God's Plan 'for This World

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Esther Simpson
5 years ago
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God's Plan 'for This World A FAMOUS KING whose name and kingdom are both mentioned in Holy Scripture (see the second chapter of Daniel) tried to look around the corner of tomorrow.

1 God's Plan 'for This World A FAMOUS KING whose name and kingdom are both mentioned in Holy Scripture (see the second chapter of Daniel) tried to look around the corner of tomorrow. He wanted to read history in advance. Of this, divine inspiration says: "As for thee, 0 king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what shall come to pass hereafter."-daniel 2:29. We are all at times like that king. We would like to know what is coming one year, two, ten, one hundred, a thousand years in the future. What will happen to my business when I am gone? Will it be dissipated? Will my heirs carry out the provisions of my will? Will my family suffer hardship and privation? What about the future form of society? Will it be some sort of Utopia like Campanella's City of the Sun? What about the church? Will there be one church? 'Will there be a new religion? What about the state? Will all na E-1

tions unite in one superkingdom, supernation? What will happen to our country, to the world itself? Will the good and the bad still be here a thousand years from today? Will anyone be here?

2 tions unite in one superkingdom, supernation? What will happen to our country, to the world itself? Will the good and the bad still be here a thousand years from today? Will anyone be here? Will mankind continue to live upon the earth or will the race become extinct? Will the earth explode itself in some cosmic cataclysm? Will it roll through silence forever, uninhabited, a burned-out cinder, cold and lifeless like the moon? What was God's plan in creating the world? What is His plan for its future? There are few of us who do not enjoy living upon this earth with its towering mountains, beautiful landscapes, spreading plains, productive fields, blue oceans, and colorful skies: Even now, the beauties of this earth outnumber its deformities, and human love makes up for many evils. Why did God make the world? That's a plain question, and we seek a plain ans~er. Here it is in the divine revelation of Holy Scripture: "For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he 4

created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else." So reads Isaiah 45:18. Here in plain, simple words we find God's purpose in creating the world.

3 created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else." So reads Isaiah 45:18. Here in plain, simple words we find God's purpose in creating the world. "He formed it to be inhabited"-inhabited by a race of noble, sinless beings, that through them He might represent His own character to the universe. How long were they to inhabit it? For a few generations, a few centuries, a few thousand years until the race might become extinct? o. We read, "He created it not in vain." In the first chapter of the Bible we read that when God had finished His creation He beheld everything, "and, behold, it was very good." Verse 31. He started things right, but they are not right now. There is something wrong with the universe and with the race. It is also clear from Holy Scripture that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself took part in this original creation, for, as we read in Colossians 1:16: "By him were au things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth." 5

When He came and dwelt as a man among men He declared His mission in no uncertain terms. We read His words dn Luke 19:10: "The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

4 When He came and dwelt as a man among men He declared His mission in no uncertain terms. We read His words dn Luke 19:10: "The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." Notice, not merely those who were lost, but that which was lost-a very comprehensive clause, indeed. Christ's mission here was one of redemption and salvation, of restoration and deliverance. The Scripture describes a fall of the human race, a fall from perfection into imperfection, from sinlessness into sin, from life into death. The creation and the fall are described in the first three chapters of the book of Genesis. What was lost as a result of man's transgression? It is only natural that this question should come to us. When man sinned, when he transgressed God's law ("for sin is the transgression of the law," we read in 1 John 3:4), what did he forfeit? At least two things. First, his life, "for the wages of sin is death." Romans 6:23. He lost not only his life, but dominion over the earth. Someone asks, "Was world dominion given 6

5 to man in the beginning?" The answer is certainly in the affirmative, for in Genesis 1:26 it is written of the creation of man: "And God said, Let us' make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,. and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth. on the earth." If our father Adam had never sinned, he would still be living and he would be king over all the earth. But through sin and death he lost dominion over the paradise of Eden. He lost dominion over the world and passed into the prison house of sin and death, the prison of him who has the power of death, that is the devil. (Hebrews 2:14.) In this way a usurper seized the dominion, for- "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?" -Romans 6:16. So the dark shadow came down over the world. But when the cry of man's pain and death reached heaven the Lord Jesus, in 7

pity and love, volunteered to redeem man from his sin and to restore the dominion of the world to its rightful owners. After all, why was sin permitted?

6 pity and love, volunteered to redeem man from his sin and to restore the dominion of the world to its rightful owners. After all, why was sin permitted? Why did a loving God permit transgression and its penalty of death to come to this beautiful world? If we could account for sin fully we would have an excuse for it, but God has revealed only certain things to us. We must remember, however, that sin and death are only temporary. Primary things are eternal; secondary things are of time, and so only temporal. God's creation was primary- "For he spoke, and ~t was... he commanded, and it stood fast."-psalm 33:9. Being original and primary, the heavens and. the earth will endure forever. Sin is secondary, a result that came through man's disobedience and unbelief. It will not exist eternally. The law of God is the unchangeable and eternal rule of His love, expressing the foundation principles of His universe, of His entire creation. When man sinned he violated that principle of love. Someone asks, "Could not God have made man. so he could not have sinned?" No, He could 8

