Passover to Tabernacles - Part Twenty Five May 29, 2022 by: John Herbert | Series: Passover to Tabernacles Audio Study Notes PDF https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T014_20220529.mp3 Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Ge 1:26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion [rule]………… As we have been away from this series for a few weeks, I thought it might be helpful for us to start today by stirring us up with a reminder of some of the things we have learned, even though we are established in the present truth. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday May 29th 2022 Passover to Tabernacles Part 25 1). Ge 1:26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion [rule]………… As we have been away from this series for a few weeks, I thought it might be helpful for us to start today by stirring us up with a reminder of some of the things we have learned, even though we are established in the present truth. And to begin, we will remember that following the restoration of the ruined material creation, God created a new and completely unique creature whose purpose was to rule over the newly restored creation in the place of Satan and his angels. This creature, Adam, was created in the image and likeness of God, something that could never be said of any of the angels, fallen or unfallen or any other created being. a). And we would also do well to realize that the rulership over the earth, for which Adam and the Woman were created, was inextricably connected to the heavens. The heavenly realm which Satan and his angels presently occupy – Eph 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Remembering that – Ge 1:1 In beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The heavens are mentioned first in God’s creative process ‘in beginning’ for a specific reason – Da 4:26….the heavens do rule Although we see Adam and the Woman in the Garden and we find Satan, recorded in Job, going to and fro about the earth, rulership emanates from one place, the heavens. b). Then we see those coming from the lineage of Adam described in Ge 5:3 And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. Those who were subsequently born to Adam were in his image and his likeness, and no longer in the image and likeness of God. And if those born in Adam’s image and likeness, all of us, are ever to rule in the place of angels from the heavens, which God has said they will, then the time must come when those who will do so will once again be in the image and likeness of God. This was set in the beginning as a prerequisite for rulership and cannot change. c). Following the outcome of the encounter with Satan in the Garden, God continued to work with the lineage of Adam through Seth, Adam’s third son, bringing us to Noah and Noah’s third son Shem. The only one of Noah’s sons to enter the new beginning following the flood with a God – Ge 9:26………“Blessed be the LORD, The God of Shem……. And we will remember from previous studies, that it is only ‘in the tents of Shem’ that God and His blessings are to be found for Ham and Japheth and their descendants. d). Now, something had taken place in the Garden that would have a profound implication for every human born in the image and likeness of fallen Adam, which, in NT parlance, we would describe as being ‘born dead in trespasses and sins’ – Ge 3:21 Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them. Here then, in the foundation, is the way that God has seen fit to begin the process of restoring human beings to His own image and likeness, by providing spiritual life to those who had been spiritually separated, because of sin, from God’s purpose for their creation. e). And to remind us of that which we already know, God Himself provided the animals from which the skins were taken to make tunics. And by a Sovereign act of His own will, death and shed blood were vicariously provided to pay the penalty for the sin committed. That which was done by God on Adam’s and Eve’s behalf, had only to be believed and accepted by them. f). Because this is set in the foundation it can never change. The only way any human could or can pass from death to life is by believing and accepting the substitutionary death and shed blood that God had and has sovereignly provided – Eph 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. Depending on where we would find ourselves in the Scriptures will determine what death and shed blood, we are looking at that God had Sovereignly provided to give life within the endless ages to those born dead in trespasses and sins. g). Now, all of that to say this, from Genesis 3:21 onwards, everyone born in the lineage of Adam has had to make a choice to accept God’s provision for dealing with the condition into which they were born, dead in trespasses and sins, or not. h). Clearly Noah had made this choice because this is recorded of him in – Heb 11:7 By faith Noah……….. To act by faith is only possible for those who have already passed from death to life. And yet Scripture is silent with regards to Noah’s experience in this respect. What we know of Noah focuses on the time following him having received the free gift. i). And through the lineage of Adam, through Shem, we are brought to Abraham, the man to whom the promises of God were given. And as with Noah – Heb 11:8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. For Abraham to have acted ‘by faith’, meant he had already passed from death to life before he left Ur of the Chaldees, and yet once again the Scripture is silent with respect to the event itself. We can know how it happened as it can only follow that established in the foundation, the death and shed blood of an animal that God had provided for this purpose. All that Scripture records with regards to Abraham focuses on events that come after he had passed from death to life. Events to do with promises and an inheritance and a Seed. Things that could only be his because he had passed