Yesterday I shared part 1 on this topic, so if you haven't read that you might want to go back to that first before diving into part 2.
The Theme of this teaching came from a question I was asked a couple of months ago. This person wanted to hear some teaching on life after death - what happens when we die? Where do we go? What happens? All good questions that I began to explore yesterday and will finish today.
I ended yesterday with this paragraph: "We have the hope of a physical resurrection…but that creates all sorts of other questions, such as what will look like?, and be able to do? and will we see things on earth, etc…?
Here's where we begin today:
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,
26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
The Theme of this teaching came from a question I was asked a couple of months ago. This person wanted to hear some teaching on life after death - what happens when we die? Where do we go? What happens? All good questions that I began to explore yesterday and will finish today.
I ended yesterday with this paragraph: "We have the hope of a physical resurrection…but that creates all sorts of other questions, such as what will look like?, and be able to do? and will we see things on earth, etc…?
Here's where we begin today:
What happens to us after death?
Do you remember the story of Lazarus’ death and Jesus
raising him from the dead?
John 11:17 (ESV)
17 Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.
17 Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.
John 11:20-26 (ESV)
20 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house.
21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”
20 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house.
21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”
[MARTHA IS SAYING WHAT JEWS
BELIEVED, AND SO DO MANY BELIEVERS TODAY… THE SOMEDAY ASPECT...NOT NOW THOUGH!]
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,
26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
Or, as Paul says in 2 Timothy 1:10 (ESV)
10 [Grace] has now been
manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished
death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,
The Greek word for Immortality means
“Incorruptibility”… Not “Decay”. Death
is a doorway to life with God…AND, its LIFE, without the incorruptibility of
sin, decay, death… That's why Jesus could say He is the Resurrection and Life... Lazarus was dead four days but Jesus is LIFE, and that life is incorruptible, not bound by death, disease, decay.
Paul adds to this:
2 Corinthians 5:1,2 (ESV)
1 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling,
1 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling,
He paints a picture where the imagery of our body as a tent is compared to a
building – a tent is temporary, not very sturdy, subject to falling apart…
But the building is made by God…so what happens is we
are transformed…without the sin problems and temptations, the bodily diseases
and pains…
What does it look like? Paul says it like this:
Philippians 3:20-21 (ESV)
20 … we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
20 … we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
1 John 3:2 (ESV)
2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
We are transformed into Christ’ perfection:
Hebrews 12:22-23 (ESV)
22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering,
23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,
22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering,
23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,
With Innumerable saints, and angels, we are made
perfect in Christ’s presence. How?
Hebrews 9:12 (ESV)
12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.
12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.
I’m not sure the order of these things, but this I
know, there is a glory in heaven
we’ve never seen or imagined.
2 Corinthians 12:2-4 (ESV)
2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows.
3 And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—
4 and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.
2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows.
3 And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—
4 and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.
For us, heaven becomes this place of LIFE…
LIFE With God.
Revelation 21:1-5 (ESV) describes what
will occur there.
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”
Revelation 21:10-11 (ESV) describes the
awe…beauty, grandeur
10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God,
11 having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.
10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God,
11 having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.
Revelation 21:22-23 (ESV) describes
Heaven’s uniqueness
22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.
23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.
22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.
23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.
Rhythms of life as we know it…sunrise, sunset,
seasons, etc…all will be changed.
Revelation 22:1-5 (ESV) describes the
majesty of it.
1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.
4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.
5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.
4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.
5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
At the end of it all, there is eternity with God
without sin, disease, anything that can destroy…LIFE, Life that never ends and
Life that lives in Love and Harmony with all that God is and does.
Beautiful, Awesome, Beyond Our Current Comprehension.
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