December 31, 2023 • Pastor Paul Edwards • Mark 9:43–48, Revelation 21:7–8
The birth of the Son of God in Bethlehem's manger brought heaven down to us so that God in Christ might bring us up to heaven. From Matthew 1:23 and Revelation 21:3 we learn that just as Jesus is Emmanuel - God with us - so Heaven is God with us. Where Jesus is, there is heaven. In this Christmas meditation we consider seven things that will be true of us when we get to heaven.
There is within the heart of every human being at least some understanding that there is coming a day of reckoning. Sadly for many, they don't understand that that day will not be a reckoning between their good deeds and their bad deeds, but a reckoning between their obedience and the perfect law of God. What gives God the right to judge the world? What is the manner in which he will judge the world? By what standard will he judge the world? What is my only hope for acquittal on that day when I stand before the judgment bar of God?
What happens at the moment of our physical death? The answer depends on how you have responded to the the Lord Jesus Christ. For the unbeliever, there is an immediate consciousness of eternal separation from God. For the believer, there is an immediate consciousness of the eternal presence of God. The believer enters into at least seven realities the moment their soul departs their body.
