The Sound of Doctrine

Tag: eternal purpose

  • Eve: The Mother of All Living

    Eve: The Mother of All Living

    It might be a good time to review what the Bible says about what is usually called, “The Role of Women.” Although I will use that phrase, I don’t like it. It is cold, and mechanical. It does not convey what really needs to be said. Women don’t have a role. Women are in God’s creation in order to glorify God in some way. That is not a “role,” that is a glory, an honor, a beauty.

    In addition, when we speak of the woman, we isolate her from the man. It is as if the world’s ideas of feminine freedoms, independence, and a hint of Evolution thrown in for good measure all come into this discussion. She is not independent of a man, and a man is not independent of the women (1 Corinthians 11:10-12). Yet, we treat these discussions as if the man and woman are simple independent entities and the role of the man or woman have no bearing on each other.

    This is the fatal flaw of this whole discussion. Progressive, worldly, fleshly-minded women want to see themselves as an autonomous, independent person. These women have to overcome a deeply-created sense that she exists “for a man.”

    Men, too, who are progressive, worldly, and fleshly-minded want to see themselves as independent, self-existing and autonomous. They also have to overcome the deeply-seated sense that they exist “for a woman.”

    It is this point that makes the arguments around the roles of men and women heated. So many who argue for the independence, and egalitarian stance for women do so as if a woman is simply another created entity, without ties to anyone or anything. But, that denies the facts of nature, and most especially, Scripture.

    The Lone Adam

    In Genesis 1 and 2, we have the only accurately recorded account of the creation of the man and woman. Situated in a six, 24-hour day creation week, with the seventh day being deemed a day of rest patterned after God’s rest, cessation, from further creating. God creates a man and a woman, from whom all people would originate by means of the normal processes of conception and birth.

    In this record, we learn an immense amount concerning the purpose of God for said man and woman. In this record, we learn that God had specific responsibilities for each before Him, and these responsibilities were never rescinded. Even in Christ, the Messiah, the responsibilities of man and woman are not ended. They are the bases of so much of the New Testament (NT) in regard to teaching on the subject.

    In fact, in a few key passages, our record of Genesis 1-3 is referred to in order to uphold this original design. In each case, the record is treated as factual, and durable (lasts into the Church Age).1

    So, it seems to me, that probably the simplest thing I can do to address the roles of men and women is to do a cursory overview of the original creation account.

    Eve was named Eve by Adam (Genesis 3:20). She did not assume a name, or give herself a name. Adam told her that is what she would be called.

    The last time we see Adam naming anything, is one chapter earlier in Genesis. There, Adam gave names to the animals of the earth. Adam, in exercising his authority and responsibility to YHWH, named the animals and whatever he named them, that name stuck; God did not override with His own names for the animals (Genesis 2:19). Imagine, all the animals of creation being dependent upon the man for their names. This final authority is inherent in the man, Adam.

    However, we also read in Genesis 2:20, that upon naming the animals which paraded past him, he realized that there was no created being similar to himself. There was no corresponding partner, if you will.

    And the man gave names to all the cattle and to the birds of the sky and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.  (Genesis 2:20, LSB)

    This realization from Adam is recorded for us. But, if you can imagine the actual point at which Adam, maybe after seeing the last of the animals walk (or waddle, or slither) past him, he sees he is alone.

    It is this fact of Adam’s solitude that God records for the reader to see this crisis and how God will correct it. Adam “realized” that he was alone, something God already knew and predetermined (Genesis 2:18). It is obvious from what is written, that “it is not good for the man to be alone.”

    Meet Mrs. Adam

    By God’s creative power, Adam is put to rest. While asleep, God takes out of Adam, as the Creator God has the right and power to do, and around that flesh and bone material, “builds” a woman.2 From the man’s material, God created the woman. This is why Paul wrote that the “woman has her origin from the man.”

    Upon waking, Adam sees the solution to the problem. Remember, the problem was that the man was alone. That is, after naming all the animals on the earth, he sees there is no one who resembles himself. Now, upon opening his eyes, he sees a person who resembles himself, although not identical. The differences go without saying, however.

    His joy and exuberance is recorded for us in his song, a song of praise to God for His handiwork.

    Then the man said,

    “This one finally is bone of my bones,

    And flesh of my flesh;

    This one shall be called Woman,

    Because this one was taken out of Man.”  (Genesis 2:23, LSB)

    God revealed to Adam where this (if I may say) creature came from. He made her from his material. She is him, but not him. The beauty and creativity, and glory to God for His work is on display in her. She is now called, by Adam, not God, “woman,” because of this work of creation.

    The word “woman” in the original language of the Old Testament (OT) is the feminine form of the same word for man. That is not to say that Eve was a feminine man. Rather, it is to say that Adam understood that she resembles him, and yet is complementary to himself. She is not male. She is female. Yet, she has arms, head, legs, like he does. But, there are other features that are different.

    This original design tells us that she is not simply another him. She is her. He is him. There is no other way to say it. This original design cannot be changed. The souls of the man and woman are unique to the man and woman (assuming YHWH created her soul at the moment of the building of her body as He did Adam-Genesis 2:7).

    She is presented to Adam by YHWH as his wife; YHWH brought her to the man (Genesis 2:22). She is “for” him (Genesis 2:20). She complements him. She resembles him. She is not him.

    He, now, is complete. He is “one.” He is now free to laser-focus his love, the love of God, upon her. He could not do that to the beasts, hence his realization-“I have no one to love.” But, as God is love (1 John 4:7), and Adam is made in the direct image of God, he is now given the high honor to love her.

    I believe that the fundamental quality of Adam towards Eve is love (Ephesians 5:25), a love which, after the fall especially, requires the giving of himself for her sanctification, her likeness to Christ, her good.

    Holy Matrimony

    What, now, should the man and woman do. They are standing there looking at one another. Now what?

    In that pre-fall condition, there was no shame in their nakedness (Genesis 2:25). There was only glory to God. The statement of Genesis 2:24, “…they shall become one flesh,” is understood as the permission of YHWH for the man and woman in that state of consecrated relationship (which we call “marriage”), for sexual relationship.

    It is interesting that God created two from one. And in the marriage relationship, the two become one. Jesus says that God joins the two together in this union (Matthew 19:6). The relationship, now, is ongoing union, a “one-ness.” But, and this is important, they are not the same.

