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Sign up at harvest.org. We all like to watch the story of someone who discovers they have superpowers, like Superman or Wonder Woman or whoever the character might be. Well, really, you're going to have superpowers. Pastor Greg Laurie says when we get to heaven, we'll be the same person we are today, only better, much better. You will be given a new body, but it will still be you. It'll just be the radically upgraded version of you.
Ever fallen for that ruse at the supermarket? You see a package marked new and improved, and so you buy it. Then you get it home and taste it, and it isn't new or improved. Well, as believers, there'll come a time when we're new and improved for real. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie points out just how we'll change personally when we get to heaven.
Some things will stay the same, and so much will be radically upgraded. A while back, Newsweek did a cover story with the title Visions of Heaven. It revealed that 76% of Americans believe in heaven, and 71% of them believe it's an actual place, but after that, the agreement began to break down. 19% thought heaven looked like a garden. 13% thought it was like a city.
17% did not know, and those that did not believe in it sneakingly wished there was one. Now, another poll done by the Pew Research Center had people talk about heaven and hell and define it. Their definition was heaven is a place where people who have led good lives are eternally rewarded, and hell was a place where people who had led bad lives and died would be eternally punished. So right out of the gate, people have it wrong. People have it wrong. That is not what heaven is, and that is not what hell is.
Now, here's the problem. People say they believe in heaven, and that idea of heaven comes uniquely from the Bible. So if you're going to say you believe in heaven, you need to read the rest of what the Bible says, right? Because the Bible tells us there is a heaven. We would not believe in heaven if it were not for the teaching of Scripture.
To say you believe in heaven but then not read what the Bible has to say about it would be like saying, well, I believe in Disneyland, but I do not agree with the price for getting in, and I would be with you on that, and I do not believe that the location is accurate. So I'm going to go to where I think Disneyland is, and I will enter the way that I want to enter Disneyland. Okay. Whatever. So you're going to end up in some lame putt-putt golf course with one broken ride.
I don't know. But if you happen to make it to the Magic Kingdom, you've got to go in the Disney way, or you don't go in at all. If you try to just walk in, of course, you'll be stopped, arrested by the Disney police. You'll be put in Disney jail, and I don't know what happens after that. But the idea is that you have to do it the right way. You have to pay the admission price. Well, in the same way, you say, well, I'm going to go to heaven, and I'll do it my way. Well, no, you won't. You do it God's way.
All right. Well, what's the admission price? Trust me when I tell you you can't afford it. That's the bad news. You can't afford the price to get into heaven.
Here's the good news. The price has been paid. Admission is free through Jesus Christ. That's how you get into heaven. Into heaven.
Because of His death for us on the cross. So as to good people going to heaven and bad people going to hell, listen to this. There will be people in hell who would be defined by some as good people. And in the same way, there will be people in heaven who lived bad lives.
Let me say that again. There will be people in hell who would be identified by some as good people. And there will be people in heaven who lived bad lives. But they repented of their sin.
How does this work? Being good doesn't get you to heaven. There's only one way to get to heaven. Being forgiven. Heaven is not for good people. It's for forgiven people. But then again, you can be a good person, relatively speaking, but you're not good enough. And you could think you would get to heaven on your own good works. And of course you won't. And that's how you might end up in hell.
Okay. So now let's answer some often asked questions about the afterlife. Number one, what will our new bodies be like in heaven? Number two, will we know each other in heaven? Number three, will we be married in heaven? Number four, number four, what will we do in heaven? And fifth and lastly, and this is often asked, do people in heaven know what's going on with us on earth? All right.
So let's go question by question. And by the way, in our last message, let's talk about heaven. We discovered of course heaven is an actual place, not a state of mind.
It's a real place. Jesus said in John 14, I've gone to prepare a place for you. Jesus tells us and the rest of the Bible tells us, heaven is a city. Heaven is a country. Heaven is a paradise. It doesn't say it's like a city. There is city in heaven.
It doesn't say it's like country. It is a country. It doesn't say it's like a paradise. It is a paradise. In fact, it's better than any city you've been to on earth.
It's better than any country you have ever visited. And it is better than any paradise that you can imagine. Whatever you've experienced on this earth, the best of the best of the best doesn't even come close to the glory of heaven.
Why? Because earth at its best is a pale imitation of the real thing, which is heaven. Heaven is not a watered down version of earth. It's kind of the other way around. And so whatever you are thinking, it's going to be far better than you ever imagined.
