Perfection, to Death, to Life
Bonnie Alba
April 05, 2007
This week Christians the world over will celebrate the Cross and the Resurrection. The Book of Genesis to the Book of Revelation is really a sweeping history of God’s Creation. The Cross and the Resurrection can be traced back to Genesis where God pronounced His Curse on all that He had made. Mankind fell into the pit of sin with no way back to God.
Under God’s Curse, His creation went from perfection and immortality to death, disorder and chaos; from communion with God to an existence without God. But there was a “Hope” contained within the Curse against the “serpent.”
Gen. 3:14-15, The “serpent” or Lucifer, the fallen angel: “...And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
Gen. 3:16: Woman. “I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”
Gen. 3:17: Man: “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”
Over the millennia, God knew what His plan and purpose was and is for His Creation. He chose to speak through men, His prophets, so that we might understand and know Him. His character and nature speak to us through His Law, His foundation of justice and mercy, grace and judgment, His love, His hatred of sin, and His Holiness and Righteousness.
He has chosen to reveal the end of time as we know it, the Last Days “In that Day” when all will change forever, recorded in the Book of Revelation. The connection between Genesis and Revelation is so profound, both speak of what Paul wrote in Romans 8:38-39:
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
He was talking about God’s Love of His creation in providing reconciliation to Himself through His Son, Jesus, whom He sent to fulfill His plan of redemption and the promises of long ago, the Cross and the Resurrection.
In the Cross and Resurrection came our Hope, though it has been there from the beginning. God showed Himself to men through His Law, His chosen people and brought the fulfillment of the Redeemer of mankind through their bloodline.
We await the promise of Christ’s return, not as the Teacher, the compassionate one, the Shepherd, the capstone, the Head of His Body the Church. His next coming will be as Judge, bringing the wrath of God upon the Earth and all peoples and nations.
What this means for those who belong to God is the end of the Curse. God’s presence with and surrounding us forever. A New Earth and a New Heaven will be created. Perfection and immortality will once again reign. God will remove the Curse and we will no longer live in hopelessness. No sin will enter this new Earth and Heaven.
Contrasted with Genesis 3, we see the Curse’s end in Revelation. God, the Father, “...will wipe every tear from our eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain for the old order of things has passed away.” (Rev. 21:4)
It is difficult for us to imagine such perfection or to believe this could ever be. But through God’s Son, Jesus, the Anointed One, the Messiah, we have received God’s gift of this Faith and Hope in Him. It is through God’s Book we may know God’s nature and His plans for us. Under God’s Curse, as Paul so put it, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” (Rom. 8:22)
Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully even as I am fully known.” (1Cor. 13:12)
Celebrate in Thanksgiving to God!
2007 Bonnie Alba
Comments: tttalba@hotmail.com
Under God’s Curse, His creation went from perfection and immortality to death, disorder and chaos; from communion with God to an existence without God. But there was a “Hope” contained within the Curse against the “serpent.”
Gen. 3:14-15, The “serpent” or Lucifer, the fallen angel: “...And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
Gen. 3:16: Woman. “I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”
Gen. 3:17: Man: “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”
Over the millennia, God knew what His plan and purpose was and is for His Creation. He chose to speak through men, His prophets, so that we might understand and know Him. His character and nature speak to us through His Law, His foundation of justice and mercy, grace and judgment, His love, His hatred of sin, and His Holiness and Righteousness.
He has chosen to reveal the end of time as we know it, the Last Days “In that Day” when all will change forever, recorded in the Book of Revelation. The connection between Genesis and Revelation is so profound, both speak of what Paul wrote in Romans 8:38-39:
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
He was talking about God’s Love of His creation in providing reconciliation to Himself through His Son, Jesus, whom He sent to fulfill His plan of redemption and the promises of long ago, the Cross and the Resurrection.
In the Cross and Resurrection came our Hope, though it has been there from the beginning. God showed Himself to men through His Law, His chosen people and brought the fulfillment of the Redeemer of mankind through their bloodline.
We await the promise of Christ’s return, not as the Teacher, the compassionate one, the Shepherd, the capstone, the Head of His Body the Church. His next coming will be as Judge, bringing the wrath of God upon the Earth and all peoples and nations.
What this means for those who belong to God is the end of the Curse. God’s presence with and surrounding us forever. A New Earth and a New Heaven will be created. Perfection and immortality will once again reign. God will remove the Curse and we will no longer live in hopelessness. No sin will enter this new Earth and Heaven.
Contrasted with Genesis 3, we see the Curse’s end in Revelation. God, the Father, “...will wipe every tear from our eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain for the old order of things has passed away.” (Rev. 21:4)
It is difficult for us to imagine such perfection or to believe this could ever be. But through God’s Son, Jesus, the Anointed One, the Messiah, we have received God’s gift of this Faith and Hope in Him. It is through God’s Book we may know God’s nature and His plans for us. Under God’s Curse, as Paul so put it, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” (Rom. 8:22)
Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully even as I am fully known.” (1Cor. 13:12)
Celebrate in Thanksgiving to God!
2007 Bonnie Alba
Comments: tttalba@hotmail.com
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