P4 OF 5 | EVERYONE LIVES FOREVER | PILLARS OF A BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW

Pillars of a Biblical Worldview Part 4 – 2/4/24

Sermon Intro: Manufacturing Plant Repair
Your worldview is the framework from which you perceive reality and make sense of life and the world

Biblical Worldview Pillars:
God created all things
Every person has a sinful nature
Every Christian has a responsibility to share God’s message of reconciliation

Hebrews 9:27-28 (NIV2011)
27  Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28  so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many…

Biblical Worldview Pillars:
Everyone lives forever

Daniel 12:2 (NIV2011)
2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.

For believers:
1 Peter 1:3-5 (NIV2011) 

3 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, 
4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 
5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

Everyone lives forever
Believers will enjoy eternal rewards in heaven

1 Corinthians 2:9 (NIV2011)
“What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love him…

For unbelievers:
2 Thessalonians 1:8-10 (NIV2011)
8 He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might …

Revelation 20:10 (NIV2011)
10  And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Everyone lives forever
Unbelievers will endure eternal retribution in hell
Life on earth is a temporary means to a permanent end

Non-biblical worldview:
1 Corinthians 15:32 (NIV2011) 

If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” 

Example: Move from CA to GA
Eternity resolves injustice

Romans 8:18 (NIV2011)
18  I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
Example: Childbirth

Life on earth matters forever

Revelation 20:12-15 (NIV2011)
12  And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13  The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. 14  Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15  Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.

Your eternal home is determined in this life

John 3:16 (NIV2011)
16  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

2 Corinthians 5:10 (NIV2011) 

10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. 


