What The Bible Teaches
Unit 2
Who Am I?

Lesson 9
Where Am I Headed?

Revelation 21:27 (NKJV)
27 But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

This is our third lesson on the study of man (anthropology). Men are generally philosophical by nature; that is, men ask questions that appear to have no precise answer. Who am I? What is my purpose? Why am I here? Where am I going? Where will I be in 100 years? Is there life after death?

These questions might all be summed up into one: What is my destiny?

Teachers: There is an implied thread running from the prior lessons through this one and into the future lessons on life after death. That thread is the personal relationship one has with God. As we have seen, God is personal in His nature, as evidenced by the Trinity. We have “walked around” the existence of such a personal relationship between God and His Creation, particularly mankind. This personal relationship is, of course, redeemed and restored by salvation. That is really ‘the point” of studying all of these doctrines. This thread is the glue of these lessons, but it may not be apparent much of the time the way the Leader’s Guide writes its lesson commentary. Please keep this in mind, particularly because the relationship is not directly discussed until Lesson 11. As such, you need to talk about salvation as being important but remember that Lesson 11 is the one which brings this all to the forefront.

Getting Attention

What is my destiny? Where am I headed? Reading Revelation 21:27 in a vacuum immediately raises the question, what is the “it” referred to in this verse? Why is it important to be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life? What is the Lamb’s Book of Life? Is it important to me?

Knowing and Understanding the Bible

We have discovered that man has majesty because mankind is created in the image of God. This image has been marred by sin. Thus, mankind is a paradox, a majestic but marred person. The ultimate resolution to the paradox sits in man’s relationship with God.

This lesson focuses primarily upon this last sentence. Man’s purpose and meaning are ultimately connected to man’s relationship with God. Death is a certainty for all of mankind. While some small number will escape death via the rapture, most of us face a certain death. This fact will be explored shortly.

At issue is the question of what happens to us when we die. The second paragraph opening the commentary section of this lesson (Leader’s Guide, page100) is valuable:

The concept of the destiny, or “fate,” of a man draws interest at several levels. First, one thinks about man’s destiny in this life. Is he to be great or ordinary? Famous or unknown? Rich or poor? What is he supposed to accomplish with his life? Beyond this, however, the looming fate of death hangs over each individual every second of every day. Quite naturally what follows an almost certain death should grab the alert attention of every thinking person.

So, are you rich and famous? Or, like most of us are you, at best, average? Perhaps the proper question is not rich or average, but how do you measure significance? How do you determine your purpose in life?

Purpose and Meaning in This Life

A. Unbelievers can have significance

Remember from last week that every person is made in the image of God. Salvation has nothing to do with our creation. As such, God has bestowed a wide range of natural talent to mankind. Non-Christians may write great novels, cure diseases, lead nations and companies properly, and help others over come difficulties and respond in times of need. Indeed, just consider the out pouring of relief efforts for the recent Hurricanes, Katrina, Rita, and Wilma. There are a lot of “good” people in the world, people who are not Christian. Unsaved man is special in the eyes of God.

Matthew 5:45 (NKJV)
45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

B. Believers do have an advantage

However, there is a distinct advantage for the Christian. By entering into a relationship with Jesus Christ, the believer discovers several advantages that an unsaved person cannot receive.

Peace with God

First, the believer has peace with God. Saved persons are no longer at war with God. They have entered into a long-term, lasting relationship with the Creator, which removes any enmity between that person and the Creator. Peace exists.

Romans 8:1 (NKJV)
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

This peace is evidenced in a variety of ways:

God has provided prayer as a method of personal communications for those who know Him personally and pray in Jesus’ name.

John 15:16 (NKJV)
16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.

Jesus promises a productive and joyously abundant life.

John 10:10 (NKJV)
10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

See also John 15:1-11; Psalm 1:1-3; Joshua 1:8

This abundant life leads the believer to be set apart (sanctified) to the purposes of God. This gives meaning to a person’s life as he grows in the grace and knowledge of Jesus and is separated more and more from sin. The believer is able to ask God how to arrive at one’s destiny and to follow God’s path to such purpose.

