Greg Laurie

But then there's the afterlife. And I believe in the afterlife. And I believe in heaven. And I believe in it more than I've ever believed. I've always been a student of heaven as a Christian, and the Bible speaks so much of heaven. But when my son went to be there, I wanted to know more about it. And as you read the Bible, you realize that heaven is a real place for real people to do real things.

You know, Jesus said, I go to prepare a place for you. And heaven in the Bible is pictured as a city. It's pictured as a country. It's pictured as a paradise. The Bible tells us we'll eat in heaven. We'll be reunited with loved ones in heaven. We'll be active. And then one day heaven comes to earth in what we call the millennium. Heaven and earth become one. So I believe very strongly in that.

You know, Jesus said, I go to prepare a place for you. And heaven in the Bible is pictured as a city. It's pictured as a country. It's pictured as a paradise. The Bible tells us we'll eat in heaven. We'll be reunited with loved ones in heaven. We'll be active. And then one day heaven comes to earth in what we call the millennium. Heaven and earth become one. So I believe very strongly in that.

You know, Jesus said, I go to prepare a place for you. And heaven in the Bible is pictured as a city. It's pictured as a country. It's pictured as a paradise. The Bible tells us we'll eat in heaven. We'll be reunited with loved ones in heaven. We'll be active. And then one day heaven comes to earth in what we call the millennium. Heaven and earth become one. So I believe very strongly in that.

Now, can I prove it?

Now, can I prove it?

Now, can I prove it?

Well, I think coming back to the statement of Jesus, be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect. Bottom line, nobody can be perfect. We fall short. So the point of that to me is, is we sin against God. Now, some of us sin more than others, but we all sin. We had a little Halloween event at our church and we had one of those, you know, the bell where you hit the thing with the hammer.

Well, I think coming back to the statement of Jesus, be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect. Bottom line, nobody can be perfect. We fall short. So the point of that to me is, is we sin against God. Now, some of us sin more than others, but we all sin. We had a little Halloween event at our church and we had one of those, you know, the bell where you hit the thing with the hammer.

Well, I think coming back to the statement of Jesus, be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect. Bottom line, nobody can be perfect. We fall short. So the point of that to me is, is we sin against God. Now, some of us sin more than others, but we all sin. We had a little Halloween event at our church and we had one of those, you know, the bell where you hit the thing with the hammer.

And so I've hit that and hit the bell in the past. So I got it out and I hit it and I got so close, but I never got it. I think I spent a half hour trying to ring that bell and I fell short. So God has said, perfection, that's the standard for humanity. Well, who can be perfect? Answer, no one. That's where Jesus comes in. Because the Bible says, why were we yet sinners? Christ died for us.

And so I've hit that and hit the bell in the past. So I got it out and I hit it and I got so close, but I never got it. I think I spent a half hour trying to ring that bell and I fell short. So God has said, perfection, that's the standard for humanity. Well, who can be perfect? Answer, no one. That's where Jesus comes in. Because the Bible says, why were we yet sinners? Christ died for us.

And so I've hit that and hit the bell in the past. So I got it out and I hit it and I got so close, but I never got it. I think I spent a half hour trying to ring that bell and I fell short. So God has said, perfection, that's the standard for humanity. Well, who can be perfect? Answer, no one. That's where Jesus comes in. Because the Bible says, why were we yet sinners? Christ died for us.

So going back to the Garden of Eden, our first parents sinned. And because they ate of the forbidden fruit, which by the way, the Bible never says was an apple. I don't know where the apple came from. But, you know, it was something that was very attractive. If you ate of it, it would give you this supernatural wisdom, knowing good and evil. Supposedly, that's what the lie was.

So going back to the Garden of Eden, our first parents sinned. And because they ate of the forbidden fruit, which by the way, the Bible never says was an apple. I don't know where the apple came from. But, you know, it was something that was very attractive. If you ate of it, it would give you this supernatural wisdom, knowing good and evil. Supposedly, that's what the lie was.

So going back to the Garden of Eden, our first parents sinned. And because they ate of the forbidden fruit, which by the way, the Bible never says was an apple. I don't know where the apple came from. But, you know, it was something that was very attractive. If you ate of it, it would give you this supernatural wisdom, knowing good and evil. Supposedly, that's what the lie was.

They ate of the fruit and sin came into the world. So if Adam and Eve had not eaten of the forbidden fruit, we wouldn't die. If they had not eaten of the forbidden fruit, we wouldn't age and get sick. If they hadn't eaten of the forbidden fruit, I'd probably have hair right now, right? So these are the effects of aging. But here's the thing. The earth, life on earth is not everything.

They ate of the fruit and sin came into the world. So if Adam and Eve had not eaten of the forbidden fruit, we wouldn't die. If they had not eaten of the forbidden fruit, we wouldn't age and get sick. If they hadn't eaten of the forbidden fruit, I'd probably have hair right now, right? So these are the effects of aging. But here's the thing. The earth, life on earth is not everything.

They ate of the fruit and sin came into the world. So if Adam and Eve had not eaten of the forbidden fruit, we wouldn't die. If they had not eaten of the forbidden fruit, we wouldn't age and get sick. If they hadn't eaten of the forbidden fruit, I'd probably have hair right now, right? So these are the effects of aging. But here's the thing. The earth, life on earth is not everything.

This is the before life. Then there's the afterlife. C.S. Lewis, you know, what did he call it? He had a phrase for it that he used often in his writings about shadowlands. That's right, shadowlands. So the idea of Lewis was that what we're seeing now at its very best, take the greatest moment of your life with your friends, having a meal, enjoying life together, maybe a beautiful sunset.