Tuesday, August 1, 2017

Is There a Heaven ~ Part 3


1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

Continuing a study by David Jeremiah . . .

 The Location of Heaven

No one knows for certain where heaven is, although we can guess that it is up.  In the Bible, Paul, a follower of Christ and organizer of the Church at that time, describes Jesus as descending from heaven and ascending to heaven, which makes it appear to be above.  Paul also tells us to set our hearts and minds "on things above" and that Christ will "come down from heaven" at His Second Coming.

Colossians 3:2
Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.

John 6:38
 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.


The People That Get To Go to Heaven

It's become a common belief in our society that "all good people go to heaven."  But that is not true.  The only people that get to go to heaven are those who belong to Christ ~ anyone who has confessed that Jesus is Lord and truly believes that God raised Him from the dead.  No one can earn their way into heaven because no one is truly good ~ only Christ is truly righteous.

Romans 10:9
..if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.


From Billy Graham
Question:

Will earth be an extension of Heaven some day?

Answer:

Yes, the Bible tells us that God will bring Heaven to earth where He will live among His people at the end of this present age.
In that day, the old will be destroyed, a new earth will be created, and there will truly be Heaven on earth. The apostle Peter wrote, “We are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness”  (2 Peter 3:13)

When God created the world, the first book in the Old Testament tells us He spoke Heaven and earth and the seas into existence (Genesis 1:6-9).  In the last book of the New Testament, Christ tells John to write down His revelation of the future. “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City . . . coming down out of heaven from God. . . . And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them.’ . . . He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’ ” (Revelation 21:1-3, 5).

Earth cannot promise anything eternal. Earth’s value will plummet when Heaven comes down. with the glory of God. Someday the earth as we know it will pass away, but God’s Word will never pass away—and that is why we can say with assurance that earth has no hold on us. The Old Testament saints declared themselves strangers and aliens on earth, and we, too, should hold loosely the things of this world because they will not last.

Heaven comes down, earthly things will fall away and the goodness of God will reign.


(I encourage you to read the hi-lited scriptures.)

. . . Scriptures . . .

2 Timothy 4:18
Revelation 14:2-3
Revelation 21:4, 9-27

Once again I encourage you to get into your Bible and read these scriptures.  There's nothing like holding God's Word in your hand and letting the words jump into your heart.

For His Glory


7 comments:

  1. "When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be! When we all see Jesus we'll sing and shout the victory!!"

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  2. A wonderful post today and my all time favorite Scripture (which is listed on my blog) is 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 and I so look forward to that day.

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  3. Thanks for sharing these posts, Mary! Full of information!

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  4. Enjoyed this post this morning Miss Mary. Heaven should be our home that we long for. Hugs and blessings, Cindy

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  5. I was going to post the exact lyrics that Pamela posted! Singing it right now...we'll sing and shout the victory!! Great posts, dear friend!

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  6. Thanks for this lovely post. It was timely

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  7. I'm enjoying your "heavenly" posts, Ms. Mary. Still praying! Love you!

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