from death to life first. j). And all of this brings us to a foundational Scriptural truth that if not understood will cause the Scriptures to be a closed Book and will bring spiritual shipwreck to Christians, even though they are in possession of spiritual life. Quite simply it is this. Adam and the Woman were created to rule in the Seventh Day, they were not created for the purpose of ruling in the endless ages. And rulership in the Seventh Day remains God’s primary focus not the endless ages which are to follow. k). The Seventh Day, the Age to Come, the Millennial Kingdom all describe the same one-thousand-year period that is to follow the conclusion of this present age, the conclusion of Man’s Day. And this one-thousand-year Kingdom of rulership from the heavens in the place of angels, must be completed before the endless ages can begin. And the endless ages witness their beginning with the creation of a new heavens and new earth in which righteousness will dwell, the present earth having been totally destroyed prior to this – Isa 65:7 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. 2 Pe 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Again, Man was created to rule from the heavens over this earth, the earth that God restored in the opening Chapter of Genesis that subsequently came under a curse, the earth on which our feet rest, not the new earth. It is ridiculous to think that any Christian can go straight from this life into what we have come to call eternity. The Seventh Day stands firmly, resolutely, and gloriously in the way. It cannot be by-passed it must take preeminence for that is the status God has accorded it – Ge 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. 2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. And this Seventh Day, the Seventh Millennium, is the time to which the whole of Scripture inexorably moves, not the endless ages. And Abraham, along with many other OT saints, not only knew about this coming Day, but also organized his life with a view to occupying a place of rulership in it, as had been promised to him, so important was it – Ge 14:22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, 23 that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich’— Ge 22:17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” Jn 8:56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” Heb 11:9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; 10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. 11 By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore. 13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. 15 And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. And it is in Abraham’s descendants, through Isaac and Jacob and the twelve sons that we come to the Jewish people, the ones who were to possess the gate of their enemies. And just as we had seen that Adam was created for the purpose of rulership, so we see a creation in Jacob for the same purpose – Isa 43:1 But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. Ex 4:22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Israel is My son, My firstborn. Adam, we will remember, was a completely new and unique creation, that separated him, and his lineage, from all other of God’s created beings, angels, or animals. And here within this unique creation, a separate and equally unique creation was brought into being through Jacob. Although all came from the lineage of Adam, there was now a distinct group, through a Sovereign act of creation that made a division in the sons of Adam. From this point onwards the Jewish people could not be counted among the nations, being a new and unique ethnic group. There were now Jews and Gentiles and only one of these groups had been adopted as God’s firstborn son. l). We will also note from Isaiah 43:1 that the creation in Jacob would undergo a process of formation to bring Israel, the prince who will rule with God, out of Jacob – Ge 32:26 And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!” 27 So He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob.” 28 And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.” The formation process pictured through the type see in Genesis Chapter 32 is the tribulation, the time of Jacob’s trouble that will culminate in a repentant, restored, and healed nation, who will enter the Seventh Day as Israel. To fulfill their calling and the purpose for their creation. 2). And it was to the creation in Jacob, the Jews, that the Christ appeared following John the Baptist’s imprisonment with the singular and succinct message first begun by John – Jn 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens is at hand.” This is the same Kingdom for which Adam had been created, the same Kingdom promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the same Kingdom for which the creation in Jacob had been brought into being to occupy, the same Kingdom seen throughout the OT Scriptures. And when the fullness of the time had come the Christ came to offer this Kingdom to the only people on the earth at this time who could receive it, those specifically created for this purpose, those who had passed from death to life by believing and accepting God’s provision for sin; the death and shed blood of the Passover lambs, that had first been instituted in Exodus Chapter 12. a). Before Exodus Chapter 12, God would have dealt with individuals passing from death to life based on the death and shed blood of unspecified animals. From Exodus Chapter 12 onwards until the cross, it was the Passover lambs that God had provided and given to the Jewish people to kill only. He was to be found in the tents of the descendants of Shem – Jn 4:22………for salvation is of the Jews. Jon 2:9….Salvation is of the LORD. And all of these found their efficacy in - Re 13: 8………..the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. But as we know, the offer of the Kingdom of the heavens was rejected by national Israel resulting in the