The Christian's Hope Of Heaven
Photo: © Andrew McMahon used by kind permission
Assurance of Eternal Life
For Christians death is not the end, but simply the gateway into God's glorious presence and joy unspeakable and unimaginable. The atheist and cynic portrays this hope as the pathetic delusion of a gullible group of individuals, who need the crutch of religion to avoid facing the reality, they say, of existentialist extinction. The Christian's hope of heaven, however, is no Pollyanna world of make-believe but based on several kinds of evidence -
• The Word of God - the Bible
• The life, death, resurrection & ascension of Jesus Christ
• Jesus' promises regarding his own death and resurrection
• The Christian's experience of the inner witness of the Spirit
Jesus' Death, Resurrection & Ascension As Fulfilment Of Prophecy
In 1 CORINTHIANS 15:1-50 Paul emphasises the fact that Christ's death and resurrection were fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy as well as being witnessed as historical fact
by many witnesses, including the disciples.
Photo: © Design Pics
The historical facts surrounding Jesus' life, death and resurrection are known from both Jewish and pagan as well as Christian sources (For more, go to EVIDENCE OF THE RESURRECTION).
The historical fact of Jesus' death, resurrection and ascension are also powerful proof
of the promises he made while he was still alive and on earth.