Changes in Heaven

1. Why can you not earn a free gift?

2. Being a Christian involves responsibilities and blessings. Read though the following passages of the Bible and circle any of the blessings (free gifts) that Christians receive?

Ephesians 1:1-14 "Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for the spiritual blessings that Christ has brought us from heaven!

4 Before the world was created, God had Christ choose us to live with him and to be his holy and innocent and loving people.

5 God was kind and decided that Christ would choose us to be God's own adopted children.

6 God was very kind to us because of the Son he dearly loves, and so we should praise God.

7-8 Christ sacrificed his life's blood to set us free, which means that our sins are now forgiven. Christ did this because God was so kind to us. God has great wisdom and understanding,

9 and by what Christ has done, God has shown us his own mysterious ways.

10 Then when the time is right, God will do all that he has planned, and Christ will bring together everything in heaven and on earth.

11 God always does what he plans, and that is why he had Christ choose us.

12 He did this so that we Jews would bring honour to him and be the first ones to have hope because of him.

13 Christ also brought you the truth, which is the good news about how you can be saved. You put your faith in Christ and were given the promised Holy Spirit to show that you belong to God.

14 The Spirit also makes us sure that we will be given what God has stored up for his people. Then we will be set free, and God will be honoured and praised."

3. When we take Jesus as Lord our past is forgiven, God is with us now through the Holy Spirit and we have future hope in Heaven. All these are free gifts.  Check out the following passages for other blessings and circle them.

*  "All who call out to the Lord will be saved"  (Romans 10:13)

*  "Yet some people accepted him and put their faith in him.  So he gave them the right to be the children of God"  (John 1:12)

*  "A thief comes only to rob, kill and destroy. I came so that everyone would have life, and have it in its fullest" (John 10:10)

*  "God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die" (John 3:16);

*  "Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person.  The past is forgotten and everything is new" (2 Corinthians 5:17)

by Rob Lamont