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What Shall I Do - Part Twenty Two

Apr 23, 2023 by: John Herbert | Series: What Shall I Do...

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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.

We will continue to look at the Seventh Day today.

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Sunday April 23rd 2023
What Shall I Do……..
Part 22

1). 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.

We had seen in our study last week that the foundational verses upon which the whole of Scripture is then built, the first thirty-four verses in Genesis, do not deal with anything beyond the Seventh Day. And all have to do, in foundational form, with the present heavens and earth, mankind, seven-thousand years of time and rulership. Nothing seen in these verses takes us to the new heavens and new earth in which righteousness will dwell and the endless ages. And what has been irrevocably set in place in the beginning MUST remain the same until the end. This is a scriptural truth that is so important for us to grasp and keep ever before us, that we will spend a little more time on it today, to add some more detail to what we already have. We must be absolutely clear in our understanding of this as the Lord brings forth the wisdom from above.
	a). The Man and the Woman were created for a specific purpose and were given a specific mandate – Ge 1:26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

The specific purpose is of course rulership, ‘let them have dominion’, and the mandate that had to be fulfilled for rulership to then take place was ‘be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it.’ And both the purpose and the mandate were, and are, to be fulfilled within the seven days, the seven-thousand years of time that God has established to this end.
	b). Because of the deception of the Woman by the serpent, Adam entered into sin with her in the hope of redemption, redemption which would allow them, as a complete being, to fulfill God’s purpose for them for the seventh day. And the beginning point of their redemption is what we see in Genesis Chapter 3 – Ge 3:21 Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.

Adam’s hope of redemption could only have been within the parameter that God had given him, it could only be with a view to fulfilling the purpose for his, and the Woman’s existence, and could only relate to the Seventh Day.
	c). I am sure we can see how ridiculous it would be to have Adam and the Woman looking to the endless ages at this point, as God had made no mention to them of anything beyond the Seventh Day.
	d). Now as Adam is a type of Him who was to come, the Christ, and the Christ had come to find His prospective wife in sin, just as Adam had found his wife, so Christ became sin for those who would be His wife, providing the redemption necessary, that together, as a complete being, they could rule in the Seventh Day. That the Second Man, the Last Adam, sought redemption for the endless ages for those who would be His wife, rather than the Seventh Day would be just as ridiculous as the first Adam doing so. Remember, God has specified that the Man had to have a Wife to rule over the present earth and heavens in the Seventh Day. The present heavens and earth will not exist in the endless ages and nor will the position of Christ’s wife extend into those ages either.
	e). And with the beginning in Genesis in mind, let’s remember this concerning the Lord – Jn 1:1 In beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

And also, the companion verses to go with this – Col 1:16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.

It is Jesus the Christ in conjunction with the Father and the Holy Spirit, the Divine power, who created the heavens and the earth, in beginning, and together restored the material creation after its ruin through Satan’s rebellion. And as we have already established, this restoration was within six days of work and a seventh day of rest; with Adam and the Woman created on the sixth day, by the Christ in conjunction with the Father and the Holy Spirit, for the purpose of rulership. The point of going back over this is for us to see that Jesus, God in the person of Son, had Himself set in place the six days corresponding to six-thousand years and the Seventh Day corresponding to a seventh thousand-years in which the fullness of the purpose of the Godhead would be accomplished. Therefore, at the time of the Lord’s first Advent the accomplishment of the purpose of the Godhead within the framework of the seven-thousand years could be the ONLY thing that He had in view. And this will also be true of His second advent. Nothing in His first and there will be nothing in His second, that moves beyond the seven-thousand years – Heb 1:1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds [set the ages in an orderly arrangement]

And in these verses from Hebrews, we can find a verse that we looked at a few weeks ago – 1 Co 1:30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption—