murder of their King and the unwitting slaying of their Passover Lamb. b). Following the Lord’s death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, He sent the promise of the Father to one hundred and twenty Jews gathered in the upper room of a house in Jerusalem – Acts 2:1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Those one hundred and twenty Jews who had been appointed from among all of those Jews who had received Jesus as their Messiah, were immersed in the Holy Spirit which transformed them into the one new man in Christ. The entity that is most commonly called, ‘the church’, to whom the Kingdom of the heavens would now be given, and by whom, for the next almost thirty years it would be re-offered to the same generation of Jews who had passed from death to life who had previously rejected it – Mt 21:43 “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you [national Israel] and given to a nation [the one new man in Christ] bearing the fruits of it. 2 Co 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, he has become new. The word translated ‘nation’ in Matthew 21:43 is the Greek word, ‘ethnos’, from which we derive our English word ethnic. And in the verse from 2 Corinthians Chapter 5 we see that those who become part of the one new man in Christ are now a new creation. All Christians then, as they are saved by grace through faith are immersed in the Spirit making them part of the one new man in Christ, and at the same moment part of an entirely new and unique ethnic group that had not existed before Acts Chapter 2, bringing about three divisions within the human race, Gentiles, Jews, and Christians. c). And that which brought about our salvation, that brought about our passing from death to life for the endless ages was God’s provision for sin, the death and shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ which we both believed and accepted. From the tunics of skin in the Garden to the cross at Calvary, God’s free gift of life for the endless ages has never and could never change. Death and shed blood are seen throughout. d). And following the same pattern seen in the creation of Adam and the creation in Jacob, the new creations in Christ have been specifically brought into being to be the recipients of the Kingdom first seen in Genesis. e). And following the rejection of the re-offer of the Kingdom by the generation of Jews to whom it had previously been offered, and as that generation faded from the scene, so beyond 62AD, recorded at the end of the Book of Acts, the offer of the Kingdom of the heavens was no longer taken to the Jew first but to the Gentiles – Acts 28:28 “Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it!” In this respect, that which follows the Book of Acts, the epistles, written by Paul and others, continue the offer of the Kingdom of the heavens seen in the Gospels and in Acts, but now given to those coming from the Gentile nations who had passed from death to life by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. And as we know, Paul was the individual that God had chosen to be the one sent to the Gentiles with this offer – Ro 11:13 For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles……. And we had also seen that the Lord had separated Paul to Himself by firstly taking him to Arabia, where Mt. Sinai is located, and then into the third heaven where He taught Paul face to face for up to three years the message, the good news of the glory of Christ, that Paul was to take to the Gentiles. f). Although the Kingdom being offered remained the same Kingdom that had been offered to the Jews, it was not now an offer to be predicated by repentance as was the case for Israel both in the Gospel accounts and in Acts. As Paul went to Gentiles still dead in their trespasses and sins, so he had to begin with the simple gospel of grace and receiving and believing this good news unlocked the door for what would come next; the presentation of the reason why these individuals had passed from death to life, the presentation of the gospel of the glory of Christ, the offer of the Kingdom of the heavens – Acts 20:24 But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. 25 “And indeed, now I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, will see my face no more. 26 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. 27 For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. There were no centuries of unfaithfulness and disobedience to change their minds about for these Gentiles who had newly became part of the one new man in Christ as there had been for the Jews. And although, because of our prior ignorance of the Scriptures there have been many things we have had to change our minds about over the years, our repentance is not the same at all as that required from the Jews. g). And it was necessary for Paul to be taught the gospel of the glory of Christ and the ‘mystery’ contained within it, because within this good news, are things essential for Christians to understand if they are to attain that position as a coheir with Christ, to be part of His Bride, for the purpose of rulership in the coming Kingdom. h). From the end of the Book of Acts onwards the coming Kingdom of the heavens would be the sole possession of the one new man in Christ but access to that Kingdom is not automatic and a position of rulership within it remains conditional. And this truth along with the revealing of the types hidden in the prophetic Scriptures, the OT, that show this, form the purpose and the content of the NT epistles. And these things are not to be taken casually; they are matters of life of death for the age, and God in His infinite wisdom has laid them out for us to see from the beginning of the Book of Genesis onwards. And He spent some three years teaching Paul these things personally that we might receive the whole counsel of God. We will come back to this next time if we remain, and the Lord is willing, and we have prayed. Passover to Tabernacles - Part Twenty Five May 29, 2022 Speaker: John Herbert Series: Passover to Tabernacles Category: Sunday Morning https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T014_20220529.mp3 Download Audio x
Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Ge 1:26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion [rule]………… As we have been away from this series for a few weeks, I thought it might be helpful for us to start today by stirring us up with a reminder of some of the things we have learned, even though we are established in the present truth. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday May 29th 2022 Passover to Tabernacles Part 25 1). Ge 1:26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion [rule]………… As we have been away from this series for a few weeks, I thought it might be helpful for us to start today by stirring us up with a reminder of some of the things we have learned, even though we are established in the present truth. And to begin, we will remember that following the restoration of the ruined material creation, God created a new and completely unique creature whose purpose was to rule over the newly restored creation in the place of Satan and his angels. This creature, Adam, was created in the image and likeness of God, something that could never be said of any of the angels, fallen or unfallen or any other created being. a). And we would also do well to realize that the rulership over the earth, for which Adam and the Woman were created, was inextricably connected to the heavens. The heavenly realm which Satan and his angels presently occupy – Eph 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Remembering that – Ge 1:1 In beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The heavens are mentioned first in God’s creative process ‘in beginning’ for a specific reason – Da 4:26….the heavens do rule Although we see Adam and the Woman in the Garden and we find Satan, recorded in Job, going to and fro about the earth, rulership emanates from one place, the heavens. b). Then we see those coming from the lineage of Adam described in Ge 5:3 And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. Those who were subsequently born to Adam were in his image and his likeness, and no longer in the image and likeness of God. And if those born in Adam’s image and likeness, all of us, are ever to rule in the place of angels from the heavens, which God has said they will, then the time must come when those who will do so will once again be in the image and likeness of God. This was set in the beginning as a prerequisite for rulership and cannot change. c). Following the outcome of the encounter with Satan in the Garden, God continued to work with the lineage of Adam through Seth, Adam’s third son, bringing us to Noah and Noah’s third son Shem. The only one of Noah’s sons to enter the new beginning following the flood with a God – Ge 9:26………“Blessed be the LORD, The God of Shem……. And we will remember from previous studies, that it is only ‘in the tents of Shem’ that God and His blessings are to be found for Ham and Japheth and their descendants. d). Now, something had taken place in the Garden that would have a profound implication for every human born in the image and likeness of fallen Adam, which, in NT parlance, we would describe as being ‘born dead in trespasses and sins’ – Ge 3:21 Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them. Here then, in the foundation, is the way that God has seen fit to begin the process of restoring human beings to His own image and likeness, by providing spiritual life to those who had been spiritually separated, because of sin, from God’s purpose for their creation. e). And to remind us of that which we already know, God Himself provided the animals from which the skins were taken to make tunics. And by a Sovereign act of His own will, death and shed blood were vicariously provided to pay the penalty for the sin committed. That which was done by God on Adam’s and Eve’s behalf, had only to be believed and accepted by them. f). Because this is set in the foundation it can never change. The only way any human could or can pass from death to life is by believing and accepting the substitutionary death and shed blood that God had and has sovereignly provided – Eph 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. Depending on where we would find ourselves in the Scriptures will determine what death and shed blood, we are looking at that God had Sovereignly provided to give life within the endless ages to those born dead in trespasses and sins. g). Now, all of that to say this, from Genesis 3:21 onwards, everyone born in the lineage of Adam has had to make a choice to accept God’s provision for dealing with the condition into which they were born, dead in trespasses and sins, or not. h). Clearly Noah had made this choice because this is recorded of him in – Heb 11:7 By faith Noah……….. To act by faith is only possible for those who have already passed from death to life. And yet Scripture is silent with regards to Noah’s experience in this respect. What we know of Noah focuses on the time following him having received the free gift. i). And through the lineage of Adam, through Shem, we are brought to Abraham, the man to whom the promises of God were given. And as with Noah – Heb 11:8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. For Abraham to have acted ‘by faith’, meant he had already passed from death to life before he left Ur of the Chaldees, and yet once again the Scripture is silent with respect to the event itself. We can know how it happened as it can only follow that established in the foundation, the death and shed blood of an animal that God had provided for this purpose. All that Scripture records with regards to Abraham focuses on events that come after he had passed from death to life. Events to do with promises and an inheritance and a Seed. Things that could only be his because he