3. In reply to a trick question posed by the Sadducees, who did not believe there would be a resurrection of the dead, what glimpse did Jesus give of the future life of the saved? Luke 20:34-35.
NOTE: ‘There are men today who express their belief that there will be marriages and births in the new earth, but those who believe the Scriptures cannot accept such doctrines. The doctrine that children will be born in the new earth is not a part of the “sure word of prophecy.” The words of Christ are too plain to be misunderstood. They should forever settle the question of marriages and births in the new earth. Neither those who shall be raised from the dead, nor those who shall be translated without seeing death, will marry or be given in marriage. They will be as the angels of God, members of the royal family. I would say to those who hold views contrary to this plain declaration of Christ: Upon such matters silence is eloquence. It is presumption to indulge in suppositions and theories regarding matters that God has not made known to us in His Word. We need not enter into speculation regarding our future state.’ The Faith I Live By, page 366.
4. What change of status will the human race then undergo? Luke 20:36. Compare Psalm 8:4-5.
NOTE: ‘When Christ spoke of the condition of the righteous after the resurrection He said, “Neither can they die any more; for they are equal unto the angels.” Luke 20:36. Thus the angels in Heaven are immortal. But there is another feature in which the saints will resemble the angels, and that is in their holiness. This quality is a characteristic of the angels. This is so well known that an angel is almost a symbol of purity. When they are mentioned in the Bible, the adjective “holy” is often applied to them. The servants of Cornelius told Peter that their master had been “warned from God by an holy angel.” Acts 10:22. In Matthew 25:31, Christ Himself applied the term to all the angels of Heaven. He said: “When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of his glory.” Without these direct statements as to their character, we would know that they are holy, for Christ says of these “ministering spirits,” they “do always behold the face of My Father which is in Heaven.” Matthew 18:10. And only the pure and holy in heart can see God. Matthew 5:8; Hebrews 12:14. In what does the holiness of the angels consist? What is it that makes them holy? It must be in that they do the will of God. That the will of God is done in Heaven, is evident from Matthew 6:10; and since there are none in Heaven except the angels who do the will of God, it is a necessary consequence that they are the ones to whom Christ refers. God is holy, and the doing of His will would make one like Him, holy. From Roman 2:17, 18 we learn that God’s law is His will; and that this is the will which the angels perform, and which constitutes their holiness, is plainly stated in Psalm 103:20: “Bless the Lord, ye His angels, that excel in strength, that do His commandments, hearkening unto the voice of His word.” The perfection of the angels, then, is due to the fact that they keep the perfect law of God. Christ taught His disciples to pray, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in Heaven.” Matthew 6:10. This shows that a time will come when the commandments of God will be kept on earth even as the angels now keep them in Heaven. This will be in the new earth, wherein righteousness shall dwell. 2 Peter 3:13. But although the change of the earth from old to new will be quickly effected, and although man’s change from mortal to immortal will be brought about in the twinkling of an eye, the change to holiness is a gradual work. “Heaven is not reached at a single bound.” The work of sanctification is a progressive work. Therefore the fact that the commandments of God will some day be kept by men on earth even as they now are by the angels in Heaven, shows that they who hope to be among the equals of the angels must now be keeping the commandments of God.’ E. J. Waggoner: Signs of the Times, February 10, 1887.