Heaven

What is heaven? We don't know, but it is more wonderful, beautiful, awesome, than we can humanly imagine. It is where we will spend eternity with our God. Reference to heaven can be found more than 600 times throughout the Bible and it begins in Genesis and ends in Revelation.

 Genesis 1:1  The Creation of the World ] In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

The Bible also tells us that there will be a new heaven and a new earth--a renewed creation! Read Isaiah 65:17 in the Old Testament. The Lord says, “For behold, I create new heavens
    and a new earth,
and the former things shall not be remembered
    or come into mind."
And in the New Testament, 2 Peter 3:13 writes: "But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells."
And in Revelation 21:1 John the apostle says: "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."

We will live in heaven with our God and marvel at our eternity.  
As the apostle John states, (John 3:16): “For God so loved the world,^[a] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Jesus says, (Matt 6:19-21)“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust^[a] destroy and where thieves break in and steal, ²⁰ but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Genesis 3:1-13

One of our teachers, Edward Freeman, has asked us to study these verses in Genesis:  

The Fall

3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You^[a] shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” ² And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, ³ but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” ⁴ But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. ⁵ For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” ⁶ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise,^[b] she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. ⁷ Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
⁸ And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool^[c] of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”^{[d] 10} And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” ¹¹ He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” ¹² The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” ¹³ Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

The blame game. We have all played this game at some time or another. We can see how disastrous our poor choices can be.  And it started with Adam who blamed God for the woman he, Adam was given, then Adam blamed Eve for giving him the fruit, then the woman blamed the serpent. Quite simply, they disobeyed God. Their disobedience led to hardship and tragedy not only for themselves, but for all mankind. But God had and has a plan for us. He has redeemed those whose faith is in Jesus and His work on the cross. Our human hardships and tragedies will end for we have salvation in Jesus Christ.

Repent. The Time is Near

When people hear the word repent, they might conjure up a thin, poorly dressed man, standing on a street corner, Bible in raised hand, sternly admonishing passersby to "Repent!" They shun him and quickly walk by never giving his message a thought, other than thinking that the man is a lunatic and fanatic.

Truly, we need to pay attention. Repent means to turn from our sins and sin is not a fashionable word these days either. But we know we all "sin".  In 1 John 5:17All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.
See All... we can read, "All unrighteousness is sin . . ."   Scott Ashley writes in Good News on line magazine:  "Sin, then, is to transgress those boundaries God has set for us or to miss the target He set for us." (see http://www.ucg.org/christian-living/how-does-bible-define-sin/) .  We can go beyond breaking or bending the laws of the Ten Commandments. Ponder Matthew 22:35-40:
³⁵ One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
³⁷ Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’^{[a] 38} This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^{[b] 40} All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Do we do what Jesus advises? If not, we need to repent, yes, turn from our sins and seek God's forgiveness.  This is an ongoing process of repentance because no one is without sin. And, by putting our faith and trust in the work Jesus did for us on the Cross, we can be seen by God as justified and righteous.  He died for our sins so that we could be cleansed, past, present and future. "Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses" (Acts 13:39)  And, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Cor.5:21).
Dear readers, don't scoff at the words "Repent" or "Sin".
For truly:
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matt. 3:2)
This is serious business. Don't be left behind.

Why Did God Let That Happen?

We hear this so frequently. We read the horror stories online, in the newspaper or hear them on TV. We see our loved ones in terrible grief, pain, and distress. Even our pets suffer. Why? So much of what God allows to happen we simply don't understand.

Be comforted.  In Isaiah 55:8, 9 it is written: For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways, my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Seek the Lord. You have said, "Seek my face." My heart says to you, "Your face, Lord, I do seek." (Psalm 28:8)

Be patient.  "Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord." (Psalm 31:24)

God loves us.  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16.

Trust the Lord. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. (Proverbs 3:5)

I Am the Resurrection and the Life

The Apostle John writes in John 11: 17 Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles[c] off, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. 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. 22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” 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.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.[d] 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?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

1 John 5:11 And this is the record, that God hath given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

Ponder this and pray to our Lord for wisdom...

Death by Crucifixion and the Miracle of Resurrection

1. After the verdict of crucifixion was announced, Jesus was stripped of his clothes, then severely whipped with by a flagrum which had a sturdy handle and attached to it were leather thongs, of different length with sharp, with jagged pieces of bone and lead woven into them. 2. The cross, called a patibulum, weighed about 110 lbs. and was strapped to his shoulders. 3. When they mounted Jesus on the cross, about a 7 inch spike was driven through his heel bone and wrist. 4. The only way for a person nailed to the cross to get exhale was for the victim to push upward by his legs. Legs were broken to hasten death. In Jesus' case, the Roman's didn’t have to have his legs broken because he was already dead. The Burial 1. Usually the tomb was out of solid rock, with and entrance of 4-5.5 feet high. 2. The body was generally prepared with spices. Herod had 500 lbs., Gameliel had 85 lbs., Christ had 75 lbs. as recorded in the Bible. A gummy substance was also used, Myrrh as added to the mix. The grave clothes were wrapped around the body with a separate piece for the head. The total encasement for Jesus was probably about 92-95 lbs. 3. The stone to fit the doorway would be about 1.5-2 tons. The rock was set to roll into position via a trench. 4. The security at Jesus’ tomb was either the temple police or the Roman guard. The temple police could represent 10 or more. If a guard member fell asleep, he was beaten and burned in his own clothes. If it was a Roman guard, it would be 4-16 men who were trained to protect 6 feet of ground. Guards in ancient times slept in shifts. Any group trying to move the stone, and unwrap Jesus’ body (wrappings were left behind as stated in the Bible) and get Jesus' body out of the tomb, would have to step over a lot of sleeping warriors. When Jesus' disciples came to look for him, the tomb was empty! Not only did Jesus appear to Mary Magdalene the day she found the tomb empty, but he subsequently appeared to his disciples, apostles, and the Apostle Paul writes, in 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 1 Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. 9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I a what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them-yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11 Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

What does Easter mean to the Christian?

LUKE 9:23-27 23 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily,[a] and follow Me. 24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. 25 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? 26 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels. 27 But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God.” ROMANS 3:21-26 God’s Righteousness Through Faith 21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all[h] who believe. For there is no difference; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, 26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 6:1-14 Dead to Sin, Alive to God 1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? 3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace 1 CORINTHIANS 1:18-25 Christ the Power and Wisdom of God 18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”[a] 20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks[b] foolishness, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. EPHESIANS 1:3-14 Redemption in Christ 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both[a] which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. 11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. 13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who[b] is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. 2:11-13 Brought Near by His Blood 11 Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands— 12 that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. PHILIPPIANS 2:5-11 The Humbled and Exalted Christ 5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. PHILIPPIANS 3:17-21 Our Citizenship in Heaven 17 Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. 18 For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things. 20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. COLOSSIANS 1:12-23 12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood,[c] the forgiveness of sins. 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. 19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, 20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. 21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled 22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight— 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister. 2:13-14 13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. HEBREWS 12:1-8 The Race of Faith 1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. 4 You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. 5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; 6 For whom the LORD loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.”[a] 7 If[b] you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. 1 JOHN 2:1-6 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. The Test of Knowing Him 3 Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. 6 He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked. 4:7-11 7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.