Family
Life Class June 27, 2014
Almost everyone has experienced separation from loved ones. Sometimes it is temporary. Other times separation seems permanent. The "Blessed Hope" of believers is that Jesus will soon return for his church. In this lesson we will talk about the longing the church should have for the return of Christ, and how that longing will affect our everyday lives.
"Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;" [Titus 2:13 KJV]
"But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive [and] remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words." [1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 KJV]
"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation." [Hebrews 9:27-28 KJV]
· Does the Bible support the idea of reincarnation or any other “do over” theology?· Should Christians grieve over the death of another Christian?· What is the believer's hope?
"For we know that if our earthly house of [this] tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in [this] tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing [is] God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore [we are] always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, [I say], and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." [2 Corinthians 5:1-8 KJV]· Does the Bible speak of the death of a believer as a loss or a gain?
"Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present [us] with you. For all things [are] for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward [man] is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding [and] eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen [are] temporal; but the things which are not seen [are] eternal." [2 Corinthians 4:14-18 KJV]· What evidence do we have of bodily resurrection?
"For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only [they], but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, [to wit], the redemption of our body." [Romans 8:22-23 KJV]
· Is death natural? Why is death so unpleasant?· How does being “born again” impact my soul?
· Spirit?· Body?
"The LORD is known [by] the judgment [which] he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah. The wicked shall be turned into hell, [and] all the nations that forget God." [Psalms 9:16-17 KJV]
"And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." [Matthew 10:28 KJV]
· Do all people automatically go to heaven when they die?
· What effect should this knowledge have on believers?
· Ultimately who knows the destination of another’s soul?
