Friday, December 25
Read Ellen G. White, “The School of the Hereafter,” pp. 301-309 in Education; “The Controversy Ended,” pp. 662-678, in The Great Controversy.
“The lion, we should much dread and fear here, will then lie down with the lamb, and everything in the New Earth will be peace and harmony. The trees of the New Earth will be straight and lofty, without deformity … .
Let all that is beautiful in our earthly home remind us of the crystal river and green fields, the waving trees and the living fountains, the shining city and the white-robed singers, of our heavenly home – that world of beauty which no artist can picture and no mortal tongue describe. Let your imagination picture the home of the saved, and remember that it will be more glorious than your brightest imagination can portray.” Ellen G. White, Heaven, pp. 133, 134.
“A fear of making the future inheritance seem too material has led many to spiritualize away the very truths which lead us to look upon it as our home. Christ assured His disciples that He went to prepare mansions for them in the Father's house. Those who accept the teachings of God’s word will not be wholly ignorant concerning the heavenly abode … . Human language is inadequate to describe the reward of the righteous. It will be known only to those who behold it. No finite mind can comprehend the glory of the Paradise of God.” Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, pp. 674, 675.
Discussion Questions:
1. Dwell more on the point that Pascal made, about people who seem so unconcerned about what eternity will bring. Why do you think people are like that? Why is this such an irrational attitude to have?
2. Dwell more on why the hope of eternal life is so important to our faith. Without that, why do we really have nothing?
3. Think about all the incredible mysteries that exist in the natural world. Be it biology, geology, astronomy, physics, chemistry – in all fields everything turns out to be so much more complex than people originally thought. Scientists, for example, no more talk about “simple life-forms” because, as it turns out, even the simplest life-forms are not so simple, after all. Each new breakthrough, each new discovery, seems only to open up more questions for us that need answering. How does all this help us understand how much we will be learning in the “school of the hereafter”?
