A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

But because of his great love for us, God, who is
rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even
when we were dead in transgressions—it is by
grace you have been saved. And God raised us
up with Christ and seated us with him in the
heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in
the coming ages he might show the incomparable
riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to
us in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:6-7 ).

Even after years and years of answering
questions about it, I am still amazed at how
little most Christians know about what’s
ahead for the Church. I realize that many
Church leaders have become earth centered,
focused on meeting growth and financial
goals in the here and now. In fact a recent
Barna Group survey revealed that the top five
indicators pastors use to judge their success
are attendance, giving, number of programs,
number of staff, and the square footage of
their facility.

To me that’s a shame because the Church is
supposed to be a heaven centered
organization focused on getting people ready
to go there soon. Bringing people into the
kingdom and preparing them for eternity
should be the Church’s number one priority
( Matt. 28:19-20 ). You would think it would at
least be in the top 5 indicators of success, but
it isn’t.

Paul said we should fix our eyes not on what
is seen, but on what is unseen, because what
is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is
eternal ( 2 Cor. 4:18 ). To me that means we
should pay more attention to our next life than
we do to this one. After all we’re going to
spend a whole lot more time there. The
problem is, most Christians know so little
about our next life that even if they wanted to
focus on it they couldn’t tell where to begin.

Therefore, I invite you to spend the next few
minutes thinking about something that will
have eternal significance to you; the
unbelievably amazing destiny of the Church.

Where Do We Go Next ?

Let’s begin at the beginning. When Jesus died
for our sins and rose again He freed us from
the penalty thereof, giving us the assurance of
eternal life with Him. This is not only true of
the Church, but of all those who believed in a
coming redeemer and died before the Church
came to be, and all those who will come to
believe in Jesus after the Church has
departed. Hebrews 10:12 tells us Jesus
offered one sacrifice (Himself) for all time.
That covers everyone from the first man to the
last.

Those who either lived in the time before the
Church or will live in the time after it, were
(will be) required to give evidence of their
belief that Jesus died for them by obeying
God’s laws, and can suffer a lapse of faith,
even to the point of losing their salvation. I
assume you know this to be true about Old
Testament believers. Matt. 25:1-13, Rev.
14:12, Rev. 16:15 tell us it’s also true about
post Church believers.

The only requirement God has imposed on
people who live during the time of the Church
is that we believe in the one He sent (John
6:28-29 ). What’s more, He has accepted the
responsibility for seeing to it that we don’t
suffer a lapse of faith and has put His Spirit in
our hearts as a deposit guaranteeing what is
to come (2 Cor. 1:21-22 ) so we can’t lose our
salvation. This manifestation of His grace is
unique to the Church.

Also unique to us is the authority He gave us
to become members of His own family ( John
1:12-13 ). He made good on this by legally
adopting us as His children, brothers and
sisters of Christ (Romans 8:29 ) and co-heirs
with Him ( Romans 8:17, Galatians 4:4-7 ).

At the same time, He chose to begin seeing us
as we will be after we’ve been perfected,
calling us “a new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17 ), “holy
and blameless, without stain or wrinkle or any
other blemish”( Ephes. 5:25-27 ), and having
the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21 ). He
knows we’ll be that way in the future, after He
changes us from mortal to immortal, but He
began seeing only the “future us” from the
time we believed. He attributes our post
salvation sins to the sin that still lives within
us, and not to the perfect creation He now
considers us to be ( Romans 7:18-20 ).

These are the first indications that God looks
upon the Church differently from any other
group of humankind. If that was all He has
done for us, it would be far more than we
deserve. But in truth, it’s only the beginning.
The real differences will come into effect after
He takes us to our eternal home.

Unlike Israel, the Church’s destiny is not tied
to a specific location on Earth. In fact our
destiny is not on Earth at all. Our citizenship
is in heaven, Paul said, and we eagerly await
a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ
( Phil. 3:20 ).

While at present the Lord’s Kingdom is in this
world, Jesus said it’s not of this world (John
18:36 ). In other words we don’t belong here.
The Church has no homeland on Earth. We
are sojourners in a foreign land, and our
heart’s desire should be to go home where we
belong. That doesn’t mean we can’t have a
good life while we’re here. It means we should
know that, even on its very best day, life here
can’t begin to compare with being home.

Home At Last

Our journey home will be a short one, and it
will take many of us by surprise, although
we’ve been warned that it shouldn’t (1 Thes.
5:4 ). One minute we’ll be here, going about
our business, and in the next we’ll be there,
having been changed from mortal to immortal
and from flawed to perfect in the twinkling of
an eye (1 Cor. 15:51-53 ).

Jesus said He will come back to take us to a
place in His Father’s house that He’s been
preparing for us ever since He left (John
14:2-3 ). This is where we’ll be safely hidden
away while His Father visits the most extreme
series of judgments in the history of mankind
upon the rebellious world (Isaiah 26:20-21 ).
This series of judgments is called the wrath of
God in the Bible (Rev. 6:17 ). It will take seven
years to complete and the Lord promised to
deliver us from all of it (1 Thes. 1:10, Rev.
3:10 ).

During that time the Church will experience a
series of events that couldn’t possibly be more
different from those taking place on earth.
For the first time in our lives we will actually
be face to face with the Lord and receive our
welcome into the Kingdom, the voices of
untold numbers of angels singing and
shouting for joy ringing in our ears ( Rev.
5:11-14 ).