The wisdom that God has spoken to us ‘by His Son’ cannot exceed the parameter set at the beginning. Jesus as the last Adam, fulfilling the type of the first Adam, became God’s wisdom for us concerning the Seventh Day, the present heavens and earth and rulership. Wholeheartedly embracing and believing the wisdom brought forth from above concerning this will lead to righteous acts, the process of separation and redemption of the soul.  And when we read that He was ‘appointed heir of all things’, we cannot take this beyond the present heavens and earth and the Seventh Day, as these are the subject of all of Scripture.
f). Because of what the Word who was with God and was God had set in foundation, any thought of abandoning this foundation, to focus on the endless ages, would make no sense. In fact, it could not happen without the Word contradicting Himself, which He cannot do 
Nu 23:19 “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. [change His mind] Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

And to this we can also add ‘the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world’. We will remember that it is the slain Lamb that provided the means of redemption for the ruined material creation, who provided the means by which the seven days, seven-thousand years were established. This being the case, how would it be possible for the slaying of the Lamb, when it was manifested in time at the Lord’s crucifixion, to suddenly change its focus from the Seventh Day to the endless ages? It’s not possible.

2). Hopefully, the Scriptures have revealed to us beyond any doubt, that from the beginning of God’s revelation to us, He has worked and is continuing to work with mankind in relation to rulership, with regards to the present heavens and earth within a timeframe of seven-thousand years and that there is no focus on the endless ages that will inevitably follow.
	a). This, as we have seen, was set out for us in the first thirty-four verses of Genesis to provide the framework in which the rest of the OT Scriptures are to be understood. To view the Scriptures within this framework is part of what it means for us to rightly divide the Word of Truth. If we go wrong here and move outside of the Seventh Day, then how we view the rest of Scripture will be wrong also. But if we get it right, then, well, praise the Lord.
	b). Matthew is the first Gospel recorded in what we call the NT, but it’s John’s Gospel that begins in exactly the same way, following exactly the same structure, that Moses began with in Genesis. So why is John not placed as the first Gospel? We have already answered the question. Fail to understand what God has set in place in the foundation and nothing can then be viewed correctly. And that is what has happened with those who have compiled our Bible. And this would have to be seen within the context of the demonically inspired leavening process. This will also account for the indiscriminate, incorrect use of the words, ‘eternal’ and ‘everlasting’, among others within the Scriptures themselves in both the OT and the NT.
	c). Consequently, John has been placed as the last Gospel, primarily because no one knows what to do with it because it is not like the other three. But if we should dare to put it in its rightful place!
	d). In Genesis, the first thirty-four verses provide the skeleton for what will follow in the rest of the OT Scriptures. In John, the first sixty-four verses accomplish the same purpose for what will follow in the rest of the NT. And the verses from Genesis and the verses from John present exactly the SAME structure, six days, six-thousand years of work followed by a seventh day, a seventh thousand years of rest. Neither deal with anything to do with the endless ages.
	e). In both we see creation – Ge 1:1 In beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Jn 1:1 In beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

In both we see ruin of the creation – Ge 1:2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Jn 1:4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

And in both there follows six days of restorative work. We won’t read all these verses, but they are found in Genesis 1:2b -25 and John 1:6-2:1. And the restorative work is followed by a seventh day of rest. Genesis 2:1-3, the verses we began with today and – Jn 2:1 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding……… 11 This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.

The verses from Genesis deal with the restoration of the ruined material creation and John deals with the ruined creation, Man, specifically with respect to the Jews. And both end in the same place, rulership in the Seventh Day.
	f). Placing John as the first of the Gospels lays the foundation for the rest of the NT Scripture just as it was established in Genesis. All will then be seen with respect to the restoration of mankind, rulership, and seven-thousand years of time to bring this to conclusion. In the same way as Genesis and the OT, so the foundation in John determines that all that follows, the synoptic gospels, Acts, the Epistles, bringing us to the Revelation, are focused entirely on the Seventh Day and not the endless ages.
	g). No doubt many will remember the so called, ‘Roman Road’ to ‘eternal salvation’. And in the light of what we now know, it will cause us some embarrassment that we once believed it. Romans, like all the Epistles focuses on the salvation of the soul and the Millennial Kingdom. Nothing else.