had passed from death to life first. j). And all of this brings us to a foundational Scriptural truth that if not understood will cause the Scriptures to be a closed Book and will bring spiritual shipwreck to Christians, even though they are in possession of spiritual life. Quite simply it is this. Adam and the Woman were created to rule in the Seventh Day, they were not created for the purpose of ruling in the endless ages. And rulership in the Seventh Day remains God’s primary focus not the endless ages which are to follow. k). The Seventh Day, the Age to Come, the Millennial Kingdom all describe the same one-thousand-year period that is to follow the conclusion of this present age, the conclusion of Man’s Day. And this one-thousand-year Kingdom of rulership from the heavens in the place of angels, must be completed before the endless ages can begin. And the endless ages witness their beginning with the creation of a new heavens and new earth in which righteousness will dwell, the present earth having been totally destroyed prior to this – Isa 65:7 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. 2 Pe 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Again, Man was created to rule from the heavens over this earth, the earth that God restored in the opening Chapter of Genesis that subsequently came under a curse, the earth on which our feet rest, not the new earth. It is ridiculous to think that any Christian can go straight from this life into what we have come to call eternity. The Seventh Day stands firmly, resolutely, and gloriously in the way. It cannot be by-passed it must take preeminence for that is the status God has accorded it – Ge 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. 2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. And this Seventh Day, the Seventh Millennium, is the time to which the whole of Scripture inexorably moves, not the endless ages. And Abraham, along with many other OT saints, not only knew about this coming Day, but also organized his life with a view to occupying a place of rulership in it, as had been promised to him, so important was it – Ge 14:22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, 23 that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich’— Ge 22:17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” Jn 8:56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” Heb 11:9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; 10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. 11 By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore. 13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. 15 And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. And it is in Abraham’s descendants, through Isaac and Jacob and the twelve sons that we come to the Jewish people, the ones who were to possess the gate of their enemies. And just as we had seen that Adam was created for the purpose of rulership, so we see a creation in Jacob for the same purpose – Isa 43:1 But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. Ex 4:22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Israel is My son, My firstborn. Adam, we will remember, was a completely new and unique creation, that separated him, and his lineage, from all other of God’s created beings, angels, or animals. And here within this unique creation, a separate and equally unique creation was brought into being through Jacob. Although all came from the lineage of Adam, there was now a distinct group, through a Sovereign act of creation that made a division in the sons of Adam. From this point onwards the Jewish people could not be counted among the nations, being a new and unique ethnic group. There were now Jews and Gentiles and only one of these groups had been adopted as God’s firstborn son. l). We will also note from Isaiah 43:1 that the creation in Jacob would undergo a process of formation to bring Israel, the prince who will rule with God, out of Jacob – Ge 32:26 And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!” 27 So He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob.” 28 And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.” The formation process pictured through the type see in Genesis Chapter 32 is the tribulation, the time of Jacob’s trouble that will culminate in a repentant, restored, and healed nation, who will enter the Seventh Day as Israel. To fulfill their calling and the purpose for their creation. 2). And it was to the creation in Jacob, the Jews, that the Christ appeared following John the Baptist’s imprisonment with the singular and succinct message first begun by John – Jn 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens is at hand.” This is the same Kingdom for which Adam had been created, the same Kingdom promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the same Kingdom for which the creation in Jacob had been brought into being to occupy, the same Kingdom seen throughout the OT Scriptures. And when the fullness of the time had come the Christ came to offer this Kingdom to the only people on the earth at this time who could receive it, those specifically created for this purpose, those who had passed from death to life by believing and accepting God’s provision for sin; the death and shed blood of the Passover lambs, that had first been instituted in Exodus Chapter 12. a). Before Exodus Chapter 12, God would have dealt with individuals passing from death to life based on the death and shed blood of unspecified animals. From Exodus Chapter 12 onwards until the cross, it was the Passover lambs that God had provided and given to the Jewish people to kill only. He was to be found in the tents of the descendants of Shem – Jn 4:22………for salvation is of the Jews. Jon 2:9….Salvation is of the LORD. And all of these found their efficacy in - Re 13: 8………..the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. But as we know, the offer of the Kingdom of the heavens was rejected by national Israel resulting