Nov. 26, 2023

THE AFTERLIFE

Week 3 – The Hope of Heaven

November 26, 2023

WHAT YOU BELIEVE ABOUT __________ DETERMINES _______ YOU LIVE ____________.

1 Corinthians 2:9 NLT … “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”

John 14:1-6 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Revelation 21:1-5, 7 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. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” 5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” … 7 “Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.”

THREE MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT HEAVEN

1) HEAVEN IS NOT ____________.

• We will know one another, _______, and be _________. (1 Cor. 13:12-13)

• Heaven will be a place of unimaginable ___________. (Rev. 21:15-21)

• In heaven, you will see Jesus _________ to ________. (1 John 3:2)

• You will have _______ and __________ bodies. (1 Cor. 15:35-54,

Malachi 4:2, Isaiah 35:5-6)

• Heaven is the absence of everything ________, painful, and evil. It’s the presence of everything ________, holy, and glorious. (Isaiah 65:17-25, Rev. 21:21-27)

2) THIS IS ____________.

Philippians 3:19-20… Their mind is set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 4:18 … For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

3) Only __________ PEOPLE ARE ___________ TO HEAVEN.

Romans 3:23-25 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. …

1 Corinthians 15:55, 57-58 “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” … 57But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain