personallife

We are wired to have relationships. I am the first that I am not the best at them and can't spell the word "date." With all the said, I will talk about the relationship with God and his believers. The relationship with Jesus is the most important relationship. The thought of seeing God is shocking and almost blasphemous to anyone who understand the Old Testament teaching on the transcendence and inapproachability of God (Exodus 33:18-23). To see God's face as the sinners we are, is unthinkable. Yet, Revelation 22:4 says of God's resurrected people on the New Earth, "They will see his face." This means that something radical must have happened to us by then. It is only because we will be fully righteous in Christ, standing in our resurrected bodies, untainted by sin, that we will be able to see God and live. To see God will be our greatest joy. Not only will we see his face and live-we will likely wonder if we ever lived before we saw his face! Old-sc...

At death, the human spirit leaves the body (Ecclesiastes 12:7). We go either to Heaven or Hell (Luke 16:22-31). As told in the history of the rich man and Lazarus-and affirmed by Christ when he tells the thief he will be with him in paradise "today" (Luke 23:43)-there is immediate conscious existence after death, both in Heaven and Hell (2 Corinthians 5:8; Revelation 6:9-11; Philippians 1:23). Both in the intermediate Heaven and on the New Earth, we'll find our greatest pleasure in God. We'll worship and thank him as we see him revealed in the wonders of creation, including our fellow creatures. Furthermore, incredible though it may seem, God has decided that we're actually going to help him run the universe (Luke 19:11-27)! He will give us renewed minds and bodies so that we will be whole people, full of energy and vision, eager to undertake new project for God's glory and our enrichment. We'll reign with Christ over the New Earth, where we'll exer...

Jesus had a physically resurrected body that allowed Him to walk, talk and eat (John 21:1-14; Luke 24:36-43). We're told that our bodies will be like His (1 Corinthians 15:20, 48-49; Philippians 3:21; 1 John 3:2). After His resurrection, Jesus invited the disciples to touch Him and said, "Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost {disembodied spirit} does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have" (Luke 24:39). Christ's physically resurrected body is the model for our resurrected bodies on the resurrected Earth. After our resurrection, we will not be ghosts; we will be physical human beings. Many people believe we will live for a thousand years on the old Earth (Revelation 20:1-7). But even those who disagree on whether the Millennium should be understood literally agree that we will live forever, after the final rebellion and judgement, in resurrected bodies on the New Earth (Revelation 21-22). When God speaks of our having "ne...

The Bible gives us many images that are full of implications about Heaven. Put them together and the small glimpses from a beautiful picture. For example, we're told that Heaven is a city (Hebrews 11:10; 13:14). When we hear the word city, we shouldn't scratch our heads and think, I wonder what that means? We understand cities. Cities have people, buildings, activities, gatherings, art, music, athletics, events of all kinds and goods and services. Heaven is also described as a country (Hebrews 11:16). We know about countries. We also know what Earth is like and thus we know much of what the New Earth will be like. If we can't image our present Earth without rivers, mountains, trees and flowers then why would we try to image the New Earth without these features? If the word Earth means anything, it means that we can expect to find earthly things there-including atmosphere, mountains, water, trees, people, houses-and even cities, buildings, and streets (which are mentioned ...

 "Why does God allow natural disasters, i.e. earthquakes, hurricanes, and tsunamis?" Answer: * Why does God allow earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, typhoons, cyclones, mudslides, wildfires, and other natural disasters? Tragedies cause many people to question God’s goodness. It is distressing that natural disasters are often termed “acts of God” while no “credit” is given to God for years, decades, or even centuries of peaceful weather. God created the whole universe and the laws of nature (Genesis 1:1 < https://biblia.com/bible/esv/Gen%201.1 >). Most natural disasters are a result of these laws at work. Hurricanes, typhoons, and tornadoes are the results of divergent weather patterns colliding. Earthquakes are the result of the earth’s plate structure shifting. A tsunami is caused by an underwater earthquake. The Bible proclaims that Jesus Christ holds all of nature together (Colossians 1:16-17 < https://biblia.com/bible/esv/C...