Sermons - Cornerstone Christian Fellowship

The Beginning and the End - Part Three

Oct 27, 2024 by: John Herbert | Series: The Beginning and the End

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Ge 1:1 In beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 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. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.

We will continue to look at the first verses of Genesis today.

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Sunday October 27th 2024 
The Beginning and the End
Part Three

Ge 2:21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. 23 And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.” 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

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.

We had seen last time, that because of that which is established through the foundational type of Adam and the Woman, Christ MUST of necessity have a wife in order for both to rule together in the Seventh Day. And Christ’s wife, as we have seen from Ephesians Chapter 5, can only come from Christ’s body, faithful Christians who have their focus set on their heavenly calling, who allow themselves to be consistently brought forth from above as they patiently endure through trial and testing as they exercise faith to the saving of the soul.

However, to arrive at this point of conclusion, when Christ and His Wife will rule together in the Seventh Day in the antitype of that pictured through Adam and the Woman, we must go back to what has been established from the beginning once more, as there are two essential requirements that must be in place before this rulership can happen. Firstly, those who will rule with Christ must once again be in the image and likeness of God as Adam and the Woman were at their creation and there must also be the fulfillment of the mandate to be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it, with rulership then following given to Adam and the Woman. And the first part of this mandate ‘be fruitful’ is exactly what national Israel had not done and exactly what faithful Christians must do – Mt 21:43 “Therefore I say to you [national Israel], the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.

Mt 13:23 But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”

However, before we deal with what is necessary to be once again in the image and likeness of God and deal with the ultimate fulfillment of the mandate that has been given, we will need to go back to the Book of origins once again so that we can set some more things in place first.

And to begin upon setting these things in place we will now add vv2-3 to v1 from Genesis Chapter 1 - Ge 1:1 In beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 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. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.

In these verses, we find the Spirit of God, which we can also understand as the breath of God, [Spirit and breath being a translation of the same word] moving over the face of the waters covered in darkness. And as God spoke, so His breath, The Word, brought forth light from above, bringing a separation between that light and the darkness below. And the light and the darkness, the day and the night would then exist together. Evening and morning. And this will be witnessed every day, until……...

This reintroduction of the light bringing about evening and morning only accounts for God’s work on the first Day. God’s work to completely restore and populate that which had been ruined by the introduction of sin through Satan’s rebellion, the restoration of the material creation, was not completed on this Day. There were another four Days of subsequent work to restore the material creation and then to populate the earth and the seas before Adam was created and the Woman built on the Sixth Day, in anticipation of Adam and the Woman ruling together over the restored and populated earth from above in the Seventh Day – 2 Pe 3:8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day [one day in Genesis Chapter 1] is as a thousand years, and a thousand years [the Seventh Day in Genesis Chapter 2] as one day.

And as we see from that which the Holy Spirit inspired Peter to write, the six twenty-four-hour days in Genesis Chapter 1 correspond to six one-thousand-year days, with the seventh twenty-four-hour day from Genesis Chapter 2 corresponding to a Seventh one-thousand-year Day.

The six one-thousand-year days are known as Man’s Day, the Day in which God works with Man to bring those who would be faithful to the place where they can enter the Seventh Day, the Lord’s Day, to have dominion. The Lord’s Day when God’s work with these faithful individuals will have been completed. The Day in which the Bride for Christ will have become His Wife. The Day in which the Man and the Woman, Christ and His Wife, will rule the earth together with a rod of iron – Re 2:26 And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations—27 ‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron; They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter's vessels’—as I also have received from My Father………

And through the Scriptures we have studied thus far, it is clear that rulership of this one province in God’s universal Kingdom in the Seventh Day, the Lord’s Day, was established by and established for the Lord Jesus Christ, ‘all things were created through Him and for Him’. And in, and by, the Lord Jesus Christ rulership of this one province in God’s universal Kingdom will be fulfilled. In the Lord Jesus is the beginning of this rulership and in the Lord Jesus is the end of this rulership. The fulfillment of God’s purpose for the Seventh Day as has been declared from ‘in beginning’ – 1 Co 15:24 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.

