(Part 2/3 – A summary of the Sunday morning teaching on 20-Sep-15, in AFT Church, English service. From the series The Foundation For Victorious Living)
3) EVERYTHING MAGNIFICENT THAT WE CAN IMAGINE AND THEN SOME MORE
There are a lot of funny and twisted ideas about Heaven out there. Do you know why? Because the Church stopped talking about heaven and the devil stepped into the gap and started spreading lies about it. Revelations 13:6 says, ‘Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven’. The devil badmouths God’s name, His tabernacle (His dwelling place) and those who dwell in Heaven (us). He resents the fact that he was thrown out of Heaven (because of his pride). So he goes about painting a nasty picture of Heaven to anybody who’d spare him a ear. Not only that, he also tries to persuade us to believe that Christ’s victory over death was only partial and hence we won’t be able to go to Heaven. Well, that’s completely untrue. Let me show you how the Bible describes Heaven.
a) City
Hebrews 11:10 says, ‘for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God’. A city indicates building, roads, people, culture, music, art. Heaven definitely will be a thriving city.
b) Country
Hebrews 11:16 says, ‘But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them’. A country implies territories, rulers, national interests, national pride and citizens who are diverse and unified.
c) Having Resurrected bodies
1 Corinthians 15:40-44 says, ‘There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body’. Imagine that! In Heaven, we will have a completely different look with a total makeover. We will have glorified bodies that are imperishable! How cool is that!
…to be continued…
