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Man and the Earth |
May 19, 2016
The Beginning:
Genesis 1:1
In the beginning
God created the heavens and the earth.
Original Mandate:
Genesis 1:26-31
26 Then
God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and
let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky
and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping
thing that creeps on the earth."
27 God
created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male
and female He created them.
28 God
blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill
the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over
the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the
earth."
29 Then
God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is
on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit
yielding seed; it shall be food for you;
30 and
to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every
thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green
plant for food"; and it was so.
31 God
saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was
evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
The Ground is
Cursed because of Man's Rebellion. Genesis 3:17-19
17 Then to Adam He said, "Because you have listened to the
voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I
commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat from it'; Cursed is the
ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your
life.
18 "Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you
will eat the plants of the field;
19 By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you
return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust,
And to dust you shall return."
Harmony in Nature
when the King Returns to Reign. Isaiah 11:6-9
6 And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will
lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the
fatling together; And a little boy will lead them.
7 Also the cow and the bear will graze, Their young will lie
down together, And the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, And
the weaned child will put his hand on the viper's den.
9 They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For
the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover
the sea.
The Purging of the
Earth and the Universe. 2 Peter 3:10-12
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which
the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be
destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned
up.
11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way,
what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God,
because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the
elements will melt with intense heat!
The Creation of
New Heavens and New Earth
"For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former
things will not be remembered or come to mind. Isaiah 65:17
22 "For just as the new heavens and the new earth Which I
make will endure before Me," declares the LORD, "So your offspring and
your name will endure.
23 "And it shall be from new moon to new moon And from
sabbath to sabbath, All mankind will come to bow down before Me," says
the LORD. Isaiah 66:22-23
But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new
earth, in which righteousness dwells. 2 Peter 3:13
Revelation 21:1-8
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the
first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.
2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of
heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold,
the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and
they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,
4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there
will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or
crying, or pain; the first things have passed away."
5 And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making
all things new." And He *said, "Write, for these words are faithful and
true."
6 Then He said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the
Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts
from the spring of the water of life without cost.
7 "He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be
his God and he will be My son.
8 "But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and
murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all
liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and
brimstone, which is the second death."
New Jerusalem.
Revelation 21:9-27
9 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full
of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, "Come here, I
will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb."
10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high
mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of
heaven from God,
11 having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very
costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper.
12 It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at
the gates twelve angels; and names were written on them, which are the
names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel.
13 There were three gates on the east and three gates on the
north and three gates on the south and three gates on the west.
14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and
on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15 The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to
measure the city, and its gates and its wall.
16 The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as
great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen
hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal.
17 And he measured its wall, seventy-two yards, according to
human measurements, which are also angelic measurements.
18 The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure
gold, like clear glass.
19 The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with
every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper;
the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald;
20 the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh,
chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth,
chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst.
21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the
gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold,
like transparent glass.
22 I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and
the Lamb are its temple.
23 And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to
shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the
Lamb.
24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the
earth will bring their glory into it.
25 In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its
gates will never be closed;
26 and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations
into it;
27 and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination
and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are
written in the Lamb's book of life.
The River of Life;
The Tree of Life. Revelation 22:1-5
1 Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as
crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb,
2 in the middle of its street. On either side of the river
was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit
every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the
nations.
3 There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God
and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him;
4 they will see His face, and His name will be on their
foreheads.
5 And there will no longer be any night; and they will not
have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the
Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.
The Invitation.
Revelation 22:11-20
11 "Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong; and the one
who is filthy, still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous, still
practice righteousness; and the one who is holy, still keep himself
holy."
12 "Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to
render to every man according to what he has done.
13 "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the
beginning and the end."
14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may
have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the
city.
15 Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral
persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and
practices lying.
16 "I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these
things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the
bright morning star."
17 The Spirit and the bride say, "Come." And let the one who
hears say, "Come." And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who
wishes take the water of life without cost.
18 I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy
of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues
which are written in this book;
19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of
this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and
from the holy city, which are written in this book.
20 He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming
quickly." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
(Scripture quotation taken
from
the NASB.)
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