    Look at the differences:

    • Adam named the creatures, and Eve.
    • Adam is made in the direct image3of God, Eve was made in the image of the man (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:7).
    • Adam was made first, then the woman (see 1 Timothy 2:13).
    • Adam is male, the woman female (see Genesis 5:2).
    • God commanded Adam; Adam commanded the woman (Genesis 2:16; 3:2-3; cp 1 Timothy .

    In short, Adam and Eve were not the same. They were each designed with a specific role in the mind of God. And, I as opened this essay, these differences have not been rescinded. They have been reiterated, and the man and woman are held accountable to them.

    Conclusion

    Does this explicitly mean that a woman cannot work outside the home? Well, let’s ask it a different way. Does this mean that a man should not work? In all fairness, we should look at it that way. Is it right for a man to simply not work, but stay home and be unproductive. I would echo Paul’s statement, “Does not even nature itself” tell you that is ridiculous? He was to work (Genesis 2:5; 15). He was to guard the place where Adam and YHWH met,4 i.e. the garden (Genesis 2:15). He was commanded to eat (Genesis 2:16). He was commanded to not eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 2:16).

    I wrote this essay avoiding the usual arguments for men and women’s roles. Instead, we need to go back to the drawing board and look at the foundation.

    I hope this is helpful.

    1. See Matthew 19:5; Mark 10:7-8; 1 Corinthians 6:16; 1 Corinthians 11:12; Ephesians 5:31; see also 1 Timothy 2:15. ↩
    2. The Hebrew term for the creation of the man is “formed” (Heb. yāșar), as in a potter forming a clay pot. However, the term for the creation of the woman is “builds/make” (Heb. bānâ). The man was formed from the dust of the earth, and the woman was built from the material of the man. ↩
    3. The best ways to understand the idea of “image” is by a corresponding word, “pattern.” This is a much larger discussion than I can give it in this essay. However, the summary meaning of “image and likeness” is that the man was made with corresponding body parts that would be able to carry out the purpose of God in the world. He would work, he would love, he would have a family, he would recreate. All of these things are the purpose of God for the man and correspond to God, represented by the man’s physical body. The woman is made in the image of God through her being patterned after the man’s physical body, but with obvious, and beautiful, differences. These differences correspond to the functions of each, the man as procreator, and woman as one who would carry and bear a child. ↩
    4. The Hebrew word for “keep” is the word for “guard/treat as/attend to” (šāmar). This does not mean to guard it from danger. It means to treat it as holy, in the same way the Mt. Horeb, a mountain Moses visited many times with his flocks, was to be treated as holy by Moses because God was there (Exodus 3:1; 19:1-2). ↩
  • The Replacement of Israel

    The Replacement of Israel

    Yesterday, I watched a video of Kirk Cameron attempting to explain his take on Genesis 12:1-3, especially as it regards the contemporary allegiance to the nation of Israel (see here). Cameron played a clip from a discussion between Ted Cruz and Tucker Carlson in which Senator Cruz quoted (loosely) Genesis 12:1-3, mostly v.3. Kirk Cameron went on to attempt to clarify the passage that Senator Cruz quoted, stating that the meaning Cruz assigned to that passage was not accurate. The net result of Cameron’s thinking is that the modern state of Israel is not the Israel of Genesis 12:1-3 because Genesis 12:1-3 does not refer to Israel, but only to Abraham.

    Although his take is a unique one, the underlying premise is not. As Jesus might say, “You err not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God.” The Scriptures explain clearly what is meant in Genesis 12:1-3, the Kingdom of Israel, and the postponement of the Kingdom. Although the confusion shrouds the clarity of the Scripture, the clarity is there nonetheless.

    Genesis 12:1-3

    12:1 And Yahweh said to Abram,

    “Go forth from your land,

    And from your kin

    And from your father’s house,

    To the land which I will show you;

    2 And I will make you a great nation,

    And I will bless you,

    And make your name great;

    And so you shall be a blessing;

    3 And I will bless those who bless you,

    And the one who curses you I will curse.

    And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”  (Genesis 12:1–3, LSB)

    Due to the scope of this article, it is not possible to fully develop what this passage means in every detail. However, we can summarize it and refer to other passages that help develop its clear meaning.

    In context, this text is on the heels of Genesis 1-11. That section of Scripture contains the creation, the fall, the flood, the Tower of Babel, and various other details leading up to the days of Abraham. But, it is to Abraham that God speaks in Genesis 12:1-3.

    It is around 2000 B.C. Abraham has been called out of Ur, a bustling town in the Southern regions of modern day Iraq. He is currently en route to a land that he was told would be shown to him by YHWH. But, while in Haran, a few hundred miles north of the promised land, Abraham receives this promise. And, it is a promise, a promise from YHWH to Abraham.

    The summary of the promise contains the following:

    1. I will make you a great nation (v.2)
    2. I will bless you (as a nation) (v.2)
    3. I will bless and curse those who bless and curse you (as a nation) (v.3).

    There are supporting elements to this passage. The supporting elements are as follows:

    1. Abraham will go to a designated land (v.1).
    2. Abraham’s name will be significant (v.2).
    3. In Abraham, the other nations of the earth will be blessed (v.3).

    The overall effect of what YHWH told Abraham is that Abraham, through his own biological progeny will become a great nation. And, through the work of YHWH, that nation will be supreme on the earth, and will bless other nations. Those who resist Abraham, and this promise from God, will be cursed. Those who bless Abraham, and this promise from God, will be blessed.

    It is in the national constitution of the descendants of Abraham that YHWH will live in the land, give Abraham a great name, and will bless other nations.

    Replacement, Fulfillment, Or??

    Kirk Cameron’s take on the passage was that the name “Israel” does not appear in the above passage, the same passage Senator Cruz roughly quoted. It is Abraham’s name that is mentioned. And, since those in the church are called Abraham’s sons (Galatians 3:6-7), whether Jews or Greeks, and since not all biological Israel believes in Christ, then Genesis 12:1-3 cannot refer to Israel, but to believing Jews (individually), and the church.

    The assumption, and outright statement, of Cameron is that the church was always in view, and the nation of Israel, to which he refers as a political entity, is not. In effect, Israel is done for, and will not be the source of blessing, or cursing, for other nations depending upon how they treat Israel.

    The Problem

    The problem with Cameron’s view is that he has already made some assumptions that he uses as tools of interpretation.

    The first assumption is that Israel only refers to those who believe in YHWH. Although it is true that only those biological Jews who believe in YHWH are truly Israel, the other side to that reality is that even those who were unbelieving were called “Israel” in Scripture (Romans 11:2,7 et al).

