with God, all opposing forces must be removed. There is not the slightest indication that those governing mankind today are willing to hand over their sovereignty to Jesus Christ and his associate rulers. They scoff at the idea that a heavenly government will take full control over earth’s affairs. That is why they will have to be forced to recognize the authority of God’s kingdom by his Christ. This will be at the cost of their ruling positions as well as their lives. As the Bible tells us: “In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be brought to ruin. And the kingdom itself will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite.”​—Daniel 2:44.

After clearing out all opposition, the Kingdom administration will set itself to the task of liberating humans from sickness and death. How will this be accomplished?

Chapter 16

An Earth Free from Sickness and Death

WHAT grand relief an earth forever free from sickness and death would mean for us humans! It would put an end to the bitter tears shed in expression of grief and suffering. Gone would be the excruciating pain and horrible deformities that sickness can bring. No longer would the ravages of old age weaken humans, often bringing them to a state of hopeless despair and helplessness. People everywhere would be enjoying youthful strength and vigor. Not a single mournful sound would ever come forth from their lips!

This is not based on idle imagination. It is what Jehovah God has purposed. He has far more in mind for mankind than just a few years of life filled with problems and suffering.​—Revelation 21:3, 4.

COULD IT LEAD TO TREMENDOUS PROBLEMS?

But would an earth free from sickness and death give rise to other serious problems? Do you wonder: Where would all the people live? Would not the end of sickness and death quickly bring about crowded conditions, making life unpleasant, and leading to great food shortage?

It was never God’s purpose to overpopulate the earth. To the perfect Adam and Eve, God said: “Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth.” (Genesis 1:28) There is quite a difference between ‘filling’ the earth and overpopulating it. If someone asked you to fill a glass with juice, you would not keep on pouring until the glass overflowed. Once the glass was sufficiently filled, you would stop pouring. Similarly, once the earth was comfortably filled with humankind, God would see to it that further population growth stopped on this planet.

Moreover, we should not, on the basis of what we see or hear today, misjudge earth’s ability to provide a home for us and to sustain human and animal life. While large populations are jammed together in cities, vast regions of the earth are sparsely populated. If the present population were evenly distributed, there would be about six acres of fertile land for every man, woman and child. This would be more than ample room indeed!

The hunger that so many humans must endure in various parts of the earth is not because the full capability of the soil to produce has been reached. Rather, widespread food shortage stems mainly from an unequal distribution of food supplies. Whereas much is produced in certain areas and surpluses exist, in other places there are extreme shortages. Actually, the earth could produce much more than it does at present. Back in 1970 the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimated the world’s agricultural potential to be great enough to feed about forty-two times as many people as the present world population.

What man has already done in some regions of the earth gives some indication of what great possibilities there are for increasing earth’s productivity.

The Imperial Valley of California was once an inhospitable, uncultivated desert. But irrigation of the mineral-rich desert soil has made this valley one of the richest agricultural regions in the United States.

With about half the farmland, Europe, through more intensive cultivation, produces about as much food as North America.

Truly there can be no question that more land could be brought under more intensive cultivation, and that without spoiling the beauty of forests and meadows.

There is yet another factor that will assure an ample food supply for an earth comfortably filled with animal and human life. What is that? It is the divine help and direction that will then be given to mankind under the administration of God’s kingdom by his Son Jesus Christ. No one knows the earth better than does God, for he is its Creator. And under the wise administration of his kingdom the land will yield abundantly. As was the experience of ancient Israel when faithful, so it will be then: “The earth itself will certainly give its produce; God, our God, will bless us.”​—Psalm 67:6.

Dry deserts and other unproductive areas, occupying millions of acres, will doubtless be reclaimed on a large scale. Receiving divine help in getting needed water is not without historical parallel. Back in the sixth century B.C.E., in fulfillment of God’s prophetic promises, thousands of Jewish exiles returned to Jerusalem from Babylon. (Ezra 2:64-70) They evidently took a direct route through the inhospitable Syrian Desert. Yet God provided what they needed to keep alive. Even regarding their homeland he had predicted: “In the wilderness waters will have burst out, and torrents in the desert plain.”​—Isaiah 35:6.

Since God did this in the past, we have good reason to expect that under the administration of his kingdom by Christ this will be done on a far grander scale.

