Your only hope

Bush River Church, est. 1771

When I was seven years old, Mr. Thomas Daum, the pastor at Bush River Baptist Church, came to see me. I had been asking a lot of questions about the Lord and salvation, and my folks felt it was time I talked with the pastor. He sat in a straight back chair in the den and asked me a long list of questions while I sat on the hearth and answered them. 

I don’t remember the questions, but I knew one important thing.

What will the redeemed do in the New Heaven and New Earth?

Binkley Chapel at the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, NC. (Wikipedia)

(Part of a series on death and the hereafter)

What will we do in heaven? The Revelation affirms that we will (1) rest (Rev 14:13), (2) worship (Rev 15:2-4), and (3) serve (Rev 22:3) God and others. We may be given (4) stewardship over the new creation as we were the old one. Could that be part of ruling and reigning with him? 

If God had given up when Adam and Eve failed at the cultural mandate (Gen 1:28), why did he repeat the command with Noah after the flood (Gen 9:1)? What God-honoring works of art, technology, building, even sports might we develop? Remember, the Lord created us in His image, and He is a creator. If we can create and solve mysteries and cure diseases in our current sinful, depraved minds and bodies, what could we create and develop in a creation without sin? 

How the Bible describes the New Heaven

(Part of a series on death and the hereafter)

How does the Bible describe the New Heaven and New Earth? Despite the fact that no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him, He has revealed it to us by his Spirit (1 Cor. 2:9). We can get a glimpse of what heaven is like. Here are a few images that Scripture supplies:

A New Heaven and New Earth

(Part of a series on death and the hereafter)

Most cultures have a belief in the afterlife, but our contemporary culture has more than ever lost any real vision for heaven. John Lennon urged people to imagine there is no heaven. The Christian music group MercyMe even says, “I can only imagine,” underscoring the deep need for the teaching of a living, powerful, Biblical, and passionate doctrine of heaven.We have lost sight of the wonder and glory of heaven, and we cannot imagine life much better than we have it here. 

We in the West have a joyless view of heaven. Perhaps we have lost the sense of the transcendence of God and therefore heaven. Perhaps we are so self-absorbed and wealthy in the West that we honestly cannot imagine

What is Heaven like? (Part 2)

The Transfiguration Lodovico Carracci 1594 (Wikipedia)

(Part of a series on death and the hereafter)

Do people have intermediate bodies in the present heaven? God and angels are in essence spirits (John 4:24; Heb 1:14), but human beings are by nature both spiritual and physical (Gen 2:7). God did not create Adam as a spirit and place him in a body. He first created a body and then breathed into a spirit. We cannot, it seems, be fully human without a both a spirit and a body. 

We don’t know for sure, but between our bodily death and our bodily resurrection, God may give us some

March Top 5

Below are the most popular posts on Sunday in the South during February 2014.

1. Isaiah 58 - True Fasting

2. Proverbs 24:3-22 - God's Design for Education

3. Isaiah 26-27 - Darkness before Dawn

4. Psalm 139 - Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

5. Luke 2:21-40 - The Presentation of Jesus