Key Thought: God promises a new heaven and a new earth, the presence of God, and the ultimate triumph of God’s love.
December 31, 2022

1. Have a volunteer read I John 3:2,3; Revelation 22:3,4.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. How does this reveal to us the link between obedience and purification? What is it about obedience that purifies us?
3. Personal Application: How will our obedience be made manifest in us? Share your thoughts..
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states, “I thought we all went to heaven to live forever. Why does this seem to say God is going to live on the earth with us?” How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read Isaiah 65:17-25; Isaiah 66:22,23.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What is the ultimate message in these passages?
3. Personal Application: What do you think it will be like in the new earth? Share your thoughts
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “What does it mean that we will go to the Holy City to worship God from one new moon to another and from one Sabbath to another? I thought we lived in the Holy City and worshipped God all the time.” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read Revelation 7:17; 21:4.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What comfort and hope can these passages give us amid the trials and suffering of this present world?
3. Personal Application: How can we transform our homes and personal lives to have the principles of heaven on earth now? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your neighbors states: “I don’t know if I believe in a perfect world. If sinful people become Christians but still have a sinful nature, there wouldn’t be any happiness in heaven. Thieves would still steal, and people would still be pushy, overbearing, bossy, and selfish. How can heaven be perfect with imperfect people?” How would you respond to your relative?

4. Have a volunteer read Revelation 22:3-5.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What does it mean to have our Father’s name written on our foreheads?
3. Personal Application: Can we be assured that we have God’s name written on our foreheads? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.

(Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared.”Ministry of Healing, p. 148).

Amen!(0)

The post 14: All Things New – Teaching Plan appeared first on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/14-all-things-new-teaching-plan/

For some followers of Greek philosophy, the idea that something is physical means that it is bad. That’s why for them it is unconceivable to think of a real heaven with real people in the future. In this thinking, for it to be heaven and to be good, it must be a purely spiritual state, free from the blemishes found in the physical world here. If something is material, they assert, it cannot be spiritual; and if something is spiritual, it cannot be material. By contrast, the Bible speaks of heaven in concrete terms but without the limitations imposed by the presence of sin.

Read Isaiah 65:17-25; Isaiah 66:22-23; 2 Peter 3:13; and Revelation 21:1-5. What is the ultimate message of these passages?

Image © Lars Justinen at Goodsalt.com

The book of Isaiah provides interesting glimpses on how the earth would have been if Israel as a nation had remained faithful to their covenant with God (Isaiah 65:17-25; Isaiah 66:22-23; compare with Deuteronomy 28:1-68). The whole environment with its various expressions of life would have grown more and more toward God’s original plan, that is, before the entrance of sin.

However, that plan did not materialize as expected. Then a new plan was established, but now with the church, composed of Jews and Gentiles from all nations (Matthew 28:18-20, 1 Peter 2:9). The prophecies of Isaiah, therefore, have to be reread from the perspective of the church (2 Peter 3:13, Revelation 21:1-5).

“In the Bible the inheritance of the saved is called ‘a country.’ Hebrews 11:14-16. There the heavenly Shepherd leads His flock to fountains of living waters. The tree of life yields its fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree are for the service of the nations. There are ever-flowing streams, clear as crystal, and beside them waving trees cast their shadows upon the paths prepared for the ransomed of the Lord. There the wide-spreading plains swell into hills of beauty, and the mountains of God rear their lofty summits. On those peaceful plains, beside those living streams, God’s people, so long pilgrims and wanderers, shall find a home.” — Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 675.

<–Sabbath Monday–>

Amen!(0)

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/sunday-new-heavens-and-new-earth-2/

Image © Pacific Press

Sabbath Afternoon

Read for This Week’s Study: 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:3, Revelation 21:22; 1 John 3:2-3; 1 Peter 1:22; Isaiah 25:8; Revelation 22:3-5.

Memory Text: “Then He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ And He said to me, ‘Write, for these words are true and faithful’” (Revelation 21:5, NKJV).

Scripture gives us this hope: “But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13, NASB).

For some, however, the promise of “a new heaven and a new earth” (Revelation 21:1) seems like a fantasy, stories told by those in power who used the hope of an afterlife to help keep the masses in line. The idea being: Though you have it hard at present, one day you will have your reward in heaven, or the like.

And though some people have used the future hope presented in the Bible that way, their abuse doesn’t change the truth of the promises that we have regarding the new heavens and the new earth.

In the last days, scoffers will ridicule our blessed hope (2 Peter 3:3-7). But their scoffing, just as predicted, could be seen as more evidence that what the Bible says is true, for they are scoffing as the Bible predicted they would.

During this week we will reflect on the glorious promise of a new heaven and a new earth, including the heavenly temple, the presence of God, the end of death and tears — and, finally, the ultimate triumph of God’s love.

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, December 31.

Sunday–>

Amen!(0)

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/sabbath-all-things-new/

Join us for Lesson 13, The Judging Process, as we look closely at what judgment means.

Amen!(1)

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/the-judging-process-hit-the-mark/

Join It Is Written Sabbath School host Eric Flickinger and this quarter’s author, Dr. Alberto Timm, as they provide additional insights into this week’s Sabbath School lesson, “Resurrections before the Cross.”
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5P3bdtsUSWs&w=560&h=315]

Amen!(0)

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/13-the-judging-process-it-is-written-discussions-with-the-author/