When we look at the life of David, we can see that God’s decrees, regulations and laws were the object of his joy. He loved God’s commandments more than pure gold, saying that the law of God revives the soul and the precepts of God give joy to the heart (Ps 19:7-11).

God’s people should take delight in obeying every teaching of God. Everything God has told us to do is for our own spiritual benefit; it comes from the love of God who wants to give us eternal life, salvation and all other blessings. I want each and every one of you brothers and sisters in Zion to love God’s commandments and keep them, as a person after God’s own heart like David (Ac 13:22).

Training to adapt to a new world

Recently I heard the news on TV that a skydiver wearing a space suit attempted to free fall from the stratosphere beyond the troposphere and made a successful skydive, and it became an international topic of news. It is a miracle in itself that he tried jumping from the highest altitude no one had ever dared to free-fall from, even in the place where the temperature is so much colder than that on the earth’s surface and there is almost no air.

What would have happened to the skydiver if he had attempted the freefall jump without wearing a space suit? Think about astronauts. In order to go into space, they must wear special clothes that protect them from space hazards. The earth has air, and the proper air pressure helps all parts of the human body maintain their shape. However, space is a vacuum and has no atmospheric pressure, so it causes a problem in the human body; the organs inside the body swell up rapidly. The earth also has the proper environment and temperature for life, but the temperature in space is drastically different than on the earth. So space suits are made scientifically to help regulate body temperature and atmospheric pressure.

In space it is impossible to live the same way as you do on the earth. For example, the gravity of the moon is only one-sixth as strong as the earth’s, so if you can jump one meter (3.25 feet) high on the earth, you would be able to jump six meters (19.5 feet) high on the moon. So astronauts, before going into space, train themselves to adapt to conditions and life in space; they practice spacewalks underwater in a swimming pool, and they also practice eating and drinking through a tube. They need to repeat this training course until they are fully skilled and trained, so that they can explore space, adapting to life in space, when they arrive there.

As for us, we are observing the law of life, so that we can adapt to life in the kingdom of heaven we are going to. Astronauts look ridiculous when they practice walking while wearing uncomfortable space suits, but in actuality they practice living in space. Believing in God the Father and God the Mother, giving thanks, glory and praise to God, keeping God’s decrees, regulations and laws, and obeying God’s word—all these are the things we must do in order to prepare ourselves for the kingdom of heaven we are going to. In Revelation, we can see the twenty-four elders and numerous angels always give praise, glory and thanks to God before the throne (Rev 4:10-11, 5:11-14). Since the kingdom of heaven is such a place, we need to keep the laws of heaven on this earth as well, so that we will live without any problems when we go to heaven.

The Bible says, “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy,” “Celebrate the Passover in remembrance of me.” Every word in the Bible contains the will of God who wants us to enter the kingdom of heaven, our eternal home, and adapt well to life in heaven. However, people do not know this and insist on their own thoughts: ‘It doesn’t matter which day we worship—whether on Saturday or Sunday,’ ‘What does it matter if we keep the Passover or do not keep it?’ What if an astronaut takes off his space suit, thinking, ‘This suit is too thick and cumbersome,’ and instead wears his clothes from the earth and then goes out of the spacecraft in space? So, the Bible tells us not to add to or take away from God’s word, and it also says that to obey is better than sacrifice (Rev 22:18-19; 1 Sa 15:22).

Those who practice lawlessness cannot enter heaven

Living conditions in space are completely different from those on the earth. So, if you go into space, depending only on the knowledge and experience you have gained in your life on the earth, you will bump into a problem immediately. Likewise, if you try to go to the kingdom of heaven just with your own common sense and experience in life on the earth, you will encounter a problem. You are to follow exactly all the teachings of God who manages the entire universe—this is the way of life and salvation.

Mt 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ”

Those who practice lawlessness with their own thoughts are like the foolish person who goes into space without wearing a space suit. God tells us in detail how to wear a spiritual space suit. However, many people today ignore the word of God while saying to Him, “Lord, Lord,” and practice lawlessness with their own thoughts, so they are not fit for the kingdom of heaven. Here we need to focus on the word “lawlessness.” The word “lawlessness” assumes that there is the law of life that we must keep. Can an imitation appear if there is not the real thing? Since the real thing exists, the fake appears. Likewise, because there is a law, it becomes an act of lawlessness not to keep the law; if there is no law, the word “lawlessness” cannot be created. Whoever wants to go to the kingdom of heaven must learn the heavenly law and keep it on the earth, too. This law is closely related to salvation—the matter of entering the eternal heavenly kingdom. So God has taught us the law of life, and rejects all those who do not follow the law but practice lawlessness, saying that they are not worthy to enter the kingdom of heaven.

1 Jn 3:4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.

Sin comes from lawlessness. God has defined lawlessness as sin, and has made the kingdom of heaven a world where the sinners who commit lawlessness will never enter. God’s commandments contain the will of God who wants us to enjoy the heavenly life fully in the eternal kingdom of heaven.

