HERE COMES THE BRIDE

The Inheritance

That evening as they sat in the dining room Lester had a question for whoever could answer it. He had been thinking about what God had said to him about telling His children that they had an inheritance. He had no idea and he asked if anyone knew what this inheritance was.
David and Debra didn't know yet, but Miriam and Joel knew and began telling Lester what they knew.

Joel spoke this time. "OK you kids" he began. "When your parents die one day, and they will, we all will, what do they leave you? "
"An inheritance" answered Debra.
"That's right. And what do you inherit?"
"Usually whatever our parents have or want to give us" was David's reply.
"Spot on" said Joel as he gestured with his finger to David. "That's the same as our Father in heaven. Because we are His children we inherit all that He has, not that God is going to die because He cannot die, but we receive our inheritance now and into eternity. You see when you have Jesus, you have everything that he has. Before we accepted Jesus we were dead in our sins with no hope but since we accepted him we have hope eternal and abundant. We want for nothing if we are found in Christ.
Now to go a step further, one day this world as we know it will come to an end but the bible says that God has not prepared us for wrath and that we are preserved from judgement. Remembering that Christ took the penalty for our sin on the cross, therefore we are not under the judgement of God anymore but the world is because they are still rebellious toward God and do not recognise Jesus as being His son. One day God will pour out His judgement on the nations. This time is called the Great Tribulation or The Lord's Day. It will be a seven year period in which God will deal with the world and Satan like never before and believe me, you do not want to be there and we won't. "
"Then how do we escape from that?"piped up David.
"The bible says that The Lord Jesus Christ will come to meet us in the air and that he will snatch us away to be with him forever. It says that the believers that are dead at that time will be raised first and then they who are alive on earth after them. Jesus is called the first fruits of those who rose from the dead and in saying that, all believers will rise from the dead too just like Jesus at the resurrection. Of course, when people die their spirits or souls either go to be with The Lord or go to be in Hell, but the bible says that all those who are taken up to be with The Lord will put on incorruption. That means that all who go to be with the Lord will receive incorruptible bodies in the twinkling of an eye. Jesus will bring many sons to glory. He is our hope. Without him, there is no hope. I know it sounds incredible, but nothing is impossible for God, after all He made everything including this earth. That's not all either. Do you want to hear more? "

"Keep preaching it brother" encouraged Lester.
"When we get to heaven, we don't just sit around on clouds playing harps. We have a function. Since we are the body of Christ of which Christ is the head, we perform the same role as he does. We actually judge angels and the nations. Since Jesus is also a judge we will be given that capacity too. Remember, we are in Christ and we have a heavenly calling. We will be in heaven with God while judgement is happening on the earth. "
"Will the actual earth be judged too Joel?" asked David.
"Yes David. After God has finished with Israel and the nations in the Great Tribulation, He will set up His government on earth for a thousand years. This is referred to as the Millennium. During this time, Jesus will occupy the throne in Jerusalem along with other members of His own choosing. Jerusalem will be rebuilt and the nations that are still left on the earth at that time, will bring their riches and glory into it and will be subservient to King Jesus.
There will be peace for a thousand years and the land will be restored. However, at the end of that thousand years there will still be some that rebel against God and want to do their own thing, so there will be war again for the last time. King Jesus wins and the rebellious are taken to hell. Mind you, there is a lot here that I have not told you, but another day I will because it is just too much to discuss now. "
"What about the earth? Will it be destroyed or punished?" asked David again.
"Yes David, it will be when God has dealt with everything concerning the earthly purpose."
"The bible says that after the Great White Throne judgement, when everyone that is around is to be judged, that God will utterly destroy the heavens and the earth. The sky will roll back as a scroll and the elements will melt with fervent heat. This is to ensure that there is no more sin or evidence of sin left. God will start again from scratch. He said that He would make all things new. He will create new heavens or solar systems, and a new earth and then.......
David, do you recall what it was like on your wedding day? I bet you could hardly wait to see your bride walking toward you. "
"I remember" said David. "I had been waiting for such a long time to be finally with Debra, the one that I love. We belong together. When I saw her coming I felt so overwhelmed that I could hardly keep back my tears of joy. "
Joel turned to Debra. "What about you Debra? How was it for you?
Debra lifted her eyes to the ceiling catching her breath at the thought of that moment. "I felt so nervous but at the same time I couldn't wait to see David. This was the moment we had been preparing for. It feels that all through my life I was being prepared for that moment and what would follow. I wanted everything to be perfect and I wanted to be ready and aware of what was happening. I knew that once we tied the knot there would be no turning back. "
"And so it is with Jesus" added Joel.
"What do you mean?" asked Debra looking somewhat puzzled.
"The prophet who received this revelation from God wrote that he saw new heavens and a new earth. Then he saw the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven, prepared as a bride to meet her bridegroom. It rested over the earth. It was adorned with gold and precious stones with gates of pearls and angels standing at all of the entrances. In the middle of the street, it had a river that runs from the throne room of God and Jesus, and on either side of the river was the tree of life. There was no need of the sun or the moon to shine because Jesus was the light of it and there was no evil in the city. All of those people that rebelled against God were thrown into the Lake of Fire for eternity. Even now heaven is waiting for that day. Can you imagine the excitement that Jesus must be feeling about that? Just like you David as you waited for your bride. Jesus said to the apostles when he was on earth that he was going to prepare a place for them. He told them that his father's house had many mansions and I believe that this is what he was talking about.

There will not be any sin in the New Jerusalem. Everyone will have a function given by God for them to perform. There will be those of the Church of Jesus who have a heavenly calling with Jesus, those who live in and govern from the New Jerusalem, and those who live on the earth and worship God and multiply the earth as was originally planned.
When all of this is sorted out the Lord Jesus hands back all authority to the Father so that the Father may become our all in all. How is that for an inheritance? "
"Oh come Lord Jesus come" voiced Miriam with enthusiasm.
"Amen" everyone else chorused.
"You see. Our whole existence is centred around Jesus and who we believe he is. It really is only a matter of people humbling themselves before God" said Joel thoughtfully.

They all acknowledged that they had a wonderful future and present with this knowledge in mind and one of the biggest things was that it is relational and not religious. All we  need to do is say thank you and believe because it is all done for us.