    The second is that the reference to Abraham is limited to Abraham. It is true that God is speaking to Abraham. But what God said is that He will make Abraham a great nation. Abraham’s descendants are biological Jews, the Hebrews from Judea. It is this national fact to which YHWH refers when He told Abraham that He was going to bless the other nations. In other words, Abraham is the source of the nation in which the world will be blessed.

    Third, equating the church with national Israel in that passage tips his hand as buying into a conclusion before the facts are determined. This is typical from the Reformed camp of Evangelicalism. The desire to be devotionally credible leads to sloppy exegesis.

    Besides, Paul quotes and refers to this passage many times in his writings, and never does he equate this passage with the church. Rather, Paul says that the church is a group of many nations who are blessed through this promise through Abraham and his descendents. This promise to Abraham is the same promise that YHWH made to Christ as well (Galatians 3:16). But, as the context shows, the existence of the nation of Israel, which was formed by a common covenant and Law, does not negate the promise.

    Conclusion

    No. Israel is not the church, and the church is not Israel. It is true that those who are Jews biologically, and who believe in the Messiah, are sons of Abraham through and through since they reflect the faith of Abraham. But, a Gentile reflecting the faith of Abraham is not made a Jew, but is simply reflecting the faith of Abraham and that is as far Scripture allows us to take things.

  • Why Study Protology?

    Why Study Protology?

    Protology is the study of “first things.” First things refers to whatever information we have in Scripture about things before creation, at creation, and immediately following creation.1 Just as eschatology is the study of “last things,” things related to the end of time, protology is the study of things before, and at, the beginning of time.

    As I mentioned in my last essay, there is an imbalance between the two. Much weight is put on eschatology, and rightly so, but almost none is put on protology. The result is a shot-in-the-dark approach to understanding why God created the world, and how that informs His purpose throughout time, and into eternity. That guess-work has produced some very shoddy theologies that cannot hold up under biblical scrutiny. The result of that is an unsanctified church that does not know her Father’s will.

    My goal in this essay is to begin to explain in greater detail exactly what happened before creation which motivated the forming of creation itself. In doing that, we will also deal with God’s purpose, motives, and plan for all things. The Bible does give us that information. And the church is the steward of that information, a stewardship that is not being handled properly.

    The Problems With Modern Theology

    Dispensationalism has no real answer for the question, “What was God’s purpose for creating the world?” The most oft response is, “It was created for His glory.” This is a true statement, but the answer appears more of a catch-all phrase used when you really don’t know the answer. It is akin to the term “pan-millennialism” when asked about eschatology; “It will all pan out in the end.” Well, in reality, that is no answer.

    Covenantalists believe there was a council, or series of councils, in which the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit worked out the plan and roles of creation and redemption by pact, or “covenant.” They claim that God covenanted the various aspects of which One of God would be the Redeemer, Regenerator, and the Initiator of redemption of sinners. It was decided by “pact,” or covenant in the eternal councils before time.

    That is no answer either since the information for such a council, or councils, is scant. It is obvious that there was some kind of conversation within God that produced the existence of the world, and permitted the fall in order to manufacture redemption. These monumental things simply don’t happen by accident. However, their answer is no answer either since the ideals of a pact and the details imagined by Covenantalists simply don’t comport with the revelation of Scripture.

    Some Dispensationalists even affirm such covenants as above simply by concession, and not by evidence. It is unfortunate that some Dispensationalists concede such ideals when they know very well that the fruit of such a system is not consistent with Scripture (i.e. infant baptism, replacement/fulfillment of Israel with the church, Amillennialism/Postmillennialism, etc). But, since they haven’t been able to discover the information necessary to understand what actually happened in God to motivate the creation of the world, and the activities of redemption, they simply set aside convictions against the covenants of Covenant Theology and move on to the debates of more sure footing.

    However, this is not necessary. It is not necessary for Dispensationalists to hand over what is arguably the most critical and fundamental aspect of theology, the study of first things, simply for concession. As one who has for at least 30 years grappled with the doctrines, problems, successes, and failures of Dispensationalism and Covenant Theology, I can tell you that we have a definitive piece of revelation in Scripture, a theological “smoking gun” if you will, that fills in the ethereal “all things are for the glory of God” statement with data. These data, which I will produce in this series, is enough to rewrite, and revise, a proper and true theology that is consistent with Scripture throughout. For that I am excited! I am excited because this means that more questions can be answered, greater clarity can be had, Truth can be more definitively understood, and God’s plan, being understood in greater detail, can give Him the due glory in greater measure.

    Before “In the Beginning”

    Ge 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  (Genesis 1:1, LSB)

    At the beginning of the first day of the six days of the creation week, the seventh day being the creation of a day of rest since God rested from His creation work, God created the heavens and the earth. I believe that this is a statement of the creation of the dark matter in the cosmos and our planet before the land appeared out of water. The creation of the heavens and the earth started the creation clock ticking. Since that time, God has been working (John 5:17), working His purpose in history and time.

    But, what is that purpose? What was the motivation for creating the heavens and the earth, and filling them with the stellar bodies, creatures, and ultimately the man and woman? Is there a motive that can be read and understood in the proper reading of Scripture?

    Yes.

    Foundation

    Jesus gives us His Word concerning the creation of the man, Adam, and the subsequent fall of Adam by work of Satan. This is found in the parable section of Matthew 13. There, along with other parables meant to describe and explain the Kingdom of Heaven in light of its impending mystery form, Jesus tells us what happened in Genesis 1-3.

    I am referring to the parable of the Tares and the Wheat (Matthew 13:24-30). That parable contains a detail that is unique to Tare and Wheat parable alone. The tense of the verb that Matthew records there is unique, and significant. Although the verb is repeated in all seven parables of Matthew 13, only in v.24 is the verb aorist passive indicative. Those three terms indicate for us a lot of information.

    Aorist

    A.T. Robertson wrote the definitive work on Koine Greek, the language of the New Testament (NT). When addressing the issues surrounding the aorist “tense,” he wrote:

    “It is true that in the expression of past time in the indicative and with all the other moods, the aorist is the tense used as a matter of course, unless there was special reason for using some other tense.”2

    However, the sense of past time action is not in the aorist tense. Aorist indicates “punctiliar” action, and can be further divided into tense, as it were, from a combination of the stem of the verb, the context, and the aorist vs. other tenses used. To get to the point, when the aorist tense is used, and it wants to describe an action in the past, which is the default mood to show that as per the above quote, we call it the “ingressive aorist.” That is, the aorist is describing the action, or state, of the verb as having begun in the past at some point in time.

