Why Future Events?-Part 4

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WHY FUTURE EVENTS? PART 4

In our third article concerning God’s purpose for future events we noted several things: That throughout most of the present earth’s history a spiritual war has been waged between the universal Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Satan, that this continuing warfare is the key for understanding the ultimate purpose of history, that Satan’s purpose for history is to overthrow God and make himself the ultimate sovereign of the universe, that God’s purpose for history (the ultimate purpose) is to glorify Himself by demonstrating that He alone is the ultimate sover­eign of the universe, that, in order to fulfill this purpose, there are three things God must do before the history of this present earth ends, that these three things are directly related to the three tragic consequences of man joining Satan’s revolt against God, and that the first of these three things is the necessity of God crushing Satan and removing his evil kingdom rule from this earth before this planet ends.

This present article will examine the second thing that God must do to fulfill His purpose for history. After God rids the earth of Satan and his world system rule, He must restore His own theocratic kingdom rule to this earth. Since this earth began with God’s theocracy as its gov­ernment, but then the theocracy was lost when God’s earthly representative (Adam) defected from God, if God does not restore His theocratic kingdom rule to this earth before its history comes to an end, then He will be defeated by His enemy Satan within the scope of this present earth’s history. The restoration of God’s theocratic kingdom as the government of this earth for its last age of history is absolutely essential for the fulfillment of God’s purpose for world history.

This means that before the history of this present earth comes to an end God must once again have a man, an Adam, functioning as His earthly representative, administering His rule over this earthly province of His universal kingdom. In the Old Testament Scriptures God revealed that He would have such a man. In addition to being God’s Son and Messiah (“his anointed”) (Psalm 2:2, 7—“You art my Son”), God’s King who would rule the whole earth in the future (Psalm 2:6, 8—“Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion….Ask of me, and I shall give you the heathen for your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession”; Zechariah 14:9—“And the LORD shall be king over all the earth”) would also be a man. He would be a child born (Isaiah 9:6-7—“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: … Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end”), a biological descendant of King David (Jeremiah 23:5— “Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth”), and the Son of man (Daniel 7:13-14—“One like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him”). The combination of these items indicated that, in order to be the future Adam, God’s Son would become incarnated in human flesh.

The New Testament Scriptures recorded things that identified Jesus Christ as the future Adam whom God foretold in the Old Testament. First, God, the angel Gabriel, demons and human beings acknowledged that Jesus was the Son of God. When Jesus was baptized, God spoke from Heaven, saying “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased” (Matthew 3:17). The angel Gabriel told the virgin Mary that the unique child who would be born of her would be called “the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). On one occasion demons “cried out, saying, ‘What have we to do with you, Jesus, You Son of God’ ” (Matthew 8:28-29). In response to Jesus’ question, Peter declared, “You are . . . the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16).

Second, human beings, a holy angel and demons recognized that Jesus was the Messiah (the Christ). After spending time with Jesus, Andrew told his brother, “ ‘We have found the Messiah’ which is, being interpreted, the Christ” (John 1:41). Peter said to Jesus, “You are the Christ” (Matthew 16:16). A holy angel told shepherds, “Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:9-11). On several occasions, when confronted by Jesus, demons cried out, “You are Christ the Son of God“ (Luke 4:41).

Third, Jesus entered the world as a child born of a woman. An angel told Joseph that the pregnancy of his betrothed virgin wife, Mary, had been caused by the Holy Spirit and that they should assign the human name “Jesus” to this unique child who would be born of her (Matthew 1:18-25). The angel Gabriel communicated this same knowledge to Mary (Luke 1:26-35). Matthew recorded the fact that Jesus was born of Mary (Matthew 2:1-11). The Apostle Paul wrote that “when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman” (Galatians 4:4).

Fourth, Jesus’ genealogy, the angel Gabriel, human beings and Jesus Himself testified that He was a biological descendant of King David. Jesus’ genealogy that is recorded in Luke 3 traces His biological line of descent back to King David (vv. 23-31). The angel Gabriel told Mary that God would give Jesus, the unique child who would be born of her, “the throne of his father David” (Luke 1:31-32). A Gentile woman called Jesus “son of David” (Matthew 15:22). Two blind men called Him “son of David” (Matthew 20:30-31). The Apostle Peter stated that God swore with an oath to David “that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne” (Acts 2:30). The Apostle Paul spoke of God’s “Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh” (Romans 1:3). Jesus Himself said, “I am the root and the offspring of David” (Revelation 22:16).

Fifth, Jesus frequently claimed to be the Son of man. For example, in Matthew 16:13 He asked, “Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” He also indicated that in the future He would come again as the Son of man in the clouds of heaven and sit upon a throne as “the King” of a kingdom in fulfillment of Daniel 7:13-14 (Matthew 24:29-30; 25:31-34).

Sixth, the Apostle Paul called Jesus “the last Adam” ( 1 Corinthians 15:45). The first Adam lost the theocratic Kingdom of God from the earth when, as God’s earthly representative, he defected from God by joining Satan’s revolt. In the future, Jesus Christ, as the last Adam, will return to the earth to restore God’s theocratic kingdom rule and, as God’s representative, to administer His rule over the entire earth for its last great age of world history.

The combination of these six items indicated that Jesus Christ was God’s Son, who became incarnated in human flesh in order to be the future Adam foretold by God (compare John 1:1, 14). His incarnation in human flesh was essential for at least two reasons: First, so that in His first coming to earth, He could pay in full the penalty for mankind’s sin by dying on the cross as mankind’s substi­tute and thereby take away the sin of the world, the cause of the tragic consequences of the first Adam joining Satan in his revolt against God (John 1:29; Romans 5:12-19; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Philippians 2:5-8; Hebrews 2:14-17). Second, His incarnation also was essential so that in His second coming to earth He can return as the last Adam to accomplish the second thing that God must do to fulfill His purpose for this present earth’s history.

The next article will examine further how the tragic consequences of man joining Satan’s revolt against God relate to future events.

For an in-depth study of this subject, order my book, What On Earth Is God Doing?, from Loizeaux Brothers, P.O. Box 277, Neptune, NJ 07754-0277. Tel. 1-800-526-2796

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