New Heaven and New Earth

When the Great White Throne Judgment, as we read about in our last lesson, is complete, God will create a new heaven and a new earth.

Revelation 21:1-4:

1 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.

2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God.

4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

It is interesting to see several things written here which have been ideas held by people throughout history. For example, the idea of the earth being the center of the universe will be true in the New Heaven and New Earth because God will set up His throne here on earth. And even though no person on earth throughout history (except Adam and Eve) has ever experienced a perfect world, that idea exists in our hearts and makes us yearn for it. It will exist in this New Heaven and New Earth.

There will be no more tears, no death, no sadness, no crying, no pain. We sometimes think no tears and no sadness and no crying are the same as no pain. But have you ever cried because something was so beautiful it brought tears to your eyes, or have you ever cried because you were so happy? Even perfect beauty and perfect joy will not bring tears because we will have bodies capable of expressing our pure joy.

Revelation 21:5-8:

5 And He who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also He said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

6 And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.

7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be My son.

8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

Why would God bring into this perfect picture a reminder of those who will not be there? It is a warning to us who believe to purify ourselves (1 John 3:1-3) so we can be used of Him to witness to those who do not believe before it is too late. We cannot know what the next day or hour holds, and we want to stand before Him without the shame of unconfessed sin in our lives. People have only this life to accept Him as Lord and Savior (Hebrews 9:27), and we who already believe have only this life in which to store treasure in Heaven.

Prayer: Our loving Heavenly Father, thank You so much for the hope You give. Help us to be faithful witnesses for you to all those we know, until You call us to Your side forever. In Jesus' name, Amen. 

From Global Media Outreach 

The Great White Throne Judgment

At the close of the Millennium, when unbelievers again make war against God, the war is ended by God destroying the world and the universe, as we read in Revelation 20:11-15: “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it. From His presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

This is also the judgment Jesus talked about in Matthew 25:31-46 where we see the separation of people to His right and left. Everyone in the history of the world will stand before Him at this judgment – everyone, except the believers in Jesus of this time which we call the Church Age. We will have been judged for our works during the Tribulation (after we met Him in the air in the Rapture).

The judge on this throne will be Jesus – see John 5:19-29. No one who stands before this judgment throne will ever be able to say the judgment was unfair because the judge did not know what the individual had been through in their life.

One of God’s purposes for all of history and this creation in which we live today, is to make an end of all sin. We read this in several places in Scripture, but one we have already seen in a previous lesson is Daniel 9:24. God allowed sin to enter His creation when He decided to give us free choice. While this free choice did not include everything in our lives, it does give us the choice for where we will spend eternity – with God or not with God. We cannot choose HOW we can please God – that is His choice, and He chose to make Jesus the only way to Himself. We also cannot define what sin is and what is not sin – God says HE is the standard, and anything which does not meet His standard is not good enough (called sin, or missing the mark).

The first sin ever committed was the statement “I will” from one of God’s creations. Our greatest sin is also “I” in some form. Anything we try to do for ourselves is always leaving God out, and therefore is sin. God told Daniel that a certain time was set for all transgressions to be finished and then all sin to be ended.

Prayer: Dear Jesus, help us to understand that time is short and You want us who believe in You to be at work for Your kingdom rather than for ourselves. Give us hearts that are broken for the lost and may we go out into Your harvest fields to bring them the truth of how You are Lord Jesus. In Your name we pray, Amen. 

From Global Media Outreach 

What is Prayer?

 

    We often talk about prayer. We pray before meals and offer to pray for one another. Yet familiarity

with the concept of prayer can blind us to its profound wonder. We can talk to the God of heaven and

He listens! Our quiet thoughts, spoken words, anguished cries and joyful praises enter the throne room

of Almighty God. God is exalted above us in every possible way, yet accessible to us. When we draw

near to Him, He draws near to us (James 4:8). We cannot overestimate the amazing privilege and

responsibility of prayer.

    Prayer is equally simple and complex. Most simply, prayer is talking to God. Believers pray to the

Father (Ephesians 1:17; 3:14), through the Son (John 14:13; 15:16; Romans 1:8; 5:1-2; Colossians 3:17) 

and in the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 6:18; Jude 1:20). Christ broke the barrier between God and sinful people 

and made access to Holy God available to those who believe in Him. The Holy Spirit prays for us with 

groanings too deep for human words (Romans 8:26). All parts of the Godhead are actively engaged when 

you pray.

    Prayer reflects a relationship with God. Your love for God and desire for Him draws you to prayer.

God speaks in many ways – through His Word, creation, our circumstances, other people, through the

Holy Spirit. In prayer, we speak to Him. Do you want to spend time with God, to listen and to speak to

the One who knows the secrets of your heart? Prayer is more about surrendering to God than 

communicating our agenda. Through prayer, God molds our hearts to His higher and better ways. By 

praying, you acknowledge you need what you do not have in your own strength. When you pray, you look 

beyond yourself to God who knows more and can do more than you could ever imagine (Ephesians 3:20-

21).

