1881 Watch Tower - A2Z.org

spiritual plane (except those who die the "second death") "then(at the end of the 1000 years reign of Christ and the saints,)cometh the end," "when he shall have put down all rule and allauthority and power." For he must reign until he hath put allenemies under his feet-- The last enemy that shall be destroyed(during that 1000 years reign) is death" (Adamic) in all itsforms; sickness, and pain, as well as the tomb--"Then the end"will have come--the end of sin on earth, the end of the greatwork of ransoming mankind and bringing them into fullharmony with their Creator. Then--the Son shall deliver up thekingdom--dominion of earth to God even the Father; that Godmay be all--and his will done in all. See vs. 23-28.====================R206 : page 2FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.(A SUGGESTION.)"Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom preparedfor you from the foundation of the world." Matt. 25:34.Which world is this at whose foundation the kingdom isprepared? If there were only one world, and therefore the wordworld always meant the same thing, there would be no room fordiscrimination; but as there are three worlds.--The world thatwas, the world that now is, and the world to come,--there isroom for the question, "Which world is meant?" The Greekword translated world, wherever the heading of this article isfound, is Kosmos, which, sometimes means the people, or worldof mankind, as in John 3:16, "God so loved the world," but oftenmeans, as Greek scholars tell us, the order or condition ofthings. The order or state of things--heaven and earth--whichwas, Peter tells us, ended at the flood; the second order ends at,or during, the sounding of the seventh trumpet which isassociated with the second coming of Christ; and then begins thenew or third order; the new heaven and earth wherein dwellethrighteousness. 2 Pet. 3.Now from the foundation of which of these three worlds is thekingdom of God prepared? Our suggestion is, that it is the thirdworld and not the first. That the same expression is used in someScriptures in reference to the first world, we do not doubt; andas to which is meant the plan of the ages should in all casesdetermine.We think it is clear that the Bible reveals three kingdom ages--the Jewish, Gospel and Millennial ages,-- represented by theSavior as the three measures of meal, in which the work goes onto completion. We can find no trace of a kingdom before theJewish age. In it the typical kingdom was organized. In theGospel age, as shown by many of the Savior's parables, the