3). In beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, He created a host of angels, including the one we call Satan, to be the rulers of this province. Nothing is said of those who were created to rule in relation to time. However, following Satan’s rebellion, Adam and the Woman were created to rule in Satan’s stead. And for them a specific timeframe was set. The now familiar seven-thousand years. 
	a). And there are two other things that distinguish the creation of Man for rulership from the creation of angels. Redemption and the marriage relationship. No redemption is possible for fallen angels to restore them to rulership but there is for fallen Man – Heb 2:16 For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham.

No marriage relationship was necessary for angels to rule, but there is for Man – Eph 5:30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. 31 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

And as we have already established, Man’s rule relates specifically to the present heavens and the present earth from which Adam was made and is set within a timeframe of seven-thousand years. Again, this was the purpose for mankind’s creation.
	b). From mankind in general there was then another creation within the same parameters and 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.

And for the creation in Jacob, the Jews, there is the certainty of redemption, a marriage relationship and rulership in the present earth in the Seventh Day. This is specifically what John wrote about - Jn 2:1 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.

And it was turning the water to wine at this wedding that is the first of the eight signs recorded in John’s Gospel, a sign foreshadowing the redemption and restoration of Israel in anticipation of the Seventh Day.
	c). When the Kingdom of the heavens was rejected by the Jews, God brought about another new creation out of mankind in general, for the purpose of rulership from the heavens – 2 Co 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

The new creation in Christ must be seen in conjunction with the creation in Jacob and the creation of Adam, as all deal with exactly the same subject, seven-thousand years of time, marriage, rulership, and redemption. Any idea of the new creation pointing to a now exemplary spiritual life in the one redeemed is plain foolishness. But again, go wrong in Genesis and this is where you end up. And for the new creation in Christ, redemption, restoration, and rulership are seen – Re 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” 8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. 9 Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ ” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.”

And one final thing concerning redemption. In the first thirty-four verses of Genesis, we see the material creation redeemed and restored to provide the jurisdiction over which the Man and the Woman were to rule. With that in mind let’s now remember – 
Ge 3:17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake…….

Through the fall of Man in the Garden, not only was newly created mankind ruined but the earth over which rulership was to take place was ruined once again as well – Ro 8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; 21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children [sons] of God.

And it is the redemption/restoration of the ruined ‘earth’ that is the subject of Revelation Chapters 5-19, beginning in Chapter 5 with the One worthy to open the seals on the seven-sealed scroll – Re 5:6 And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.

The ruined material creation, the ruined earth, is about to be redeemed and restored – Acts 3:20 and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, 21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.

And in complete harmony with the redemption of the ruined creation in Genesis Chapter 1, in Revelation Chapter 5, it is the Lamb as though it had been slain, who will accomplish the redemption of the present earth from the curse placed upon it. A redeemed creation over which God’s three firstborn sons will rule in the Seventh Day.
	d). This is where the Scriptures and time as we know it inexorably move. This is the pinnacle of God’s purpose for His six days, six-thousand years of work – Re 11:15 Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”

To grasp the almost indescribable importance of the Seventh Day, and to see it as the focus of God’s complete revelation to us will not only protect us from trying to bring the endless ages into areas they cannot possibly go, but will also sharpen our resolve to submit ourselves to the Scriptures, to the child training of the Lord, so that we will not take our eyes off of the prize to look for our best life now – 
Heb 4:1 Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. 2 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. 3 For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: “So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest,’ ” although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.

‘For we who have believed do enter that rest’, a remarkable promise, but let’s ask the question, ‘have believed what?’ It can only be ‘the gospel’ found in v2, the gospel of the glory of Christ. And what is the sole focus of this gospel? Saved Man receiving ‘so great salvation’, to be restored to the image and likeness of God, that he would rule over the redeemed inheritance as fellow heirs of the same body, joint heirs with Christ in the Seventh Day. The conclusion of the time that God has allotted to the present heavens and earth and their rulership. That which will conclude God’s dealings with Man with respect to the same 
1 Co 15:20 But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. 23 But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming. 24 Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. 25 For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.

More next time if we remain and the Lord is willing, and we have prayed.

What Shall I Do - Part Twenty Two

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What Shall I Do - Part Twenty Two

Apr 23, 2023

Speaker: John Herbert

Series: What Shall I Do...

Category: Sunday Morning

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A Recap from the Sermon