NIV, Believe: The Hope of Easter

By Zondervan

Celebrate Easter with this inexpensive ebook designed to focus on the hope of eternity. With three chapters from Believe—a thirty-week topical experience with the NIV Bible—this Eastertime ebook explores the three topics of hope, eternity, and sharing your faith.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Release date: Jan 27, 2015
• ISBN: 9780310437628

Book preview

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ZONDERVAN

Believe: The Hope of Easter

Copyright © 2014 by Zondervan

ePub Edition © December 2014: ISBN 978-0-3104-3762-8

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Drive SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 49546

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Any Internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers in this book are offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by Zondervan, nor does Zondervan vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Cover design: Extra Credit Projects

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Table of Contents

Foreword

Chapter 1. Eternity

Chapter 2. Single-Mindedness

Chapter 3. Hope

Chart of References

Foreword

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.

1 Peter 1:3 – 4

Maybe you’re in a season of life where you’ve lost hope. A wise sage once told me, You cannot cope without hope. It is impossible to deal with life’s difficulties if there is no hope of a new and better day to come.

I have some good news. Easter is all about the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus rose from the dead to give us hope. This little book is aimed at helping you grab hold of it. It is a collection of Scripture stories from Genesis to Revelation built around three key themes of the Christian life — Beliefs, Practices and Virtues. All three hold the secret to God’s offer of hope.

BELIEF — ETERNITY

To experience a brand of hope that never perishes, spoils or fades, you must come to understand and believe the unwavering promises God has made to us about the future. They are simply amazing.

PRACTICE — SINGLE-MINDEDNESS

For a belief to have a full impact on us, we can’t just believe it in our heads; we must also believe it in our hearts. This spiritual practice will help the belief above take the 12-inch journey from the head to the heart.

VIRTUE — HOPE

As God’s promises take root in your heart, hope will grow in you from the inside out.

Bask in the gift of God’s Word this Easter and before long you will be declaring with confidence, I can cope with the hope I have in Jesus Christ!

— Randy Frazee  

General Editor

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CHAPTER

1

Eternity

KEY IDEA

I believe there is a heaven and a hell and that Jesus will return to judge all people and to establish his eternal kingdom.

KEY VERSE

Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?

John 14:1 – 2

While the Old Testament writers don’t address the afterlife in as much detail as the New Testament writers, the Old Testament does contain the magnificent description of the prophet Elijah being taken up to heaven without dying. Elijah is one of only three people taken to heaven in bodily form, the other two being Enoch (you can read about him in Genesis 5:21 – 24) and, of course, Jesus.

THE ENDING OF A LIFE

When the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, Stay here; the LORD has sent me to Bethel.

But Elisha said, As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you. So they went down to Bethel.

The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, Do you know that the LORD is going to take your master from you today?

Yes, I know, Elisha replied, so be quiet.

Then Elijah said to him, Stay here, Elisha; the LORD has sent me to Jericho.

And he replied, As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you. So they went to