A WORLD WITHOUT SIN: Imagine living in a world without sin, evil, and wickedness. If you had the power, what top three things would you like to eliminate? Many conclude that there is no such place. But are they right?
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, because we have only seen a world with sin, and evil, it is hard to imagine it without sin. But by faith, we. we are looking forward to living eternally in that place that is without evil, sin, death, and dying. In Jesus the Name Amen
In the Bible, some things are figurative or symbolic, while other things are literal or concrete. When the Bible speaks of a new heaven and a new earth is it figurative or literal?
Those adopting Greek philosophy maintain the idea that if something has a physical body, it has to be bad. They, therefore, find it difficult to accept the idea of a real heaven with real people.
Greek Philosophers are of the idea that physical bodies cannot exist in heaven because anything that is good, must exist in a purely spiritual state.
In other words, the idea is that anything that is faultless cannot exist in a physical world. If something is material, they contend, it cannot be spiritual; and if something is spiritual, it cannot be material.
On the contrary, the Bible speaks of heaven in concrete terms. Heaven will be a real place where real people with real bodies will live. However different from our world with its limitations because of sin. Heaven will be a world without the limitations imposed by sin. So, no one there will ever get sick or ever die.
The book of Isaiah gives us a beautiful picture of what God had planned for Israel, had they kept their covenant agreement with Him. This picture was God’s ideal for Israel, but because they failed to keep their covenant with God, God was not able to keep his agreement with them.
Isaiah 65:17-25
17 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing, And her people a joy.
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem, And joy in My people; The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, Nor the voice of crying.
20 “No more shall an infant from there live but a few days, Nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days; For the child shall die one hundred years old, But the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed.
21 They shall build houses and inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 They shall not build and another inhabit; They shall not plant and another eat; For as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people, And My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
23 They shall not labor in vain, Nor bring forth children for trouble; For they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the Lord, And their offspring with them.
24 “It shall come to pass That before they call, I will answer; And while they are still speaking, I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, The lion shall eat straw like the ox, And dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,” Says the Lord. (Isaiah 65:17-25)
Isaiah 66:22-23
22 “For as the new heavens and the new earth Which I will make shall remain before Me,” says the Lord, “So shall your descendants and your name remain.
23 And it shall come to pass That from one New Moon to another, And from one Sabbath to another, All flesh shall come to worship before Me,” says the Lord. (Isaiah 66:22-23)
Israel was to be an example to the nations around them and lead them to the true and living God.
But, because they failed to do as God had instructed them, God devised a new plan that included both the Jews and Gentiles from all nations as expressed in Matthew 28:18–20 and 1 Peter 2:9.
Matthew 28:18-20
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (Split)
20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. (Matthew 28:18-20)
I Peter 2:9
9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; (I Peter 2:9)
The prophecies of Isaiah are now looked at from the perspective of 2 Peter 3:13 and Revelation 21:1–5.
II Peter 3:13
13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. (II Peter 3:13)
Revelation 21:1-5
1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.
2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “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.
4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
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 21:1-5)
The prophecies are for all nations, tribes, tongues, kindreds, and people who accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. It is not limited to the Israelites. The Israelites as a nation rejected God’s Son, Jesus, as their savior, and had him executed. Therefore, they forfeited their right to be saved as a people or nation.
“In the Bible, Hebrews 11:14–16, the inheritance of the saved is called ‘a country.’
14 For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland.
15 And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return.
16 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. (Hebrews 11:14-16)
“There the heavenly Shepherd (Jesus) leads His flock (the saved) 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 (all nations).
Picture this! 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, (those redeemed by the blood of Jesus).
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.
Many secular writers today do not believe in God. They cannot accept that there is a being superior to us humans. Without belief in God, they have no hope of eternity as presented in the Bible. Hence, they speak of human existence as meaninglessness.
This type of thinking is disastrous. Perhaps even related to our murder and suicide rate. But, for those who put their faith and trust in God, there is a future hope. A hope in which God’s people will live eternally in a real heaven with real people, with physical bodies.
The people of Israel failed to keep their agreement with God, so he extended it to every nation. tribe, people, and tongues. Therefore, all nations gather together and stand before God to worship their redeemer, where will they worship Him?
Find out on Day 3 In the Presence of God.
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