God’s Long Rope of Redemption

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 when Adam walked with God in the cool of the day in His image (Imago Dei), he was immortal in a form that perplexes any who contemplates it. When Moses was cautioned to hide himself in the cleft of the rock before Jehovah passed by (Exodus 33:18-23), it was for his protection from the radiant fire Ezekiel gives us a quick snapshot of  in Ezekiel 8:1,2.  When Adam fell into transgression, mortality and death set in, taking 930 years to finally end his life. Before it ended God made a way for Adam and Eve’s redemption through the shedding of innocent animal blood which was typical of His coming Son. God Himself offered the first sacrifice (Gen  3:21). Jesus would fulfill every one of the animal sacrifices offered on the altar’s (Heb: Mizpeach’s – slaughtering platters) of Able, Seth, Enosh, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,  and Noah (who kept seven types of clean bird sacrifices on the Ark and made offering the first thing on dry ground [Genesis 8:18-22]), and finally Moses who went public with these sacrifices that atoned for Adam and Eve’s sin.

These Old Testament sacrifices constituted the first length of rope God threw His dying creation, to pull us back to His radiant tabernaceside.  I’ve always pictured His redemptive plan as a life line thrown from a ship into a swallowing, deathly ocean. One man, Enoch, was apparently so pleasing during the pre-Mosaic epoch, that he was taken to be with God without experiencing death (Genesis 5:24 ). The same was true of God’s prophet Elijah who was taken to heaven in a fiery chariot without experiencing death (2 Kings 2:11). As time progressed, the sacrifices of salvation Jehovah specifically gave Moses were forsaken by Israel in favor of the lifestyle of sin. By the time the Book of Judges swung into full gear, the brief glorious kingdom of Israel built during David’s day had succumbed to the ravages of unbelief and the gentile’s lustful ways.

The downward spiral of Israel’s kingdom produced good and bad kings. Hezekiah was one of the best (2 kings 18:13). Jeroboam, one of the worst (1 Kings 12:25). The ten northern tribes established under Jeroboam were eventually scattered into the wind under the Assyrian King, Sennacherib (2 Kings 17:6). Sennacherib’s army was destroyed because of Hezekiah’s prayers (2 Kings 18,19). Judah remained as God’s remnant and were taken captive in Babylon with Jehovah’s famous prophet Daniel exerting tremendous influence on behalf of God. Isaiah, who worked in concert with Hezikah, prophesied this (2 Kings 19:30,31). God has always had a remnant, a small core of faithful worshippers to sustain His will and Word.

The next tug of God’s life-saving rope brought His miraculously birthed Son Jesus to recreate us on the inside as new Creatures in Christ (John 3:4-21). Mary and Joseph were part of God’s remnant  from the royal lineage of Moses, and David respectively. Expecting a Davidic like conqueror who would destroy Israel’s enemies to set up the kingdom God’s Old Testament prophets foretold, much of Israel missed the coming of Christ. Only those with eyes and ears to see, such as the Pharisee Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea recognized the invisible Kingdom Jesus came to establish.

Millions of others over the ages have received the “Kingdom within” Jesus  died  and was resurrected to fulfill. Today, as yesterday, the Holy Spirit is convicting unrepentant sinners to receive God’s grace of salvation through the New Testament’s new birth.  In this age our physical bodies are still destined to die; but our born-again spirits live forever in the promise of heaven, to abide forever at God’s side (2 Corinthians 5). This is phase II, if you will, of God’s plan of salvation. We have been pulled through the Old covenant of animal sacrifice into the New Covenant of Christ’s sacrifice, where born again men and women are full of His Holy Spirit, and fellowship with Jesus through prayer and His Word (1 Corinthians 12:1824).

Phases III, and IV, two more tugs of God’s rope await our salvation in God’s eschatology. The next, an immortal change into what Jesus became when raised from the dead.

04 The Open Door to Heaven1 Corinthians 15:50-57
50   Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
51    Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed,
52   in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
53   For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54   But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory.
55   “O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O  DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?”
56   The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law;
57   but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul said once we’re changed in Phase III, the Millennial Reign will lead to a pristine era in which there will no longer be any death.

1 Corinthians 15:20-26
21   For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead.
22   For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive.
23   But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming,
24   then comes the end, when He delivers up the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.
25   For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.
26   The last enemy that will be abolished is death.

Then, finally,  God’s plan of mortal redemption will completely recreate resurrected mankind, bringing us back fully to what Adam originally was, to walk with God, as he did, face to face.

Revelation 21:1-5
1    Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had
passed away, and there was no longer any sea.
2    I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her33 New Jerusalem husband.
3    And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.
4    ’He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’[b] or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
5    He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

Revelation 22:1-5
1    Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
2    Down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
3    No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.
4    They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.
5    There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.

These two final tugs of God’s life-saver of redemption are seminal messages of eschatology. They are the good news of eschatology: What Adam originally was, man will become again. You should be loooking forward to it.

Mark Norris
Eschatology Today Publisher, Mark Norris, M.A.

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