Judges 21:25 “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. (ESV)” When we thought about what book of the Bible to focus on after our series on heaven we wanted something really joyful and happy, so we chose the book of Judges! If you’ve read the book of Judges you know that is meant to be a joke. It is one of the more difficult and dark books of the Hebrew scriptures. The book begins with some hopefulness as the people of God moved to fill the Promised Land and complete the conquest, but in a matter of just a few verses God’s people become like the nations they’re replacing and they fall into the same sorts of sins that God promised to judge. This is because Israel rejected God as their king and did what was right in their own eyes. They replaced God’s kingship with their own individual kingship. The author wants to warn us against being like the world and not submitting to God’s rule; as we are taught that God alone has the power to save. This theme of a lack of a king and “everyone doing what is right in their own eyes” is a consistent and constant need in every generation and a core spiritual struggle for humanity in their rebellion against God. It is only when we submit ourselves to God’s rule that we find freedom and life in Christ. The hope with teaching this book is not to fill you with despair and dread, but for you to see a need for constant spiritual renewal and the grace that God provides his people, even us with a flawed and weak faith.

We’ve been thinking about eternity and what it is like to be in God’s presence forever and that begs the question, “what happens to those people who do not follow Jesus and who do not long for eternity with God?” This is about the doctrine of hell and everlasting separation from God. On one hand we see concepts of hell in our culture that can best be described caricatures like demons with pitchforks, or as a place where the devil is in charge, or as some divine torture chamber. On the other hand many church goers outright dismiss the reality of hell and see it as a metaphor for hardship on earth. This is likely because of discomfort around the historical interoperation of the doctrine and the evidence cited is that the word for hell in the gospels is the name of a real location called Gehenna which was historically a trash dump outside the city of Jerusalem where stuff was burned and people were sacrificed to pagan gods. They see hell as a metaphor for living a harsh and terrible life. Others favor interpretations like universalism which states that in time all will be saved, or annihilationism which teaches that unbelievers just cease to exist after death. What does the Bible teach?!

What would it be like to get to know someone from a distance and then meet them face to face? Maybe you’re a college student who got to know their future roommate over the summer before meeting them in person. Or, a new parent gets to anticipate meeting their newborn face to face. Things like ultra sound technology can be awesome and awe-inspiring but pales in comparison to that first moment you hold you new child and you gaze at them face to face. God made us to be relational beings and a big part of that is in person presence and face to face communication. Our eyes track small movements and changes in someone else when we talk; our brain then interprets that data to build relationship and understanding.

In the Bible someone’s face is almost synonymous with their presence, even the Hebrew word for “presence” is the same word for “face.” Followers of Jesus live with the hopeful promise that our eternity will be spent in God’s presence, face to face with God. Theologians throughout history have referred to this as the beatific vision which means the “happy vision.” We will behold God face to face and be filled with immense joy for all eternity. What will it be like to behold God’s face?

Media depictions of heaven do not do justice to what the Bible actually teaches about our eternity. Some of us grew up with Farside comics in the newspaper which showed heaven as a boring place in the clouds or more recently television shows like The Good Place, which painted a picture of heaven that most people ended up feeling was mediocre. What will eternity be like? In the church we can default to talking about eternity like a constant worship service since the depictions of it in Revelation are filled with singing. We can love Sunday worship singing but still be puzzled by the idea of an eternity that looked like that. There will worship in eternity and it will encompass all of our existence. The image used at the end of the book of Revelation described eternity with God as a “New Creation” What we learn from Revelation 21:1-5 is that this eternal destination is a place where heaven and earth overlap, which is temple language, and it is like the old creation but transformed and it will be anything but boring because God will be there!

From time to time some religious leader will make a prediction about the return of Jesus. This can take the form of looking at world events and seeing parallels with their interpretation of the end and at other times it can be a bold claim with a specific date and a time of the return of Christ. So far people have predicted the return of Jesus with a staggering 0% accuracy rate. These dates get thrown out there, picked up by the news and they come and go and we move on. Will Jesus return, how will we know when he will come back and what will that event be like? This concept is referred to as “the Day of the Lord” in the scripture. Let’s explore the events surrounding the Day of the Lord specifically the return of Jesus, our resurrection and final judgment.