    Prayer expresses dependence on God. The depth and regularity of your prayers indicate how

much you depend on God and how much you depend on yourself. When you pray, you acknowledge

God’s attentive, active interest and involvement in your life. You recognize His compassion for your

needs and power to act on your behalf (Hebrews 2:17; 4:15). Your needs are never too insignificant for

God to care about or too big for Him to handle. Even when answers to prayer seem slow in coming, God

is at work. The way you pray indicates what you believe about God. Your faith is not in prayer itself, but

in the God who hears and answers prayer.

    Prayer connects people on earth with God, their Creator. People do not pray because they do not

think rightly about God. Some reject God, and some ignore Him. They do not think God cares, listens to

them or will do anything for them. To fail to pray either ignores the reality that God exists or relegates 

Him as a distant being removed from daily life and real people. People often treat prayer as a last resort 

when all else fails. To fail to pray is to ignore a lifeline from God and to choose to live with only the 

limited resources of this world. What keeps you from praying? What does your prayer life reveal you 

believe about God?

    Prayer can be as natural as breathing for a believer. A child of God needs neither fanfare nor formula

to gain immediate access to the Sovereign of eternity. How do you feel when you receive a telephone

call from someone you love? God loves it when you call out to Him. He wants to spend time with you.

He wants you to tell Him what He already knows. Nothing you pray about ever surprises God or turns

Him away from you. He is not offended when you ask Him honest questions, pour out your heart and

confess your sins. Those who love God deeply speak to Him often. When you believe your prayers reach

and move the heart of God, you know you are never alone, hopeless or powerless. The act of prayer

acknowledges the care and power of God. Answered prayer glorifies God. Will you cry out to God in the

middle of your day or your challenge? Will you express your gratitude to Him with actual words when

you experience joy or pleasure? How does thinking about the privilege of prayer offer fresh wonder and

worship of the God who loves you, hears you and acts on your behalf?

The Millennial Kingdom

When Jesus has conquered the entire world on His return to earth, He will set up His kingdom on earth as He has prophesied in many Scriptures. Much of Zechariah chapters 8-14 are about either the Tribulation or about the Millennial Kingdom. There are many other prophesies about this time as well.

In this lesson we will review only a few of the basic prophesies. First, the time frame for this kingdom is stated as being a thousand years. Revelation 20:1-6 tells us about the beginning of this period. It begins with Satan being caught and imprisoned in a bottomless pit for a thousand years. Then there is a promise that those who reign with Jesus will do so for a thousand years.

Revelation 20:7-10 describes the end of the thousand years when Satan is released and war again comes to the earth. But Satan is again caught and this time his judgment is eternal – he is thrown into the lake of fire forever.

What will this kingdom be like? We see many promises:

Isaiah 11:6-9 “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.”

See also Isaiah 2:2-4 and Micah 4:2-5.

This kingdom will be one of enforced peace – see Revelation 12:5 and 19:15.

Throughout history mankind has given many excuses for why we cannot be perfect. Rather than believing we are born with sin in our hearts, we have always argued that forces of evil have influenced us or that circumstances have caused us to sin. One after another our arguments have been shown to be wrong, and this Millennial Kingdom will be the last of our arguments to be thrown out. We believe that if we lived in a perfect world where Satan did not tempt us, we could be perfect – and in this thousand years people will truly live in a perfect world…except they cannot be perfect because they still have the root of sin in their hearts. At the end of this kingdom, people will rise up against Jesus, the perfect King, with hatred and anger and try to destroy Him. Jesus’ answer will be to destroy the earth and the universe He created.

We continue with what comes next in the next lesson.

Prayer: Dear Jesus, help us to see that sin is in our hearts and not only in our actions. Help us to understand only You can remove this sinful nature as You create a new heart in us. Thank you for dying and conquering death to remove our sinful nature. We love you Jesus! In Your name we pray, Amen. 

From Global Media Outreach 

Jesus' Second Coming

As we learned a few lessons ago, there are two events in prophecy which are sometimes called by the same name – Jesus’ return. They are very different in purpose and in completion. The Rapture is Jesus meeting His Church – the believers of this time between His ministry on earth until this event – in the air. Jesus does not appear to anyone on earth at the Rapture; He calls His people to Himself, meeting us away from earth.

At His Second Coming, Jesus will actually stand on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, at the exact place from which He left as described in Acts 1. This is also one of the clearest prophecies of this event – the angels declared to those watching Him ascend that He would return in the same way they had seen Him go.

It is also interesting to note that the first prophecy recorded of this return was made by Enoch when Adam was still alive, as we find in Jude 1:14-15: “It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”

In Revelation 19:11-21 we find a description of Jesus’ Second Coming, a description speaking of war and judgment, blood and wrath. The scene in these verses is the end of the Tribulation period, where the armies of the world are gathered to finally and utterly destroy all that is left of Israel. And, as we read in verse 19, they are also gathered to make war against Jesus Himself. We see another description of this battle in Revelation 14:14-20 which tells us that the people gathered for this war will be packed into a valley which runs from Bozrah up to Meggido – a distance of about 180 miles (almost 290 km), and when this army is destroyed, the blood of people and animals will run up to three feet deep (about one meter). The devastation will be terrible.