We will have a joyful reunion with those whose
spirits preceded us, and who will have
received their resurrection bodies at the same
time as ours were being changed ( 1 Thes.
4:16-17 ).

In describing this change John wrote, “Dear
friends, now we are children of God, and what we
will be has not yet been made known. But we
know that when Christ appears, we shall be like
him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2 )
and Paul said, “He will transform our lowly
bodies so they will be like His glorious
body” ( Phil. 3:21 ). Try to imagine a glorious
body just like the Lord’s, with abilities
comparable to His.

We will attend an awards ceremony called the
bema judgment where the Lord will reward us
for the things we did at His direction and in
His strength during our time on earth ( 1 Cor.
3:10-15, John 15:5 ). Jesus called these
rewards “treasure in heaven” and said we
should be more focused on storing them up
than we are on storing up treasure on Earth
( Matt. 6:19-21 ). That old saying “we can’t
take it with us” is certainly true, but the Lord
said we can send it up ahead.

Our relationship with the Lord will be
formalized. The Bride of Christ will become
the wife of the Lamb (Rev. 19:6-8, Rev. 21:9 ).
We’ll be seated at His right hand, above all the
ranks of angels, assuming our role as co-
regents with Him (Ephes. 1:18-21, Ephes.
2:4-7 ).

So This Is Where We Live

We’ll be shown our eternal home, the New
Jerusalem. From the description in Rev. 21 it
appears to be extravagant beyond all known
standards, being made of the purest gold and
and precious gems. The overall dimensions of
the New Jerusalem seem extravagant as well.
It will be almost 1400 miles in length and
width and just as tall (Rev. 21:16-17 ). If it was
located on Earth it would be much bigger than
Israel, as big as western Europe, and nearly
half as big as the USA. At nearly 1400 miles
tall, it would extend into space well beyond the
upper atmosphere and be 4,000 times as tall
as the world’s next tallest building.

Based on these dimensions, I don’t believe the
New Jerusalem will be on Earth, but instead
will descend out of Heaven at the time of the
2nd Coming into an orbit in close proximity to
Earth. Some speculate it will be triangular in
shape while others say it will be a cube, but
the Bible does not reveal its shape. (If it was a
globe it would be 2/3rds the size of the
moon.)

Our home won’t need either the sun or moon
to shine on it because the glory of God will
give it light. In fact the light from our home will
be sufficient to provide light for Earth as well
( Rev. 21:23-24 ). Remember, in Matt. 24:29
Jesus said the sun and moon would not give
their light after the end of the Great
Tribulation. So we will be the light of the world
after all (Matt. 5:14 ). There won’t be a temple
in the New Jerusalem because the Father and
Son will be our Temple there (Rev. 21:22 ) just
as we have been their temple here (1 Cor.
3:16 ).

The Bible doesn’t provide any description of
our individual quarters but from the general
description of the city I think we’ll find them to
be just as opulent.

Some have asked why we will need such a
spectacular home, and truth be told we
probably won’t. But remember, the kings of
the Earth live in palaces that provide luxurious
comfort far beyond their needs. Members of
their families live in a way the rest of us can
only dream about. How much more so should
it be for the family of the King of the universe.

But more importantly, giving us only what we
need was not the Lord’s objective in building
the New Jerusalem. Right from the beginning,
His objective where the Church is concerned
has been to demonstrate to ages yet to come
the incomparable riches of His grace,
expressed in His kindness to us in Christ
Jesus (Ephes 2:7 ). And wouldn’t you expect
Jesus, one for whom cost is truly no object, to
throw the budget out the window when it
comes to building something that will express
His love for His bride?

Some wonder how we’ll occupy ourselves in
our new life. The Bible doesn’t offer any detail
on this, probably because there is no way we
could compare life here with life in the
hereafter. Paul, who did get a glimpse of it,
said;

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no
mind has conceived what God has prepared for
those who love him” (1 Cor. 2:9 ).

What we do know is that no group before or
after us has ever been so blessed while on
Earth, and His word tells us that no group
before or after us will ever be so blessed in
eternity. And the best part is we don’t have
long to wait to start receiving it all. You can
almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah
08-02-14.

https://gracethrufaith.com/end-times-prophecy/unbelievably-amazing-destiny-church/#more-46348

Who do u expect to read dis textbook?

..

jiggaz:
I wonder why Black people find it hard to read. This is the same reason the Whites colonized you people. What is there to read in this small article?? Nawa.

wat!,u call dis C.R.K textbook a small article?

General3620:
wat!,u call dis C.R.K textbook a small article?

Ok try read am small.

jiggaz:
Ok try read am small.

k make i try

morning

Glory

Jesus is Lord! ...see how this church cell group put His Word to work resulting in a record breaking win at the just concluded Pumpkin Festival in South Africa.

https://www.nairaland.com/3712646/record-breaking-pumpkin-south-africa

donnie:
Glory

Jesus is Lord! ...see how this church cell group put His Word to work resulting in a record breaking win at the just concluded Pumpkin Festival in South Africa.

https://www.nairaland.com/3712646/record-breaking-pumpkin-south-africa

Amen....

nmnmnnn

nnnn

Yeah....

Noted

Yasssssss

Cool

Yeah

Yyyyy

Morning

Good

Evening

Yeah

Yessss

Lord Jesus

Yeah

Goood