    Passive

    When a verb is wanting to describe an action that happens to a subject, it is in the passive. If I hit a ball, that is active. I hit the ball. However, it is a different matter if the ball hit me; I was hit by the ball. The second example is passive. The ball hit me, and it hurt.

    The verb Jesus used in Matthew 13:24 is passive. The subject of the verb is the Kingdom of Heaven. The subject is acted upon by the verb, which, in this case, is a description of the subject, the Kingdom.

    Indicative

    In Greek grammar, this is called the “mood” of the verb. It tells us the kind of statement something is. It is the “mood” of the verb that is on display. Indicative mood tells us that the verb is a statement, a factual idea indicating a fact of something. There are other moods that describe other kinds of things and descriptions of the subject.

    Summary

    I took the time to look at some of the skeleton of the verse. I also took some liberties to explain things that most don’t readily see in the text, unless they know Greek. But, I did this in order to try and give some justification for what I am about to say, and to have opportunity for scrutiny from those who know Greek better than I do.

    The summary of Jesus’ words in Matthew 13:24-30 is this:

    “The Kingdom of Heaven was/began to be like…” The parable goes on to describe various aspects of the Kingdom of Heaven. Its original intention was for the sons of God to grow and thrive, like wheat plants in a field.

    But, an enemy of the farmer planted weeds in the field of the wheat, forcing the farmer to wait until the harvest to separate them lest the wheat gets accidentally damaged, and the crop is ruined.

    The metaphor is explained to the disciples, and us, that each component in the parable corresponds to an actual historical person, or object.

    The sum of Jesus’ teaching is that the Son of Man created man to live on the earth with Him. The Devil came and introduced sons of his own. These two populate the earth from that point forward.

    The Kingdom of Heaven, then, was the original creation as recorded in Genesis 1:1-2. The fall of Adam was the introduction of evil into the Kingdom, as recorded in Genesis 3. Currently, in the Kingdom, which refers to the creation of man and the earth (Psalm 2:8), there are sons of God (i.e. elect), and the sons of the devil (i.e. non-elect). The sons of God were determined by Father, and created for the Son, to exist forever in the Kingdom.3

    Conclusion

    To end this essay, we just need to see a few things. First, the Kingdom of God was the original design of God, recorded for us in Genesis 1-2. Next, God created the earth for the sons of God to live with Him forever.4 Finally, that design was corrupted by the enemy of God, Satan. His work caused God to take the life of Adam and Eve. Satan effectively ruled the world, the kingdom, from that point.5

    1. On the basis of the inerrancy of Scripture, and the dubious character of extra-biblical accounts of creation (i.e. Enuma Elish), I reject all supposed creation accounts extant in the cultures of the Ancient Near East. ↩
    2. A. T. Robertson, A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of Historical Research (Logos Bible Software, 2006), 831. ↩
    3. See Revelation 22:5 for some evidence that ruling, reigning, with God (v.3) was the original design of God since the eternal end result was just that. ↩
    4. See Luke 3:38 ↩
    5. Luke 4:6; cp. 1 John 5:19 ↩
  • These Are Tough Times

    These Are Tough Times

    Charlie Kirk, a 31-year-old father of two young children, husband to a beautiful young wife, Erika, and unabashed proclaimer of the Gospel around the world, was shot in cold blood in front of thousands of adoring fans, and some enemies. The details are still pending, but at this time, the alleged killer has been caught, and the weapon has been secured.

    However, there is more going on here than the details of one man’s assassination, and the throws of a nation’s sadness at this time.

    Times and Seasons

    Jesus spoke of our age often in His teaching recorded in the New Testament. Here are a few examples of what Jesus said about our days:

    10 “And at that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another.

    11 “Many false prophets will arise and will deceive many.

    12 “And because lawlessness is multiplied, most people’s love will grow cold.

    13 “But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.  (Matthew 24:10–13, LSB)

    9“But see to yourselves; for they will deliver you to the courts, and you will be beaten in the synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for My sake, as a witness to them.

    10 “And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all the nations.

    11 “And when they lead you away, delivering you up, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given to you in that hour; for it is not you who speak, but it is the Holy Spirit.

    12 “And brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and have them put to death.

    13 “And you will be hated by all because of My name, but the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.  (Mark 13:9–13, LSB)

    12“But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for My name’s sake.

    13 “It will result in an opportunity for your testimony.

    14 “So set in your hearts not to prepare beforehand to defend yourselves;

    15 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute.

    16 “But you will be betrayed even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death,

    17 and you will be hated by all because of My name.

    18 “Yet not a hair of your head will perish.

    19 “By your perseverance you will gain your lives.  (Luke 21:12–19, LSB)

    I chose these passages in order to summarize Jesus’ teaching to the disciples concerning the time period from His own death, resurrection, and ascension, to His next coming. I have no intention of debating how I came to the eschatological conclusions I did in these passages. It is enough for now to see these selected passages as addressing the time between the ascension of Christ to His Second, Premillennial, coming.

    Let’s cover this period a bit from these passages, and then look at some things Paul wrote as well. When we pull these teachings together, we get a complete picture of our age. In fact, we have the authority to tell people what is happening in the world even as it is happening. In other words, these passages give us discernment. And, when we have discernment, we have clarity, and with clarity comes courage.

    Betrayal: The Tone of the Age

    9 “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.

    10 “And at that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another.  (Matthew 24:9–10, LSB)

    9 “But see to yourselves; for they will deliver you to the courts, and you will be beaten in the synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for My sake, as a witness to them.

    10 “And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all the nations.  (Mark 13:9–10, LSB)

    And, perhaps the most precise record of this age is found in the book of Luke. He wrote:

    “But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for My name’s sake.  (Luke 21:12, LSB)

    The deliverance of which Matthew, Mark, and Luke record Jesus as speaking of is not the deliverance from something, but deliverance to something. It is a deliverance that is, in each record, going on to speak of being “betrayed” by those who were perceived as friends.

    In each record, being “delivered” is the idea of “betrayal,” a handing over by a trusted friend. The condition of the age will be that of being betrayed by confidants, and ending up in the synagogues, courts, and even some kind of capital punishment. This betrayal will come in a variety of forms. Luke wrote,

    “But you will be betrayed even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death,  (Luke 21:16, LSB)

    It is the reality that we, as the saints of God, have to come to grips with. Those who might be dearest to us, even within our families, are the same who would become the very ones who would willingly hand us over to legal punishment, even illegal execution.

