Greetings, dear Bez, and peace to you! I am glad Inkie was able to give you his views (peace to you!), which are in line with mine. I would also like to address your other questions, if I may - thank you!
Of course as a witness i have believed in the 'new heaven and new earth'.. ie, paradise for the righteous... heaven for the 'annointed 144000'
The WTBTS teaching is the earth will be sort of made over, into a paradise, on which those the great crowd will live... and that the heavens will be "new" due to the 144,000 who will then be there and ruling. This is not entirely accurate, however. Both the great crowd and the 144,000 go to heaven, initially, to be joined to the Lamb as his Bride. That is because the marraige ceremony takes place in the father's house - however, the man and wife eventually make their home in the man's house. Thus, these two groups... which form ONE body, ONE nation (144,000 "from among the sons of Israel" AND a "great crowd out of EVERY nation, tribe, tongue, and people), make up the Bride of Christ... New Jerusalem. Along with her King, Christ, however, that Bride... "comes down OUT of heaven"... and so is situated UPON the earth. That is how Gog and Magog are able to come against her.
That City/Bride, New Jerusalem, is made up of people: Christ, the Cornerstone; the Apostles, the Foundation/Gates; the Prophets and others, the pillars; with most being "living stones."
Those who are part of that City/Bride become "like the angels" in various senses, including that they can now go "in and out" between the spirit and physical realms. "Paradise" is IN that City/Bride... by means of Christ, the Tree of Life (True Vine, Root of Jesse, Sprout!)... who is in the MIDST of her and, along with God... is HER temple... and light.
The earth is "new" in that now, without Gog (wicked people/"goats")... only righteousness dwells in it. The heavens are new in that now, without Magog (wicked spirits that are destroyed by fire along with Gog)... no longer exist in them. Both are cleansed... of wickedness, evil, unrighteous... because those foment such things... Satan, the wild beast, the false prophet, Babylon the Great, wicked spirit beings (Magog) and black-hearted humans (Gog)... no longer exist.
... And a ressurection to life on earth for judgement for those asleep in death...so what now?
First, a resurrection to life is not judgment... it is LIFE. Which is NOT the same thing as resurrection to judgment. The WTBTS falsely teaches that when you die you pay for your sins so that you are resurrected and given a "second chance" while Satan and evil are at bay. This is a LIE. You cannot pay for your sins - YOUR blood atones... for nothing. Thus, when you die... you only pay the PRICE imposed by sin. You cannot redeem yourself BACK, however, as that requires another payment: one paid by Christ... with HIS blood. Do you see? You owe a debt so that when you die, it's paid. Cancelled. But... you are still dead. LIFE... is a GIFT... from God... the "price" of which YOUR death cannot pay.
There are two resurrections, dear one, as dear Inkie pointed out: the first resurrection takes place immediately after the tribulation, when our Lord returns to gather his chosen ones. All others remain dead... for the time being. The return of our Lord and gathering of his chosen ones (those who have died, who are resurrected to spirit bodies - "white robes"... and those who have NOT died, and so are immediately changed to spirit bodies), is immediately followed by his "marriage" to the Bride... and the abyssing of Satan. Immediately after that... they return to the physical realm... to sit down on thrones and "separate" the sheep from the goats. This is their co-rulership with Christ... which lasts "1,000" years.
The REST of the dead do not come to life, however, until the SECOND resurrection... which takes places AFTER Christ has turned the kingdom over to the Father... which occurs AFTER the War of the Great Day of God Almighty (which you know as "Armageddon")... which is AFTER Gog and Magog come against the Holy City (which has already "come down out of heaven," because it did so when Christ and his Bride sat down to begin ruling)... which occurs AFTER Satan has been loosed... which occurs... AFTER... the "1,000" years... have ended.
Meaning, the general resurrection doesn't take place until after Armageddon... which doesn't take place... until after the 1,000 years have ended... which 1,000 years does not begin... until our Lord returns... which doesn't occur... until immediately AFTER... the tribulation. Since the tribulation has not yet begun... we've got quite a long way to go before the general resurrection occurs.
So, I hope that helps. I did not quote Bible verses for you because although it's all there... I would tell you that if you need corroboration, just go directly to the Source, Christ.
I bid you peace!
YOUR servant and a slave of Christ,
SA
