HOW CAN WE KNOW THERE IS A HEAVEN?
J. Grant Swank, Jr.
It’s all by faith.
Only Jesus has gone beyond the grave and returned to tell us anything about the afterlife. However, He being God told about heaven prior to His death on the cross. Therefore, whatever we know about heaven is primarily from Christ.
There are skeptics who don’t believe in heaven or hell. They don’t believe in an afterlife. The reason they don’t believe in the invisible worlds after this existence is because they have not prayed to God for the gift of faith. If they prayed for that gift, they would receive it, that is, if their prayers were utterly sincere.
I remember a friend of mine, Greg, who spent time in jail. He went there totally destitute of soul. He did not know God or if there was a God. But beside himself, he prayed sincerely. He said, "If there is a God, speak to me for I don’t want to live any longer like this."
He had spent fifteen years in drugs and drink, ruining his young adult life. He had put into his body everything that should never be put into a human frame. He spent his entire existence crushing life from his soul and body. Then he got in trouble with the law. That threw him behind bars. In his early thirties, he knew that he could not continue in such a horrible state, hence his prayer.
With that simple faith, he was gifted with more faith. With that gift he read a Bible he found in jail. He read it and read it and read it some more. The more he read it the more he wanted to read it. He had never cared about the Bible. But now, the book that he discarded because he thought it nonsense, became the source of hope and life. He read it and read it and then woke up the next morning to devour more of the Word.
With that, Greg became a believer. Now he is a stalwart Christian of five years plus. He is married to a Christian. They have a Christian home, attend worship faithfully and witness to the power of salvation as the Holy Spirit leads.
Greg is sure that he is going to heaven when he dies. He knows that he does not deserve heaven. He deserves hell for he trespassed against God’s laws time and again. He despised Christ and the gospel. He should never have come upon divine mercy. But he did find divine mercy in Christ and so his soul was rescued from hell and Satan’s grip.
Knowing what the Bible promises him after his last breath, Greg knows that when he dies he will be greeted by Christ at heaven’s portals, welcomed into eternal bliss where there is no sin nor death. The Bible has informed Greg of that gift prepared for him and all believers.
That which has gifted Greg can gift any mortal who has the childlike yearning to reach out by faith to receive hope in Christ. That hope is delineated in the Holy Scriptures:
THE HOPE OF HEAVEN
Jesus said: "Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Matthew 25:34
"To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord." II Corinthians 5:8
"Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him." I Corinthians 2:9
Jesus said: "Lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal." Matthew 6:20
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:l6
Jesus said: "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live." John 11:25
"For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." II Corinthians 5:1
"If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His spirit who dwells in you." Romans 8:11
"This is the promise that He has promised us — eternal life." I John 2:25
"He who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life." Galatians 6:8
Jesus said: "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. . ." John 10:27-28
For more: http://conservativeposts.us/ <http://conservativeposts.us/>
It’s all by faith.
Only Jesus has gone beyond the grave and returned to tell us anything about the afterlife. However, He being God told about heaven prior to His death on the cross. Therefore, whatever we know about heaven is primarily from Christ.
There are skeptics who don’t believe in heaven or hell. They don’t believe in an afterlife. The reason they don’t believe in the invisible worlds after this existence is because they have not prayed to God for the gift of faith. If they prayed for that gift, they would receive it, that is, if their prayers were utterly sincere.
I remember a friend of mine, Greg, who spent time in jail. He went there totally destitute of soul. He did not know God or if there was a God. But beside himself, he prayed sincerely. He said, "If there is a God, speak to me for I don’t want to live any longer like this."
He had spent fifteen years in drugs and drink, ruining his young adult life. He had put into his body everything that should never be put into a human frame. He spent his entire existence crushing life from his soul and body. Then he got in trouble with the law. That threw him behind bars. In his early thirties, he knew that he could not continue in such a horrible state, hence his prayer.
With that simple faith, he was gifted with more faith. With that gift he read a Bible he found in jail. He read it and read it and read it some more. The more he read it the more he wanted to read it. He had never cared about the Bible. But now, the book that he discarded because he thought it nonsense, became the source of hope and life. He read it and read it and then woke up the next morning to devour more of the Word.
With that, Greg became a believer. Now he is a stalwart Christian of five years plus. He is married to a Christian. They have a Christian home, attend worship faithfully and witness to the power of salvation as the Holy Spirit leads.
Greg is sure that he is going to heaven when he dies. He knows that he does not deserve heaven. He deserves hell for he trespassed against God’s laws time and again. He despised Christ and the gospel. He should never have come upon divine mercy. But he did find divine mercy in Christ and so his soul was rescued from hell and Satan’s grip.
Knowing what the Bible promises him after his last breath, Greg knows that when he dies he will be greeted by Christ at heaven’s portals, welcomed into eternal bliss where there is no sin nor death. The Bible has informed Greg of that gift prepared for him and all believers.
That which has gifted Greg can gift any mortal who has the childlike yearning to reach out by faith to receive hope in Christ. That hope is delineated in the Holy Scriptures:
THE HOPE OF HEAVEN
Jesus said: "Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Matthew 25:34
"To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord." II Corinthians 5:8
"Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him." I Corinthians 2:9
Jesus said: "Lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal." Matthew 6:20
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:l6
Jesus said: "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live." John 11:25
"For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." II Corinthians 5:1
"If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His spirit who dwells in you." Romans 8:11
"This is the promise that He has promised us — eternal life." I John 2:25
"He who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life." Galatians 6:8
Jesus said: "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. . ." John 10:27-28
For more: http://conservativeposts.us/ <http://conservativeposts.us/>
<< Home