Biblical Conclusion

Living joyously — receiving like children

• Mark 10:15 — Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it (your exact image)

• Luke 12:32 — Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom

• Psalm 16:11 — You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy

• John 10:10 — I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full

Receiving — accepting, not earning

• Ephesians 2:8-9 — It is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God

• Romans 6:23 — The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus (a gift is received, never earned)

• Revelation 22:17 — Let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life

• James 1:17 — Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father

God is unconditional love

• 1 John 4:8 — Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love

• 1 John 4:16 — God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them

• Romans 8:38-39 — Nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God (the unconditionality stated absolutely)

• Jeremiah 31:3 — I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness

Love God, love each other — the great commandment

• Matthew 22:37-40 — Love the Lord your God with all your heart… and love your neighbour as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments

• John 13:34-35 — A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another

• 1 John 4:21 — Whoever loves God must also love their brother and sister

• Romans 13:10 — Love is the fulfillment of the law (love as the destination the law was always pointing toward)

Heaven on Earth — Paradise restored

• Matthew 6:10 — Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven

• Revelation 21:5 — Behold, I am making all things new (restoration, not just return)

• Acts 3:21 — Heaven must receive Him until the time comes for God to restore everything

• Romans 8:21 — Creation itself will be liberated from its bondage and brought into the freedom of the glory of the children of God

The currency of Heaven is love

• 1 Corinthians 13:13 — And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love

• 1 John 3:14 — We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other

• Colossians 3:14 — And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity

Doxology — Children of God, unconditionally loved, on our way Home

• 1 John 3:1 — See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

• Romans 8:16-17 — The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. And if children, then heirs

• Philippians 3:20 — Our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Saviour from there

• Psalm 23:6 — Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever