1. powerpoint presentation designed by claro ruiz vicente http://clarovicente.weebly.com Adult Bible Study Guide Apr May Jun 2009 Adult Bible Study Guide Apr May Jun 2009

2. Dear User … This PowerPoint Show is freely shared to all who may find it beneficial. While intended primarily for personal use, some find it useful for teaching the lesson in church. There are those, however, who add illustrations, change background, adjust font size, etc. While their intention may be good, this is not right. Slide #1 says “designed by claro ruiz vicente.” For honest Christians, it is not necessary for another’s creation to be copyrighted in order to be respected. PLEASE USE AS IS. The Christian Life An Appeal

3. Reinder Bruinsma Contributor Principal Contributor Reinder Bruinsma Contributor Principal Contributor

4. The Christian Life Contents 1. Love 2. Faith 3. Hope 4. Life 5. Revelation 6. Sin 7. Grace 8. Rest 9. Heaven 10. Discipleship 11. Stewardship 12. Community 13. Mission

5. The Christian Life Our Goal {181} We want to look at both aspects of our faith: doctrine and experience. Not only to understand these themes better but also to have been enriched as far as Christian experience is concerned. One focus: the One in whom “we live, and move, and have our being.”

6. The Christian Life Lesson 9, May 30 The Christian Life Lesson 9, May 30

7. HEAVEN Key Text John 14:2, 3 NIV “ ‘In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you…. I will come back and take you to be with me’.”

8. HEAVEN Initial Words {298} We are people with a destiny that extends far beyond our short existence in this present world. We are citizens of a heavenly kingdom. This kingdom is both present and future. It already is with us but will be realized fully in all its glory when Christ returns to take us home. Then eternal life in God’s presence will be ours.

9. HEAVEN Quick Look 1. Heaven: What Is It? (Revelation 20:4-6) 2. Heaven—Its Joys! (Revelation 21:1-4) 3. The Lord of Heaven (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

10. HEAVEN 1. Heaven: What Is It? Revelation 20:4-6 NIV “I saw thrones…. And I saw souls…. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. … The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him a thousand years.

11. 1.Heaven: What Is It? Heaven or Hell? {290} Heaven is a reality. It is a place. It is where God lives together with the other Members of the Godhead and a host of unfallen angels. It also is where we will live if we remain on God’s side. When Christ returns and the first resurrection takes place, the resurrected saints will accompany the Lord to heaven, where they will remain for a thousand years.

12. 1.Heaven: What Is It? Heaven or Hell? {290} Not all people will be saved. Some will be eternally lost. Human beings have been created with a free will. There are two kinds of people—those who say, “Lord, Your will be done,” and those to whom the Lord says, “I have to respect your choice; your will be done!”

13. 1.Heaven: What Is It? Heaven or Hell? {288} “In the New Testament the blessed hope never focuses on individual death, but always on the return of Christ and the resurrection and translation of the saints to meet Him together, at the same time. It is in this future, and not what happens at death, that saints can find comfort.” Norman Gulley Christ Is Coming 293, 294

14. HEAVEN 2. Heaven—Its Joys! Revelation 21:1-4 NIV “Then the angel showed me the river of life … flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb…. No longer will there be any curse. … They will see his face….”

15. 2. Heaven—Its Joys! Beyond Our Wildest Expectation {294} Those who love the seaside may be disappointed to learn that the sea will be “no more [Rev 21:1].” However, to the people who first heard these words, the sea was a threat. In the new world that God will create, everything that would possibly be a threat to us will be removed. We will be eternally secure!

16. 2. Heaven—Its Joys! Christ’s Object Lessons 374 {292} “Better than all the friendship of the world is the friendship of Christ’s redeemed. Better than a title to the noblest palace on earth is a title to the mansions our Lord has gone to prepare. And better than all words of earthly praise will be the Savior’s words to His faithful servants, ‘Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you….’ ”

17. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 NIV “According to the Lord’s own word … we who are still alive … will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven…. And so we will be with the Lord forever. ” HEAVEN 3. The Lord of Heaven

18. Face to Face {296} What an inexpressible joy it will be to be reunited with those we lost in death. But the supreme experience will be to meet the Lord of the universe. Our songs will come true: “Face to face shall [we] behold Him, far beyond the starry sky!” What a privilege it will be to stand before the Alpha and the Omega of the universe.

19. 3. The Lord of Heaven Face to Face {296} We cannot yet imagine what it will be like to meet our Savior. How many questions will we want to ask! The why question, which has so often been in our lips, finally will receive its definitive answer. All distrust will dissipate as we learn why God allowed certain things to take place.

20. 3. The Lord of Heaven The Great Controversy 652 {296} “As the nations of the saved look upon their Redeemer and behold the eternal glory of the Father shining in His countenance … they break forth in rapturous song: ‘Worthy, worthy is the Lamb that was slain, and hath redeemed us to God by His own most precious blood!’ ”

21. HEAVEN Final Words {289} Jesus assured His disciples that He was “going to prepare a place” for them. When discouragement and pessimism creep into your life, remember that your Creator is getting a place in heaven custom-ready just for you.