And why the focus on this one province within God’s universal Kingdom? It must surely be because of where the Scriptures finally take us as we go beyond the Millennial Kingdom, to glimpse the endless ages that follow it – Re 21:1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

The new heavens and new earth will presumably occupy the same location within our galaxy as the present heavens and earth, and it will be from this location, from the New Jerusalem on the new earth, that God the Father and His Son will then rule the entire universe throughout the endless ages that we have come to call eternity from the throne they will share together – Re 22:1 And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.

And this has always been the Triune God’s intention from ‘in beginning’. And with them on the new earth, engaged after some fashion with the rulership of the universe will be the eternally redeemed offspring of Adam and the Woman, with the second Man, the last Adam in their midst. And this has also always been His intention from ‘in beginning’.

But before those endless ages with the new heavens and the new earth in which righteousness will dwell can begin, rulership during the Millennial Kingdom, the Seventh Day, must come first to accomplish that seen in 1 Corinthians 15:24-26.

And as we see from that which the Holy Spirit inspired Peter to write, the six days in Genesis Chapter 1 correspond to six one-thousand-year days that have a specific purpose with respect to Man, ‘that none should perish but that all should come to repentance’, with the following Seventh Day of Rest from Genesis Chapter 2 corresponding to a seventh one-thousand-year day - 2 Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

Now, as we return to the beginning of Genesis, we can see that through the six days of work followed by a Seventh Day of Rest an unalterable, irrevocable, Divinely perfect process for the restoration of a ruined creation for the purpose of rulership was established. And what is recorded in Genesis Chapter 1 is the restoration and population of the material creation, restored for Adam and the Woman who were to rule over it from the heavens in the Seventh Day.

And as we follow the record in Genesis Chapter 1, we can see that the restoration of the ruined material creation was completed in four days, with the fifth and sixth days then showing acts of creation to populate the newly restored earth for Adam and the Woman to rule over in the Seventh Day – Ge 1:20 Then God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.” 21 So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 So the evening and the morning were the fifth day. 24 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind”; and it was so. 25 And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 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.”

Just so we may be clear. There are four days in Genesis Chapter 1 in which the material creation was restored. Four days that are inseparable from the overall Seven Day structure. And then following the fourth day, there are two days of creation to populate the restored creation in readiness for Adam and the Woman to rule over it in the Seventh Day, just as we have read in v26 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.”

In this we can see that the Seven Days are divided into four days and three days.

And because the material creation was restored in four days an unchangeable numerical value of four is established in connection with the material creation, the earth. And this numerical value of four in connection with the earth can be seen in these examples – 
Da 8:8 Therefore the male goat grew very great; but when he became strong, the large horn was broken, and in place of it four notable ones came up toward the four winds of heaven. 9 And out of one of them came a little horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Glorious Land.  [the 4 points of the compass]

Re 7:1 After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree.

Re 20:7 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea.

When we are dealing with the restoration of fallen Man though, then as we have seen, six days are set in place for this. Four days for the material creation, six days for Man. Because of which, six is the number of Man. A number again that has been established in the first Chapter of Genesis. Remember the six-thousand years seen in Peter are known as Man’s Day.

If we go back to the restored material creation though, we will remember this from – 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…..

As a result of the events in the Garden the material creation once again became ruined, ‘cursed is the ground’, because of the introduction of sin through Satan’s deception of the Woman. And once again the material creation requires redemption to restore it to its original condition. This we are still waiting for. And this future event is what is being referenced in the redemption of the inheritance – 
Acts 3:20………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.

Ro 8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.

And we know that the redemption of the inheritance and the time of Jacob’s trouble, the Tribulation, deal with the same thing within the same timeframe. One, the redemption of the inheritance, from a Christian perspective, the other, the time of Jacob’s trouble, from a Jewish perspective.

