1. Blessed & Happy New Year to all of you !!

2. 18 Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. 19 “Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 20 Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. 21 The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. 22 In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. 23 At the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?” 24 Jesus replied, “Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? 25 When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. 26 Now about the dead rising—have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!” – Mark 12:18-27

3. Do Not Believe : They didn’t believe in the life after death, or a heaven for God’s people Do Not Bother : They therefore would have no concern nor bothered about what heaven would mean to their daily life on earth Not Hopeful : At the end of their life, there is no hope (and perhaps fear?)

4. Do Not Believe : They didn’t believe in the life after death, or a heaven for God’s people

5. Perhaps today we might believe the doctrines about God as revealed to us in the Bible, doctrines such as creation, salvation, judgment, eternal life, but if we start to neglect the feeding, the study and knowing of God’s Word, one day we too will start to accept the anti-biblical theories floating in the world.

6. Do Not Believe : They didn’t believe in the life after death, or a heaven for God’s people Jesus replied, "Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? – Mark 12:24 Perhaps today we might believe the doctrines about God as revealed to us in the Bible, doctrines such as creation, salvation, judgment, eternal life, but if we start to neglect the feeding, the study and knowing of God’s Word, one day we too will start to accept the anti- biblical theories floating in the world.

7. Do Not Believe : They didn’t believe in the life after death, or a heaven for God’s people Do Not Bother : They therefore would have no concern nor bothered about what heaven would mean to their daily life on earth Not Hopeful : At the end of their life, there is no hope (and perhaps fear?)

8. We Must Bother : We must be concerned what heaven would mean to our daily life on earth 1. Redemption (the choice to be redeemed) 2. Resurrection (transformation) 3. Rewards 4. Relationships “When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.” – Mark 12:25

9. We Must Bother : We must be concerned what heaven would mean to our daily life on earth 1. Redemption (the choice to be redeemed) “When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.” – Mark 12:25 “At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And He will send His angels and gather His ELECT from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.” – Mark 13:26-27

10. “When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.” – Mark 12:25 We Must Bother : We must be concerned what heaven would mean to our daily life on earth 1. Redemption (the choice to be redeemed) “Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” – John 1:12-13

11. American Survey : “why do you believe you will go to heaven ?” I have always tried to live a good life I’m not as bad as other people I have tried to be kind to everyone “Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” – John 1:12-13 

12. That’s why Heaven matters NOW, matters TODAY, because the choice must be made while we are still alive, as to whether we want to become God’s elect. “Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” – John 1:12-13

13. “When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.” – Mark 12:25 We Must Bother : We must be concerned what heaven would mean to our daily life on earth 1. Redemption (the choice to be redeemed) 2. Resurrection (transformation) 3. Rewards 4. Relationships

14. We Must Bother : We must be concerned what heaven would mean to our daily life on earth 2. Resurrection (transformation) “So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.” – 1 Cor 15:42-44 “However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him" – 1 Corinthians 2:9

15. In the same way, there could be other senses that God can give to us in our resurrected bodies, which we cannot even imagine now. Not to mention the experiences and purposes that a person would have as compared with a baby growing in a mummy’s body. The resurrected life will be even vastly more glorious than what we can imagine.

16. The second experience for us would be our pre-conversion life and our life after we became a Christian.

17. “When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.” – Mark 12:25 We Must Bother : We must be concerned what heaven would mean to our daily life on earth 1. Redemption (the choice to be redeemed) 2. Resurrection (transformation) 3. Rewards 4. Relationships

18. We Must Bother : We must be concerned what heaven would mean to our daily life on earth 3. Rewards “Peter said to Him, ‘We have left everything to follow You!’ ‘I tell you the truth,’ Jesus replied, ‘no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields – and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life...” – Mark 10: 28-30

19. “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work” (Rev 12:2).

20. Our heavenly rewards are the results of our actions today, and tomorrow, and the next day, and so on, until the day we die.

21. Resurrection and transformation must also begin today and continue daily.

22. Our heavenly rewards are the results of our actions today, and tomorrow, and the next day, and so on, until the day we die. Resurrection and transformation must also begin today and continue daily. We too are to be transformed in our earthly spiritual life, till the day God decides to birth us into the heavenly resurrected life.

23. “When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.” – Mark 12:25 We Must Bother : We must be concerned what heaven would mean to our daily life on earth 1. Redemption (the choice to be redeemed) 2. Resurrection (transformation) 3. Rewards 4. Relationships

24. “Now about the dead rising—have you not read in the book of Moses, in the account of the bush, how God said to him, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!" – Mark 12:26-27 We Must Bother : We must be concerned what heaven would mean to our daily life on earth 4. Relationships

25. “Now about the dead rising—have you not read in the book of Moses, in the account of the bush, how God said to him, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!" – Mark 12:26-27 It shows us that God is the God of relationships. We Must Bother : We must be concerned what heaven would mean to our daily life on earth 4. Relationships

26. It shows us that God is the God of relationships. Our God binds Himself to people, and He values relationships; relationship between Him and people, and between people, relationships that are started during our life-times. We Must Bother : We must be concerned what heaven would mean to our daily life on earth 4. Relationships

27. It is a distinctive of our Christian faith Relationships are everlasting and therefore valuable – we must take effort NOW to cultivate our relationships, with God, and with each other We Must Bother : We must be concerned what heaven would mean to our daily life on earth 4. Relationships

28. It is a distinctive of our Christian faith Relationships are everlasting and therefore valuable – we must take effort NOW to cultivate our relationships, with God, and with each other We Must Bother : We must be concerned what heaven would mean to our daily life on earth 4. Relationships The answer (of the founder of the Asian religion) was that the personality and the relationships will be lost. What is important is the life-force, or the immortal soul, not one’s personality and relationships.

29. It is a distinctive of our Christian faith Relationships are everlasting and therefore valuable – we must take effort NOW to cultivate our relationships, with God, and with each other We Must Bother : We must be concerned what heaven would mean to our daily life on earth 4. Relationships SUPPOSING

30. We Bother with …. 1. Redemption (the choice to be redeemed) 2. Resurrection (transformation) 3. Rewards 4. Relationships We can be Certain of our Hope, if

31. Mark 12:18-27 Heaven : Now and Forever