Good morning family!
I want to encourage you today about THE REALITIES OF HEAVEN. Where are the believers and unbelievers who have passed? The answers to these questions can be found in the Word of God.
Before Jesus’ resurrection and ascension to heaven, there was a place in the center of the earth where the souls of people went after death. This place had an upper region, a lower region, and a great gulf that couldn’t be crossed by those who had died.
When righteous people died, they would go to the upper region, called, “Paradise” or “Abraham’s bosom.” When unrighteous people died, they would go to the lower region, called “Hades.”
During Jesus’ resurrection and ascension to heaven, He set the spirits of the righteous dead free from Abraham’s bosom. These saints, held as captives, went to heaven with Jesus, and the great gulf was removed. Hell was enlarged, and now any unrighteous person who dies will unfortunately go there.
When a righteous person dies, he or she is immediately in the presence of the Lord in heaven. In Luke 16:19-31, Jesus spoke of two men: one went to Abraham’s bosom, and the other went to Hades. One of the men was rich, and the other was poor. The poor man lay at the rich man’s gate, longing for scraps from the rich man’s table, receiving very little from the rich man.
Lazarus, the poor man, died and went to Abraham’s bosom; the rich man died and found himself in Hades. See, when we die, it’s not the end of life, but the beginning of life in eternity.
We can read about the Great White Throne Judgment in the book of Revelation. All those whose names are not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will be thrown into the lake of fire.
However, heaven is full of pleasures. It’s a never-ending adventure (see Psalm 16:11). In heaven, we’ll have new bodies (see 2 Corinthians 5:1-4). We’ll know each other in heaven and be among a great multitude of other believers (see Hebrews 12:22-23). We will work in service to God (see Revelation 7:15). Our journey to heaven will be an awesome experience (see Ephesians 4:8-10).
So, my question to you today is: If you only had two years left on this earth, what would you do differently? I want to encourage you to do the following things:
- Live every day as though it were your last.
- Determine whether you really have a relationship with Jesus Christ.
- Confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord of your life.
- Submit your will to God.
- Have the heart of a servant.
- Refuse to adopt the mind-sets and behavior of the world.
You are so blessed,
Lisa Gordon
Assistant Pastor
Jesus City Church