There has been a surge of stories of people who claim to have come back from a near death experience with explanations of what happens after we die. These stories often get turned into bestselling books or popular articles because deep down many of us are fascinated and have some certainty about what happens after we die. When put under a lens of scrutiny many of these stories do not hold up and are filled with dubious circumstances, vague speculation or repeated imagery like bright lights, warmth or being surrounded by friends and family. The good news is that we do not have to speculate about what happens after we die or rely on stories of near death experiences because God has told us in his word what we can expect and that can give us great comfort in the face of suffering and death. Throughout our series on Heaven we will look at various aspects of what happens after death from what is called the intermediate state, to what it means to behold God and the experience of New Creation. This first study guide will explore what happens between death and New Creation for those who are followers of Jesus which is often called “the intermediate state.”

Some of you reading this were the kind of student who got excited about tests. You were probably disappointed when they were graded on a curve and were likely no fun, but that is ok. Just kidding, but for some of us the idea of a test is a great opportunity to see what we know and for others it produces a level of anxiety that is hard to describe. In 2 Corinthians 13:5 Paul told the Corinthians to examine themselves and test to see if they are “in Christ.” This comes at the end of the letter with a promise that he was planning a return trip to visit them and check in on how they responded to his warnings and instructions. Some Christians can struggle with the idea of assurance of salvation and wonder if we have somehow sinned our way out of a relationship with God. This command to examine and test is not a command for anxiety or constant introspection, rather Paul commanded Christians to reflect on how they’re following Christ and to respond to areas of repentance and growth so we can be consistent with our identity of being “in Christ.”

A common human experience is having to see someone the day or week after having an argument with them. It can be awkward, especially if you said some stuff you regret, and it can be potentially combative. People typically do not like to admit that they were wrong and can often not let the argument go. You may have a specific disagreement with a coworker, friend, neighbor, spouse, kid, or community group member come to mind. How can you take a step towards reconciliation and repentance? In our text, Paul told the Corinthians of his plans to visit them again for a third time but this comes on the backdrop of a previous second visit that was tense, followed by Paul’s painful corrective letter to them and their accusations that Paul was wishy-washy for not coming in person sooner. How can Paul show up a third time and expect it to go well when the last time ended in arguments and suspicion towards Paul? Our scripture passage paved the way for that third visit and Paul wrote to them about the intentions of godly leadership and the marks of what it means to be part of a church community as a way to set their expectations for reconciliation with him as their Apostle. Reconciliation and spiritual growth always require humility and our Christian leaders can help that by using their authority with selfless love.

Who is the strongest person you know? Is it someone who is physically strong who can lift a lot of weight, carry all the groceries in on a single trip and never get tired? Is it someone who is really resilience, self sufficient, never anxious and able to navigate really tough circumstances without being slowed down? Both those kinds of strength can be great assets and help you get far in the world, but what if the strongest person you know actually appears pretty weak? Paul continued his teaching on human weakness and strength and taught that true strength was actually found in knowing just how much you need help from other people and God.

Is weakness an asset in our lives? On surface level many of us would say “no." Typically we want to be physically stronger, more emotionally resilient and independent. Feeling weak is uncomfortable. Our culture has also put a pressure on many of us to be successful and competent in everything. What makes someone successful? Is it a life of comfort, financial security, emotional stability or something else? What if God’s plan for you life included a lot of suffering, hardship and vulnerability. What would “success” look like in that scenario or would that kind of life be unsuccessful in general? The false teachers in Corinth criticized Paul for how much he suffered and saw it as a reason for why he was not called by God. They emphasized was a veneer or image of strength and put pressure on the Corinthians to be powerful, wealthy and influential and to avoid things that would make them uncomfortable and by doing so they minimized the gospel message. Core to the gospel is that we are people in need of God and that God has responded to our sin by sending his son who embraced humility and human weakness becoming like his creation in order to save us. Paul wanted the Corinthians and us to understand that our suffering and weakness are key to faithfully following Christ and that our genuine weakness shows the gospel more than our pretend strength.

Most of us have had the experience of being embarrassed by our parents as a kid or by a friend, boss or coworker at some point in our lives. During those times we have a negative relational association, often from someone saying something weird or doing something that we feel awkward about. At a deeper level, that embarrassment may source to us not liking to associate with the image or identity of that person. Imagine growing up in the middle of nowhere with some poverty and moving to a place like New York and establishing really influential connections and then having your parents come visit, you may love your parents but be embarrassed by what they represent about your past. Jesus did not seem to experience any sense of embarrassment with associating with those the world considers lowly, but that is not the case with most of us. We’ve learned that the city of Corinth was a place that cared about wealth, power and success more than the average ancient city and our passage today highlights that the Corinthians were somewhat humiliated by being associated with someone like Paul. Today, most of us have a deeper respect for Paul than he had in the ancient world. The Corinthians specifically had some embarrassed with Paul’s his lack of formal training and that he worked in the trades and the false teachers jumped on that and accused Paul of being inferior. What we see in our passage is that the servant leaders are willing to be humbled to love others and selfish leaders want others to be humbled so they can be lifted up.

