You are heaven-bound! That's the encouraging news to every person who has believed in Jesus Christ and received
God's forgiveness. Jesus said, “For God so loved that the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16, emphasis mine). A person gains two
things the instant he accepts Christ into his life: eternal life, and an everlasting heavenly home.
Throughout the New Testament we have numerous references to our heavenly home and to eternal life. Even so,
a significant number of Christians struggle and are discouraged about their spiritual state and about their future.
They question whether they are truly saved. They wonder if they will go to heaven when they die.
In this lesson, we will deal first with our assurance of salvation and the gift of everlasting in heaven. Then,
we will deal with how we are to live daily “in the hope of heaven.”
The Assurance of Eternal Life and a Heavenly Home
Those who believe that they somehow can “lose” their salvation once they have believed in Jesus Christ tend
also to be those who believe that they had something to do with gaining their salvation in the first place. The
fact is, you did absolutely nothing to warrant your salvation—to earn it, achieve it, or to be worthy of
it. Your salvation was a gift of God, extended to you by His mercy and out of His fathomless love and made possible
for you to receive through the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. The initiative for your salvation was God's.
It was God through His Spirit who convicted you of your sin and wooed you to Christ Jesus. It is God who saved
you and then filled you with His Holy Spirit. It is God who promised you eternal life. And it is God who will bring
you to the fullness of a life with Him in heaven.
The Bible refers to Jesus not only as the “author” of your faith, but also the “finisher” of your faith (Heb.
12:2). The good work He has started in you, He is committed to completing! (1 Thess. 5:24).
In like manner, there is absolutely nothing you can do to “undo” your salvation. Just as a baby cannot
return to the womb and its life as a fetus after it has been birthed, so you cannot return to your old sin nature
once you have been born again spiritually. Your nature has been changed.
Romans 10:9–10 tells us,
If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead,
you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation.
If you have any doubt today about your salvation, go to God, own up to your sinful nature that has separated
you from Him, believe in what Jesus did for you on the cross—dying for your sins so that you might live eternally—and
confess your faith in Jesus Christ to God. Receive His forgiveness. And then believe with your faith that you,
indeed, are saved! You are a child of God forever, fully reconciled and justified before Him.
Be encouraged as you remind yourself of the following passages from God's Word.
What the Word Says
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works,
lest anyone should boast. (Eph. 2:8–9)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes.
(Rom. 1:16)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
(1 John 1:9)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
He who believes in the Son has everlasting life. (John 3:36)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. (Heb. 12:2)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved
blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it. (1 Thess.
5:23–24)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
But now having been set free from sin … you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the
wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom. 6:22–23)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
For he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. (Gal. 6:8)
What the Word Says to Me
Absent from the Flesh, Present with the Lord
The understanding of the apostles was clear: Death is not an end point for the believer but merely a transition
into the direct presence of the Lord. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that “to be absent from the body” is to be
“present with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:6–8).
Paul also described death to the Corinthians merely as a “change” (1 Cor. 15:52–54). We move in a moment's time
from living in a temporary fleshly home called our physical body on a physical earth to living in a glorified body
in our eternal home, heaven (1 Cor. 15:42–44).
What the Word Says
We are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord.… We are confident,
yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. (2 Cor. 5:6, 8)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
We shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So
when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to
pass the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory.” (1 Cor. 15:52–54)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown
in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it
is raised a spiritual body. (1 Cor. 15:42–44)
What the Word Says to Me
Our Coming Resurrection
The writers of the New Testament also spoke frequently about our coming resurrection, which is made possible
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In fact, the writer of Hebrews stated that the “resurrection of the dead”
is one of the elementary principles of Christ (Heb. 6:1–2).
Jesus said of Himself, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall
live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die” (John 11:25–26). The apostle Paul taught that just
as we have been crucified with Christ, so we shall be raised from death as Christ was raised (Rom. 6:5, 8–9).
As you read the verses below, be encouraged about the resurrection day that lies ahead for you!
What the Word Says
For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of
His resurrection.… Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ,
having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. (Rom. 6:5, 8–9)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since
by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all
shall be made alive. (1 Cor. 15:20–22)
What the Word Says to Me
Promises to the Overcomer
Those who stay true to Jesus Christ and follow Him to the best of their ability will be those whom the Holy
Spirit helps to overcome sin and evil. And what a promise lies ahead for those who overcome! John cited a number
of these:
• eat from the tree of life (Rev. 2:7)
• receive the crown of life (Rev. 2:10)
• clothed in white garments (Rev. 3:5)
• receive a new name, and the name of God and the city of God (Rev. 3:12)
• sit with Jesus on His throne (Rev. 3:21)
Our eternal life will be a life marked by rewards and everlasting blessings.
