Something to Really Look Forward To // Merchants of Hope, Part 2

<p>It doesn’t matter what’s going on in your life right now, the good, the bad or the ugly, one day soon, Jesus is coming back. And when that happens, the dead will be raised first, and those who are alive and believe in Jesus will be taken up in glory. Now that … that’s something to look forward to.</p> <h4 class="p1"><span style="color: #ff9900;"><strong>The Dead Will Rise in Christ</strong></span></h4> <p class="p3">It’s an interesting question, isn’t it? What’s going to happen to you when your time on this earth is done and dusted? That will happen in one of two ways. Either Jesus will return – at which point everything on this earth will be over.</p> <p class="p3">Or – and perhaps you consider this option to be more likely – your body is going to give up the ghost when you breathe your last breath and your heart stops beating. And it’s that latter option that we’re going to talk about right now.</p> <p class="p3">We’re in the middle of a series of messages that I’ve called <em>Merchants of Hope</em>. Hope is such an important thing. Without hope, today’s not worth living – and tomorrow … well who cares? So many people – can I say, even people who believe in Jesus – are living without hope.</p> <p class="p3">And that’s crazy. Because our lives – whether we believe in Jesus or not – don’t end with a beep. There’s life after death – either in the presence of Jesus for all eternity – hallelujah – or apart from Him, in a place of eternal punishment and anguish and regret – that place with Satan and his demons that we call … hell. Hmm.</p> <p class="p3">So … where are you going to go after your beeeeep? Well, I believe … in fact I know … that last heart beat is not the end. It’s just the beginning of where you’re going to spend the rest of your eternity. And there are two parts to that eternity for anyone who believes in Jesus. The part between when you die and when Jesus returns to judge the living and the dead, and the part after Jesus’ return.</p> <p class="p3">Let’s talk about the first part first. If you beli