Come down from the clouds, you may be
thinking, this could never happen. Really? Guess
what? I know this may seem hard to fathom, but
the Good Book predicts that someday it will.
“Behold, I make all things new” (Revelation 21:5),
promises God Almighty. Not only that, but you
can live forever in that Paradise, if you make the
right choice. Let me explain.
The mystery is hidden within an ancient
prophecy about Jesus Christ. “Now this is His
name by which He shall be called, THE LORD
OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Jeremiah 23:6). The word,
“righteousness,” or “right doing,” simply means
to keep the Ten Commandments, “the law of
righteousness” (see Romans 9:31) without a flaw.
Obviously, none of us has ever been there or done
that. Instead, “all have sinned” (Romans 3:23).
But the good news is that nearly two thousand
years ago--in a supreme act of love--Jesus kept
the Ten Commandments (see John 15:10) for us,
in our behalf. As a result, He is now “THE LORD
OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.”
Now here’s some
bad news we can’t avoid. “The wages of sin is
death” (Romans 6:23). In other words, the divine
penalty for breaking the Ten Commandments is
eternal destruction. Justice requires it. There’s no
escaping it. On the other hand, here’s more good
news: At the end of His earthly life, “Christ died for