A believer’s eternal rewards are determined in this life.
Example: Rope

We're in a series called pillars of a biblical worldview. We're talking about pillars in the Bible that undergird our biblical perspective of the world and of life. I'd like to tee up this morning's sermon with a classic story. Many, if not all of you have heard this before. It s the story about how a factory one day came to a screeching halt. Production in a moment, stopped. Well, obviously, the managers of the factory panicked, because every minute that goes by when that factory is not operating costs them money. So they went to work, trying to find, to diagnose the problem that had caused the factory to stop working. Well, 24 hours passed, and they still had no idea what was wrong, much less how to fix it. That's when one of the foreman in the factory remembered there was an engineer who lived not far away who was instrumental in designing and overseeing the installation of all the equipment in the factory. So out of desperation, they called this engineer and asked if he could come help them solve the problem. Half an hour later, this old engineer walks in carrying a small bag. He walks into the factory, followed by all of the engineers and foreman. He walks to the middle of the factory to this piece of machinery. He reaches down in his bag, takes out a hammer, and taps that piece of machinery one time. And when he does, the entire factory sprung back to life. Everybody standing around were just amazed. They were amazed by what he was able to do. So he picked up his bag, and he walked off on his way out the form and said, thank you so much for helping us get back online. You send me your invoice, and we will pay you well for what you did. Well, a few hours later, they got an invoice that foreman opened his email and saw an invoice from the engineer, and it was an invoice for $10,000. The foreman was thankful, but he wasn't that thankful. So he emailed the engineer back and said, can you please provide me an itemized invoice? Two minutes later, the engineer sent it back, tapping with a small hammer. $2. Knowing where to tap. $9,998. When it comes to understanding and living life well, the designer's instruction, the designer's perspective is invaluable to us. God has given us a lens through which we can understand the world and life. And when we bring the designer's instructions to bear in our lives, that's when life works as it was designed to work. We call that having a biblical worldview. Now, what is a worldview? Everybody has a worldview. Some have a biblical worldview, many do not. What is a worldview? Your worldview is the framework from which you perceive reality and make sense of life and the world. So our goal as believers is to have a biblical worldview, to see and understand life from the creator's perspective. Over the last several weeks, we've looked at several teaching from scripture pillars that undergird that biblical worldview. We started by observing, the Bible teaches God created all things. The implications of that truth are huge. And we talked about that. Then we talked about how every person, the Bible says every person has a sinful nature. And we compared that to a non biblical worldview. And we examined that last week. We looked how the scripture teaches that every believer, every Christian, has a responsibility to share God's message of reconciliation. Today we're going to continue with another important pillar of a biblical worldview, and we're going to begin. I'm going to be jumping all over the place this morning. If you have the app, it's a great day to follow on the app. We're going to begin in Hebrews, chapter nine, verse 27. Just as people are destined once, to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many. The biblical worldview pillar I want to talk to you about this morning is this, everyone lives forever. The Bible clearly teaches that all of us, if Jesus tarries his coming, all of us will die. But after our death, there is something next. And the Bible teaches that that something next lasts forever. Now, this is very different from a secular worldview. A secular worldview says this life is all there is. In fact, your time's running out. You have less time today than you had yesterday, and you'll have less time tomorrow than you have today. Life is coming to an end. And when it comes to an end, it is all over. The Bible teaches the opposite of that. The Bible says that we all have an eternal experience. And very briefly, your eternal experience is characterized in one of two ways. Daniel, chapter twelve, verse two. Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. The New Testament clarifies that the eternal experience that you have after death depends on what you do with Jesus. Now, let me take these two groups one at a time. First of all, those who have placed their faith in Jesus, what does their eternal experience look like? First, Peter, chapter one, verse three. Praise be to 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. Peter is talking to and about christians here. Verse four. And into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade. This inheritance that's yours is kept in heaven for you. So the Bible teaches that believers, those who have placed their faith in Jesus, believers will enjoy eternal rewards in heaven. Last year we did a series on heaven, and we talked a little bit about what we, as believers in Jesus, have to look forward to. The glory that awaits us is beyond human comprehension. In fact, Paul says in one corinthians, chapter two, what no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived, the things God has prepared for those who love him. Christian, listen, our best is yet to come. Our experience on the other side of death is far better than our experience on this side of death. But what about the other group? If that's true for those who believe in Jesus? What about those who refuse to accept Jesus death and resurrection as payment for their sins? Second Thessalonians, chapter one, verse eight. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might. The New Testament. The Bible teaches that those who reject Christ will share their eternal home with the devil and his angels in a place prepared for the devil and his angels. Revelation, chapter 20, verse ten, describes it this way. And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night, forever and ever. So while believers enjoy eternal rewards in heaven, the Bible teaches that unbelievers will endure eternal retribution in hell. Now, I know that is not a popular or widespread teaching these days, but church, the Bible, clearly teaches it. The point is, we all live forever. Death is not our end. When we experience death, there is something next. And that something next, according to the Bible, lasts forever. Now, the implications of this are very interesting. For example, if we all live forever, here's what that means. Life on earth is a temporary means to a permanent end. If we all live forever, our life on earth is just a temporary means toward a permanent end. Now, a secular worldview would say this, this life is all that there is. This life is an end unto itself. So you better make the most of every moment. You better enjoy life while you can. You better just have a good time. In fact, the apostle Paul shared the natural outcome the behaviors and attitudes that arise from this secular worldview. When he says this, if the dead are not raised, in other words, if this life is all that there is, if the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. What's Paul saying? If this life is all that there is, you better live it up while you can. That's what a secular worldview will lead to. But a biblical worldview says that this life is but a brief sojourn in preparation for eternity. Let me give you an example. It's a little far fetched. Let's say a family living in California. Let's say this family wants to move to Georgia. Not too hard to understand. Live in California. They want to move to God's country. They want to move to Georgia. So they sell their home, they quit their jobs, they sell all of their possessions, and they set out for their journey to their new home. But this family does something very interesting. Instead of spending time preparing for what they're going to do when they get there or where they're going to live when they get there, they instead spend all their time planning for the journey. They plot out the path they're going to take from California to Georgia. They book their hotels. They're going to stay in during their trip. They even plan a few side trips along the way to enjoy. They spend a lot of time preparing for the journey. But when they show up in Georgia, they have no idea where they're going to live. They have no idea how they're going to make a