    The world is not done hating Jesus Christ. Whether the nation of Israel, or the Gentiles of every nation, the disdain for the Son of God is not completed. However, because they cannot reach into heaven and pull Him down, they must do what it takes to destroy those who follow Him.

    False Christs: The Savior of the Age

    But there is more to the age. During this time, the whole world will endure the self-professed messiahs who appear to rescue the world. Matthew, Mark, and Luke record:

    “For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.  (Matthew 24:5, LSB)

    “Many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He!’ and will mislead many.  (Mark 13:6, LSB)

    And He said, “See to it that you are not deceived; for many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time is at hand.’ Do not go after them.  (Luke 21:8, LSB)

    According to Jesus Christ, the plan of God will progress with false Christ’s, betrayal, violence, and deception. This is a sad testament. However, it is a testament to the condition of the world under the influence and leadership of the Serpent, Satan, the Devil.

    In the midst of this condition, however, Jesus gives us wonderful consolation. Again, in each case, He tells us that we will be preserved, even if handed over to death. We will not perish (Luke 21:18). That is, we will not suffer ultimate fate at the hands of God’s enemies. even in our death by betrayal, we will truly live! Endurance is the key. Endurance to preach the gospel, in spite of threats, deception, and pervasive error.

    Paul’s Warning: Violent Times Are Coming

    3:1 But know this, that in the last days difficult times will come.  (2 Timothy 3:1, LSB)

    Paul would know. Being left for dead, persecuted regularly, imprisoned numbers of times, and ultimately beheaded by Rome. This man knew persecution and violence. He wanted Timothy to understand the days ahead of him, days that would be characterized by trouble and hardship in the name of Christ.

    The above mentioned verse is interesting because Paul told Timothy that “difficult” times will come. However, the Greek word that Paul used for “difficult” is best translated, “violent, dangerous.” It is the idea of imminent danger being the character of the people around Timothy. He gives a list of these people in the following verses, a list I won’t take the time to review.

    However, notice the list begins with “self-love.” It is the quality of self-absorption, or self-infatuation. It is an aggressive defense of the priority of one’s self over, and against, the love of others. In a word, it is selfish, arrogant, entitlement.

    What is even more amazing is that these qualities are likely what will characterize the church, the body of Christ since v. 5 indicates that these people will hold to a form of godliness, but will have denied its power. This is Christendom. This is the kingdom of God which is populated with tares that look like wheat, wolves that look like sheep, and the unrighteous who act righteous.

    Coupling these things together, along with numerous other passages from letters in the NT like 2 Thessalonians and of course, the book of Revelation, we get a grim picture of the future.

    Conclusion

    In short, the plan of God, which culminates with the shattering of rulers, kings, nations, and peoples in the wrath of God (Psalm 2:9; cf. Revelation 19:15), has as its necessary component a mood of the age wherein the wrath of God is increasing (Romans 1:18), and will culminate in the seals, bowls, and trumpets of the Tribulation.

    If we endure, and preach the gospel to every nation, we will enter into our rest with victory, reward, and peace.

  • An Overview of Time

    There is a progress of time in God’s plan. The idea that time is like a child’s top and simply is set spinning and let go while it spins on its own, is not accurate regarding the movement of history.

    Instead, history is a display of the purposes of God being accomplished among the affairs of men. They are all decided and determined beforehand by the only One who can do such a thing: the God of the Bible.

    Like Peter wrote, it might be easy for people to assume that everything will continue as it has before (2 Peter 3:3-4). The promised coming is long distant, or not at all. However, like Peter wrote, what escapes our notice when we are tempted to think this way is that God has invaded time and the history of men before. He did it first with creation itself, when God initiated time. Then He did it with the flood. Then He did it with the Tower of Babel. And, He has invaded time and history hundreds of times since then in the existence of the nation of Israel.

    It is also disregarded that the Son of God came as a Man, and was performing miracles every day of His ministry. And, in addition to all of this, the continued consistency with modern times and the predictions of the Bible are uncanny.1

    But, what is the beginning of it all? Do we know God’s purpose for all of His activity in the history of men and the world? Can we know what God is after? What is His ultimate purpose?

    The answer to these questions is “Yes! Yes, we can know and we must know.” Not only is the information we need to determine God’s ultimate purpose in time and history available, but we are required, as the church, to know, and announce these things to the world. For the church to act like there is some kind of metaphysical barrier between God’s purpose and our history, is tantamount to being a protoloigcal agnostic. That is, it would be like assuming that God’s original design and purpose, even dealing with information about these things before time began, is simply unknowable.

    However, the intentions of God, and as God Who is conducting which part of the plan, are available for our learning, our instruction, and our benefit, to the glory and praise of God alone.

    33Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!

    34 For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor?

    35 Or who has first given to Him that it might be repaid to him?

    36 For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.  (Romans 11:33–36, LSB)

    In The Beginning Before The Beginning

    As I asserted above, there is a tendency to be a protological agnostic in reference to the things regarding God first actions in time and history, as well as any information regarding His purpose as determined before time. “Protology” is the study of first things. It is the study of the origins, purpose(s), and first events before and in the history of the world. Of course, all of this is predicated upon what is recorded in the Bible. That is to say, our information of man’s history spanning as far back as around 3,500 BC in the written records, can only give us some data to correlate events and movements and key people in history. However, the interpretation and explanation for it all can only come from one infallible, and inerrant, source-the Bible. In order to rightly accumulate the data, and organize it in its right sequence, we need to research the Bible and have it tell us what our finds mean.

    My intention in this short essay is to begin to explain what the Bible tells us, not of human history and its origins (although I will delve into that as necessary), but of whatever we can glean from the Bible about God’s intentions and purposes determined before time began as revealed to us in Scripture. In other words, I want to examine what we know about the eternity before, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).

    At the outset, it is important that the informed reader know that I do not believe in a hermeneutic that does injustice to the inerrant Word. I only employ an historical and grammatical approach to the Bible in its original languages. I do not have loyalties to an institution, a movement, or a creed. In fact, as every pastor should, my only loyalties are to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Who is the Catalyst and Initiator of all things. He is also the Consummator of what He has determined to accomplish. I write with my eternal reward in view. That is, I write with a very real and strong sense of what I will have to say for myself that split-second I appear before God after I breathe my last breath. That very moment is the only time for which I live, and for which I write. Nothing else matters, least of all loyalty to a theological brand, or movement. Yet, there are some points in the history of doctrinal emphases that are important and helpful, and many that are not. I will intersect with them as necessary.

