Sunday
Morning Bible Study
October
9, 2016
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel
preached? Does it address the person who is: Empty, lonely, guilty, or afraid
to die? Does it speak to the broken
hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a decision
Is the church loved? Regular: 2900
words Communion: 2500 words Video=75wpm
Luke was a doctor and a traveling
companion of the apostle Paul.
He wrote this book while Paul was
in prison.
In writing this book about Jesus,
Luke made use of other older documents like the Gospel of Mark, as well as
extensive eyewitness accounts.
Chris Tomlin update
Jesus’ ministry is well under way, and the people have been amazed not just
at the things He’s been teaching, but the things He’s been doing.
Jesus has had the audacity to be talking about money.
He’s talked about how we ought to be good stewards of the money that God
has entrusted to us and to learn to leverage it to build relationships with
unbelievers so we can reach them for Jesus.
He’s challenged His listeners that they cannot serve God and their money at
the same time.
He’s said all this in front of the Pharisees, people who were “lovers of
money”.
It was the prevailing notion of the day that if anyone is going to get into
heaven, it’s going to be the rich people.
Yet Jesus taught:
(Matthew 19:23 NLT)
Then
Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is very hard for a rich
person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
The disciples, like everyone else
in Jesus’ day, thought that the surest way to get into heaven was to be
wealthy.
When we were in Israel last year,
we visited one of the gates to the ancient city of Jerusalem that dated back to
the time of Jesus.
It was typical for a city to close
its gates at night to protect from attacking armies.
If you needed to get into the city
after dark, there was one way – through a small opening called the “eye of the
needle”.
It was big enough for a man to bend
over and squeeze through, but not for a camel or a horse.
Jesus’ point was that it is not an
easy thing for a rich person to get into heaven. Why?
Because they tend to trust their money rather than trust God.
Now it’s time for Jesus to tell another story.
Is this a parable or not?
Some have suggested that the
language that Jesus uses is different than what He normally uses when He is
giving a parable.
He doesn’t start with, “the kingdom
of God is like …”.
He also will actually give the name
of one of the people in the story, something He never does in any of the parables.
Why is this important?
Because it is possible that what
Jesus is going to talk about is not some kind of a made-up-story for the
purpose of teaching a lesson. Instead, it might actually be a historical
account of an actual event.
16:19-31 Rich Man and Lazarus
:19 “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen
and fared sumptuously every day.
:19 There was a certain rich man
Though we will be told the name of the poor man, we are never given the
name of this wealthy man.
Jesus starts off with the same
words as 16:1, “There was a certain rich man…”
:19 clothed in purple and fine linen
This guy had the best wardrobe possible.
He was wealthy, and everyone knew it by his clothes.
:19 fared sumptuously
“joyously living in splendor”
(NASB)
“feasted sumptuously” (ESV)
“lived each day in luxury” (NLT)
rich – plousios
– wealthy, abounding in material resources
which was clothed – endidusko
– to put on, clothe, to put on one’s self, be clothed in
purple – porphura
– the purple fish, a species of shell fish or mussel; a fabric colored with
purple dye, a garment made from purple cloth
fine linen – bussos
– byssus, a species of Egyptian flax; linen made from byssus, very costly,
delicate, soft, white and also of a yellow colour
His clothing tastes showed that he
was a very wealthy, influential man.
fared – euphraino – to
gladden, make joyful; to be glad, to be merry, to rejoice; to rejoice in, be
delighted with a thing
sumptuously – lampros (from lampas,
“lamp”, “shining”) – splendidly, magnificently; of sumptuous living
You could translate this, “making
merry brilliantly”. This guy led a life full of what the world calls
“happiness”.
every day – literally, “according to the day”.
:20 But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was
laid at his gate,
:21 desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s
table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
:20 a certain beggar named Lazarus
Lazarus –
“whom God helps”
(a form of the Hebrew name Eleazar).
This is not the same Lazarus that Jesus rose from the dead in John 11.
We think that Lazarus was from a family that had money.