All right. So what about these new bodies the Bible talks about? What will they be like?
Short answer, amazing. You know that people love these superhero movies. You know, you have the DC universe, you have the Marvel universe, and there's just so many of them coming out. And we all like to watch the story of someone who discovers they have super powers like Spider-Man or Superman or Wonder Woman or whoever the character might be because they can fly, they have superhuman strength, they can do all kinds of amazing things. Well really, you're going to have super powers, if you will, one day in this new body that God is going to give you.
Why? Because your resurrection body is going to be like the resurrection body of Jesus Christ. So let's think about that for a moment. Jesus was crucified on a cross, right? He rose again from the dead three days later. Did He rise in a physical body? Yes or no?
The answer is yes. And so in a physical body, was He a different person or was He still Jesus? Well He was still Jesus. In fact He even said to His disciples, it is I, not another. To the point He still bore in His hands and in His feet the marks of the crucifixion. Remember when He appeared to the disciples in the upper room He extended His hands to Thomas who was a bit doubtful and said, go ahead and put your hands in the wounds in My hands.
And of course Thomas didn't need any more proof. So He was still Jesus but He did things in this resurrected body that He did not do before. It is not that He couldn't have done them before but He didn't. And so afterwards He did some unusual things like appearing in a room without using the door.
That is pretty cool. How about flying? Well Jesus never flew.
Yeah He flew. What do you think the ascension is? He just went right up to heaven.
So why do I bring this up? Because the Bible tells us over in 1 John 3 where the children of God it hasn't been revealed what we will be but we know when He is revealed. Listen, we shall be like Him for we will see Him as He is. By the way Jesus ate in His resurrection body.
And I don't think it was like translucent. You could see it go down His throat or something. But to prove He was in a real body He said, here give me some tea. Here here is a piece of fish. Awesome.
Just you know jot it down. But He was in a real body. And we will get to this a little bit more but you will be given a new body but it will still be you. It will just be the radically upgraded version of you.
Ok. Here is what the Bible says. 1 Corinthians 15. Our bodies now disappoint us. Can I get an amen on that?
Amen. But when they are raised they will be full of glory. They are weak now but when they are raised they will be full of power. They are natural bodies now but when they are raised they will be spiritual bodies. So listen to this. Our new bodies that God will give to us later will be both different and at the same time the same as our body here. By that I mean you are still you as I have already said but again a radically upgraded version of you. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. But whenever you send us an email, letter or post a comment on social media we read every word. How have these daily studies touched you and your family?
Tell us your story. Write Pastor Greg an email. Send it to Greg at harvest dot org.
Do it today while you're thinking about it. Again that's Greg at harvest dot org. Well Pastor Greg is addressing a number of questions people have about heaven. The first one, what will our bodies be like in eternity? Let's continue with the biblical insight. Heaven. Will we actually go to mansions? It reminds me of a story of a minister and a New York cab driver that both died and went to heaven on the same day. So Peter meets them both and the cab driver is first in line and Peter says welcome to heaven. I am in charge of housing. So I hear you are a cab driver in New York. I says yes sir.
He says all right. Well I've got your house picked out for you. You see that mansion over there in the hill.
That's yours. Oh the cab driver was so excited. He ran off to his mansion. The minister standing behind him stood a little taller. Oh because he was a famous preacher. Peter says yeah here you're a well-known minister.
Yes I I am. Okay will you see that little shack down there in the valley with the roof coming apart. That's your place. What do you mean that's my place? I preach the gospel the minister said. I taught the word of God.
I was a holy man of God. Yeah whatever. That's your place. It doesn't make sense.
I should be given a better place. Bottom line when that cab driver drove people prayed but when you preached people slept. He gets a mansion. That's a true story by the way.
No it isn't. So what is this mansion referring to in John 14. A couple of options. One it may be our new body that God will give to us. 2 Corinthians 5 1 in New Living Translation says when this earthly tent we live in is taken down when we die and leave these bodies we have a home in heaven an eternal body made for us by God himself.
We'll put on the new body like new clothes. Okay so it could be a description of our new body but it could be a house. I mean literally a house in heaven.
Why not? It's not heaven a city. It's not heaven a country.
It's not heaven a place. So we could have a house. And by the way we're told over in Isaiah 65 21 in the millennium that's when Christ is ruling on the earth that we will all build our own houses. Okay so it might be an actual house. And I love how Jesus says my father's house. So that suggests spaciousness.