There are certain people in your life that you feel protective for. Likely that list includes a spouse, kids or a younger sibling. If someone threatens them or tries to lead them astray, you step in, get in the way and try to protect the one you love. That is how Paul felt about the Corinthians because he planted their church and brought the gospel to them and there were false teachers leading them astray from the true gospel. In this passage of scripture Paul wanted the Corinthians and us to consider his attitude of divine jealousy and love and to be on guard against the false gospels that are offered in this world, even if those sources claim to follow Christ.

Having opposition is a fact of life, and often opposition comes most quickly for doing something right. This can be especially common if you are in a position of leadership. Often leadership includes having power and authority and many desire power for the wrong reasons. Some of us have reacted to this by avoiding power altogether, but what we see in our passage today is that power and authority is more like electricity than a lion. Both are dangerous, but if you view power like a lion on the street the goal is to get that lion in a cage as quickly as possible, but electricity is something that we can harness for the benefit of others. Why did God give someone like Paul authority and what is authority’s purpose?

Where do these false stories come from and how do we fight against them? In our scripture passage, Paul shifted away from his teaching on giving and went back to his discussion on the false teachers in Corinth who influenced the church towards ungodly belief which kept them stuck in sin. We learn that a key element of his ministry was destroying these worldviews so that ungodly thoughts could be taken captive to obey Christ.

Intellectually we know that God has no lack or inability to supply for our needs, but in practice many struggle to believe that God will supply for our needs. Some of us grew up paycheck to paycheck and may have had an opportunity to see God provide in unique ways, but others may have a greater level of worry or anxiety from that. God often supplies through our hard work, but also through gracious gifts we were not expecting. This theological truth does not mean we get to be unwise with our money or ignore biblical teaching on saving, but it does mean we should fight an impulse to hoard or resources or to be anxious. Paul closes out his teaching on giving with a focus on God’s supply and generosity as worship to free us from either viewing God as stingy or seeing generosity as only a duty rather than a delight of worship.

People can often look to others for either encouragement or comparison. God reminds us in the Bible to imitate godly examples. We are to look at how other people are living out their faith and find courage and encouragement to do the same. It is wise to acknowledge the dark side of this, like when we look at others and become competitive or filled with insecurity. Many of our sin struggles can be traced back to comparison,  including the sin of pride. But think for a moment, have you seen God at work in another person’s life and been filled with a desire to do the same or to grow more in a particular area? We can think of someone sharing a testimony about victory over sin or maybe someone who has been praying for someone to come to know the Lord and God leading that person to faith. We probably do not take issue with either of those examples, but Paul wrote that he boasted about the Corinthians giving in order to encourage other churchs. What if someone stood up on a Sunday morning and we praised them for their generous giving? You’d probably feel like they were being platformed, or that it was a dangerous situation to create pride in that person, or shame in everyone else. However, Paul tells us he did that very thing with the Corinthian church and it led to contagious giving among other churches. There is obviously a difference between praising an individual and praising a whole church, but notice the core theme, when our heart posture is to imitate godliness, we find even praise about generous giving can be contagious.

If a few thousand dollars left your bank account today how would you feel? Likely your mood would depend heavily on why that money left your account. If it went to unexpected car repair, taxes or identity theft you’d probably feel pretty bad about that. If it went towards a family vacation, new golf clubs or a dress for your daughter’s wedding you’d likely have some excitement. When it comes to generosity and giving, do you feel like it is an obligation or are you excited about what God is doing through your giving? Jesus taught that there was a connection between what we love and our money when he said “where our treasure is there your heart will be also (Matt 6:24).” There are many unexpected places our money can go that will cause us sadness, like who loves to pay their taxes? However we should remember as followers of Christ, when it comes to generosity we should be excited when the financial resources that God has given us flow towards his work because his work is all about his glory and blessing people. We may be tempted to view generosity as a loss or a duty, but what Paul taught is that it is a sure investment and a proof of love for God and his people.

There is a big difference between receiving a gift from someone because they have to give it and because they want to give it. Think about situations where you attend an event and have to bring a gift, because it is expected and the difference when you just delight to give someone a gift because you love and care for them. How would you feel if someone attended your birthday party and brought you a gift and you thanked them but their response was “well, you know I kind of had to bring it?”