1 Jn 3:8-10 He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.

Those who belong to the devil are lovers of lawlessness, but God’s people do not give their hearts to it no matter how sweet Satan’s temptation sounds. Satan’s world is a world which those who have the nature of sin can adapt well to. However, God’s kingdom is a place where there is no sin or lawlessness but only the law of life that God has made; only those who are accustomed to the law of life can enjoy pleasure, glory and happiness in that world.

So the distinction between Satan’s children and God’s children is determined according to whether they practice lawlessness or keep God’s law. Fish take in oxygen through their gills, so they can breathe comfortably in water; they cannot live happily in the land without water no matter how beautiful the scenery spreading out there is. In the same way, Satan’s children always live in sin, and God’s children have been created to take delight in the commands and laws of God and adjust well to them.

The fate of those who have forsaken God’s law

Those who are not God’s people cannot adjust to the kingdom of heaven, but it is the perfect place for the heavenly people. That world will be given to the children of God who take delight in God’s law of life and love it more than pure gold. Keeping this fact in mind, we should stop lawlessness from entering our minds. I want you all to always stay away from sin and abide in the new covenant, the law of life.

Jer 16:10-13 “When you tell these people all this and they ask you, ‘Why has the LORD decreed such a great disaster against us? What wrong have we done? What sin have we committed against the LORD our God?’ then say to them, ‘It is because your fathers forsook me,’ declares the LORD, ‘and followed other gods and served and worshiped them. They forsook me and did not keep my law. But you have behaved more wickedly than your fathers. See how each of you is following the stubbornness of his evil heart instead of obeying me. So I will throw you out of this land . . .’ ”

Here, too, we can see that the people forsook God and did not keep God’s law and consequently a great disaster has come upon them. The Bible teaches us that we must not turn away from God’s decrees and laws. If we do something apart from these laws of life, it belongs to the devil and we come to worship God in vain.

Mt 15:7-9 “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’ ”

Those who follow rules taught by men can never enter the kingdom of heaven. Their worship is completely in vain. God spiritually trains human beings on this earth through His commandments so that they can live in the kingdom of heaven forever and ever. However, Satan the devil comes and tempts them not to live in heaven. “It is enough just to believe in God, so there is no need for a law,” “Considering the number of Sunday-keeping people and anything else, isn’t it more reasonable to worship on Sunday?” With these cunning words, Satan is deceiving people even at this moment.

We must seek God’s glory rather than men’s, and we should hope for the glory that we will enjoy in heaven, instead of looking for the glory on this earth. When Jesus was crucified on the cross for the sins of all mankind, two robbers were also crucified with Him, one on His right and the other on His left. The robber on His left side insulted and slandered Jesus together with the Jews around him. However, the robber on His right side begged Him, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Even though he had lived his life the wrong way on this earth, he eagerly wanted to live right as a repentant person in the world to come. So, when he confessed this earnest desire and his faith in Jesus, He promised him, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Lk 23:39-43).

Our Father has taught us that the robber on Jesus’ left side only thought of his current glory, and that the robber on His right side thought of his future glory. Both of them were given the valuable chance to meet Christ at the last moment of their life, but their fates were completely different; one of them went to destruction as a result of kneeling before the current glory, and the other was greatly blessed through true repentance with faith, thinking of the future glory.

The foolish only pursue their present glory, but the wise seek their future glory. We must think about what kind of glory and blessings we will receive in the kingdom of heaven we are going to, instead of thinking about how to enjoy life now more than other people on this earth, and we need to live a more powerful life today. If an astronaut neglects training himself, he will be taken aback in everything when he goes into space. We must not neglect to keep God’s holy commandments but obey them faithfully, and above all else we should be careful not to practice lawlessness. If we follow lawlessness, we come to belong to the devil, and if we belong to the devil, we cannot go to heaven.

Our souls being recreated by the law of life

God has given us the law of life that can break the power of sin and death. Through this law of life, God is recreating and changing all aspects of our souls one by one. That is why Jesus said, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working” (Jn 5:17). God is still doing the work of spiritual creation, so that we can come to perfection.

Jer 31:31-34 “The time is coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah . . . This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the LORD. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

God says that He will put the law of the new covenant in the hearts of His people and take away all their sins. This means that those who do not have this law of life put in their hearts cannot become God’s people. We are being made new through the law of the new covenant in Christ today, too.

The decrees, regulations and laws of the new covenant, which we are keeping now, are not really something small. You may think that you just go to church on the Sabbath and just eat bread and drink wine on the Passover. However, God is now recreating us so that we can be born again as new creatures that are perfectly suitable to live in the eternal kingdom of heaven, even while we are unaware of it.

The law of the new covenant reflects God’s efforts to make us the people of heaven. Understanding this, let us obey everything God has taught us in the Bible. If God tells us to preach, let us preach. If God tells us to obey His word, let us obey it. If God tells us to devote ourselves to prayer, let us pray diligently. Whatever God says is for our future. Not forgetting this fact, let us put more of our heart and mind into the glory that will come to us, instead of seeking the present glory. Brothers and sisters in Zion! Thinking of the glory we will enjoy in the kingdom of God, let us always give thanks to our Heavenly Father and Mother for Their grace because They have given us the law of life and have led us to the truth so that we can go back to heaven, and let us also give glory and praise to Father and Mother forever.