RAISING OUR LAND (Episode 5 - A Role Grace Played)
RAISING OUR LAND
“Thus says the LORD, In an acceptable time have I
answered you, and in a day of salvation have I helped you; and I will preserve
you, and give you for a covenant of the people, to raise up the land, to make them inherit the desolate
heritage…”(emphasis mine)
Isiah
49 vs 8 (Hebrew Names Version of The Holy Bible)
EPISODE 5 - A ROLE GRACE PLAYED
In the first episode,
we concluded that God made the earth and man and all that is upon the earth. We
saw how God so desired and ensured that all that he made was productive and in great
comfort. In the next episode, episode 3, we saw how God is the Blesser, and how he blessed man with and in all things. We also
briefly learnt about the relationship between the earth, man and God, how this
three must be involved in any Godly productive thing on this earth. In the subsequent
episode, titled “the real problem” we researched the scriptures to find how
this earth which God created for comfort became so uncomfortable. We learnt
that Man sinned because of the devil’s temptation and this led to his death,
which opened the door for the curse upon the earth. The curse produced curses
which have rampaged and wrecked havoc on the earth and unto Man from that day
till now. We saw how these curses produced every discomfort and frustration we
may be experiencing in our lives. We also understood how that the earth didn’t
become totally bad at once, but the curse was like a virus that worked slowly
and gradually and that would later end up infecting the whole earth except it
is removed totally from the system.
Today, we are going to
begin to learn how God removed the curse, death and sin from the earth by
sending His Son to the earth to remove sin from the world and specifically a
role 'GRACE' played in saving the earth from being totally destroyed.
John 1 : 29: “The next day John sees Jesus coming unto him,
and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world”
Revelations 5: 8 -10: “And when he had taken the book, the four beasts
and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb… And they sung a new song,
saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for
thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred,
and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and
priests: and we shall reign on the earth.”
Jesus Christ, whom John
the Baptist prophetically called ‘The Lamb of God that taketh away the Sin of
the World’, is God’s ‘WAY’ of saving the world from the effect of Adam’s death.
It is important to note that John’s prophecy was specific on ‘Sin’ - singular
and not ‘Sins’ - plural. Sin produces sins, just as the Blessing produces
blessings and the Curse produces curses. This Sin is transferred from Adam to
every other Man.
Romans
5: 12 “Therefore, as sin entered into the world through one man, and death
through sin; and so death passed to all men, because all sinned”
Sin produced death and
death leaves the door open for the curse. So take away Sin, and you have taken
away death and the door can now be shut on the curse.
The Apostle Paul under
the direction of the Holy Spirit said “death reigned from Adam until
Moses…Romans 5:14”. Studying these words confirms the following: (1) the death
of Adam (as I have defined earlier); (2) reigning of death - which means that
death had opposition but it reigned over it; and (3) in Moses’ time there must
have been the introduction of certain things to restrain death.
At the time of Noah’s
ark and the destroying of world with water by God, death had completely taken
over. From Adam’s creation till that time, it was 1,556 years. Meaning it took
that time for the yeast of sin to completely desecrate the world.
Genesis 6 vs 5 – 9: “And God saw that the wickedness of Man was
great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was
only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the
earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man
whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man and beast, and the
creeping thing, and the fowls of the air, for it repented me that I have made
them. But Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord.”
Because of one Man,
Noah; who found grace in the eyes of the Lord, the whole of humanity was saved
from being wiped out from the earth. The transformation of Grace upon Noah was
such that in verse 9 of the same chapter, Noah was declared to be a just man
and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. God ensured he Noah’s
family was saved and even the animals were saved too.
It is important to note
that at this time the people - From Adam to Noah - were in great discomfort,
however their condition was no different from what we see in the world today, the
world is also looking for COMFORT, see Gen 5: 29 Lamech, Noah’s Father, named
his Son Noah because “This same shall COMFORT us concerning OUR WORK AND THE
TOIL OF OUR HANDS, because of the GROUND which the Lord hath CURSED”.
In vs13 “God said unto
Noah, the end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with
violence through all flesh, and I will destroy all flesh WITH the earth.”
This
shows ‘again’ the relationship between the earth and the flesh. With the flood,
I believe God brought the earth to what it was in Gen 1vs2: “And the earth was
without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit
of God moved upon the face of THE WATERS” but this time not to create, but to
restore and renew.
Although the earth was
renewed, and most likely a measure of comfort would have been enjoyed by those
who were saved in the ark – fulfilling the prophetic declaration of comfort
embedded in Noah’s name, - Sin was still in Man, it had not been removed by the
washing of the flood.
Even though God blessed
Noah and his Children, just as he blessed Adam, He even made a covenant with
Noah, that “He would not cut off all flesh again with waters of a flood,
neither shall there be any more a flood to destroy the earth”: the moment flesh
stepped off the ark, and stepped onto the new earth, the earth was cursed for
the sake of man for man still carried Sin in him. However, its effect would not
show immediately, because the yeast takes time to spread through.
Now after the flood, it
is safe to assume that death still reigned. However, before the earth could
become totally corrupted again, God performed a master stroke of genius that
will ensure the opportunity exists for those who will believe and choose: that
Sin is defeated and removed from them…
Thank you for reading.
In our next episode on Sunday, 13th November, 2016 we will continue to learn about how God removed Sin from the earth.
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