There is no one at a course or running a race that does not have expectations -there has to be a purpose that prompted you, and there has to be a motivation that keeps you going. From the spiritual perspective, you need to have the revelation of your walk with God to run this race effectively and reach the goal at the end. All we want to do in this subject is answer the question, why? Why are we Christians, why are we going to heaven, why are we engaging in all spiritual exercises, what is the hope of our calling? Grasping this would help you make your calling and election sure, then, help you answer anyone who asks you about the hope you have in Christ. In fact, without this understanding, there’s no guarantee for your success in this Christian race. So, let me implore you to hear by the Spirit and the Word as you read through.
The Pre-Historic World
Before the beginning of recreation, there existed a pre-historic world. God, the Eternal Spirit was Elohim -existing all alone and by Himself. He, not being God (because there was no one to worship Him) decided to create this world that is without a detailed record. Genesis 1:1 only gave us an understanding that “in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth”. But we understand by the Spirit of the Word through other scriptures that it was the world of angels, who were in a garden of precious stones, with great and gigantic animals -the dinosaurs and many more. This world (which spanned eons of years was headed by Lucifer). The Bible gave us the description of this Archangel in Ezekiel 28:11-14
Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
There is no other angel in the Bible that his adornment and makeup were spoken about, in fact, we could say Lucifer was a special angel. God made him thus.
For Elohim to become God, He had to create those who would worship Him, and that made Him create the pre-historic world -for He was all alone in eternity. Thus, if the angels and every creature that had the makeup to worship were to fulfill their purpose, then, worship was all God was demanding from them. But of course, worship goes beyond singing. Every being in its rightful purpose of creature worships -this means that when you maintain your position and work according to how the Creator made you, you worship Him. Worship occurs when the fishes remain swimming in the seas and not trying to live like birds, flying. Worship takes place when the fowls of the air are flying according to their formation and not trying to swim like the creatures of the water bodies. God has got His laws by which everything is created, and operating accordingly depicts your obedience to these laws in place, hence, worship. Lucifer had his position, every other angel had their position, the animals had their position, and more so, God had His position. Perverting and thwarting these eternal patterns counter worship. Isaiah made an exclamation about this great angel and reveal to us what he conceived in his heart against the purpose of God. Isaiah 14:12-14.
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!
how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weakens the nations!
For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God:
I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
Was his beauty deceiving him or what was he trying to do? Whatever it is, pride and ambition rose up in him and he began to imagine evil. Evil? Where did he get that from? He was a messenger of God, delivering God’s message to other angels, and carrying out His plans on the earth -their Eden. Where did he learn evil from? We can say today when we fall into certain temptations that the devil deceived us, but who deceived Lucifer? Take note that this angel was perfect in creation, and the name Lucifer means “light bearer”. He was not the Light but was bearing that Light -representing God to other angels, as he receives from God. So, where did he learn evil from?
If you agree that there is no other being that co-existed with the Eternal Spirit in eternity and that HE(God) is the Creator of everything including Lucifer who later became Satan, then, you are one way closer to understanding the above bone of contention.
Who hath wrought and done it,
calling the generations from the beginning?
I the Lord, the first,
and with the last; I am he. Isaiah 41:4
Fear ye not, neither be afraid:
have not I told thee from that time,
and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses.
Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any. Isaiah 44:8
The Two Laws
It would be pleasant to say here that in eternity, what existed with God was His mind (thoughts), which had not yet been spoken out. LOGOS is an expression of the thought of God. This then means that as long as His thoughts had not been expressed while of course in eternity, we don’t have LOGOS -because it was the expression of those thoughts that brought the LOGOS.
