THOSE who possess immortality live
everlastingly, but everlasting life
is not necessarily immortality. Had
our first parents remained obedient
to their Creator and been permitted
to continue partaking of the
life-giving trees of Eden, they
would have lived forever, but they
would not have been immortal.—Gen.
3:22-24
Immortality is indestructibility. It
is a quality of the Divine nature
which was possessed originally only
by God and was conferred upon Jesus
at the time of his
resurrection.—John 5:26; Heb. 1:3;
Matt. 28:18
The Apostle Paul informs us that
Jesus brought both life and
immortality to light through the
Gospel. (II Tim. 1:10) The Gospel is
the good tidings of salvation from
death through the redeeming blood of
Jesus Christ. During the Millennial
Age eternal life will be offered to
the whole world of mankind in
fulfillment of God’s promise to
bless all the families of the earth,
but those who now accept Christ,
upon the basis of faith, and
dedicate their lives to the Lord are
promised immortality.—Rom. 2:7
This means that these faithful
followers of Jesus will, in the
resurrection, be highly exalted to
be like him. (I John 3:1-3) To be
like the resurrected Jesus means to
be a partaker of the Divine
nature.—II Pet. 1:4
To attain to this exalted condition
and position implies humility and
faithfulness to the Lord in the
present life, a faithfulness
demonstrated by a willingness to
sacrifice life itself in the service
of the Lord. And it must be an
abiding faithfulness which continues
until death.—Rev. 2:10
Man was created mortal. This means
that death was a possibility, but
not a necessity. Death for humans
became a certainty because of sin.
(Gen. 2:17; Rom. 5:12) The followers
of Jesus being members of the human
race are, by nature, mortal. By
faith, the condemnation of death is
lifted from them, and they lay down
their justified humanity in
sacrifice.—Rom. 5:18; 8:1
The Apostle Paul uses the
contrasting words “corruptible” and
“incorruptible” to describe the
qualities of mortality and
immortality, and he informs us that
it is in the resurrection that
Christians, who are now mortal, or
corruptible, put on incorruption.
For emphasis Paul repeats this
thought, using the words mortal and
immortality.—I Cor. 15:53,54
Paul refers to the time when death
is swallowed up in victory. This is
one of the Old Testament promises of
God which applies to the Millennia!
Age, when mankind is restored to
perfect life on the earth. (I Cor.
15:54,55; Isa. 25:7,8) But these
blessings of everlasting human life
cannot flow out to the world of
mankind until all the true followers
of Jesus during the present age have
proved worthy of exaltation to
immortality. Then these will live
and reign with Christ for the
purpose of destroying the great
enemy Death.—I Cor. 15:25,26; Rev.
20:6
STUDENTS’ HELPS
Questions
Explain the difference between
immortality and eternal life.
What is one of the qualities of
immortality, and who first possessed
it?
Explain the manner in which Jesus
brought both life and immortality to
light through the Gospel.
When are Jesus’ followers exalted to
the Divine nature? How does one
qualify to receive immortality?
Do the followers of Jesus die as
condemned humans? Explain.
How does the Apostle Paul explain
the exaltation of Christians to
immortality, and when does this take
place?
When will death “be swallowed up in
victory”?
Reference Material
“The Divine
Plan of the Ages,” page 207, par. 1,
and page 208
Summary of Important Thoughts
Man was not created immortal, but
immortality is promised to the
faithful followers of Jesus and is
conferred upon them in the
resurrection.