Closer To Heaven
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This is the final lesson of the quarter. Join us as we discuss All Things New.
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The theory of an immortal soul, suffering forever in an ever-burning hell, contradicts the biblical teaching that in the new heaven and the new earth there will be “no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying” (Revelation 21:4, NKJV). If the theory of an eternal burning hell were true, then the “second death” would not eradicate sin and sinners from the universe but only confine them in an everlasting hell of sorrow and crying. And more: in this case the universe would never be fully restored to its original perfection. But praise the Lord that the Bible paints a completely different picture!
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Life can be very hard, unfair, cruel. Some people, so dear to us, are brutally taken away by the cold embrace of death. Or some people come subtly into our lives, steal our feelings, and then walk away as if nothing ever happened. How terrible it is to be betrayed by someone whom we loved and trusted.
There are moments when, with a broken heart, we may even wonder if life is worth living. Regardless of our sorrows, however, God is always eager to wipe away from our cheeks as many tears as possible. But some of our heaviest tears will continue streaming down until that glorious day when death, sorrow, and crying will cease to exist (Revelation 21:1-5).
We can trust that in the final judgment God will treat every single human being with fairness and love. All our loved ones who died in Christ will be raised from the dead to be with us throughout eternity. Those unworthy of eternal life will finally cease to exist, without having to live in an “unpleasant” heaven or in an ever-burning hell. Our greatest comfort derives from the fair way God treats everyone. When death definitively ceases to exist, the redeemed will shout joyfully, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:54-55, , NRSV).
The Lord promised that in the new heaven and the new earth He would create, “the former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind” (Isaiah 65:17, NIV). This does not mean that heaven will be a place of amnesia, but rather that the past will not undermine the enduring joy of heaven.
| Who hasn’t felt the unfair ravages of human existence here? Especially in those bad times, how can we learn to trust, and to the degree possible, rejoice in God’s goodness and love? |
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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/wednesday-no-more-death-and-tears/
The Bible says that God “dwells in unapproachable light” (1 Timothy 6:16, NRSV), and that “no one has ever seen God” (John 1:18, 1 John 4:12, NRSV). Does it mean that the saints in heaven will never see God the Father? Not at all. It is quite evident that not seeing God refers to the human beings after the Fall, because there are several indications in Scripture that the saints will actually see Him in heaven.
Image © Lars Justinen at Goodsalt.com
The same apostle John who stated that “no one has ever seen God” (John 1:18, 1 John 4:12, NRSV) also declares that “we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2-3, , NKJV) and “see His face” (Revelation 22:3-4, , NKJV). It can be debatable whether these passages refer to God the Father or to Christ. But all doubts are gone in light of Christ’s own statement, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8, NKJV). What a privilege it will be for the redeemed to worship God in His temple! But the supreme privilege of all will be to see His face.
“The people of God are privileged to hold open communion with the Father and the Son. ‘Now we see through a glass, darkly.’ 1 Corinthians 13:12. We behold the image of God reflected, as in a mirror, in the works of nature and in His dealings with men; but then we shall see Him face to face, without a dimming veil between. We shall stand in His presence and behold the glory of His countenance.” — Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, Pages 676, 677.
Notice in some of the verses for today the link between purity and seeing God. The “pure in heart” will see God; he who will see God “purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:3, NKJV). What these verses reveal is that God must do a work in us now to help prepare us for heaven.
Though, in the end, our title to heaven has been made certain through the death of Jesus, we will go through a purifying process here and now that will help prepare us for our eternal home. And central to the purification process is obedience to His Word.
| Read 1 Peter 1:22. How does this text reveal to us the link between obedience and purification? What is it about obedience that purifies us? How, specifically, does Peter say our obedience will be made manifest? |
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Some people speak of heaven itself as being God’s sanctuary. But the book of Revelation refers to a specific sanctuary/temple within the New Jerusalem, where God’s throne and the sea of glass are located (Revelation 4:2-6, Revelation 7:9-15, Revelation 15:5-8). There the great multitude of saints from all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues will worship God forever (Revelation 7:9-17).