Jesus’ friend had two sisters, Mary
and Martha, and from John’s description of the family, this was not a family of
beggars. Mary was able to afford (John 12:1-5) an expensive perfume worth an
entire year’s wages, which she lavished upon Jesus.
I don’t think this is the same
Lazarus.
:20 who was laid at his gate
The words hint at some rough
handling of Lazarus.
He apparently was so sick that he couldn’t get around on his own and was
just thrown at the gate of the rich man.
His only means of survival was through begging.
beggar – ptochos – reduced to
beggary, begging, asking alms; destitute of wealth, influence, position,
honour; helpless, powerless to accomplish an end; poor, needy.
The only way this man survived was
through begging.
was
laid – ballo
– to throw or let go of a thing without caring where it falls. The word implies a rough, angry handling of a
person.
gate – pulon
– a large gate: of a palace; the front part of a house, into which one
enters through the gate, porch
full of sores – helkoo
– to make sore, cause to ulcerate; full of sores
:21 fed with the crumbs
I think the idea is that after the
meal was over, the leftovers from the meal were gathered up and rather than
thrown into a trash can, were tossed out in the street to be eaten by the
beggars and dogs.
:21 the dogs came and licked his
sores
Don’t think of the puppies licking
this poor man’s boo-boos to make him feel better.
Lazarus is competing with the dogs
for the scraps thrown out into the street.
They are also enjoying licking his
sores.
desiring – epithumeo – to turn
upon a thing; to have a desire for, long for, to desire; to lust after, covet
to be fed – chortazo
– to feed with herbs, grass, hay, to fill, satisfy with food, to fatten; to
fill or satisfy men; to fulfil or satisfy the desire of any one
table – trapeza
– a table; a table on which food is placed, an eating place
the crumbs – psichion
– a little morsel, a crumb
the dogs – kuon
– a dog
licked – apoleicho
– to lick off, lick up
sores – helkos
– a wound, esp. a wound producing a discharge pus; a sore, an ulcer
:22 So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to
Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.
:22 The rich man also died and was buried
was buried – thapto
– to bury, inter
There is no mention of Lazarus being buried.
It’s very likely that he, as a poor beggar, would have had his body simply
thrown onto the burning trash heaps outside the city. In Jerusalem this place was called the valley
of the sons of Hinnom (called, Gehenna).
Ironically, this valley of burning trash was sometimes used as a picture of
what hell was all about – fires that never stop burning.
While the Lazarus’ body may have been burned up in the valley of Hinnom,
his spirit would go to Paradise.
In contrast, while the rich man’s body would be rotting away in a beautiful
stone tomb, his spirit would end up in Hades.
:22 carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom
was
carried – apophero
– to carry off or bring away
bosom – kolpos
– the front of the body between the arms
While Lazarus was “thrown” at the gates to beg, he was gently carried by
angels to Paradise.
(Psalm 116:15 NJKV)
Precious
in the sight of the Lord Is the death
of His saints.
Lesson
Heaven or Hades
When a person dies, their spirit is separated from their body. The body
goes into the grave, but the spirit will depart and go to another location.
Before the resurrection of Jesus, when a person died, their spirit went
into a place in the center of the earth known as “Sheol”.
Sheol is a Hebrew word, meaning underworld, grave, hell, pit.
In the King James,
the word is translated either “grave” (31 times), “hell” (31 times), or “pit”
(3 times).
David spoke prophetically about the resurrection of Jesus when he wrote,
(Psalm
16:10 NKJV) For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You
allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
In Sheol, there were two “compartments”, a place for the righteous and a place
for the unrighteous.
The place for the righteous is referred to as “Paradise” or “Abraham’s
bosom”.
When the thief dying next to Him cried to Jesus to help
him, Jesus replied,
(Luke
23:43 NKJV) …“Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
Paradise was a place of comfort.
The place for the unrighteous is called “Hades”. We may often use the
term “Hell”, but that technically comes later.
Hades is a place of torment.
When Jesus rose from the dead, we believe a change of destinations took
place for the dead.
