WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU THOUGHT ABOUT HEAVEN?

•  The Bible speaks about Heaven a great deal.
• • There are 653 occurrences of the word “Heaven” in the Bible!
  • The Bible speaks about four different “heavens.”

• We are actually supposed to think about Heaven a lot! (See Philippians 3:13-14; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; Revelation 21:4; John 12:2; Psalm 19:1; Isaiah 45:18; Psalm 8:3)

Colossians 3:1-4 (NLT) 1Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 2Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. 3For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. 4And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.

• Jesus looked toward eternity. (See Hebrews 12:2)
• The real question is, “Why don’t we think about Heaven a lot?”

WHAT WILL WE DO IN HEAVEN?

•  Common Misconception: We’ll either be fat chubby angel babies stringing harps forever, or we will be just sitting on clouds singing never-ending church songs.

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY WE WILL BE DOING ON THE NEW HEAVENS & NEW EARTH?

• • Eating and drinking (See Isaiah 25:6)
  • Worshipping God (See Revelation 7:9,12)
  • Not sinning or being tempted (See Matthew 13:41)
• Other amazing activities and facts about heaven:

• • We will have new bodies!
  • Relationships will be the way God originally designed them
  • An amazing universe to explore
  • An infinite God to get to know
  • Peace with all people and creatures

For answers to many questions regarding eternity, read Touchpoints: Heaven by Randy Alcorn.

IT MATTERS THAT WE HAVE A GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF HEAVEN.

“Satan need not convince us that Heaven doesn’t exist. He need only convince us that Heaven is a place of boring, unearthly existence. If we believe that lie, we’ll be robbed of our joy and anticipation, we’ll set our minds on this life and not the next, and we won’t be motivated to share our faith. Why should we share the “good news” that people can spend eternity in a boring, ghostly place that even we’re not looking forward to?”

                                                                               – Randy Alcorn, Heaven p. 11

ASK YOURSELF:

“What is your perspective of Heaven?” Has Satan robbed you of the joy that is coming for the Children of God?

THIS LIFE DOES MATTER. GOD HAS A PURPOSE FOR US HERE.

2 Corinthians 5:18-20 (NLT) 18And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 20So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”

WE ARE AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST.

• An ambassador is a representative from one country to another.
• Imagine visiting a foreign country for a month. You don’t sell everything, change everything in your life, and forget where you came from. That’s not what you’ve built your life around.

1 Peter 2:11-12 (NLT) 11Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. 12Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.

“I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find till after death; I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside; I must make it the main object of life to press on to that other country and to help others to do the same.”

                                              – C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, book 3 chapter 10

IF WE VIEW THIS AS OUR TEMPORARY HOME, IT TURNS SADNESS AND TRIALS TO HOPE AND JOY.

Hebrews 11:13-15 (NLT) 13All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. 14Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. 15If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back. 16But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

Who will you live your life for?

• The Bible makes it clear that we can’t serve two masters. We will live for God, or we will live for this world.

• • The rewards of one life will burn.
  • The rewards of living for the Kingdom of God are eternal.

1 Timothy 6:17-19 (NIV) 17Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

HOW DO WE KNOW WHERE WE’RE LIVING FOR?

Matthew 6:21 (NLT) Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS IN LIFE GROUP OR WITH YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS:

1. Share what was significant to you from the sermon.

2. Take a look at 2 Corinthians 4:16-5:8. A) How often do you consider heaven? B) What have you imagined or thought about heaven? How is this series impacting what your perspective?

3. Read Luke 23:24 and Revelation 21:1-2. These passages show Present Heaven and New Heaven. A) What questions do you have about Present Heaven? What questions do you have about New Heaven? Send some of them in to: [email protected]

4. Look at 1 Peter 2:11-12 and Colossians 3:1-4. A) What helps you focus on what is to come? B) What can distract you from focusing on earth as temporary and being with the Lord as permanent – the real reality?

5. Read Matthew 6:21 and 1 Timothy 6:17-19. A) What would change in your life if you consistently considered heaven as your home and this earth as a temporary place? Think of ways to help you focus on more regularly on heaven.