1. HEAVEN Can't Wait

2. Some people are so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good. Oliver Wendell Holmes 3. Colossians 3:1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 4. Lesson Purpose 1 John 1:4 These things I write unto you, that your Joy may be full. 5. 1 Corinthians 13:12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror, then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 6. Misconceptions From whence do they come We'll be floating around on clouds Playing a Harp For eternity How exciting! Woo Hoo 7. After being forcibly evicted from Heaven (Isaiah 14:12-15), the devil became bitter not only toward God, but toward mankind and toward Heaven itself, the place that was no longer his. 8. Revelation 13:6 He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. The enemy slanders 3 things God's Person God's People God's Place Particularly Heaven 9. Imagine Imagine there's no heaven It's easy if you try No hell below us above us only sky Imagine all the people living for today Imagine there's no countries it isn't hard to do Nothing to kill or die for and no religion too Imagine all the people living life in Peace You may say I'm a dreamer but I'm not the only one I hope some day you'll join us and the world will be as one John Lennon 10. Hank Williams Jr. If heaven ain't a lot like dixie, I don't wanna go If heaven ain't a lot like dixie, I'd just as soon stay home If they don't have a Grand Ole Opry, like they do in Tennessee' Just send me to Hell or New York City, it would be about same to me 11. Imagine No Cancer No Nursing Homes No Crime No Addictions No Pain No Famine No Death No Tears No War No Hate No Prisons No Disease No Hospitals No Suffering 12. God: Master Architect Engineer Builder Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. 13. Tale of two cities Eden New Jerusalem The Twin Cities Built by God Himself 14. Eden - Paradise Genesis 2:8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 15. Eden - Paradise The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die. 16. Paradise Lost And the Lord God said, The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever. So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 17. The Curse affected all creation Romans 8:22 Against its will, all creation was subjected to Gods curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join Gods children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 18. Looking for a City Hebrews 11:16 They were longing for a better country--a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. 19. God is doing a New Thing Revelation 21:5 He who was seated on the throne said, I am making everything new! Then he said, Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true. 20. Paradise Restored Heaven on Earth Revelation 21:2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 21. Parallel of the Twin Cities 22. Tears in Heaven Eden: None mentioned The beginning of mans sorrows New Jerusalem: Revelation 21:4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes The end of mans sorrows 23. God makes His abode with men Eden: Genesis 3:8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day New Jerusalem: Revelation 21: 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God 24. I've got a River of Life Eden: Genesis 2:10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden New Jerusalem: Revelation 22:1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city 25. Where is the Tree of Life? Eden: Genesis 2:9 In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. New Jerusalem: Revelation 22:2 On each side of the river stood the tree of life 26. Animal Planet Eden: Genesis 1 And God said, Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky. So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. 27. Animal Planet New Jerusalem: Isaiah 11:6-9 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. 28. Gardens Garden of Eden...Duh!!!!! New Jerusalem: Isaiah 65: they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. Revelation 22: On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. 29. Principle of Continuity The New Earth will still be Earth, but a changed Earth. It will be converted and resurrected, but it will still be Earth and recognizable as such. Just as those reborn through salvation maintain continuity with the people they were, so too the world will be reborn in continuity with the old world. Randy Alcorn 30. Principle of Continuity Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, all things have become new. 31. Matthew 19:28 Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne.... 32. Principle of Continuity Conversion does not mean eliminating the old but transforming it. Despite the radical changes that occur through salvation, death, and resurrection, we remain who we are. We have the same history, appearance, memory, interests, and skills. This is the principle of redemptive continuity. God will not scrap his original creation and start over. Instead, he will take his fallen, corrupted children and restore, refresh, and renew us to our original design. Randy Alcorn 33. This Old House 34. Restoration 35. New Body Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 36. Pimp My Ride 37. Matthew 22:30 At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. Revelation 19 For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Will there be Marriage in Heaven? 38. Will there be Children in Heaven? New Jerusalem: Isaiah 11:6-9 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. 39. S _ X What is your opinion? 40. S O X 41. Who will be in the New Jerusalem? Revelation 21:27 those whose names are written in the Lambs book of life. 42. Will we know and recognize friends from this life? Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. . . . God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. . . . We who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them. . . . And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words 43. Who will be there God: Father Son Holy Spirit Angels Believers Children Animals Fish - Birds 44. What will be there Wolves Lambs Lions Goats Ox Calves Cobra - Fish Birds - Gardens Rivers Streets Gates Walls - Houses Children - Mountains Leopards Bear Trees Fruit Horses Cows Vipers Tables Clothing Choirs Musical Instruments Books Does this sound like a place you've been before? 45. What Will We Do In Heaven Worship Build Eat & Drink Garden/ Farm Fellowship Rest Work Does this sound like a place you've been before? 46. Big Big House With lots and lots of rooms John 14:1-3 Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Fathers house are many rooms (Mansions); if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 47. New Jerusalem: Isaiah 65:21 They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy 48. Isaiah 65: 17-25 Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more. Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years. 49. Christ proclaims from his throne on the New Earth: Behold, I am making all things new (Revelation 21:5, ESV). Its not just people who will be renewed but also the earth and all things in it. Do all things include animals? Yes. Horses, cats, dogs, deer, dolphins, and squirrelsas well as the inanimate creationwill be beneficiaries of Christs death and resurrection. Christs emphasis isnt on making new things but on making old things new. Its not about inventing the unfamiliar but about restoring and enhancing the familiar. Jesus seems to be saying, Ill take all I made the first time, including people and nature and animals and the earth itself, and bring it back as new, fresh, and indestructible. Randy Alcorn 50. So what will be missing? 51. S.I.N. And the effects thereof REVELATION 21:27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lambs book of life. 52. What & Who will not be there Sin Satan Sickness Fallen Angels Tears Unbelievers Pain/ Suffering War Death Evil Hospitals-Funeral homes-Nursing Homes- Homeless Shelters-Prisons-Cemeteries- Abortion Clinics-Mental Institutions - Military 53. Revelation 22:3-5 The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.