After His death Jesus went to Paradise in Sheol, and when He rose from the
dead, He brought all those in “paradise” to heaven with Him.
David spoke prophetically of this,
(Psalm
68:18 NKJV) You have ascended on high, You have led captivity captive…
Paul clarifies that David was talking about Jesus taking
those in Paradise to heaven. (Eph. 4:8-9)
(Ephesians 4:8–9 NKJV) —8 Therefore He says: “When He
ascended on high, He led
captivity captive, And gave
gifts to men.” 9 (Now this,
“He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into
the lower parts of the earth?
Since the resurrection, all who trust in Jesus and die go
immediately to heaven to be in God’s presence.
When Paul thought about the choice of either facing death
or continuing to live, he wrote,
(Philippians
1:23 NKJV) For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart
and be with Christ, which is far better.
Paul knew that when he departed his body, he would be with
Jesus in heaven.
He also wrote
about when a person died, they were “absent” from the body …
(2 Corinthians 5:8 NKJV) We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the
body and to be present with the Lord.
While a change took place in the destination for the “righteous”, the
unrighteous still go to the same place, Hades.
There will be one last final day of judgment when the
unrighteous will be thrown forever into the Lake of Fire, which we call Hell
(Rev. 20).
Lesson
Everyone dies
Don’t miss the point of this verse.
Both people died. The poor man died. The wealthy man died.
Death has an amazing success rate.
One out of every one people that are born, will die. There is no escaping it.
The Bible says,
(Hebrews 9:27 NKJV) And as it
is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,
The question is not whether or not
you will cheat death.
The question is whether or not you
will be prepared to go to the right place when you die.
:23 And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham
afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
:23 being in torments in Hades
hell – hades
– the abode of the wicked
name Hades or Pluto, the god of the
lower regions; Orcus, the nether world, the realm of the dead; later use of
this word: the grave, death, hell; In Biblical Greek it is associated with
Orcus, the infernal regions, a dark and dismal place in the very depths of the
earth, the common receptacle of disembodied spirits. Usually Hades is just the
abode of the wicked, #Lu 16:23; Re 20:13,14; a
very uncomfortable place. TDNT.
Here, the word “Hades” is
used to describe the place of torment in Sheol.
he lifted – epairo
– to lift up, raise up, raise on high
torments – basanos – a touchstone
A touchstone was a black stone used to test the purity of gold or silver by
scratching its surface.
The word was also used to describe an instrument of torture by which one is
forced to divulge the truth.
Kind of like this…
In Jesus’ story, the rich man who is in torment is actually able to see the
person who is being comforted.
It probably makes the torment even worse.
Note: Even
though the rich man is able to see Lazarus, there is no mention of whether or
not Lazarus can see the rich man, though Abraham will be able to see and hear
the rich man.
:24 “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send
Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for
I am tormented in this flame.’
:24 Father Abraham, have mercy on me
The fact that he calls Abraham his “Father” shows this rich man to be
Jewish. (John 8:39)
(John 8:39 NKJV) They answered and said
to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said
to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham.
(John 8:53 NKJV) Are You greater than
our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Who do You make
Yourself out to be?”
The Pharisees would have a difficult time thinking that a Jew is suffering in
Hades, let alone a wealthy one.
:24 send Lazarus that he may dip
…
The rich man doesn’t ask Abraham to
come, he asks that Lazarus be sent.
He sees Lazarus as a lowly slave to
be ordered around.
:24 I am tormented in this flame
A Texan in Hades
A Texan dies and goes to hell. While down there the Devil notices that the
Texan is not suffering like the rest. He checks the gauges and sees that it’s 90
degrees and about 80% humidity. So he goes over to the Texan and asks why he’s
so happy. The Texan says, “I like it here. The temperature is just like Texas
in June.” The Devil isn’t happy with the Texan’s answer and decides to get him;
so he goes over and turns up the temperature to 100 degrees and the humidity to
90%. After turning everything up, he goes looking for the Texan. He finds him
standing around unbuttoning his shirt, just as happy as can be. The Devil
quizzes the Texan again as to why he’s so happy. The Texan says, “This is even
better. It’s like Texas in July.” The Devil, now upset, decides to make the
Texan really suffer. He goes over to the controls and turns the heat up to 120
degrees and the humidity to 100%. “Now let’s see what the Texan is up to,” he
says. So he goes looking for the Texan. He finds him taking his shirt off, even
happier than before. The Devil can’t figure it out. He asks the Texan why he’s
happy now. The Texan replies, “This is great, it’s just like Texas in August.”
