Zondervan - Believe: The Hope of Easter

ZONDERVAN

Believe: The Hope of Easter

Copyright 2014 by Zondervan

ePub Edition December 2014: ISBN 978-0-3104-3762-8

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Table of Contents

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.
1 Peter 1:3 4

M aybe youre in a season of life where youve lost hope. A wise sage once told me, You cannot cope without hope. It is impossible to deal with lifes difficulties if there is no hope of a new and better day to come.

I have some good news. Easter is all about the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus rose from the dead to give us hope. This little book is aimed at helping you grab hold of it. It is a collection of Scripture stories from Genesis to Revelation built around three key themes of the Christian life Beliefs, Practices and Virtues. All three hold the secret to Gods offer of hope.

BELIEF ETERNITY

To experience a brand of hope that never perishes, spoils or fades, you must come to understand and believe the unwavering promises God has made to us about the future. They are simply amazing.

PRACTICE SINGLE-MINDEDNESS

For a belief to have a full impact on us, we cant just believe it in our heads; we must also believe it in our hearts. This spiritual practice will help the belief above take the 12-inch journey from the head to the heart.

VIRTUE HOPE

As Gods promises take root in your heart, hope will grow in you from the inside out.

Bask in the gift of Gods Word this Easter and before long you will be declaring with confidence, I can cope with the hope I have in Jesus Christ!

Randy Frazee
General Editor

CHAPTER

Eternity

KEY IDEA

I believe there is a heaven and a hell and that Jesus will return to judge all people and to establish his eternal kingdom.

KEY VERSE

Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Fathers house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?
John 14:1 2

While the Old Testament writers dont address the afterlife in as much detail as the New Testament writers, the Old Testament does contain the magnificent description of the prophet Elijah being taken up to heaven without dying. Elijah is one of only three people taken to heaven in bodily form, the other two being Enoch (you can read about him in Genesis 5:21 24) and, of course, Jesus.

THE ENDING OF A LIFE

When the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, Stay here; the LORD has sent me to Bethel.

But Elisha said, As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you. So they went down to Bethel.

The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, Do you know that the LORD is going to take your master from you today?

Yes, I know, Elisha replied, so be quiet.

Then Elijah said to him, Stay here, Elisha; the LORD has sent me to Jericho.

And he replied, As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you. So they went to Jericho.

The company of the prophets at Jericho went up to Elisha and asked him, Do you know that the LORD is going to take your master from you today?

Yes, I know, he replied, so be quiet.

Then Elijah said to him, Stay here; the LORD has sent me to the Jordan.

And he replied, As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you. So the two of them walked on.

Fifty men from the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan. Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground.

When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?

Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit, Elisha replied.

You have asked a difficult thing, Elijah said, yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours otherwise, it will not.

As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha saw this and cried out, My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel! And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two.

Elisha then picked up Elijahs cloak that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. He took the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and struck the water with it. Where now is the LORD, the God of Elijah? he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.

The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha. And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him. Look, they said, we your servants have fifty able men. Let them go and look for your master. Perhaps the Spirit of the LORD has picked him up and set him down on some mountain or in some valley.

No, Elisha replied, do not send them.

But they persisted until he was too embarrassed to refuse. So he said, Send them. And they sent fifty men, who searched for three days but did not find him. When they returned to Elisha, who was staying in Jericho, he said to them, Didnt I tell you not to go?

THE INTERMEDIATE STATE

What happens when we die? The New Testament indicates that people experience an intermediate state, which refers to a persons existence between their time of death and the promised resurrection of their new body. Their earthly body goes into the grave; their spirit lives on in one of two places in Gods presence where they enjoy a time of peace until they receive their resurrected bodies or in a place of torment where they await final judgment. Jesus talked about this vividly in the story about a rich man and Lazarus (not the Lazarus Jesus raised from the dead). Jesus depicted the place of blessedness for the righteous as Abrahams side and the place of torment for the wicked as Hades.

There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich mans table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.