Thus, in the thoughts of God, there were two fundamental laws that existed therein: the LAW OF LIFE and the LAW OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL. Death doesn’t exist in God, because He is eternal, but there was a second law that could breed death, and that was why God had to step into time, to do away with this second law, such that He would only be known by just the law of life. So, He had an intention. In Genesis, God told Adam, there are two trees (which spiritually connotes LAWS), he was commanded to eat of the tree of LIFE, and not to meddle with the knowledge of good and evil -for that will only produce death. If this law was in the garden, and all things came from God, then, this law existed in God’s mind from eternity. We could prove this by scriptures. Because He wanted to separate this knowledge from Himself -removing “self” from Himself (an exercise that every child of God is called to do), He manifested the WORD to destroy this. The fusion of good and evil produces death, thus God manifested the WORD (LOGOS, CHRIST) to separate LIGHT from DARKNESS, He could not deal with this in eternity, else, death would be eternal. So, He had to deal with it in time, and the last enemy that would be destroyed is death. How and where did evil come from? Isaiah 45:5-7
I am the Lord, and there is none else,
there is no God beside me:
I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west,
that there is none beside me.
I am the Lord, and there is none else.
I form the light, and create darkness:
I make peace, and create evil:
I the Lord do all these things.
If we believe this bible, then we can know that God in an attempt to do away with the knowledge of good and evil subjected this Archangel to vanity, because someone must inherit it. Evil was deposited in Lucifer and he began to pride himself even above God. We saw a case of God wanting to show Himself as a man of war and he hardened the heart of Pharaoh, just so He could have the opportunity to show how great He is in strength, God created an enemy for Himself. The ambition and pride of Lucifer were what killed him. He was perfect in all his ways until iniquity was found in him.
Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. By the multitude of thy merchandise, they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more. Ezekiel 28:15-19
God created Lucifer and deposited in him the seed of good and evil, and when he carried it out, he became the devil (the doer of evil). He revolted against the authority of God and caused the war in heaven, having gotten to himself one-third of the angels in his rebellion. Revelation 12:7
And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Realize that God didn’t take all the powers of Lucifer from him when he rebelled, he still had them. This tells you that no one can defeat the devil, he had known God, he was once His Archangel, bore the light, and he had his powers still. At some point, God told Daniel to be careful because the devil was wiser than him. the war that occurred was what rendered the then earth without form, darkness filling it and void; God had to freeze the earth because of the chaos that this angel had caused. All of these are not outside of God’s plan, nothing meets Him accidentally. He froze the world, then began recreation, this time to create man as the lord of it.
Let There Be Light
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. Genesis 1:2-4
This chaotic assault was resolved by God at the entrance of His WORD. The entrance of HIS WORD gives LIGHT. God spoke illumination to that situation because He is the LORD, He must prevail. LET THERE BE LIGHT! That LIGHT was not the sunlight. It was the revelation of LOGOS spoken into recreation.
Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. Colossian 1:16-17
This is not Jesus. Jesus did not preexist before he was born to Mary. What had been with God, that is actually God-Revealed is Christ (WORD, LOGOS). Jesus became Christ after his baptism, He wasn’t born as Christ. Thus, this Light in Genesis 1:3 is the revelation of God -LOGOS (CHRIST -prevailing over every situation). God began to call forth the things He had created back into existence, but this time in smaller versions. He created man in His image and after His likeness and put him in his garden -the garden of vegetation (different from the garden of Lucifer which was a garden of precious stones). He made Adam the lord of the earth and made him realize these two laws existed because they exist likewise in the garden. The devil is spirit, and so is God; both spirits seek to be worshiped, depending on which law you operate. Because God made man, man should worship Him, definitely, the purpose that God had in Himself before time began must prevail eventually. He has written the script, and everything is just playing out the way He scripted them. However, the devil seeking attention would also not fold his arms and watch man serve God without no hindrance. So, he came likewise for man.
God Penetrating
And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. Genesis 2:18
The Bible is full of the devil’s miscalculations -when he thinks he’s destroying the plan of God, he’s actually helping in its fulfillment. God is intrinsically loaded with attributes and qualities that He loves to demonstrate. He is Healer, He is God, He is Provider, He is Redeemer, and many more. But God had a problem -Adam was perfect, he doesn’t need healing, he doesn’t need deliverance, and he was not a sinner so he doesn’t need a savior. How then will God fulfill His purpose?
God wants to have a family, cultured by His WORD so that they would worship Him acceptably. But Adam was alone, perfect enough to block God from passing through time, fulfilling His mission before returning to eternity. So, God thought, it is not good for this man to be alone, let me make him a help meet. Then God put Adam to deep sleep (death), and made a woman out of him.