The Devil says, “That’s it, I’ll get this guy.” He goes over and turns the
temperature down to a freezing 25 degrees. “Let’s see what the Texan has to say
about this.” The Devil looks around and finds the Texan jumping up and down for
joy and yelling, “The RANGERS must have finally won the World Series!”
The world loves to tell jokes like that, but the truth is, hell is no
laughing matter.
Literally, the rich man is in “intense pain”
Some people have this idea that they will just have an eternal party with
their friends in hell. There will be no
parties in hell. Only torment. Forever.
he cried – phoneo
– to sound, emit a sound, to speak; of men: to cry, cry out, cry aloud,
speak with a loud voice
Father
Abraham – (John 8:53) this identifies the “rich man”
as a Jewish person.
have mercy – eleeo
– to have mercy on; to help one afflicted or seeking aid; to bring help to
the wretched
dip – bapto
– to dip, dip in, immerse
cool – katapsucho
– to cool off, make cool
I am tormented – odunao
– to cause intense pain; to be in anguish, be tormented
flame – phlox
– a flame
:25 But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received
your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and
you are tormented.
:25 remember that in your lifetime
Abraham asks the man to remember his life.
When a person dies, they do not lose their sense of identity. They still are able to remember and think
about who they are and what their life was like.
They will be filled with regret.
:25 you received your good things
Lesson
Money vs. Eternity
In 1925, author F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote his famous novel “The Great
Gatsby”, giving a glimpse of life in the Roaring Twenties.
The story may show the allure of the fast life of the wealthy, but it also
shows the futility and disaster that ultimately comes from pursing a life apart
from God.
Last Thursday we looked at Psalm 73, where the writer is struggling with
how well off wicked wealthy people are.
(Psalm 73:5 NLT) They don’t have
troubles like other people; they’re not plagued with problems like everyone
else.
(Psalm 73:7 NLT) These fat
cats have everything their hearts could ever wish for!
The Psalmist wrote that whenever he thought about these things, he began to
wonder if it did any good to serve God and live a pure life.
He struggled until…
(Psalm
73:17–18 NLT) —17 Then I went into your sanctuary, O God, and I finally understood the
destiny of the wicked. 18 Truly, you put them on a slippery path and send them sliding over
the cliff to destruction.
In the story Jesus tells, we are watching the “destiny” of
the wicked.
For the person who rejects Jesus, this world is as good as it gets. This world is the closest that the unbeliever
will get to heaven.
For the believer, this world is as bad as it gets. This world is as close to hell as the
unbeliever will ever get.
Son – teknon
– offspring, children; a male child, a son
remember – mimnesko
– to remind; be mindful of
good things – agathos
– of good constitution or nature; useful, salutary; good, pleasant,
agreeable, joyful, happy; excellent, distinguished; upright, honourable
evil – kakos
– of a bad nature; not such as it ought to be; base, wrong, wicked;
troublesome, injurious, pernicious, destructive, baneful
comforted – parakaleo
– to call to one’s side, call for, summon; to address, speak to, (call to,
call upon), which may be done in the way of exhortation, entreaty, comfort,
instruction, etc.; to console, to encourage and strengthen by consolation, to
comfort; to receive consolation, be comforted; to encourage, strengthen
tormented – odunao
– to cause intense pain; to be in anguish, be tormented
:26 And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed,
so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from
there pass to us.’
:26 there is a great gulf fixed
Some religions teach that even after you die, it’s not too late.
Some teach that you will come back and have another chance to change your
life.