in the murder of their King and the unwitting slaying of their Passover Lamb. b). Following the Lord’s death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, He sent the promise of the Father to one hundred and twenty Jews gathered in the upper room of a house in Jerusalem – Acts 2:1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Those one hundred and twenty Jews who had been appointed from among all of those Jews who had received Jesus as their Messiah, were immersed in the Holy Spirit which transformed them into the one new man in Christ. The entity that is most commonly called, ‘the church’, to whom the Kingdom of the heavens would now be given, and by whom, for the next almost thirty years it would be re-offered to the same generation of Jews who had passed from death to life who had previously rejected it – Mt 21:43 “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you [national Israel] and given to a nation [the one new man in Christ] bearing the fruits of it. 2 Co 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, he has become new. The word translated ‘nation’ in Matthew 21:43 is the Greek word, ‘ethnos’, from which we derive our English word ethnic. And in the verse from 2 Corinthians Chapter 5 we see that those who become part of the one new man in Christ are now a new creation. All Christians then, as they are saved by grace through faith are immersed in the Spirit making them part of the one new man in Christ, and at the same moment part of an entirely new and unique ethnic group that had not existed before Acts Chapter 2, bringing about three divisions within the human race, Gentiles, Jews, and Christians. c). And that which brought about our salvation, that brought about our passing from death to life for the endless ages was God’s provision for sin, the death and shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ which we both believed and accepted. From the tunics of skin in the Garden to the cross at Calvary, God’s free gift of life for the endless ages has never and could never change. Death and shed blood are seen throughout. d). And following the same pattern seen in the creation of Adam and the creation in Jacob, the new creations in Christ have been specifically brought into being to be the recipients of the Kingdom first seen in Genesis. e). And following the rejection of the re-offer of the Kingdom by the generation of Jews to whom it had previously been offered, and as that generation faded from the scene, so beyond 62AD, recorded at the end of the Book of Acts, the offer of the Kingdom of the heavens was no longer taken to the Jew first but to the Gentiles – Acts 28:28 “Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it!” In this respect, that which follows the Book of Acts, the epistles, written by Paul and others, continue the offer of the Kingdom of the heavens seen in the Gospels and in Acts, but now given to those coming from the Gentile nations who had passed from death to life by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. And as we know, Paul was the individual that God had chosen to be the one sent to the Gentiles with this offer – Ro 11:13 For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles……. And we had also seen that the Lord had separated Paul to Himself by firstly taking him to Arabia, where Mt. Sinai is located, and then into the third heaven where He taught Paul face to face for up to three years the message, the good news of the glory of Christ, that Paul was to take to the Gentiles. f). Although the Kingdom being offered remained the same Kingdom that had been offered to the Jews, it was not now an offer to be predicated by repentance as was the case for Israel both in the Gospel accounts and in Acts. As Paul went to Gentiles still dead in their trespasses and sins, so he had to begin with the simple gospel of grace and receiving and believing this good news unlocked the door for what would come next; the presentation of the reason why these individuals had passed from death to life, the presentation of the gospel of the glory of Christ, the offer of the Kingdom of the heavens – Acts 20:24 But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. 25 “And indeed, now I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, will see my face no more. 26 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. 27 For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. There were no centuries of unfaithfulness and disobedience to change their minds about for these Gentiles who had newly became part of the one new man in Christ as there had been for the Jews. And although, because of our prior ignorance of the Scriptures there have been many things we have had to change our minds about over the years, our repentance is not the same at all as that required from the Jews. g). And it was necessary for Paul to be taught the gospel of the glory of Christ and the ‘mystery’ contained within it, because within this good news, are things essential for Christians to understand if they are to attain that position as a coheir with Christ, to be part of His Bride, for the purpose of rulership in the coming Kingdom. h). From the end of the Book of Acts onwards the coming Kingdom of the heavens would be the sole possession of the one new man in Christ but access to that Kingdom is not automatic and a position of rulership within it remains conditional. And this truth along with the revealing of the types hidden in the prophetic Scriptures, the OT, that show this, form the purpose and the content of the NT epistles. And these things are not to be taken casually; they are matters of life of death for the age, and God in His infinite wisdom has laid them out for us to see from the beginning of the Book of Genesis onwards. And He spent some three years teaching Paul these things personally that we might receive the whole counsel of God. We will come back to this next time if we remain, and the Lord is willing, and we have prayed.