Big place. But then he says in my father's house are many rooms. That sort of suggests coziness right.
I mean even if you're in a palatial estate you can't live in 300 rooms at once. You're going to find a nice little spot and sit down in front of a fire and have a cup of coffee or a cup of tea or whatever you know. So you know the idea is it's a real place waiting for you.
What it is exactly I don't know. But it's going to be amazing. We know that. And you know I'll tell you what the thing is is with life as you get older it seems like it goes more quickly you know. This is true. Billy Graham was once asked the question what has been your greatest surprise of life.
And he said in response the brevity of it. And there's a reason that it seems like time goes faster as you get older. I read that they did a study on it and what it revealed was the reason it seems like time goes faster when you're older is because you get into routines right.
Older people like to go to the same restaurant sit in the same spot and order the same thing over and over again. But when you're young you like adventure. You like things happening. You like to try new things when you're older.
Not so much right. And so there are tell tale signs you're getting old. You know you're getting old when you go to pull up the wrinkled socks you're wearing and you realize you're not wearing socks. That's not a good sign. You know you're getting old when your pacemaker opens the garage door accidentally. But hey blessed are the pacemakers right. So you know you're getting old when you bend down to tie your shoe and you wonder what else you can do while you're down there right. Is that not true. I'm down here already.
Is there anything else I can do. Because I don't want to come down here again right. So but to the point here life goes by so quickly.
But here's the good news. Though your body is wearing out like a tent which is not meant to last forever God's going to resurrect it and your soul will live forever and your body will be resurrected. So now when we're in heaven will we know each other in heaven. Do you think you're going to be more stupid in heaven than you are on earth.
Maybe I should ask the question well do you know each other on earth. Well then you're going to of course know each other in heaven in the same way. You know in the Mount of Transfiguration remember Jesus was transfigured. He shined like the sun. On one side was Moses. And on the other side was Elijah. Now how do we know it was Moses and Elijah.
Were they wearing little name tags. Hi I'm Moses. Dear Moses was he holding the tablets.
Here. That's Moses. Elijah calling fire down. No I don't think so. Somehow they were recognizable as they made this guest appearance if you will on each side of Christ. So I think when you get to heaven yes we'll see each other. Yes we'll know one another. We're told in 1 Corinthians 13 we will know as we are known. We'll know everything we know on earth except more.
We'll know everything we know on earth but with divine perspective now. Sometimes people have this mistaken notion that when you get to heaven you have some kind of a brain wipe. Like remember that movie Men in Black. They would do that little thing and they forgot everything they saw. I think people think when they're in heaven they're just like it's almost like heaven's a giant lobotomy or something. No I want to know. There's memories of earth in heaven.
Oh that can't be true Greg because we would be sorrowful. Well you have perspective. See I understand things now. How can I be rewarded for something I did on earth if there's not a memory of what I did on earth? So you're going to remember earthly things but now with that supernatural perspective. There's no break in my love for my loved ones. Death breaks ties on earth but renews them in heaven. We're the same people we were here. Pastor Greg Laurie with great insights on what's to come when we reach our heavenly home.
Maybe these are questions you've wondered about. Pastor Greg will have more answers as he continues this message including some thoughts before we close today here on A New Beginning. You know heaven is such an encouraging topic. Whatever we're facing in this life pales in comparison to the glory we'll experience in the hereafter. That's of course if we've come to the Lord for forgiveness of sins. Pastor Greg let's speak to the person who'd like to take care of that.
Okay. What would you say to someone who wants to come to God right now? What I would say is he's only a prayer away.
Which means if you will call upon the name of the Lord right now through prayer he will hear your prayer and answer your prayer. Listen if you want Jesus Christ to come into your life, if you want him to forgive you of your sin, if you want to know that you go to heaven when you die just pray this prayer right now after me. Just pray Lord Jesus I know that I'm a sinner but I know that you're the Savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead. I turn from my sin now and I choose to follow you from this moment forward as my Savior and Lord as my God and my friend. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
Amen. And listen if you have just prayed that prayer with Pastor Greg and have meant those words sincerely the Lord has forgiven your sins and we want to welcome you into the family of God and we want to help you get started living this new life. Let us send you Pastor Greg's New Believers Bible. It's been read by millions of people and they enjoy the scores of helps for new believers and the easy to understand translation. So get in touch for your free copy of the New Believers Bible. Call us at 1-800-821-3300.