Others teach that those alive can do good works to earn brownie points to
get our loved ones moved on into heaven.
The Bible teaches that there is no moving between Hades and Heaven.
(Hebrews 9:27 NKJV)
And
as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,
gulf – chasma – a gaping
opening, a chasm, a gulf
great – megas – great
fixed – sterizo – to make
stable, place firmly, set fast, fix
Nothing is going to make this chasm
go away. Nothing can be done about it.
who want – thelo
– to will, have in mind, intend; to be resolved or determined, to purpose;
to desire, to wish
pass from – diabaino
– to pass through, cross over
pass to – diaperao
– to pass over, cross over, i.e. a river, a lake
Lesson
Too late to change
After a person dies, they are
judged and go to either Heaven or Hades.
The Catholic Church paints this
picture as if there is a long road between hades and heaven called
“purgatory”. They teach that when most
people die, they go into this “purgatory”.
But don’t worry, because those of
us who are still alive can obtain “indulgences” that can help our dead loved
ones make their way into heaven.
In the days of Martin Luther,
indulgences were something you could purchase with money, and it was the money
from indulgences that financed the building of St. Peter’s Basilica in the
Vatican.
Now, indulgences are something you
obtain by doing good works or performing religious duties.
Why do you want to obtain
indulgences? To get grandma out of purgatory.
The truth is, there are no more
chances after death. The chasm cannot be
crossed.
:27 “Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to
my father’s house,
I beg – erotao
– to question; to ask; to request, entreat, beg, beseech
:28 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also
come to this place of torment.’
:28 I have five brothers
The rich man has thoughts about his family among the living.
He doesn’t want them to end up in hades like he is.
If you could hear the people in hades, they would not be telling you they
can hardly wait for you to join them.
They would tell you clearly that you don’t want to end up there.
The rich man is hoping that Abraham
would send Lazarus to his family and give them a super duper witness so they
won’t end up in hades like he is.
testify – diamarturomai – to
testify; earnestly, religiously to charge; to attest, testify to, solemnly
affirm
This guy is asking for a really
heavy, thorough witness to his brothers.
torment – basanos
– a touchstone, which is a black siliceous stone used to test the purity of
gold or silver by the colour of the streak produced on it by rubbing it with
either metal; the rack or instrument of torture by which one is forced to
divulge the truth; torture, torment, acute pains
:29 Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear
them.’
:29 They have Moses and the prophets
The Bible teaches that just the
witness of God that is evident in creation is enough –
(Romans 1:20 NKJV) For since
the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen,
being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and
Godhead, so that they are without excuse,
Abraham is telling the rich man that the witness in the Bible from the Old
Testament to his Jewish family is all the “witness” or “testimony” they need.
:30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the
dead, they will repent.’
:30 if one goes to them from the
dead, they will repent
goes to – poreuomai
– to lead over, carry over, transfer; to pursue the journey on which one
has entered, to continue on one’s journey
repent – metanoeo – to change
one’s mind, i.e. to repent; to change one’s mind for better, heartily to amend
with abhorrence of one’s past sins
Future active indicative
This sounds like a pretty good
idea, doesn’t it?
Send someone back from the dead and
that would be a sure fire way to get someone to repent.
The Rich Man also now sees that the
one thing that is necessary for a person is that they “repent”.
He now sees that being wealthy
doesn’t impress God at all.
:31 But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets,
neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’ ”
:31 though one rise from the dead
Abraham was saying that the
testimony of Moses and the Old Testament prophets was enough to get people to
repent and turn to God.
If the people were so hard hearted towards what Moses and the prophets had
to say, they would not pay attention to anything as powerful as a person rising
from the dead.
This is just a bit prophetic, don’t you think?
There would be another person named Lazarus whom Jesus Himself would raise
from the dead (John 11).
Even though many came to believe in Jesus because of this miracle, not
everyone was impressed.
(John 12:10–11 NLT)
—10 Then the leading priests decided to kill Lazarus, too, 11 for it was
because of him that many of the people had deserted them and believed in Jesus.
