It’s the final week of our series, “The Other Side,” and this week, we are continuing our conversation by looking at more questions people have about Heaven. We will look at what Scripture says about questions like, “Who will be in Heaven?”, “How does anyone get to Heaven?”, “What will people do in Heaven?”, and more. As we learn more about Heaven today, we will reflect on the truth that the invitation to follow Christ and spend eternity is available for everyone. The question is, will they accept that invitation or not? We will also be reminded that while here on earth, "we see things imperfectly," but one day, when we spend eternity in Heaven, "we will see everything with perfect clarity" (1st Corinthians 13:12).
What are common questions people have about Heaven?
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1. Read Romans 10:9. How does someone come to spend eternity with Christ one day?
Romans 10:9
If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
2. Read 1 Timothy 2:3-6. Based on this verse, what is God’s desire for who will be in Heaven one day?
1 Timothy 2:3-6
This is good and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. 5 For, There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. 6 He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time.
3. Read 2 Peter 3:8-9. What does this passage of Scripture reveal about Jesus’ return to bring all people to spend eternity in Heaven with Him?
2 Peter 3:8-9
But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. 9 The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.
4. Read 1 Corinthians 13:12. Compare and contrast what our understanding is here on Earth versus what it will be one day in Heaven.
1 Corinthians 13:12
Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.
1. After reading our Scripture for today, how would you answer the question, “Who will be in Heaven to spend eternity with Christ one day?”
2. When it comes to your desire to see the lost come to have a relationship with Christ, what is one way you would like to grow?
3. How does the Scripture you read about God’s timing impact the way you want to live your life?
It is clear from Scripture that only those who have a relationship with Christ and commit their lives to Him will be in Heaven with Him one day. Scripture also shows us that God desires everyone to place their faith in Him. What places are you currently going to make Christ known? How is it going? Share this update with your group. When everyone has shared, pray together. Pray for God to make Himself known to the lost in your lives and to use each one of you in the process.
To gain a deeper understanding of who will be in Heaven and spend eternity with Christ one day, and how to get there, we must examine the story God tells throughout Scripture, beginning with the Old Testament and then moving on to the New Testament books of the Bible. Today, let's take a look at Genesis, when sin entered the world, the sacrificial system that was in place in the Old Testament so that God’s people could receive forgiveness for their sins, and how Jesus became the final sacrifice once and for all so that those who place their faith in Him can have eternal life forever.
When God created the first two people, Adam and Eve, He gave them a garden to live in called Eden, a place that was perfect. Unfortunately, Adam and Eve chose to sin, breaking the one rule God gave them not to eat of a tree called the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This changed everything.
1. Read Genesis 3:1-24.
Genesis 3:1-24
Now The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” 2 “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. 3 “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’ ” 4 “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. 5 “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.” 6 The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. 7 At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. 8 When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. 9 Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” 10 He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.” 11 “Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.” 13 Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.” 14 Then the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all animals, domestic and wild. You will crawl on your belly, groveling in the dust as long as you live. 15 And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” 16 Then he said to the woman, “I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy, and in pain you will give birth. And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you.” 17 And to the man he said, “Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. 18 It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains. 19 By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return.” 20 Then the man—Adam—named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all who live. 21 And the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife. 22 Then the Lord God said, “Look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!” 23 So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made. 24 After sending them out, the Lord God stationed mighty cherubim to the east of the Garden of Eden. And he placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
2. What did Adam and Eve do after they ate the fruit from the tree? Why?
3. Name some of the consequences of Adam and Eve’s sin.
4. How do we still suffer the consequences of sin today?
Even after sin came into the world, God did not give up on His people. He established a system for offering sacrifices, enabling them to receive forgiveness for their sins. Take a few minutes to read about this sacrificial system in Leviticus 4.
1. Read Leviticus 4:27-35.
Leviticus 4:27-35
“If any of the common people sin by violating one of the Lord’s commands, but they don’t realize it, they are still guilty. 28 When they become aware of their sin, they must bring as an offering for their sin a female goat with no defects. 29 They must lay a hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it at the place where burnt offerings are slaughtered. 30 Then the priest will dip his finger in the blood and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. He will pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. 31 Then he must remove all the goat’s fat, just as he does with the fat of the peace offering. He will burn the fat on the altar, and it will be a pleasing aroma to the Lord. Through this process, the priest will purify the people, making them right with the Lord, and they will be forgiven. 32 “If the people bring a sheep as their sin offering, it must be a female with no defects. 33 They must lay a hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it at the place where burnt offerings are slaughtered. 34 Then the priest will dip his finger in the blood of the sin offering and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. He will pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. 35 Then he must remove all the sheep’s fat, just as he does with the fat of a sheep presented as a peace offering. He will burn the fat on the altar on top of the special gifts presented to the Lord. Through this process, the priest will purify the people from their sin, making them right with the Lord, and they will be forgiven.
2. What stands out to you about this sacrificial system?
3. What were the results of following this sacrificial system?
4. Can you think of any downsides to this sacrificial system and reasons why this was not a permanent solution?
God knew all along that the sacrificial system set in place was temporary. He knew that humanity needed a better, final sacrifice to rescue us from sin and death. That is why, at just the right time, He sent His one and only Son, Jesus, to die on the cross as the final sacrifice for our sins.
1. Read Hebrews 10:1-14.
Hebrews 10:1-14
The old system under the law of Moses was only a shadow, a dim preview of the good things to come, not the good things themselves. The sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship. 2 If they could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped, for the worshipers would have been purified once for all time, and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared. 3 But instead, those sacrifices actually reminded them of their sins year after year. 4 For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 That is why, when Christ came into the world, he said to God, “You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings. But you have given me a body to offer. 6 You were not pleased with burnt offerings or other offerings for sin. 7 Then I said, ‘Look, I have come to do your will, O God— as is written about me in the Scriptures.’ ” 8 First, Christ said, “You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings or burnt offerings or other offerings for sin, nor were you pleased with them” (though they are required by the law of Moses). 9 Then he said, “Look, I have come to do your will.” He cancels the first covenant in order to put the second into effect. 10 For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time. 11 Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins. 12 But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 13 There he waits until his enemies are humbled and made a footstool under his feet. 14 For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy.
2. Why was the old sacrificial system only temporary?
3. Compare the old sacrificial system with Jesus' ultimate and final sacrifice on the cross.
4. What is the result of Jesus’ sacrifice for those who place their faith in Him?
Jesus offers forgiveness and restoration for all who turn to Him. He was the perfect and final sacrifice. Take a few moments to spread out and pray individually. Confess any sins in your life. Ask God for forgiveness and thank Him for Jesus’ sacrifice and the forgiveness and eternal life offered through Him.
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