We can take your call anytime again 1-800-821-3300 or go online to harvest.org and click know God. Hey everybody I'm here with my friend Max Lucado who has written a brand new book titled What Happens Next and it's on the end times. In fact Max you've described this as sort of a prophecy 101 book. Okay so let's do a lightning round.
Let me hit you with terms that we hear and why don't you just give us a quick definition of them okay. I'll do my best. Here we go. We need some music Dave give us some lightning round music. All right.
Okay here we go Max. What is the rapture? The rescue of the church prior to the great tribulation which we will meet the Lord in the air and will be taken into paradise.
Excellent answer. Okay you mentioned the tribulation what is the great tribulation period? Seven years of difficulty and trial in which the restrainer which is the presence of the Holy Spirit working through the church is removed in which the Antichrist has his way but a great revival breaks out during the middle of the seven years in which many people return to Christ. And you mentioned Antichrist who is Antichrist? The Antichrist is the proxy of Satan a person who does the bidding of the devil who creates and negotiates a peace treaty after the rapture because of the chaos of the rapture and negotiates a peace treaty with Israel and the other nations leading to what appears to be peace but in the middle of that peace he positions himself in the temple which he is allowed to be reconstructed and demands to be worshipped and then the result is anyone who doesn't worship him falls under persecution so it'll be the most difficult. Jesus said there has never been a time and never will be another time as difficult as those seven years. What is the battle of Armageddon? The battle of Armageddon is when at the end of the seven years Christ descends out of the heavens on a great white stallion crowned with all the crowns wearing many crowns and he defeats those who would dare to defy his will and destroy his children and the beauty of the return of Christ to the valley of Armageddon is it will be with him we won't do the fighting Jesus will do it all but we will return with him. So what is the second coming and maybe draw a contrast between the second coming and the rapture. The rapture is when Christ comes for his church the second coming is when Christ returns with his church and when he returns with his church he will set up the kingdom that he long prophesied and that prayer that we've all prayed that kingdom come that will be done will be done on earth and what is that kingdom called the millennium the millennium is that golden era in which all the promises that God made to Adam and Eve to Abraham to David and to Jeremiah will be answered uh Christ will be crowned satan will be bound and thrown away into the bottomless pit for a thousand years and righteous rulers will rule the earth the reason the world is upside down is because Christ is not regarded satan is alive and well and evil rulers rule all that's going to be changed and for a thousand years we will enjoy the garden of Eden as God intended beautiful Christ will be crowned and satan will be bound what a beautiful summation of our future that's why the bible calls it a blessed hope and max deals with this and a whole lot more in his brand new book i'm max lucado and you're not no that's not the title no the title of the book really is what happens next about the end times events it's understandable it's unique it's fresh it's deep it's biblical and it's a book that is going to help you grow spiritually and we want to send it to you for your gift of any size whatever you send will be put to good use continuing this broadcast a new beginning and then we'll send you your copy of what happens next by max lucado and time is running out we can only mention this a short time longer so contact us today you can call us anytime 24 7 at 1-800-821-3300 and thanks so much for your investment in the work that we do each day we're truly listener supported again dial 1-800-821-3300 or write a new beginning box 4000 riverside california 92514 or just go online to harvest.org well we've been talking about heaven today and what things will be the same and what things will be different when we get there pastor greg closes with some thoughts on what we'll know in our eternal home i've used this illustration before but i only have five illustrations so i return to it but one of my grandkids might be playing with the toy and it breaks a doll the head comes off and they're freaking out because you know a headless doll is alarming in many ways even to me um papa the doll's head came up i'll fix it and then i'm trying to screw the which is not it i'll go away when i'm doing it because it's not a good thing to watch i can't get the head to screw back in so i'll say well don't worry about it the doll they're so unhappy i'll take don't worry about it it'll be okay but it'll be okay why because i know in a cupboard i have five more of those dolls because i'm smart and i plan ahead so the reason i can say it's okay is because i know it's going to work out better for them and so in the same way we're here in this life and we say god what are you doing god why aren't you paying attention lord where are you the lord says it's okay well yeah it's okay you say it's okay you're in heaven yeah i'm in heaven and i know it's going to be okay and you'll see it one day so in heaven i have memory of things on earth but with perspective the preceding podcast was made possible by harvest partners helping people everywhere know god learn how to become a harvest partner sign up for daily devotions and find resources to help you grow in your faith at harvest.org