• In what ways are you feeling challenged or encouraged in your spirit?
Our Heavenly Home
Jesus wanted His disciples to be assured that they would have a heavenly home. He comforted them by saying,
Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 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. 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. And where I go you know,
and the way you know.… I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (John
14:1–4, 6)
Jesus not only is preparing a heavenly home for us, but He has provided the means for us to enter into that
home. As sure as our salvation is the surety of heaven!
And what a glorious place our heavenly home is going to be! John described it as a place where all things will
be made new and where there will be no more sorrow, suffering, or pain. We will live in the everlasting presence
of God (Rev. 21:3–5).
Heaven is a place where we are going to be totally known, and where we will have a complete understanding of
God, ourselves, and our relationship with Him. It will be a place where there is no doubt, no confusion, no misunderstanding,
no estrangement, and no miscommunication (1 Cor. 13:12)!
As you read the verses below, be encouraged about the home that will one day be yours … forever!
What the Word Says
For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then fact to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also
am known. (1 Cor. 13:12)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
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.…
“Behold, I make all things new.” (Rev. 21:3b–5)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there: They need no
lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever. (Rev. 22:4–5)
What the Word Says to Me
(Read all of Revelation 21 and 22 for a wonderful preview of heaven.)
God has a wonderful future planned for the true believer in Christ Jesus. It is a future that shouldn't be missed!
Those who are elderly and those who are seriously ill are among those who especially need to hear the encouraging
word of eternal life and a heavenly home. Be quick to share God's Word with all who are suffering or who may be
near death.
• What new insights do you have into God's assurance of your eternal life and home?
• How do you feel when you think about heaven and living with God forever?
• In what ways are you feeling challenged and encouraged in your own spirit? Is the Lord leading you to share
this message of encouragement with a specific person?
Living in the Hope of Heaven
We are challenged repeatedly in God's Word to live “in the hope of heaven.” Heaven is to be at the forefront
of our thinking. It is to be our constant hope and anticipation, an active and lively hope in us.
This hope works in three ways in us:
1. We have a renewed desire to abstain from evil and pursue righteousness, as well as a new appreciation for
all things eternal.
2. We have a new desire to witness to others about Christ Jesus.
3. We experience great joy about the future.
A Focus on the Eternal
The person who has his eyes on a heavenly home and heavenly rewards is a person who is going to want to do everything
within his power to abstain from evil and embrace what God calls good. There is a new focus or concentration on
the things of God and a stripping away from anything that might detract.
Along with this new alignment of priorities, the person with an active hope of heaven has a renewed energy and
enthusiasm for all things that are eternal. There is a new ability to see that some trials and troubles in this
life are only for a “little while.” In the context of eternity, many things suddenly appear trivial or momentary.
There is also a renewed interest in the Word of God, which endures forever, and in associating with those who
believe in the Word of God.
What the Word Says
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and
the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. (Heb. 12:1)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again
to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled
and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation
ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now, for a little while, if need be,
you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold
that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus
Christ. (1 Peter 1:3–7)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
All flesh is as grass,
And the glory of man as the flower of the grass.
The grass withers,
And its flower falls away,
But the Word of the LORD endures forever. (1 Peter 1:24–25)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and
godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God.… We, according to His promise, look for new
heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be
diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless. (2 Peter 3:11–12, 13–14)
What the Word Says to Me
A Desire to Witness About Christ
The person who has a living, active hope about heaven is a person who will want to produce as much eternal “fruit”
as possible, especially the winning of lost souls. The person who truly believes in a glorious future heavenly
home will want as many people as possible to enter heaven with him!
What the Word Says
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,
And he who wins souls is wise. (Prov. 11:30)
What the Word Says to Me
What the Word Says
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, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. (Matt. 28:19–20)
What the Word Says to Me
Joy About the Future
The person who has an active, living hope about heaven has an exuberance of joy. There is a delight in knowing
that God is at work and that we shall one day experience the fullness of His work in us. There is a joy in knowing
that we will always have a tomorrow in which to love and serve our Creator!
• In what ways are you feeling challenged or encouraged in your spirit?
From Sharing the Gift of Encouragement
by Charles Stanley. Copyright 1998 by Charles Stanley.
