HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 169
page A167
• E C C L E S I A S T E S 3 :1 1 | Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has
planted eternity in the human heart.
God created you with an instinct for heaven, an inner longing to live forever. It is not just
wishful thinking; it is God’s intended purpose for you.
• 1 C O R I NT H I A NS 1 5 :2 0 | But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of
a great harvest of all who have died.
Jesus’ resurrection gives you the promise and assurance of your own resurrection to
heaven and eternal life.
• G E NE SI S 1 :1 , 9 , 1 1 , 2 0 , 2 4, 2 7 , 31 | In the beginning God created the heavens and the
earth. . . . Then God said, “Let the waters beneath the sky flow together into one place, so
dry ground may appear.” . . . Then God said, “Let the land sprout with vegetation—every
sort of seed-bearing plant, and trees.” . . . Then God said, “Let the waters swarm with fish
and other life. Let the skies be filled with birds of every kind.” . . . Then God said, “Let the
earth produce every sort of animal.” . . . [Then] God created human beings in his own
image. . . . Male and female he created them. . . . Then God looked over all he had made,
and he saw that it was very good!
• R E VE L AT I O N 2 1 :4 -5 | “He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more
death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” And the one sitting on
the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” (See note on page 1167.)
The promise of Scripture is that God will remove all the sin and struggles of this fallen
world and create a new heaven and new earth. The best this world has to offer can’t even
compare with the glory to come!
What is heaven like?
• I SA I A H 6 5 :1 7 | “Look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth, and no one will even
think about the old ones anymore.”
• PH I L I PP I A NS 3 :2 1 | He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious
bodies like his own.
• R E VE L AT I O N 2 2 :5 | And there will be no night there—no need for lamps or sun—for the
Lord God will shine on them. And they will reign forever and ever.
Heaven is far beyond anything you can imagine. In heaven you will live forever with God.
There will be no sadness, no pain, no evil, and no death. Everything will be perfect and
glorious. God will give you a new body, and you will be able to talk face-to-face with the
Lord Himself.
• 1 J O H N 3 :2 | Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown
us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him,
for we will see him as he really is.
• R E VE L AT I O N 2 1 :4 | “He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more
death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”
You will one day be like Christ. You will not be equal to him in power and authority, but
you will be like him in character and perfection, for there will be no sin in those who are
welcomed into heaven. In heaven you will never hurt, cry, have pain, or experience sorrow.
Evil will be gone forever.
HelpFinder
God originally created earth to be heaven—the place where he lived with mankind
and walked and talked with them side by side. Sin changed all that when it separated
us from God and corrupted the earth. But the point is that God originally thought of
heavenly paradise as a very physical place, with trees and plants, mountains and waterfalls, fruits and vegetables. The Bible consistently refers to the new heaven—the place
where we will be reunited with God—as the new earth. The place where we will live forever with God will be very similar to the place we live now. If God said the original earth
he created was “very good,” then the new earth he is preparing for us will be similar and
familiar to us.
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• R E VE L AT I O N 2 1 :1 | Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth.