How happy we are to know that our blessings from Jehovah causes Satan such anguish and turmoil! How we enjoy to rub it in his face.
To that end, let’s enjoy our discussion of immortality and incorruption. What is immortality? What is incorruption? How are they different, and how do they work together? And finally, why are they such precious gifts?
WHAT IS MORTAL MUST PUT ON IMMORTALITY
What is immortality?
It is endlessness. A quality of life that is indestructible. Put simply, it is deathlessness. A person that is immortal cannot die. It is not simply a matter of never dying, it is not being able to die. It is not that an immortal person will never die, it is that they cannot die.
An immortal person is not dependent on any outside source to sustain their life. We will be self-sustaining. Thus, upon our resurrection to heavenly life, Jehovah will grant us the ability to live without needing to rely even on him to sustain our life.
Jehovah himself has such a life, for the inspired word says that Jehovah is “from everlasting to everlasting”. And it says concerning us that “we will be like him”.
It is also clear that upon his resurrection, Jesus was granted “the power of an indestructible life”. “For we know that Christ, now that he has been raised up from the dead, dies no more; death is no longer master over him.” And this will apply to us because “we will certainly also be united with him in the likeness of his resurrection”. And so upon our resurrection, like Jesus, over us “the second death has no authority”.
What an amazing blessing we will have to be granted immortality! Like Jehovah and Jesus, death will be impossible for us.
But our blessings do not end with being granted immortality. We will also be given incorruption. What is that?
WHAT IS CORRUPTIBLE MUST PUT ON INCORRUPTION
Incorruption is the quality of a body that is not subject to decay, ruin, or destruction.
Corruptible means, “capable of being corrupted”. So just because something is not corrupt, does not mean that it is not corruptible.
We see this in the messianic prophecy concerning Jesus. David says in the Psalm: “For you will not leave me in the Grave. You will not allow your loyal one to see the pit”. Peter applies David’s word to Jesus when he says: “Jesus the Nazarene’ was a man publicly show to you by God”, and “David says about him . . . ‘you will not leave me in the Grave nor will you allow your loyal one to see corruption’”. Peter further makes the application, stating that David “foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was he forsaken in the Grave nor did his flesh see corruption”.
And so we see that the scriptures make a connection between corruption and the decay, decomposition, and disintegration of the body. Thus, Jehovah disposed of Jesus fleshly body before it began to decay. So it proved true that Jehovah did not allow Jesus flesh to see corruption.
With this knowledge, we understand that incorruption involves having a body that is incapable of decay, or being destroyed in any way. Yes, the spirit body we will have will be indestructible. Jehovah even limits himself by giving us a body that he promises to never destroy. And so, by his own word, he makes it impossible for even himself to destroy our spirit bodies.
But corruption and corruptibility may relate to immaterial things as well. It is not just our fleshly bodies that are deteriorating toward death, and can see destruction after our death. Good habits can be corrupted, or spoiled. Paul warns us that “bad associations spoil useful habits”, or “corrupt good morals”. Thus there is moral corruption.
Minds can be corrupted away from Jehovah. Paul said that just “as the serpent seduced Eve by its cunning, your minds might be corrupted away from the sincerity and the chastity that are due the Christ”. And Paul tells Timothy that if anyone “teaches another doctrine and does not agree with the wholesome instruction, which is from our Lord Jesus Christ, nor with the teaching that is in harmony with godly devotion”, it can lead to, among other things, “constant disputes about minor matters by men who are corrupted in mind and deprived of the truth, thinking that godly devotion is a means of gain”. Paul goes on to tell Timothy regarding the same kind of individuals, that “in the way that Jan’nes and Jam’bres opposed Moses, so these also go on opposing the truth. Such men are completely corrupted in mind, disapproved as regards the faith”. And so there is mental corruption.
This can lead to our entire personality being corrupted. The Ephesians were told: “You were taught to put away the old personality that conforms to your former course of conduct and that is being corrupted according to its deceptive desires”. And Jude warns us: “These men are speaking abusively about all the things they really do not understand. And in all the things that they do understand by instinct like unreasoning animals, they go on corrupting themselves”.
Even a perfect human body is corruptible. Meaning it is still subject to ruin or decay, thus not beyond such things. Paul said the after Jesus resurrection, he was “never again to return to corruption”. How could Paul say this when Peter made clear Jesus flesh never saw corruption? Because Jesus body, though perfect, was still a corruptible human body. The only reason it did not see corruption in the grave is because Jehovah acted to miraculously dispose of the body.
But what about us, upon whom Jesus has “shed light upon life and incorruption through the good news”?
We have a measure of moral incorruption even now. We are told the Jehovah’s “divine power has granted us all the things that contribute to life and godly devotion through the accurate knowledge of the One who called us by his own glory and virtue. Through these things he has granted us the precious and very grand promises, so that through these you may become sharers in divine nature, having escaped from the world’s corruption produced by wrong desire”. So we see that because we have “escaped from the world’s corruption” and have been “granted us all the things that contribute to life and godly devotion through the accurate knowledge of the One who called us”, we can thus have the hope of becoming “sharers in divine nature”. So even now we have “escaped from the world’s corruption”. And together we are “loving our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruptness” even now.
