The earth having been cleansed of all evildoers, crime will never be allowed to take root again. (Ps. 37:9-11) Never again will there be a need for policemen, jails, handcuffs, burglar alarms, safes, locks and keys. Under the Kingdom’s righteous rule, you will know that anyone knocking at your door is a friend. There will be complete freedom from fear of any harm. Nevermore will anyone be afraid to stroll through a park at night to view the starry handiwork of the Creator. Even as is true of God’s congregation today in a spiritual way, so then in a literal way, “they will actually dwell in security, with no one to make them tremble.”—Ezek. 34:28.

But what of sickness and death? Will these, too, be removed? Let us examine the Bible answer.

How God Will Free Mankind from Sickness and Death

THE initial program of the Kingdom will cover a period of one thousand years. During that time Jesus Christ and the members of his heavenly government will serve not only as kings but also as priests of God on behalf of all their human subjects. (Rev. 20:6) Why?

Because all persons on earth will need to be “set free from enslavement to corruption” in order to have “the glorious freedom of the children of God.” (Rom. 8:21) Even after the wicked have been destroyed, the earthly survivors will still be imperfect due to sin inherited from Adam. The wrong desires of their imperfect flesh will still be warring against the right desires of mind and heart. (Rom. 7:21-23) So, to be accepted fully in God’s family of sons, they first need the services of the heavenly priests of God. What will these do?

They will have a power that has been lacking in all human governments till now: the power to cleanse persons of sin and imperfection. This power rests in God’s heavenly priesthood by means of Jesus’ ransom sacrifice. God’s Son and his associate priests will then apply the benefits of Jesus’ sacrifice directly to all obedient ones. (John 1:29; 1 John 2:2) This provision is pictured in the Bible by the symbolic “river of water of life” that flows from the “throne of God and of the Lamb” and “the leaves of the trees . . . for the curing of the nations.”—Rev. 22:1, 2.

By making continual progress in righteousness and with the help of the heavenly priesthood, the subjects of God’s kingdom will then progressively grow young and strong, until they reach perfection of health in mind and body. They will be set completely free from the bondage