But this has been God’s promise from the beginning for those who stand against Him. God has said from the beginning that sin means death. Yet, people insist they do not want to follow Him; in the end He will destroy those who have chosen not to turn to Him.

The answer is, as we read in Hebrews 4:7 “… Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.” There is a day coming when Jesus will again stand on the earth, and the day for making a choice to follow Him or not will be gone.

Prayer: Righteous Father, we come to You today grateful for this chance to choose to be Yours, to follow You, to obey You, to stand with You, to believe You. Help us today to also be true and pure witnesses for Your love and encourage those around us to accept You as their Savior and Lord. We look forward to Your return Lord Jesus. In Your name we pray, Amen. 

From Global Media Outreach 

The Tribulation

The time of the Tribulation, the seven years described in many prophecies in the Old Testament and in the book of Revelation, is a time of God’s judgment for the earth. Now, as this study is being written, before the Rapture, we see God’s forgiveness through His grace for mankind. We may even begin to believe God will always be loving and gracious and merciful and restraining His judgment, but this is not true. God could not be the God of truth and justice if He forever held His righteous judgment in check. While there are many other Scriptures which talk about this, we will study two in this lesson.

Psalm 103:6-9 “The LORD works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the people of Israel. The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will He keep His anger forever.” Here we clearly see the warning that God’s mercy is not always the way He will deal with our sin.

Romans 2:6-11 “He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, He will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.” This passage says everyone will be judged according to their works with complete justice – justice based on God’s standards rather than ours.

The Bible also says that judgment begins with the household of God, so we who are His children will be the first to be judged for our works – and this takes place during the Tribulation, but not here on earth. This is described in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, which clearly states this judgment does not include a sentence of death. Every believer’s judgment of life and death has been forever completed in Jesus’ death on the cross. The judgment in these verses only determines whether we enter Heaven with treasure or without treasure.

The judgment of God during the Tribulation is mostly for nations of the earth. Of course, a nation cannot be judged without its people feeling the effects. From earth’s current population of about seven billion, so many will die in God’s judgments that perhaps only about five hundred million or so will survive till the end.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, we thank You today for the opportunity to believe in You so the judgment of death for our sin is completed and we do not need to face Your wrath in that day of terrible Tribulation. Help us always to remember that You are a God of love and justice. May we share this truth with others so that as many as possible might be saved. In Jesus name, Amen. 

Taken from Global Media Outreach 

The Rapture of the Church (part 3)

How will the Rapture happen? We look at several verses to tell us. As we read in the last lesson from 1 Thessalonians 4:16, Jesus will come to the clouds above the earth. In John 14:2-3 Jesus says, “…I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will [receive] you to Myself...” Please note, this is Jesus calling us away from the earth. Every government that cares about its people serving in other countries, will call their people home when they know war is about to happen. We are Jesus’ ambassadors here on earth, and He loves us too much to leave us here when the real war of evil is about to begin – Revelation 3:10 and John 17:15.

In our last lesson, from 1 Corinthians 15 and 1 Thessalonians 4, we have already read there will be a great shout and the sound of a trumpet to call us.

1 Thessalonians 4:14-15 tells us that all believers in Jesus who have died will rise first, and then we who are still alive here will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet Him.

How do we know such a Rapture is possible? God has given us examples of them in the Bible.

Enoch - Genesis 5:24 “Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.”

Elijah - 2 Kings 2:11-12 “And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it …”

Philip - Acts 8:39 “And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.”

Jesus - Acts 1:9-11 “And when He had said these things, as they were looking on, He was lifted up, and a cloud took Him out of their sight.”

The promise of this Rapture, before we enter the terrible time on earth as Jesus judges the nations of this world, is a “blessed promise” for us who believe. 2 Thessalonians 2 gives us a great picture of what these last days before the Rapture look like – and all we need to do is set the Bible alongside our newspapers or news programs to see how accurately Jesus has told us ahead of time what to look for. This chapter also warns us about the powerful deception coming, which we can already see all around us. The deception of the one-world government and one-world religion are knocking loudly at our gates. The world’s cry for peace at any cost is roaring at us from governments and schools and even many churches. We who are believers must cling to the truth and keep praying against the evil forces we see.

Prayer: Almighty Father, as You have prophesied, evil is nearer than ever before. But we choose not to fear, for You have promised You are greater than this enemy in the world is; so we join You in prayer to hold back the evil that wants to destroy. Purify us so we can stand with You whole-heartedly until You are ready to call us to Your side. We say with Your Spirit, “Come Lord Jesus!” In Your name we pray, Amen. 

From Global Media Outreach