And as the numerical value of four was established in the first Chapter of Genesis with regards to the original restoration of the material creation within the Seven-day structure, so we should expect to see the number four connected to the future restoration of the creation, in conjunction with the number Seven, paralleling the Seven days in Genesis. And this is exactly what we find in – Re 6:1 Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see.” 2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse [1]. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer. Second Seal: 3 When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come and see.” 4 Another horse, fiery red, [2] went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword. 5 When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a black horse, [3] and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.” 7 When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.” 8 So I looked, and behold, a pale horse.[4] And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.

The opening of the first four seals, revealing ‘four horsemen’ is set within the context of a scroll with seven seals. And within that recorded about the ‘four horsemen’, that contained within the opening of the first four seals on the scroll is a complete overview of the judgments that will be brought to pass on all those who dwell on the earth, the time of Jacob’s trouble, that will bring Israel to repentance and complete the redemption of the inheritance, following Christ’s return to the earth.

In this respect, the opening of seals five, six and seven, provide commentary on that presented through the opening of seals one through four.

And just as the number four is established through the restoration of the material creation in Genesis, so the number four is inextricably connected to the future restoration of the material creation. And just as there were four days in Genesis Chapter 1 followed by a further three days, so there are four seals in Revelation followed by a further three seals. And the events depicted through the opening of these seals take place during the fulfillment of the final seven years of Daniel’s seventy-week prophecy.

And then, within the seventh seal, we find the judgments of the seven trumpets and the seven bowls, forming a triad of sevens that show the completeness of God’s judgment upon those who dwell of the earth, both Jews and Gentiles, bringing Man’s Day to its end.

Again, the number seven is seen throughout the unfolding of these future events providing a numerical parallel with the seven days from Genesis Chapters 1-2. And both the events of Genesis Chapters 1-2 and the redemption of the inheritance in the Revelation end in the same place A Man and a Woman to rule together in the Seventh Day.

Now, we have seen that the number four is used as a numerical value in conjunction with the earth, the material creation, and we have seen some examples of this.

What we will now see is that the number four is also used in conjunction with the rulership of the earth during the times of the Gentiles [Lk 21:24]. The times of the Gentiles, we will remember, began with the Babylonian captivity of Israel, when the Theocracy that began at Sinai came to an end and the glory that had originally filled the Tabernacle in the wilderness departed from the Temple in Jerusalem. God then giving the scepter of rulership belonging to Israel to the Gentile nations. Those nations over whom Israel was to have ruled, would now rule in Israel’s place. And this is a situation that has continued for the last two-thousand-six-hundred years. A situation that will only be ended through the events depicted in the ‘four horsemen’.

And we will remember that the times of the Gentiles began during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. And it is during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar as the times of the Gentiles began, that God raised up the prophet Daniel. The same Daniel who was given the prophecy of the seventy-weeks. A prophecy that looks from a time of captivity to a restored Israel in the Millennial Kingdom - Da 9:23 At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision: 24 “Seventy weeks [seventy sevens] are determined For your people and for your holy city, To finish the transgression, To make an end of sins, To make reconciliation for iniquity, To bring in everlasting righteousness, To seal up vision and prophecy, And to anoint the Most Holy.

And as we have already seen, the fulfillment of this prophecy necessitates the overthrow of Gentile world power in order to place the scepter of rulership back in the hands of a restored Jewish nation at the end of six days, six-thousand years.

And it is through the prophet Daniel, as the times of the Gentiles began, that God once again declares the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done – Da 2:28 But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, were these: 29 As for you, O king, thoughts came to your mind while on your bed, about what would come to pass after this; and He who reveals secrets has made known to you what will be. 30 But as for me, this secret has not been revealed to me because I have more wisdom than anyone living, but for our sakes who make known the interpretation to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your heart. 31 “You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome. 32 This image's head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. 36 “This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king.

This will have to wait until next time though, if we remain and the Lord is willing, and we have prayed.

The Beginning and the End - Part Three

Refresh A Recap from the Sermon

The Beginning and the End - Part Three

Oct 27, 2024

Speaker: John Herbert

Series: The Beginning and the End

Category: Sunday Morning

Refresh
A Recap from the Sermon