When Jesus Himself would rise from the dead, and many would still not
believe.
rise – anistemi
– to cause to rise up, raise up; to raise up from the dead
persuaded – peitho
– persuade; to persuade, i.e. to induce one by words to believe
:28 lest they also come to this place of torment
There is one thing I am sure of.
God does not want you to end up in Hades.
How do I know? The Bible says that
God is …
(2 Peter 3:9b NKJV)
…not willing that any should perish but that all should come to
repentance.
Lesson
The Way to Heaven
The rich man found out the hard way that being a financial success in this
life isn’t what’s going to get you into heaven.
Poor Lazarus made it to heaven while he was tormented in hades.
It all comes down to Jesus. What do
you think of Jesus?
(John 14:6 NKJV) Jesus said
to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through Me.
Why is Jesus the only way to the Father? Aren’t all religions the same?
Jesus is the only one who deals with man’s problem.
Our sin has separated us from God.
(Romans
6:23 NKJV) For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
When Jesus died on the cross, He was fulfilling God’s purpose, that our
sins would be paid for with His death.
(2
Corinthians 5:21 NLT) For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our
sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
If you want your sins to be forgiven and go to heaven, you must come to
Jesus.
You must be willing to admit to God that you too are a sinner.
You must be willing to turn from your sins, to “repent”.
You must put your faith in Jesus to pay for your sins.
You must open your heart to Jesus.
Jesus said,
(Revelation 3:20
NKJV) Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and
opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.
Lesson
How to be ready
Can I be sure about heaven?
Isn’t it kind of presumptuous for a
person to claim that they can know they are going to heaven?
Absolutely not.
We don’t gain the
ability to know where we will spend eternity based upon our own pride, either
in thinking that we are so good that we deserve to go to heaven, or because we
think that our “religion” is better than your “religion”.
Our surety isn’t
based in us, it’s based on the fact that God wants us to know for sure whether
or not we will spend eternity in heaven.
John writes,
(1 John 5:11–13 NKJV) —11 And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life,
and this life is in His Son. 12 He who has
the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the
Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue
to believe in the name of the Son of God.
The issue on being
able to know that you have eternal life hinges on whether or not you
“have” the Son, on whether or not you “believe” in Jesus.
This is what Jesus
Himself taught –
(John 14:6 NKJV) Jesus said
to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through Me.
Why Jesus?
Because Jesus is the only One who
takes care of the big obstacle that keeps us from heaven, our own sin.
The Bible says that the
consequences of our sin is separation from God, known as death.
(Romans 3:23 NKJV) for
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
The Bible also says that without
the shedding of blood, there can be no forgiveness (Heb. 9:22).
Jesus died on a cross for the very
purpose of offering Himself as an acceptable sacrifice to pay for the sins of
the world.
John the Baptist
knew this at the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry –
(John 1:29 NKJV) The next
day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who
takes away the sin of the world!
When we make a choice to “believe”
in Jesus and “receive” God’s free gift of forgiveness, we gain eternal life.
We can KNOW we
will go to heaven.
Not based on how
good we are, but based SOLELY upon the fact that we are trusting Jesus to have
paid for our sins.
What about before Jesus?
How were
they saved?
God didn’t change the rules with
Jesus.
It’s ALWAYS been about faith, about
trusting in God.
The Bible says that we must have
“faith” to be pleasing to God –
(Hebrews 11:6 NKJV) —6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him,
for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a
rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
The people who died before Jesus
was around went to “Abraham’s Bosom” not because they were good enough on their
own. They went to “Abraham’s Bosom” because they trusted in God to save them.
(Hebrews 11:13–16 NKJV) —13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but
having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and
confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a
homeland. 15 And truly if they had
called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would
have had opportunity to return. 16 But now
they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not
ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.
They may not have
known that His name was Jesus. But they still trusted God, and God brought them
to paradise.
It wasn’t until
the actual death of Jesus, as a sacrifice for their sins, that they were then
able to enter into God’s presence in heaven.