1950 This Means Everlasting Life - A2Z.org

THE ABOLITION OF DEATH 295
than John the Baptist and all other faithful persons
that preceded him .
12
By the faith of God's prophets of old a number
of persons were resurrected from the dead,
but because they were inheritors of death from
Adam and the Kingdom was not yet established,
they returned to death . All those faithful ones of
old, down to John the Baptist, died in faithfulness
to Jehovah God, and for this they will have a
resurrection better than what those had who were
resurrected to a life still under the regime of sin
and death . It will be a "better resurrection" because
it will be performed by Jehovah's greatest
Prophet, the King Jesus Christ, and it will be performed
under God's kingdom in his hands . It will
be without the unavoidable need to die again, because
it will be under the rulership of the Son of
God, whose ransom secures their release forever
from death . The opportunity to gain life on earth
eternally will then be set before them ; and with
Satan and his demons abyssed and his wicked
world gone there will be no forces to hinder their
efforts to gain the latest knowledge on God's kingdom
and to walk the paths of enlightened righteousness
toward everlasting life in this Paradise .
And since they exercised faith as far as they had
knowledge and they died in their unbreakable integrity
toward God, they have inclined toward
righteousness, and this will be to their advantage
at the resurrection under His kingdom by Christ .
13
They will not immediately be made perfect at
their resurrection, for they will have much to
learn of God's works and his revelations of
12 . How will those faithful ancients have a better resurrection?
13 . Will they be made perfect immediately? For what
reason?