And at this time, we have been set free from the “enslavement to corruption”, or enslavement to sin.
However, even though we have escaped corruption and have not been spiritually corrupted, we still have not become incorruptible. Being incorruptible means that we cannot be corrupted. And yet, while living on in the flesh as anointed ones, we are told that it is possible for anointed ones to experience the “the shipwreck of their faith”. And so it is clear that our faith can be corrupted. And for this reason, Paul told our Corinthian brothers and sisters: “I am afraid that somehow, as the serpent seduced Eve by its cunning, your minds might be corrupted away from the sincerity and the chastity that are due the Christ”.
No, we are not now incorruptible. That is why we are “seeking glory and honor and incorruptibleness by endurance in work that is good”. Yes, this kind of incorruptibleness that we seek by faithful endurance relates to our glorification at the time of our resurrection as actual spirit sons of God. At that time, we will be incorruptible in morality, and thus incapable of sinning.
But more than that, and primarily what Paul means when he says: “this which is corruptible puts on incorruption”, is that at our glorification, we will possess a spirit body that cannot be harmed, damaged or destroyed. We shall possess a spirit body that is indestructible.
And so we see what great blessings we shall have in that we will be granted immortality and incorruption.
But what are the differences between the two, and how do they work together?
SHARERS IN DIVINE NATURE
Immortality refers to the quality of the life we will enjoy, its endlessness and indestructibility. Incorruption relates to the spirit body that Jehovah will give us, a spirit body that is inherently beyond decay, ruin, or destruction. This is how they are different.
But what does the two of them working together accomplish for us?
By being granted an immortal life and an incorruptible body, Jehovah thus grants us the power to be self-sustaining, not dependent upon outside sources of energy as are Jehovah’s other creatures, both fleshly and spirit. This is a stirring evidence of Jehovah’s confidence in us.
Yes, it is through being immortal and incorruptible that we become “sharers in divine nature”. What does “divine nature” mean?
Paul says “we should not think that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone, like something sculptured by the art and design of humans”. In saying “the Divine Being”, it is clear that Paul is referring to Jehovah. And certainly, Jehovah is the Divine Being. Thus we learn that “divine nature” pertains to Jehovah.
We learn something else about “divine nature” from Paul, when he says that Jehovah’s “invisible qualities are clearly seen from the world’s creation onward, because they are perceived by the things made, even his eternal power and Godship, so that they are inexcusable”. The term “Godship” refers to the rank, character, or personality of a god. It means deity, or divine. And refers to the quality of being a god. And so we learn that “divine nature” involves godship.
True “divine nature” therefore, pertains to Jehovah and involves godship. And as we have considered, Jehovah has immortality and incorruption. And these are things that only Jehovah himself can bestow on others.
And from an eternity into the past, until just around 2,000 years ago, Jehovah alone possessed this “divine nature”. However, 2,000 years ago, a remarkable change occurred. Jehovah resurrected Jesus with the blessing of “divine nature”.
It is true that before Jesus came to earth, he “was a god”, though not “the only true God” that we worship. But as we have seen, he did not possess immortality and incorruption.
Yes, it was upon his resurrection that he was given “divine nature” by Jehovah. And he has come to be called “Mighty God”. For a fact, it is concerning Jesus when Paul says: “it is in him that all the fullness of the divine quality dwells bodily”.
And so, although we do not worship Jesus like we do Jehovah, the “Almighty God”, we understand and acknowledge the divinity of Jesus. Yes, Jesus now possesses immortality, incorruption and has godship bestowed upon him.
And to us who shall be raised up in the likeness of Jesus, Peter, who was given the same hope as us, says that Jehovah’s “divine power has granted us all the things that contribute to life and godly devotion through the accurate knowledge of the One who called us by his own glory and virtue. Through these things he has granted us the precious and very grand promises, so that through these you may become sharers in divine nature”.
How amazing! Perfect humans will have the hope of ever-lasting life. But will nonetheless remain mortal, requiring outside sources to maintain their lives, and will still remain in corruptible human bodies. But not us! Immortality and incorruption will be ours if we remain faithful while we are in the corruptible flesh.
And even angels are not “divine beings” like we shall be. Yes, even angels are corruptible, as seen from the fact that some of them sinned. And even the angels are mortal, as seen from the fact that those that sinned will be completely destroyed by us, for “we will judge angels”.
Yes, like Jesus, our “divine nature” will become clear to all those who will dwell on earth. We shall be grated immortality and incorruption. And so we shall each become “sharers in divine nature”, thanks to “the Divine Being”, Jehovah our God. This is for us, “the real life” that we are reaching out for. Yes! “Divine nature” is within your reach.
What a precious prospect! If we remain faithful and hold fast to our happy hope, we will all be given the crown of immortal life, and shall dwell together in incorruptibility. And we shall bring misery and death to Satan and all his demons.