2 Peter 3:18 (NKJV)
18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.

Fellowship with God’s people

We lose sight of the true meaning of the church. The church is not the four walls of this building or the organizational structure set forth by a group of pastors or deacons. At CRBC we use to use the saying, “We don’t just go to church – we are the church!”

This pictures the real church, because the church is a living body or organism with Christ as its head.

Ephesians 1:22-23 (NKJV)
22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

This relationship to Jesus and to each other provides a fellowship unmatched anywhere in the world. Each of us who are believers are members of this body. We each have special spiritual gifts bestowed upon us by the Holy Spirit. We are to use these gifts for the body. These gifts include ministries such as teaching, mercy, encouragement, and service (Rom 12:3-16; 1 Cor 12-14). The use of these gifts are part of your destiny. They help you carry out your life’s purpose. Using this power of God, you, the believer, are in a much better position to accomplish your purpose and mission, to fulfill your destiny, than is a non-believer.

Opportunity to share the Gospel

We each have a job. Adam was directed to tend the Garden of Eden (Gen 2:15). Our jobs may be that of a wife or husband, keeping the house and raising children. We may work for others or for the government. We may receive wages, or we may not. No matter what our jobs are, however, God has given each believer one over-riding task and opportunity. This opportunity is the ability of the believer to share the Gospel with those who have no relationship with God.

If the ultimate destiny is to have a relationship with God, then the greatest opportunity, blessing, job, and task we have is to share the Good News of Jesus. Let me be quick to point out that this does not involve preaching or teaching. There is no need for you to memorize all of the Bible. The task at hand is simply to witness to the power of Jesus in your life, to use your personal testimony to tell others about the possibility of a relationship with Jesus Christ. The Scriptures talk of witnessing, not evangelizing!

Matthew 4:19 (NKJV)
19 Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

Matthew 28:19 (NKJV)
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Acts 1:8 (NKJV)
8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Only those who have a relationship with God are able to share this relationship with others.

Certainty of Death

There is some old saying that says the only two certain things in life are death and taxes. If you don’t work and never buy anything and never own anything, I think you can avoid the taxes.

Understand that

death is God’s promise as a consequence of rebellion (Genesis 3; Romans 5:12-21)

death constitutes a divine appointment

death does not apply to all since God has allowed some exceptions

A. Divine promise

Genesis 2:17 (NKJV)
17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

This verse is God’s promise to Adam. Death represents physical, spiritual, and eternal consequences for Adam making an incorrect choice. Adam’s spiritual death resulted in his immediate separation from God. Physical death was not immediate, but the process of physical decay commenced. Eternal death results from a person not allowing God to repair the separation caused by spiritual death.

Paul makes it abundantly clear that Adam’s consequences rest upon the shoulders of all men.

Romans 5:12 (NKJV)
12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—

History demonstrates the correctness of Paul’s statement. Cain, the firstborn son of Adam, killed his brother Abel (Gen 4).

B. Divine appointment

There is a divine appointment for each of us. Death is a divine appointment we all face. Death is a part of God’s divine rule of operation for the world. Modern science continues the search for the “fountain of youth,” but death still reigns.

Hebrews 9:27 (NKJV)
27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,

The Bible is clear; God has established the divine appointment of death.

C. Divine exceptions

Even with the divine appointment of death, God has created exceptions. These, too, are a part of God’s divine plan for Creation. Many modern scholars see us as living at the edge of the Second Coming of Christ. This brings to mind the words of 1 Thessalonians 4 and the description of the Rapture.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (NKJV)
13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.

Believers living at the return of Jesus will not face death but will be “raptured” or snatched into heaven. The pattern for this event is seen in two Old Testament personalities, Enoch (Gen 5:24) and Elijah (2 Kings 2:11).

In addition, those who are saved during and survive the Tribulation will escape physical death. They will enter the Millennium alive and according to Old Testament descriptions of the Millennial reign, they will not face death.

God does provide a limited exception to the reign and rule of death, but for most of us, death is the end of our earthly life. This, of course, leads to the question of life after death. What happens to us when we die? Do we continue to “live?”

Teachers: I would note at this point that this lesson concerns the existence of Heaven and Hell and is not focused on the choice that leads a person to one place or the other. Obviously, believers go to heaven and non-believers go to hell, but this lesson is concerned, for the most part, with the fact that there is life after death in the form of two possible locations. The importance of the choice a person makes regarding acceptance of Jesus is delayed until Lesson 11. You will have to determine the most appropriate manner of presenting this section of the lesson and the need for salvation based upon your individual class requirements.

Reality of Heaven

Scripture teaches that the soul continues to live after death. While evangelism and witnessing form a back ground to this lesson, the lesson does not spend a great deal of time directly discussing the importance of a choice for God. Scripture sees the soul as being eternal and going to one of two places upon death – heaven for those who have a relationship with God and hell for those who do not have such a relationship.

The important point of this lesson is that both heaven and hell are REAL. One is very nice and the other is very bad.

A. Heaven is a real place

The Bible pictures the heavens as being a real place with three parts.

The atmosphere of earth is the first heaven. This is the home of birds and airplances.

Psalm 147:8 (NKJV)
8 Who covers the heavens with clouds, Who prepares rain for the earth, Who makes grass to grow on the mountains.

The second heaven is the home of the stars, what we call outer space.

Genesis 1:14-18 (NKJV)
14 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; 15 and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. 16 Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. 17 God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.

The third heaven is the home of God.

2 Corinthians 12:2 (NKJV)
2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven.

Matthew 6:9 (NKJV)
9 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

The Bible is unclear concerning the precise location of this third heaven. It could be either inside or outside the universe, although it is most likely outside of Creation, since God Himself is, as we have seen, outside of Creation (transcendent). Revelation tells us that God will move His home to the new earth at the end of the Millennium when all things are made right (Rev 21:1-8).

Living with God on the new earth is the ultimate heavenly home of each believer. This is the believers final destiny. Until that time, those who die in Christ go immediately to the presence of the Lord, although it is not until the Second Coming that our transformed bodies are received.

2 Corinthians 5:8 (NKJV)
8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.

Believers will have a home in heaven as well.

John 14:1-3 (NKJV)
1 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

This, too, is a part of the destiny of a believer.

B. Heaven is a beautiful place

Revelation 21:1-8 (NKJV)
1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” 5 Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.” 6 And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. 7 He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. 8 But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

Revelation 21:26 (NKJV)
26 And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it.

The new heavens, described in both the above verses and the balance of Rev 21, is a beautiful place. Much of the beauty will be seen in those verses not quoted above. It is a place where one will take great delight to live, because of its beauty and because it is living with God. The measurements given in show the city to be approximately 1500 miles wide, long, and high (Rev 21:16). The city probably is a cube, although it could be a pyramid. Its beauty is found in the description of the jewels adorning its gates and its streets of gold (cf. Rev 21:18, 21).

The most beauty part of the city, however, is its moral purity. The city, like God, is HOLY! This explains the “it” of verse 27 –

Revelation 21:4 (NKJV)
4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

Revelation 21:27 (NKJV)
27 But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

Reality of Hell

A. Hell is a real place

If God is righteous and just, then Hell must exist. Scripture clearly teaches there will be many who refuse to acknowledge God and accept His offer of grace. Hell is a place to be avoided at all costs.

Matthew 18:9 (NKJV)
9 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire.

Hell was designed for the devil and his angels.

Matthew 25:41 (NKJV)
41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:

Hell is a place of punishment.

Mark 9:44 (NKJV)
44 where ‘Their worm does not die And the fire is not quenched.’

B. Hell is an awful place

If the fire is not quenched, then Hell can only be described as an awful place.

Matthew 25:46 (NKJV)
46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Matthew 25:30 (NKJV)
30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Where Am I Headed?

What The Bible TeachesUnit 2Who Am I?

Lesson 9Where Am I Headed?