Ascension & 2nd Coming - God Shows Us His Home

Bible Texts: Acts 1-2; John 14; Revelation 21 -22
Memory Verse: John 14:2-3 “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 unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also.”

Hi boys and girls! So glad you are here today! Today is the last story in our “God’s Greatest Shows On Earth” series, but ALL of God’s doings are great, so you can find lots more in your Bible. Boys and girls, if you have given your heart to Jesus, EVERYDAY in your life is one of God’s greatest shows on Earth! That is because He loves you and lives inside of you. God wants to have fellowship, which means close friendship, with you everyday. That is a very big and exciting “show” in our lives! A personal FRIENDSHIP with God!

In our first story in this series, the one about Adam and Eve, who walked and talked with them in the garden everyday? Do you remember? Yes, that’s right! God did. Because that’s what friends do! They walk and talk together and spend time together and do things together. That is what God wants to do with us too! Walk and talk with us, and spend time together, and do things together. How do we do that? By reading our Bible – that’s how God talks to us; and by praying – that’s how we talk to God; and by loving God with all our heart and soul and strength and mind! That’s how we have a close friendship with God.

There is one more thing that friends do in a close friendship. You’ve probably done this with your friends from school, or in your neighborhood. Listen to the story and see if you can guess what this other thing is that close friends do, and that God is going to do for us.

After Jesus had risen from the dead, He stayed on Earth for 40 more days. During this time, He taught his followers many things about Heaven, God’s Kingdom. One very important thing that Jesus told his disciples was that the God the Holy Spirit would be coming and would be the One who would live inside all believers. The Holy Spirit’s job would be helping them to obey God, and serve God, and love and follow God, and grow more and more like Jesus every day. This was exciting news, but the disciples didn’t fully understand it yet.

When the 40 days were over, it was time for Jesus to go back up to Heaven to be with God the Father. While the disciples were watching, all of a sudden Jesus started to rise up into the sky! The Disciples were amazed! They kept watching Jesus go up, up, up into the sky until He disappeared into a cloud. The disciples kept straining their eyes looking, trying to see Jesus, but the cloud had taken him. Suddenly, there were 2 white-robed men standing there with the disciples. They spoke to the disciples and said, “You men of Galilee, why are you standing here staring at the sky? Jesus has been taken away from you into Heaven. Someday, just as you have seen Him go, He will return!”

Wow! The men, who were really angels, had just told them that Jesus would return again someday! And, it would be in the clouds, coming through the sky, just like how He had gone up to Heaven.

Has that happened yet boys and girls? No, not yet, but it will! We don’t know when it will be, but we know it will happen. How do we know? Because Jesus promised! And Jesus always keeps his promises.

Jesus had promised something else to his disciples; The Holy Spirit.

A few days after Jesus ascended, which means went up, to Heaven, He sent God the Holy Spirit down to live inside of all the people who had trusted Jesus as their Savior. That means if we have Jesus in our hearts, it is really God the Holy Spirit who comes in. He is the Person of the Trinity who helps us to be more like Jesus everyday. So, Jesus does live inside of all believers through the Holy Spirit’s “indwelling” power. Indwelling is a word that means to live inside. The Bible says in John 14:16 that “Jesus prayed for the Father to send another Comforter who would never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit who leads into all Truth.” Jesus’s prayer is answered when the Holy Spirit comes to live inside every new believer! The Holy Spirit is our Helper, our Comforter, our Encourager, our Counselor, and our Friend. He is preparing us for Heaven, which will be our Home one day.

But, where is Jesus? Why did He go up to Heaven and send the Holy Spirit down to be with us? Jesus answered that question too, boys and girls. In John chapter 14, Jesus tells us that the reason He would be leaving was “to go and prepare a place for us.” This is what He said: (John 14:1-3)

“Let not your heart be troubled: You trust God, now trust in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions. (rooms, or dwelling places) 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 unto my self; that where I am, there you may be also.”

WOW! So, the Holy Spirit is preparing us for Heaven, and Jesus is preparing Heaven for us!

That is exciting! With all this “preparing,” I know Heaven is going to be a wonderful place. The Bible tells us a little glimpse of what Heaven is going to be like. Just a glimpse, because Heaven is going to be WAY more wonderful than any of us could ever imagine! A lot of what the Bible does say about Heaven is written in the last 2 chapters of the Bible, Revelation 21 and 22. The Bible tells us some things that will be in Heaven, and some things that won’t be there.

The BEST thing about Heaven is that God will be there! He will live with us, and we will live with Him! That makes it “Heaven” all by itself! But there is more!

Jesus will wipe away all tears from our eyes. No more sadness, or sorrows, or sad crying, or pain. All of these things we have plenty of here on Earth, but not in Heaven! They will be gone. Because, all of the sin that caused those tears will be gone too! There won’t be any sin in Heaven. The city of Heaven will be beautiful too! It will be HUGE! It is made out of precious jewels and pearls and the purest gold. The street of Heaven will also be made of the purest gold; so pure that it will be transparent like glass.

There won’t be any temple or church building in Heaven because Jesus is the Temple. Wherever Jesus is, we will love and worship Him, and fellowship with Him. So, there is no need of a building to go to and to do these things. There will be no sun or moon or stars in Heaven. This is because God’s glory will shine so brightly that it would outshine these things anyway, so there is no need of them. Jesus outshines all those things put together! There won’t be any night in Heaven either. How could there be night when Jesus makes Heaven brighter than day!?

The Bible says there will be no more “curse” in Heaven. Remember when Adam and Eve first sinned, and everything was cursed? Well, the curse will be broken and so it will be even better than the Garden of Eden! Part of the curse was death. There will be no more death in Heaven! We will live forever and ever with God in Heaven.

Another special thing that will be in Heaven is the Tree of Life. This was the tree that was in the center of the Garden of Eden, and the reason God sent Adam and Eve out of the garden after they had sinned. God didn’t want to take the chance that they would eat from this tree after they had sinned and then live forever in their sin. This tree is now in Heaven for us to eat from freely. The Tree of Life is a very special Heavenly Tree that gives 12 different kinds of fruit, each one more delicious than the most delicious fruit you have ever tasted here on Earth! The Tree of Life is next to a pure river flowing with the Water of Life, clear as crystal, which flows from the Throne of God, and of the Lamb, which is Jesus.

Boys and girls, have you figured out what the other thing is that God wants to do for us in our friendship with Him? He walks with us, and talks with us, and helps us. Yes, these are all true, but there is something else.

When you have a friend from school or your neighborhood, what do they sometimes ask you to do? Yes, they ask you to come over their house, maybe for dinner, or for a birthday party, or for a sleep-over. That’s another thing that close friends do. They show each other their homes.

When you get saved, you ask Jesus to come into your heart and life. That’s like your “Home.” Well, God also wants to show us His Home…. Heaven! And He wants us to come and live with Him there one day. Jesus is even preparing us a special place to live there! And Jesus Himself is the one who is going to come back in the clouds to take us back to His Home one day. You won’t be sad if you go to God’s Home to live. You will live “happily ever after” in God’s eternal Home.

Is God going to show you His home one day? You can make sure of that today!