Return to Bible Basics - Part Two

 

Return to Bible Basics – Part Two

 

In the first part of this post, I noted under the fourth bullet that God keeps secrets, until He is ready to reveal them. (Deuteronomy 29: 29). There are a few additional points I want to make in that regard.

Many people have questioned the seeming disparity between the Bible’s history of man’s existence, (This is Hebrew Calendar Year 5783 - https://www.jewfaq.org/jewish_calendar ); and current scientific estimates that man’s existence dates back possibly between 50,000 to more than 300,000 years. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_first_human_settlements#:~:text=The%20oldest%20known%20evidence%20for,dated%20about%20360%2C000%20years%20old.&text=Anatomically%20modern%20human%20remains%20of,%22%20(as%20of%202018).)

To address this issue, consider the point I made in the previous post related to the apparent gap in time between the events in Genesis 1: 1 and Genesis 1: 2. It is possible to reconcile these apparent differences, but it is not critical.  Remember that our eternal Sovereign God lives outside of the boundaries of time as we know it.  One day with the Lord is as one thousand years, and one thousand years as one day. (2 Peter 3: 8)  

The oldest scriptural reference in our Bible, the Book of Job, reveals some details that give perspective to that “hidden” time / era (Job Chapter 38), but that is not the primary purpose for our Bible study and learning. As I’ve debated with one of my siblings 😊, this Scripture that we know as the Bible was sent to us to teach us what we need to know about our current lives and how we also can receive eternal life and salvation. If necessary, God will reveal the details about that “time gap” when He is ready.

 

Now, regarding God’s purpose for sending us this magnificent text that we call the Bible, it has also been called His love letter to His favored creation Man. It provides the basis for our understanding who we are, how we came to this current circumstance, and the future that lies ahead.  He has given us a choice as to how that future will be fulfilled. The outcome for each of us could be different, even if we all have adopted the label of calling ourselves “Christians”.  The Bible explains what will happen to each of us in the context of what we believe / have faith in related to the finality of the Scripture.

[Regarding our present lives and immediate future in these earthly bodies, I will continue to provide comments on them in other posts. I will further address how we as Christians are already blessed in having received our salvation and eternal life through our personal faith in our Lord Jesus’ having shed His Holy blood, died, been buried three days and then resurrected. (1 Corinthians 15: 1-4; Romans 10: 9-13) We also have received the opportunity for Communion with Him…to acknowledge His sacrifices for our health, safety, peace, joy and happiness. We also have access to the ongoing blessings of the knowledge, wisdom and guidance of the Holy Spirit.]

 

 To put into some perspective what lies ahead in our more distant future (how far in the future only God knows), I’d like to jump to the end of our Bible to make some comparisons to what happened when the scripture reveals how the first man was created.

In the first part of this post, I suggested that you read the first three chapters of Genesis, the first book of our Bible, to better follow the train of my thoughts then. I now suggest that you review the last three chapters of Revelation, the last book of our Bible.  While Genesis was the result of revelations given by God to Moses, Revelation was written by the Apostle John who received his knowledge in a vision from the Ascended Lord Jesus. Revelation contains a considerable amount of symbolism in the text but remains highly readable. The main points I want to highlight are:

·       The fate of the Serpent / Lucifer / Satan who deceived Eve in the Garden of Eden and brought death and misery to mankind and into the world. (Genesis Chapter Three; Revelation 20: 1-3, 7-10)

·       The existing heaven and earth that have been defiled / polluted / corrupted by Satan will be replaced by a new, glorious heaven and earth. (Revelation Chapters 21 and 22, 2 Peter 3: 4-13; Isaiah 65: 17)

·       Life expectancy of man following Adam’s original sin (Genesis 3: 1-19), leading to the  “First Death” (permanent separation from earthly body); “Resurrection” (in new body fit for eternity: 1 Corinthians 15: 35-50);  and “Second Death” (permanent separation from God for those not named in the Book of Life.) (Revelation 20: 6, 12-15)

·       The ultimate goal of every person should be to obtain eternal life with our Creator by being included in the “Lamb’s Book of Life”. (Revelation 20: 15;  21: 27)

·       The judgment of the severity of the “Second Death” for those not included in the Lamb’s Book of Life will be determined by their works. (Revelation 20: 11-13) (see also: https://www.gotquestions.org/levels-hell.html )  (Ephesians 2: 1-9) (see also: https://www.gotquestions.org/justification-by-faith.html )

 

Dr. W. A. Robinson