When I go to my Mother's house, there are certain things I can expect to happen. I can always expect my Mother to make me feel welcome and loved. I can always expect my Mother to greet me with a loving smile and a hug. I can always expect my Mother to ask me if I want anything to eat or drink. And every time I go to my Mother's house to eat a meal, I can always expect to have my favorite dessert. Chocolate pie. These are just some of the wonderful things I can expect to happen when I go to see my Mother.
There are also many wonderful things I can expect to happen when I leave this body and go to see Jesus. The Bible gives us many pictures of what we can expect to happen when we see Jesus. 2 Cor. 5:8 says, "We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord." And so, for those of us who are trusting in Jesus as Lord and Savior --- if we die before Jesus comes, the Bible says, that our bodies will remain here but our soul will be with Jesus.
And when Jesus returns to the earth, we will come with Him. Col. 3:4 says, "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with Him in glory."
1 Thess. 3:13 says, "so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints." And so, the Bible says that we shall appear with Him and Jesus will come with all of His saints.
When Jesus comes back --- He's not coming back alone. He'll be coming with angels and with all of the people who have ever trusted in Him.
As we are coming with Jesus, our soul will be reunited with our body. 1 Cor. 15:51-52 says, "Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." 1 Thess. 4:16-17 says, "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. 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." And so, those who have died before Jesus comes, will come back with Him. Those who are still alive when Jesus comes will meet Him in the air as He is coming. And all of our bodies will be translated into new bodies. We will join Jesus and all of the saints as they are coming back to earth.
And the whole world will see Jesus and all of His followers coming back to earth.
The bodies of the dead will be resurrected from the grave and reunited with their soul. But our resurrected body will not be the same body we have now. It will be a brand new body. It will be a body that will be like the resurrected body of Jesus. In Phil. 3:21, the Bible says that Jesus "will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body." And so, our bodies will be changed in a twinkling of an eye to be like the resurrected body of Jesus.
And then, we will live with Jesus on the earth for 1,000 years. Rev. 20:6 says, “Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.” And then after the 1,000 years, the devil will be let loose again for a little while and then he will be thrown into Hell forever. “Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison. The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever “ Rev. 20:7,10.
Jesus will renew the heavens and the earth. There will be a brand new heaven and a brand new earth. The Bible says in Rev. 21:1-5a, “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. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 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. 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.’ Then He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’” Jesus will bring peace and rest to all of the earth and everything on it. Jesus makes all things new.
What will it be like when there is no more evil? What will it be like for those who trust in Jesus? What do we have to look forward to in the new heaven and the new earth? Isaiah 11:6-9 gives us a glimpse into this new world. "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, The calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; Their young ones shall lie down together; And the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra's hole, And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper's den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord As the waters cover the sea.”
When sin came into the world, it affected more than just mankind. Sin affected the whole world. Romans 8:20-21 says, "For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God." Jesus will deliver the creation itself from the bondage of sin.
Why do wild animals hunt each other for food? Why is everything on the earth fighting against each other? It's all because of sin. When Adam disobeyed God, he brought sin into the world. Sin has affected everything in the world.
But there will come a day when the whole world will be redeemed. There will come a day when there will be no more sin. There will come a day when there will be no more sorrow. There will come a day when there will be no more pain. And that day will come when Jesus comes. Jesus is the Deliverer. Jesus is the Redeemer. Jesus is the only hope the world has.
When Jesus comes, the Bible says in Isaiah 11, then the Wolf will live with the Lamb. The Leopard will lie down with the young Goat. The Calf and the Lion will be together
without any sense of danger. These animals are enemies today. But there will come a day when they will no longer be enemies. They will live together in peace and harmony.
Not only will the animals live together without fear, they will have no fear of us and we will have no fear of them. A child will be able to go up to a Wolf or a Leopard or a Lion and lead them around without fear. A baby will be able to play by the hole of a Cobra without fear. A child will be able to put his hand in a den of poisonous snakes without any fear. The animals will have no fear. And we will have no fear because, according to Verse 9, there can be no hurt nor can anything be destroyed. And the whole earth---all the animals and people and every living thing---will be full of the knowledge of Jesus Christ.
What a wonderful world it is going to be because of Jesus. A world without fear.
How different would your life be right now, if you had no fear? We may think that we live in a country where we are free but most of us are not really free. Most of us are captives to fear. There are certain places that we won't go --- because of fear. There are certain things that we won't do --- because of fear. There are certain people whom we won't visit --- because of fear. Our lives are restricted and we have no joy and we turn away from serving Jesus like we know we should because we are slaves of fear.
The Bible says something better is coming. 1 Cor. 2:9 says, "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him." The best is yet to come. But it only comes to those who love Jesus with all their heart, mind, and soul. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Him.
There was a woman who had been told she only had 3 months to live. Her doctor recommended that she start making preparations to die. And so, she contacted her Pastor to talk about her final wishes. She told him which songs she wanted sung at her funeral,
what scriptures she would like read, and what she wanted to be wearing. The woman also told her Pastor that she wanted to be buried with her favorite Bible. And when everything seemed to be in order and the Pastor was getting ready to leave, the woman suddenly remembered something very important to her. She said, "There's one more thing that I want you to do for me. This is very important," the woman said. "I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand."
The Pastor looked at the woman, not knowing what to say. And the woman said, "That shocks you, doesn't it?" The Pastor replied, "Well, to be honest, I don't understand why you want a fork in your right hand." The woman explained. "In all my years of going to
church socials and functions where food was involved, my favorite part was when whoever was clearing away the dishes of the main course would lean over and say 'you can keep your fork.' That was my favorite part because I knew that something better was coming. When they told me to keep my fork, I knew that something wonderful was about to be given to me. It wasn't going to be Jell-O or pudding. It was going to be cake or chocolate pie. Something with substance. And so, I just want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my hand, and I want them to wonder 'What's with the fork?'"
Then I want you to tell them: 'Something better is coming so hold onto your fork."'
Oh dear friends, when you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, you can be assured that something better is coming. And that is a world where Jesus is King. It will be a world without fear. It will be a world of joy and peace and contentment and love. It will be a world renewed and restored by Jesus Christ. And so, no matter what trouble or trial you may be facing right now, do not despair. Do not be afraid. Something better is coming for those who love Jesus.
