Charles F. Stanley - The Gift of Heaven

2017 by Charles F. Stanley

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Cover photo by Charles F. Stanley

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Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from The New American Standard Bible, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked TLB are taken from The Living Bible copyright 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

ISBN-13: 978-0-7180-9680-9

ISBN: 978-0-7180-9681-6 (eBook)

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T here is an ever-growing interest these days in living a long life. Think about all the emphasis on good health. Television and radio ads focus on how to strengthen and lengthen life. Off the presses come book after book about health. Magazine and Internet articles are filled with ideas about health practices that can prolong life, or at least allow for a higher quality of life. We have an unquenchable interest in living long, which is natural, and living a high quality of life, which is desirable. So we are focused on the quality of our food and on exercise. There is a lot of emphasis on living in the here and now, but it is all earth-bound. It is all concerned with the immediate, present moment. It asks, How can I live a better quality of life right now? How can I live longer now? These are certainly natural and normal impulses. Perhaps you want to live longer because you want to prolong a good thingyou may have everything you need here in this life. You may feel at least some sense of satisfaction with what you have, and the things that youre trying to accomplish. But what about life after this one?

A Gift from God

If somebody asks you, What is eternal life? you might say, Well, its everlasting life.

Okay, whats that?

This is the answer: Eternal life is a gift from God. It isnt something we work for, something we pay for, something we worship for; it is a gift of God from God.

Its written in the gospel of John and repeated in that passage that all of us know so well from Romans: The wages of sin is death, but the... gift of God is eternal life [through] Christ Jesus our Lord (6:23).