7 not, unless He had made him an unintelligent animal automaton, incapable of morals, with no power of choic~. But God created man capable of character, capable of love, with a mind capable of responsible action. Someday sin and all its evil results will be. obliterated from this universe, and God will be "all in all." 1 Corinthians 15:28. Unrighteousness and sin as such do not exist in inanimate nature. They belong to minds endowed with reason and responsibility. As a partial answer to the great riddle of human sin, the Scripture reveals that it originated in the mind of Lucifer, later called Satan, the devil, the tempter, and the father of lies. To certain rejectors of divine truth in His day, our Lord said: "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of YOU1' father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."-john 8:44. "He was a murderer from the beginning," and the only beginning we can comprehend is the beginning of the creation of this 9

8 world. It seems clear, therefore, that this mighty angel introduced death to the world in the very morning of time. "He was the one who told the first lie to our first parents -"Ye shall not surely die." Genesis 3:4. He denied the plain statements of the Creator and chose not to abide in the truth. This shows that his fall was of his own volition. He was a willful one. Our Lord said of him: "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven."-luke 10:18. In the fourteenth chapter of Isaiah, he is further described under the symbol of the king of Babylon, Lucifer, son of the morning, and is represented as saying: "I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God:... "I will be like the most High."-Verses 13,14. His uninhibited pride, his blasphemous egotism, are here revealed. In the twentyeighth chapter of Ezekiel he is symbolized by the king of Tyre. It is said that he was in Eden, the garden of God; that he was created, that he was a covering cherub, or guardian angel; that he was perfect in all 10

his ways from the day he was created until iniquity was found in him. His heart was lifted up because of his beauty. It is also declared that he will be' destroyed.

9 his ways from the day he was created until iniquity was found in him. His heart was lifted up because of his beauty. It is also declared that he will be' destroyed. In this bright and shining one is represented the love of power. In contrast we see our Saviour, the Son of man, who in His humility and suffering revealed the power of love. When He who had existed from eternity came to this world, He took not the nature of angels (Hebrews 2:16) but was robed in human form and tabernacled among us and lived a holy life. The Scripture says He was "holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners." Hebrews 7:26. In Him was brought to light God's plan of salvation because He was the Man of salvation. He came to restore to our human race the right to life and immortality through the gospel. (2 Timothy 1:10.) As God had given the dominion of this world into our father Adam's hand, now it is to be restored through our Lord Jesus Christ, the last Adam. Every kingdom must have a king, subjects, territory, law, a throne. Adam was the king and his subjects 11

were to be his descendants, said to our first parents: for God had "Be fruitful, and multiply, and repleni-sh [or fill completely] the earth."-genesis 1:- 28.

10 were to be his descendants, said to our first parents: for God had "Be fruitful, and multiply, and repleni-sh [or fill completely] the earth."-genesis 1:- 28. Had sin not entered this world, the Garden of Eden would have been the seat of government over the whole earth and God's holy law of love would have been its law. But when man transgressed all was changed, and the territory, the very earth itself, was cursed. The king was driven from his home and, after a life of more than nine hundred years of sorrow, was laid in the grave. The law of the kingdom was disregarded, and, because of the curse of sin on man and nature, the power of death would prevail, the grave at last would mark the resting place of every single human being ever born, and that would be the end of God's plan that this earth should be inhabited. But that could not happen because God is God. Just read it for yourself in the second chapter of Hebrews, verses 6 to 9. Man was made a little lower than the angels and was given dominion over the 12

11 works of God. He does not now have that dominion, but he will someday. How? Through Jesus, "who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man"-for you and for me. He took our place before God's broken law. "F01' as by one man's disobedience [that's Adam's] many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one [Jesus Christ] shall many be made righteous." -Romans 5: 19. So at last everything that was lost through the earthly Adam will be restored through the heavenly. That was God's original plan for this world; it shall be inhabited. It will be inhabited by a race which He not only has created, but which He has recreated, redeemed. Sometimes we are told that what the world needs today is adjusted personalities, but that is not true. 'What we need, as Halford Lucock says, is terribly unadjusted personalities, personalities unadjusted to sin. The cross of Christ reveals it-that symbol of an unadjusted personality in an evil world. 13

A native in Bechuanaland, Africa, hearing the story of the cross, was deeply moved and shouted: "Jesus, 'Jesus, away from there. That's my. place." Yes, that is our place, and that's why He took it.

12 A native in Bechuanaland, Africa, hearing the story of the cross, was deeply moved and shouted: "Jesus, 'Jesus, away from there. That's my. place." Yes, that is our place, and that's why He took it. He came to seek and to save the lost. He saved lost men by dying for them, and He brings back the dominion that was given to them in the beginning. He is to be our King forever. Will you not accept Him as such today, your Redeemer and Lord? Have faith in God- Whose symbol is the dove; Have faith in God- Below! About! Above! Have faith in God- Who plans for us in love. Have faith, dear friend, in God. 14

Welcome to. Rehoboth New Life Center Sunday May 7 th 2017

Welcome to. Rehoboth New Life Center Sunday May 7 th 2017 Welcome to Rehoboth New Life Center Sunday May 7 th 2017 The Kingdom come Overview & Kingdom lost The Three Kingdoms The Kingdom now Thy Kingdom Come Thy Kingdom Come Part 1:That which was lost Luke 19:10