We need not fear that the ushering in of an earth free from sickness and death will give rise to unpleasant conditions. Not only will there be no overcrowding, but everyone will be able to eat food to satisfaction.

The administration in the hands of God’s appointed King, Jesus Christ, and his 144,000 fellow rulers will see to it that earth’s inhabitants are well cared for. Pointing to the abundance of wholesome food to be enjoyed, the prophecy of Isaiah states: “Jehovah of armies will certainly make for all the peoples, in this mountain, a banquet . . . of well-oiled dishes filled with marrow, of wine kept on the dregs, filtered.”​—Isaiah 25:6.

We can have confidence in Jehovah God, the One of whom the Bible declares: “You are opening your hand and satisfying the desire of every living thing.” (Psalm 145:16) Never has he failed to fulfill his promises. As the Scriptures say of ancient Israel: “Not a promise failed out of all the good promise that Jehovah had made to the house of Israel; it all came true.”​—Joshua 21:45.

HOW SICKNESS AND DEATH WILL PASS AWAY

Besides promising to provide the material things that humans need in order to enjoy life, Jehovah God has promised something worth much more. What is that? Relief from sickness and death. His declared purpose about the grand banquet mentioned in Isaiah is, in fact, followed up by the promise: “He will actually swallow up death forever, and the Sovereign Lord Jehovah will certainly wipe the tears from all faces.”​—Isaiah 25:8.

In harmony with God’s promise here expressed, the Kingdom administration in the hands of Jesus Christ and his associate rulers will be working toward bringing about the liberation of humankind from death. As sickness and death have come about through our being born imperfect sinners due to inheritance from the first man Adam, the death-dealing effects of sin must be counteracted. How?

The basis for doing so must be an arrangement that satisfies justice. Logically it must be an arrangement that offsets the damage caused by the rebellion of Adam. What Adam lost must be regained. The price would have to be a ransom having the exact value of what Adam lost, namely, perfect human life with all its rights and prospects.

None of Adam’s sinful descendants could provide such a ransom. This is made clear at Psalm 49:7: “Not one of them can by any means redeem even a brother, nor give to God a ransom for him.” But Christ Jesus could do so, for he was a perfect man, and he willingly laid down his life, thereby giving “his soul a ransom in exchange for many.”​—Matthew 20:28.

On the basis of his sacrificing his own perfect human life, Jesus Christ is in position to apply the benefits of his atoning sacrifice for the uplift of mankind from enslavement to sin. As sinful tendencies have become part of the human makeup, it will take time and help to overcome these. Under the Kingdom in the hands of Jesus Christ, all its human subjects will receive training in the way of righteousness.​—Revelation 20:12; Isaiah 26:9.

However, this does not necessarily mean that those suffering from a serious physical disability or deformity are going to have to wait a long period of time during which they will finally recover from their affliction. When Jesus Christ was here on the earth, he healed the sick and afflicted instantly, miraculously. A number of cures he performed from a distance, while he was unseen by the afflicted ones and not in immediate touch with them. (Matthew 8:5-13; 15:21-28; Luke 7:1-10) Therefore any seriously handicapped persons, like a person with one leg or one arm, living when the Kingdom begins administering all of earth’s affairs can hope for miraculous, instantaneous healing at God’s appointed time. Marvelous indeed it will be to see sight restored to the blind, hearing to the deaf and soundness of body to the disfigured, maimed and deformed!

The bringing of humans to full perfection in body and mind, however, will be a gradual process, requiring the application of Jesus’ atoning sacrifice and obedience to the direction of the Kingdom administration. What will take place might be compared to rehabilitating a disabled person under the guidance of a skilled therapist. During the course of his training the disabled person may make many mistakes but eventually he may come to the point where he is able to live a useful life without having to depend on others. The progress he makes depends on his response to the help given.

QUALIFICATIONS OF THOSE REHABILITATING IMPERFECT HUMANS

In rehabilitating the human race, Jesus Christ has all the needed qualifications. Having lived as a man on earth, he has personal acquaintance with the problems of imperfect humans. Though perfect, he, nevertheless, experienced suffering and sorrow, to the point of shedding tears. The Bible record tells us: “In the days of his flesh Christ offered up supplications and also petitions to the One who was able to save him out of death, with strong outcries and tears, and he was favorably heard for his godly fear. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered.”​—Hebrews 5:7, 8.