NO MORE DEATH, NO MORE PAIN: Imagine a place where there is no disappointment, no sorrow, no sin, no sickness, no pain, and no need for cemeteries for there IS no more death. Sounds like a fairy tale, but there is such a place. Where?
Sin, Evil, Death, Dying, and What Happens After We Die
This series has addressed the concerns we all have: the concern for sin, evil, death, dying, and what happens after we die. Is there hope after death? When God created us, humans, he intended for us to live forever in a loving, peaceful relationship with him. But this relationship has been broken by sin.
Here, we have addressed the origin of sin and look more closely at death and dying.
But, instead of looking at death negatively, we look at it in the context of hope, the promised hope based on what Jesus did for us when he died and came back to life again.
Go back and review this series on Death, Dying and the Future Hope, and other series @ SabbathSchoolDaily.com
From the Sabbath School Adult Bible Study Guide 2022 Quarter 4: Sabbath.School (See also Hope Sabbath School and 3ABN Sabbath School)
Let Us Pray
Holy Father, this earth is not our home, it’s a temporary place for us to live until we reach our final destination. Help us stay on the right path and not lose our way. In Jesus the Name Amen
The Bible gives us, the inhabitants of this earth hope. In Revelations 21:5, John tells us that God will make all things new.
5 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)
We are promised that the evil and darkness that overshadows this earth will not last forever. The curse of evil and death will be destroyed. Thus, the believers are looking for that new heaven and new earth as Peter described in 2 Peter 3:13
13 But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. (2 Peter 3:13)
But some people think that this promise is a made-up story told by the powers that be to control the people who are unhappy with the way things are in this world.
Some believe that these powers use this to keep people in line by offering them hope of a better life in heaven while accepting things as they are on earth.
The idea is that by giving the people this hope, they will not fight to change the system. This sounds logical, but is it the right logic or thinking? (Spit)
Yes, some leaders do use this promise of future hope as a means of acquiring wealth, power, and control. But do their evil practices, bad behavior, and abuse of the Bible negate the promise God has given us regarding the new heavens and the new earth?
The Bible lets us know in 2 Peter 3:3–7 that people will doubt God’s promise in the end times. As a matter of fact, it says, people will make fun of those who believe in the hope of God creating a new earth and new earth.
3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts,
4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.”
5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water,
6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. (Split)
7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. (2 Peter 3:3-7)
But, does their laughing and mockery make what the Bible says incorrect? No, it is just the opposite. Their laughing and ridicule are more evidence that what the Bible says is true. For their laughing or scoffing is as the Bible predicted. The Bible has already warned us about such people.
“It was through the desire for self-exaltation that sin entered into the world, and our first parents lost the dominion over this fair earth, their kingdom. It is through denial of self that Christ redeems what was lost. And He says we are to overcome as He did. Revelation 3:21. Through humility and self-surrender we may become heirs with Him when “the meek shall inherit the earth.” Psalm 37:11.
The earth promised to the meek will not be like this, darkened with the shadow of death and the curse. “We, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” 2 Peter 3:13. . . .
There is no disappointment, no sorrow, no sin, no one who shall say, I am sick; there are no burial trains, no mourning, no death, no partings, no broken hearts; but Jesus is there, peace is there.—Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, p. 17.
This is our final lesson On Death, Dying, and Future Hope. Review additional lessons
@ SabbathSchoolDaily.com.
This week, we will spend the remainder of our time looking at and thinking about God’s promise of a new heaven and a new earth. We also look at what the Bible says about the temple in heaven and examine the assurance that there will be an end to death and tears. We are assured and shall see that God’s love wins in the end.
In the Bible, some things are figurative or symbolic, while other things are literal or concrete. When it speaks of a new heaven and a new earth is it symbolic or literal? Find out on Day 2 A New Heaven and a New Earth.
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