Image © Steve Creitz at Goodsalt.com
The heavenly sanctuary/temple has always been the place where the heavenly hosts worship God. But with the appearance of sin, that sanctuary became also the place from where salvation is offered to humanity. “When the sin problem is over, the heavenly sanctuary will once again revert to its original function. In Revelation 21:22, John the revelator reports that he no longer saw a temple in the city, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. But does that mean there is no longer a house of the Lord where His creatures can come and have special fellowship with Him? By no means!” — Richard M. Davidson, “The Sanctuary: ‘To Behold the Beauty of the Lord,’” in Artur Stele, ed., The Word: Searching, Living, Teaching, vol. 1 (Silver Spring, MD: Biblical Research Institute, 2015), p. 31.
The book of Revelation gives special attention to the One who is being worshiped and to those who are worshiping Him. This heavenly worship is centered on God and the Lamb (Revelation 5:13, Revelation 7:10). As always, and as it should be, Christ is the focus of the worship.
The worshipers are those “who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:14, NIV). They are living witnesses of God’s redeeming and transforming power. They sing praises to God for who He is and for what He did for them.
| Revelation 21:3 reads: “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God” (NKJV). These verses reflect numerous other passages (Jeremiah 32:38, Ezekiel 37:27, Zechariah 8:8, Hebrews 8:10). What does it mean for us now, still here on earth, that God will be our God, and we will be His people? How do we live out this amazing truth now? |
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The theme hymn for this quarter’s studies “On Death, Dying and the FUTURE HOPE” is
Hymn 214 – We Have This Hope.
The studies we have completed so far are reverberating in 
Hymn 203 – This Is The Threefold Truth and will do through to the end of this quarter.
As I write the last of the hymns for 2022, I would like to wish you the Lord’s richest blessing for 2023 We look forward to All Things New, just as we may sing in
Hymn 93 – All Things Bright And Beautiful. What a joy it will be to live in
Jerusalem, My Happy Home – Hymn 420 when we have the new Heaven and new Earth. There we will be able to sing forever by the crystal flowing river (Sunday) –
Hymn 189 – All That Thrills My Soul verse 4.
The Temple of God is echoed in
Hymn 450 – Beautiful Zion in the New Jerusalem:
Hymn 430 – Joy By and By.
In the Presence of God, we will share our joy because we will be
Face to Face – Hymn 206 where
I Shall See The King – Hymn 426. Ah, what adoration we may give as we see our God, too. There we will
Rejoice, Ye Pure In Heart! – Hymn 27.
There will be No More Death and Tears, and we will
Never Part Again – Hymn 449.That will encourage us to
O Sing a New Song to the Lord – Hymn 418 as the
Day of Judgment – Hymn 418 will have shown its wonders of the Love of God (Wednesday). We “will shout joyfully, “’Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’”:
Hymn 50 – Abide With Me verse 4.
We will ever be grateful to our God for the merciful plan He established (Thursday):
Hymn 297 – God Be Merciful To Me because of the wonderful plan of salvation:
God Is My Strong Salvation – Hymn 339. May we all have
Faith Is The Victory – Hymn 608 because we are
Standing On The Promises – Hymn 518 due to having said
I Surrender All – Hymn 309 and can see that my name’s written down:
Hymn 468 – A Child Of The King verse 3.
Our study for this quarter finishes with Ellen G White saying “God is Love” as does
Hymn 349 – God Is Love.
Today we look forward to Jesus coming again. Oh, what a day that will be
When We All Get To Heaven – Hymn 633 because
That Glorious Day Is Coming – Hymn 209.
To learn unknown hymns, you will find the accompaniment music for each one at: https://sdahymnals.com/Hymnal/
Another great resource is for when there is a hymn you wish to sing but can’t find it in your hymnal. Go to https://www.sdahymnal.org and in the search bar type a special word in that is in the hymn. I am sure you will be amazed at the help you will be given.
2 Timothy 2:15 KJV – “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/14-all-things-new-singing-with-inspiration/
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