    The Eternal Council Was Not A Council

    7 “I will surely tell of the decree of Yahweh:

    He said to Me, ‘You are My Son,

    Today I have begotten You.

    8 ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance,

    And the ends of the earth as Your possession.

    9 ‘You shall break them with a rod of iron,

    You shall shatter them like a potter’s vessel.’”  (Psalm 2:7–9, LSB)

    Psalm 2 is the key foundation to understanding Protology. Without a thoroughgoing understanding of this Psalm, as church history has shown, man is left to wander in a dark cave without light. The light source for me came on in 2010 when I was reading my Bible and “stumbled” across this Psalm. Its words opened to me like a flower and I began to notice that what David wrote here cannot be overlooked in regard to Protology.

    The Psalm is a gateway into all of Scripture. It is a prophetic Psalm of David that is, obviously, inspired by the Holy Spirit (Acts 4:25-26). What is written there, as prophetic Scripture, is meant to tell us something beyond David, and that it does. The Psalm is a record of the wording and purpose of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as it regards what Paul calls God’s “eternal purpose” (Ephesians 3:11). Peter, in Acts 4, agrees with Paul that Psalm 2 is the ground of all the revealed information needed to understand God’s “predetermined will.” Notice what he said, as recorded by Luke:

    24 And when they heard this, they lifted their voices to God with one accord and said, “O Master, it is You who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that is in them,

    25 who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David Your servant, said,

    ‘Why did the Gentiles rage,

    And the peoples devise vain things?

    26 ‘The kings of the earth took their stand,

    And the rulers were gathered together

    Against the lord and against His Christ.’

    27 “For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,

    28 to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur.  (Acts 4:24–28, LSB)

    Peter and John understood that Psalm 2, as quoted here in portion, is a Psalm which refers to “whatever (God’s) hand and (God’s) purpose predestined to occur.” They understand the nature and extent of the Psalm as a record of what is predestined for them, and for all time. To Peter and John, Psalm 2 recorded what was fulfilled in their persecution for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. But, even more than that, they understood that David wrote by the Holy Spirit and of such a character that it was not about David. His writing was substantially about God’s predestined will.

    Paul also helps us to understand something of this predestined will. He wrote to the church in Ephesus:2

    11 In Him, we also have been made an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,  (Ephesians 1:11, LSB)

    Paul tells us that the church has been “made an inheritance,” and that established purpose of God was the result of the “predestined…purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.” Paul instructs us that God did not have a “divine council” as some aver. Rather, the Father unilaterally predetermined what His purpose is and initiated it of His “good pleasure” (see Ephesians 1:5,9) and with the end result of “the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:6,12,14). It is, then, the unilateral will of the Father to have planned and commenced His purpose by His Son Jesus Christ. In the process of doing all of this, He has made us adopted sons, an inheritance, and is moving towards a summing up of everything in Christ (vv. 5, 10, 11).

    Conclusion

    As this will be an ongoing series, I will have to stop here and let this soak in for those who might read it.

    Over the coming weeks, as the Lord wills, I plan to write down what the Bible has to say about the eternal purpose of the Father, a purpose revealed thoroughly in Psalm 2, and echoed throughout Scripture from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22.

    1. I am referring to the words of Jesus primarily, that there would be wars, rumors of wars, increased lawlessness, and increased persecution of the church (Matthew 24:4-14). ↩
    2. The earliest manuscripts do not include the word “Ephesus” in the prologue of our Ephesians. Therefore, many believe that Ephesians is the “epistle to the Laodiceans” of Colossians 4:12. ↩

  • The Span of Time

    “You sound like what I heard growing up!”

    That was a comment after church service Sunday. That sister in Christ, who is in her mid-fifties, her statement was in reference to my sermon in which I introduced what Scripture says concerning “ages.” She was referring to the things her dad taught her, what she heard in churches as a young girl, and the general mood of that day.

    That statement really got me thinking. It occurred to me as well that the things I taught were something like what I used to hear in the early years of my walk with Christ. The distinctions of times, and ages, and Israel, and the church, all seemed to be regular fair.

    But now, the mood has changed. The atmosphere of the teaching in mainstream Christianity seems to have shifted 1) to oppose the distinction of ages in history, or 2) to completely ignore and neglect those things altogether.

    I believe that now, more than at any time, we need to explain that there are distinct ages, or dispensations, of time in the plan of God. These are distinctions that are designed by God based upon clear statements in the Scripture and not manufactured by man’s imagination. Once these things are cleared up, I believe the history of God’s eternal purpose in Christ becomes clearer than ever.

    The Ends of the Ages

    1 Corinthians 10:11 (LSB)

    “11Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have arrived.”

    This is Paul’s warning to the Corinthian church about their penchant for craving “evil things” (v.6). Israel’s tendency was to pursue a course of misbehavior as it regards idolatry, sexual unrighteousness, and grumbling. The history of Israel is replete with examples of these sins. Paul’s indication is that the Corinthians were in the same boat, as it were, and they also craved evil things.

    But, what is curious is the subtle, and then not-so-subtle, statements regarding the progress of time, and the condition of Israel, being inconclusive without the church. What I mean is, it seems that Paul is indicating that over the eons what happened to Israel was not simply factual history. It was all, indeed, events that were meant to benefit the church, a dispensation of time wherein men and women, slave and freemen, Jew and Gentile, would benefit from the New Covenant seemingly designed only for Israel (Jeremiah 31:31-33).

    They Could Not Be Perfected Without Us

    “because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.” (Hebrews 11:40, LSB)

    This statement from Hebrews is very similar in emphasis in 1 Corinthians 10. The indication of the writer of Hebrews is that the fathers, Israel, the prophets, and the godly men and women of Hebrews 11 were not the end-all of God’s plan. The writer is identifying the reality that, in God’s wise intention, there would exist a future people, future to the people listed in Hebrews 11, who also would “be perfected.” The complete sanctification, which is idea of “perfection,” of a people including, but not limited to, Israel and the progenitors of Israel, was God’s intention (Hebrews 2:10).