After a while, the devil came through the serpent. (Note that at the initial stage of the serpent, he wasn’t a reptile, it was after the fall that God caused him to be a reptile). The serpent was the being Satan could use to communicate his desires to humans. A subtle form of interrogation began, the devil craftily dislocating the word of God questioning the woman’s faith…has God said…?
The devil knows that God wants a pure family that would be just like Him (having no knowledge of good and evil, but life), thus trying to penetrate into the human race to destroy this purpose. The woman being deceived fell into transgression, the serpent beguiled her, and she gave in to him, committing fornication with him. That was the fruit they ate. After partaking of the tree of knowledge of good and evil which is a perverted knowledge, it birthed fornication between the woman and the serpent. Perhaps the devil won?
Sorrowfully, the woman came to Adam telling him what had happened, and to think that Adam was already thinking of redemption for his wife as she was speaking is such an outstanding quality. He willingly fell for the woman so that he could redeem her. Adam was sure that God would not cast him out. Had he not fallen with his wife, the woman would not be redeemed. The fall of Adam made him lose the title deed God gave to him. He lost the authority and the devil became the prince of this world. A contrary seed had been sown that would mature over time.
Interestingly, the devil still didn’t seem to win, God is still the LORD. It was all His plan. He made a promise right in that phenomenon;
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Genesis 3:15
This scripture should tell you that the serpent had a seed and the woman had a seed who are both humans. When Cain and Abel came on the scene, while there was no precedence of killing, you should wonder who told Cain that someone can die. The seed of perverted knowledge that had been sown would produce death eventually. Cain rose up one day and killed his brother. Cain was of that wicked one. The spiritual seed of the woman is Jesus Christ, through whom the restitution of all things would come through. Through the fall of man, God could come through and demonstrate His attributes to man, He could reveal Himself as the healer, redeemer, savior, helper, and all. While the devil thought he was fighting the hope of God, he was rather playing a vital role.
Because of Jesus, we have the right and power to come against Satan and all his works. For without the blood, there would be no flesh saved into that kingdom.
Our Hope
The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
God is perfected in three -the first Eden of Lucifer faded off after he fell and became the devil. He came again for the second Eden and he is the prince of this world, but God always commands light to shine out of the darkness. The seed of the woman who is Jesus Christ came about two thousand years ago, the second Adam with a more excellent sacrifice -which had the power to pay for our ransom and purchase us from the ruling system of darkness. With His blood, He reconciled us to God, and gave us the earnest of our salvation -even the baptism of the Holy Spirit, to the end that we can become partakers of His divine nature, and joint heirs with Him in the regeneration of all things.
Friends, another Eden is coming, where Jesus would be the lord of sin, there is no sin that can operate there, and nothing unclean would enter, it is reserved for righteousness, and for the righteous. That is when the knowledge of the glory of the Lord will fill the earth as the waters cover the sea. This is the intent of God -to have abundant life and perfectly do away with anything that offends (the knowledge of good and evil), that is why He is preparing us for that kingdom. That is how hope, that if we can work out our salvation with fear and trembling, and make our election sure to overcome every spirit of our age, a place in Christ has been reserved for us.
He promised to come back for us, and the living saints at the culmination of the age are in expectation of the rapture. Christ is taking His bride up, to do a great physical and spiritual overhauling of this present world, and renew it for the kingdom to come.
And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.
What then? Knowing that nothing unclean will enter into that kingdom, we ought to do away with everything God did away with and embrace what He embraced. He manifested His only son to destroy the works of darkness so that we can be translated into His marvelous light. A glorious hope awaits all who take Jesus Christ as their Lord and King. For if we suffer with Him, we will reign with Him. It’s not a scam, we have not believed cunningly devised fables. God is harvesting by His Word those who would be the kingdom’s heirs.
When you have this revelation, then you will pass your time on earth as a pilgrim, and live in expectation of the better kingdom to come.
These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. John 14:1-4
Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: Hebrews 12:28
Shalom