living. They don't hire an agent. They don't have any clue about what they're going to do when they get there. See, that would be foolish. No one sets out on a journey without preparing for the destination. See, this life is not a destination. This life is a journey toward a destination. Can I ask you a question? How much thought, how much planning, how much preparation have you put into your eternal home? Because this life is nothing more than a journey to get there. Life on earth is a temporary means to a permanent end. Here's another thing that this pillar means to us if we live forever, this eternity resolves injustice. Injustice is resolved by eternity. Let me explain what I mean by this. There are so many things in life that we as human beings simply cannot understand. Why do bad things happen to good people? For apparently no reason at all. Why does that happen? And by the same time, why do bad people seem to do so well? It seems so unfair, doesn't it? I'm asked sometimes questions like Pastor Jeff why would God allow a child to die? It seems so unfair. An innocent child who's done nothing wrong, why would he take their life and allow people with far less character and far less innocence to live so much longer? How is that fair? I don't know the answer to those questions. But here's what I do know. God has eternity to make it right. God has eternity to make it right. Romans, chapter eight, verse 18. Paul says this. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. Last week I joked. It was a joke. I joked about a lady in labor. You all remember that boy? I heard about that last week. Okay, so the reality is just so. For the record, labor is tough. Childbirth is a very. In fact, listen, it very well could be that when a mother is giving birth, that is perhaps the lowest, if not one of the lowest points in her life. It is a time of great pain, great turmoil. However, that pain gives way after birth. That pain gives way to unspeakable joy, to the point where some moms, many moms decide to do it again. Why is that? Because the joy of childbirth overpowers the pain of the delivery. I suspect that's the way eternity is going to be. The joy that we experience the reunion we enjoy with loved ones, all of the blessings that will be ours throughout eternity will overshadow, overpower, any pain or unfairness or justice that we've had to endure on this side of death. Eternity has a way of resolving injustice and unfairness. Then, finally, life on earth matters forever. If we live forever, according to the Bible, the decisions we make in this life are not inconsequential decisions. What we do in this life is what determines eternity. Let me give you a couple of examples of how this works. First, I want to read to you from revelation, chapter 20. I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and the death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them. And each person was judged according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Now watch, verse 15. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. Okay, there is a book, and your name is either in it or it isn't. And whether or not your name is in that book is what determines where you will spend eternity. Your eternal home is determined, it turns out, in this life, because the way you get your name into that book is to make a decision for Christ in this life. John 316. God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that's Jesus, that whoever believes in him, it's the believing in him that makes the difference, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. To be in that book, you must place your faith in Jesus, his death and resurrection, as sufficient payment for your sins in this life to make sure heaven is your eternal home. Your eternal home is determined in this life. Here's another example of how our eternity is defined in the here and now. John two corinthians, chapter five, verse ten. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. He's talking to christians here. Paul is. Paul is talking about christian believers. We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that each of us may receive what is due us for things done while in the body, whether good or bad. So it's during this life that we earn our rewards for heaven. A believer's eternal rewards are determined in this life. Listen very closely. Where you spend eternity depends on what you do with Jesus. How you spend eternity depends on what you do for Jesus. See, in heaven, our eternal experience will not always all be the same. There will be different levels of rewards in heaven. The Bible clearly teaches that where we spend eternity depends on what we do with Jesus. How we spend eternity depends on what we do for him. The point is this. This life is a limited time during which we define a limitless experience. I want to share a picture of what this looks like. Used this before. Let's say that this rope is a timeline, and we're going to stretch this timeline this way. This rope is the timeline of your life. Okay? You had a beginning. You had a beginning. You were conceived right there. You have no end, according to the Bible. So for this illustration to work, we have to imagine that this rope doesn't end over there on the edge of the stage. This rope goes out the door, across the county, across the country, in fact, it circles the globe and comes back in that door and wraps around the world an infinite number of times. That's how long your life is if you live forever. But here's what I want you to notice. Your life on earth is just in that one little black dot. You were conceived right here. You became a person when chromosomes from your mother joined with chromosomes from your father, creating a unique living person. That's when you started. You have no end. But your time on earth ends at the end of the dot. Now, here's what I want you to understand. The rest of your rope depends on what you do in the dot. What you do with Jesus determines where you will spend eternity. What you do for Jesus determines how you will spend eternity. So the question that I have for all of you this morning is this. Are you ready for the other side of your dot? Are you ready for your life, this brief sojourn on earth to be over? And are you ready for your eternity to begin? I cannot think of a more important decision anyone could make than to decide to put their faith in Jesus, to put their trust in Jesus death and resurrection as sufficient payment for their sins that have separated them from their creator. Here's the great news of the gospel I'd love to share with you. You can know eternal life. John 316. God so loved the world that he gave his one only son that whoever believes in him, whoever. That's a big word, whoever, you know what that means? That means you can believe in Jesus and you can know eternal life. If you've never placed your faith in Jesus, my heartfelt prayer is that this morning, this blustery morning on a February Sunday, you would place your faith in him and prepare for eternity. Heads are bowed. Eyes are closed. If you've never placed your faith in Jesus, my prayer is that you would spend the next few moments of silence and heartfelt conversation with your creator. You might say, God, I recognize my sin has separated me from you, and I need your forgiveness. I believe Jesus, your son, died and rose again to wash my sins away. And I come before you right now confessing I am placing all my trust in what Jesus did for me, to rescue me from my own sin, to wash my sins away so that I could be made right with you. In Jesus name, amen. Everyone looking back up here, if you prayed along with me this morning, I would love to share some literature with you that helps to better explain what it means to place your faith in Jesus. What just happened in my life, if I prayed that minute, what are the next steps I need to take as I follow Jesus? Literature will explain it to you. It's back at guest services as you leave. We'd love to give it to you as our gift to you. We believe it'll be a blessing to you. Now, there may be those watching online, and you too prayed along with me just now. I'd love to offer you that same literature. We've set up a website called imadadecision.com imadaddecision.com, and there you'll find many helpful resources that better explain what it means to place your faith in Jesus. You'll also find there a place where we can receive your mailing address. If you provide that to us, we promise we'll put that same literature in the mail to your home, wherever you are this coming week. Thank you for watching this video on first Redeemer's YouTube channel channel. If you enjoyed it, click like below and leave us a comment. And if you'd like more content like this, click subscribe and turn on your notifications. Thanks again for watching and.