    This is wonderful news! It is incredible to think that in the plan and purpose of God, He would conceive of the concentration of His covenants and Temple, and His Law, upon one nation, with the intention all along to bring that nation to the point that they would abandon those things, and her God, for evil things such that God would then turn His (predetermined) eye beyond Israel and to the nations (Gentiles). The genius, the brilliance, and wonder, of it all demonstrates a level of purpose and plan and power far beyond the imagination. The purpose and plan of Yahweh to preconceive of this extensive ambition is magnificent. But, now consider, that the power that is required to move in the hearts and events of Israel in order to accomplish His purpose and plan is nothing short of absolutely divine and must cause us to bow in worship.

    Having His purpose to determine that He would bring a people into an assembly completely apart from national identity, biology, and even apart from an external script of worship (i.e. a Temple and sacrifices), shows a quality of perfection that, apparently, could never have been possible in the worship economy of Israel.

    Why? Why was it impossible to perfect a people before us? Because, we are the church. The church is a body gathered together from tribes, languages, nations, from around the globe and based solely on a single thread of commonality-we believe the Messiah has come in the flesh (1 John 4:2). This faith in Jesus of Nazareth is the only common thread of our existence that we have. Without it, there is no church. Without it, there is no salvation. And, without it, there is no “ends of the ages.”

    Jesus Had To Come; Jesus Had To Die

    When Paul wrote, “…upon whom the ends of the ages have arrived,” he was referencing the above fact, that the ages of time in human history have come to their climax. In other words, the whole point of God’s plan is now complete. The Messiah is the Son of God, and He arrived in the flesh of men (John 1:14), and He accomplished all the Father had given Him to accomplish while in the flesh (John 17:4). Now, the Father is able to fulfill His unfathomable plan in Christ. Nothing else is needed in order to do that.

    Why did Jesus have to come in the flesh, though? Was there a specific reason in order to motivate such a plan? Was there some kind of purpose beyond time, and “eternal purpose”? Absolutely, there was! The coming of Messiah, the Son of God, was the hinge pin of His plan, the event that would accomplish the predetermined purpose of the Father. Once again, the writer of Hebrews teaches us what that purpose was.

    ”5 Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says,”

    “Sacrifice and offering You have not desired,

    But a body You have prepared for Me;

    6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have taken no pleasure.

    7 “Then I Said, ‘Behold, I have come,

    In the scroll of the book it is written of Me,

    To do Your will, O God.’”  (Hebrews 10:5–7, LSB)

    The entire sacrificial and offering ritual system, the dominant component of their Law (v.8), was given to Israel in order to cover their sins. However, it was clear that the system was not able to perfect the worshippers because 1) they kept sinning, 2) the atonement was temporary. And, remember, it is perfection that God is after for both Israel and those to come beyond Israel. The rituals of the Law, which were dependent upon the behavior of already-fallen man, simply did not accomplish perfection. It couldn’t. And yet, it was a system of worship that God Himself gave to Israel to perform, under penalty of death (Hebrews 2:2).

    However, there needed to be something beyond the earthy and the temporary to accomplish the needed completion of the eternal atonement. After all, God did promise to the Son an inheritance. The Spirit told David about that conversation in eternity in Psalm 2:8

    “‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance,

    And the ends of the earth as Your possession.”  (Psalm 2:8, LSB)

    The record states that the Son was commanded to ask the Father for an inheritance to possess forever. The inheritance consisted of nations (“people”), and the entire earth. These things were the components of creation, destroyed by the fall of Adam. The people of the earth were subject to death (Hebrews 2:14-15; cf. Romans 5:12ff), and the earth was subject to a curse of “futility” (Romans 8:20). Both components of the Son’s inheritance were effectively destroyed.

    How could they be recovered? What needed to happen in order to restore the plan for the Son? In a word, an atonement was needed. The recovery is called “redemption,” but the need was an atonement. Something had to cancel the death judgment in order to bring back the life that was lost. And THAT is why Christ died. His death satisfied the Father’s will. His obedience was not the obedience of the Mosaic Law, but the obedience of death of crucifixion.

    It was His death on a Roman cross, condemned by the Jews apart from the Romans, that introduced the death of the Messiah into history. That action pleased the Father because through death Jesus Christ was able to absorb the death God pronounced upon Adam, and his progeny, such that death would be destroyed and life would then constitute the nature of the elect.

    In so doing, Jesus Christ is now able to receive the kingdom promised to Him, and to us, from the foundation of the world (Matthew 25:34). In order for the Son to have many brethren, they would need to rule with Him since they would need to be like Him. This redemption gives to us the new nature, a new heart necessary to enter into that kingdom forever. Those whose heart has not been re-created by the Holy Spirit, based upon the death of Jesus Christ, will not, cannot, inherit the Kingdom of God. As Paul wrote, “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God”(1 Corinthians 15:50). The corruption of the body is permanent. It cannot be improved upon. I can only be created all over again. Only God can do that, and He does in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:4-5).

    Jesus Had To Be Raised

    The death of Christ, really the entire suffering of Christ from the Garden of Gethsemane to the wooden stake between two thieves, completed the atonement that the Father witnessed and thereby “justified the many” (Isaiah 53:10-11).

    The evidence that the atonement was satisfactory, propitiatory, is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. That resurrection establishes, once and for all time, the absolute completion of the Father’s plan to redeem the kingdom of the Son. His resurrection from the dead ended the “work” of Christ such that Jesus could say that He has accomplished the work the Father gave Him to do (John 17:4). It was by this work, the manifesting of the name of the Father upon the earth, and having drawn the men and women who were given to Him by the Father to Himself.

    Once all of that which could be done in the flesh and only accomplished during the earthly ministry of the incarnate Son of God was essentially accomplished, then the Son could be raised from the dead and given life again, bodily, and return to heaven seated next to the Father. Death could not keep the eternal purpose of the Father from happening.

    The resurrection of Jesus Christ is what the Old Testament calls being “begotten.” The term refers to being brought into life, usually by childbirth. However, in the case of the Messiah, it is a reference to His being brought into life by bodily resurrection from the dead. Again, Psalm 2 gives us the meaning:

    “I will surely tell of the decree of Yahweh:

    He said to Me, ‘You are My Son,

    Today I have begotten You.  (Psalm 2:7, LSB)

    “Today I have begotten You” is a component of the Father’s plan to raise Jesus Christ from the dead in bodily form on a particular day (see Acts 13:33; Hebrews 1:5; 5:5). The third day, the very morning of that day, Jesus Christ was restored to His body, a newly created body that was not free of scars, but was free of death.

    Thereby, being raised from the dead, He was then able to be received back into heaven once again. The magnanimous and rich and unfathomable work of the Father was completed! The Son is declared to be such with power (Romans 1:2-4), and will return again in power in order to receive His inheritance, and inheritance of love (John 3:35).

    Conclusion

    Now, post-resurrection, we are in the ends of the ages. The dispensations of time leading up to the cross of Christ, then emanating from that cross to our day, and on into the coming again of the Sun to physically take over His kingdom, a kingdom filled with lawlessness and lawless ones. The church of Jesus Christ awaits her Rapture. She anticipates that rescue out of the world in order to be saved from the wrath to come (Romans 5:9). But, for now, we live in the special time of post-Messiah, post-resurrection, which identifies this age as the end.

  • The Son of God

    The Serpent

    John 8:18 (LSB)

    18“I am He who bears witness about Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness about Me.”

    The Lord Jesus Christ needs the testimony of no man. His testimony, as demonstrated by His Words, His miracles, and His compassion, are all the testimonies of the Holy Spirit in Him.1 His qualification as the Son of God is that He, in fact, is the Son of God. His exclusive claim to being the Messiah2 coupled with the above-mentioned proofs demonstrate that His nature and Person is the eternal Son, the Messiah prophesied of in the Old Testament.

    And, yet, few ever believed Him. He spent about three and a half years in the region of the land of Israel, walking up and down the land in order to proclaim the arrival of the Kingdom of God.3 The Kingdom had been invaded by sin and death 4 due to the deception of the Serpent in the Garden of Eden. That serpent, also known as Satan, planted weeds into the field of the world, a world which was created for the Son and His brethren.5 Having done that, leading the man into sin, death ensued, as Yahweh had promised, and death spread, being passed on to all men making them sinners.6 The effect of this condition, a new condition of the soul of the man and woman, is that all men are born dead to God 7, alienated from God, and enemies of God. The net result is that man and God are at war with each other. God is avenging His righteousness upon the world. This is known as “wrath”8. And, man, for his part, is assuming the posture of trying to kill God, or at least cut off His presence in the world 9.

    The World

    The result of this horrible situation is that, unless there might be a reconciliation, all men, even the elect, would be punished in the eternal Lake of Fire. That is the extent of God’s holiness and glory. And, if that should happen, God would not have accomplished His eternal purpose in Christ. But, this hypothetical is never a good way to express what God is doing since God cannot fail to accomplish His purpose.

    The world, then, is the location of all that God is doing for the Son. The heavens initiate the purpose of God. But, the earth is the panorama of God’s perfect purpose. It is the glorious stage of God’s redemption, the wonderful and powerful expression of God’s love and honor for the Son, and the Son for the Father.

    But, the world is also a stage for the work of the Devil, too. He is at work. His work is far from redemption. Jesus said, “He (The devil) was a murderer from the beginning…”10 The reference Jesus had in mind is clear from the phrase “the beginning.” It is a reference to the Garden of Eden and the work of the devil in that Garden. His intent, and his effect, was to murder the Son and Daughter of God, Adam and Eve. He did that, and by the hand of God, no less. What I mean to say is that Yahweh had warned Adam that if he should eat of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, then God would take his life.

    “Genesis 2:16–17 (LSB)

    16 And Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may surely eat;

    17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat from it; for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”

    In that moment, that fateful event, the devil wanted Adam dead. Diabolically, he used God’s own glorious nature, holy, singular, and righteous, to accomplish Adam’s death. This death, says the Apostle Paul, spread to all men through Adam’s sin, and so all men die. 11 This death is the returning of the man back to dust, the dust from which he came. This would be the future of all the sons and daughters of God, if it were not for the redemption of Jesus Christ.

    Redemption

    The eternal plan of God, according to the record we have available to us in Psalm 2:6-8, runs as follows:

    Psalm 2:6–8 (LSB)

    6“But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.”

    7“I will surely tell of the decree of Yahweh: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.

    8‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth as Your possession.

    There are auxiliary data to enhance, and support, the core of God’s eternal purpose, which our passage above records for us. But, this is the heart of it all. It is on the back of this transcription of that eternal conversation from the Father to the Son that all of God’s plan rests. It tells us everything and it is the spinal cord of the neural network of all of God’s revelation in Scripture. Without a proper understanding of this passage, we are left in the dark as to our understanding.

    Redemption is the act of returning something back to its original owner upon payment of a ransom.12 It is in essence the bondage of a person or a thing that is removed when a price is relinquished on that person’s behalf for their release. Although there are many examples of God redeeming nations and people in the Bible, a couple to represent the spectrum will suffice. He “redeemed” Israel from forced labor in Egypt in 1446 B.C.13 And, He also “redeemed” the church after the death of Christ.14 These events represent the power of God, to justly, and authoritatively rescue what rightly belongs to Himself from the death that Satan established upon them.15

    The result of this rescue, then, is the salvation of the elect from death penalty, which we rightly deserve,16 back to the life that we are promised from the promise of Psalm 2:8a. The Son was promised to receive the nations, or “peoples,” and the earth. Those two categories are the summary parts of His “inheritance.” The Son, the Anointed,17 will be King from Mt. Zion, the same location as His death. He will rule and reign over the earth forever. When that earth comes, a new one,18 the curse will be removed, Satan will be judged in the Lake of Fire, and the lawless ministers of the devil will also be condemned forever.19

    The accomplishment of all God’s eternal plan will be perfectly executed and experienced by Him, and ourselves, forever! What an unspeakable future we have!

    1. See Isaiah 61:1-2; cp. Luke 4:18ff ↩
    2. John 18:37 ↩
    3. Matthew 4:17, 23 et al ↩
    4. Genesis 3:1-5 ↩
    5. Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43. ↩
    6. Romans 5:12-19 ↩
    7. Ephesians 4:18 ↩
    8. Romans 1:18ff ↩
    9. Psalm 2:1-3 ↩
    10. John 8:44 ↩
    11. Romans 5:12-18 ↩
    12. λυτρόω, -ῶ (<λύτρον, q.v.), in LXX chiefly for פּדה, גּאל; to release on receipt of ransom; mid., to release by paying ransom, to redeem:
      G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1922), 273. ↩
    13. Exodus 6:6 ↩
    14. Titus 2:14 ↩
    15. Hebrews 2:9-14 ↩
    16. Ephesians 2:1-3 ↩
    17. Psalm 2:2 ↩
    18. Revelation 21:1 ↩
    19. Revelation 20:15 ↩