There are many today who believe that all religions are the same.True that many share similar values but only one faith can forgive sins and set us free from death, rom.5:8 says ''God proved his love for us in this:while we were still sinners Christ died for us''. No we don,t deserve it but God has offered to us because of his love for us John.3:16.
But to understand this we need to go back to the 'beginning' Gen.1:1. In 1 John 1:1 it says
''That which was from the beginning,which we have heard,which we have seen with our eyes,which we have looked at and our hands have touched......'' Here John is giving testimony on the coming of God in the
flesh. John 1:1-3,14 says ''In the beginning was the Word,and the Word was with God,and the Word was God.He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made;without him nothing was made that was made. In him was life,and that life was the light of men.....The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. This means that Jesus was there when God said ''let US make man in OUR image and in OUR likeness'',Gen.1:26. Now ''image'' and ''likeness'' implies kinship . Look at Gen.5:1-3 When God created man,he made him in the likeness God.....when Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness,after his image and named him Seth. As Adam was God's first born son Jesus was God"s only begotten Son.In col.1:15-17 it says "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.For by him all things were created.....all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things. And heb.1:1-2 says ''In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways,but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things,and THROUGH WHOM HE MADE ALL THINGS.''
When God commanded Adam not to eat of the tree of good and evil He said ''for when you eat of it you shall surely die'' And when God put Adam in the garden He gave him 'dominion' which gave him authority like a King (like Christ) He tells him to ''till and keep it'' which means he was given priestly duties (like Christ) to defend the sanctuary Num.18:5. But Adam failed in his duties and failed to protect the 'woman' Eve his wife . And so the serpent went straight to the woman and lied ''you will not surely die' Gen.3:4. Eve doubted God's word and fell into temptation and Adam did likewise. God's plan of Salvation began immediately. Gen.3:15 ...he will crush your head and you will strike his heel.'' and The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. Gen.3:21 .God provided a 'covering' for their sin rather than their own covering .Gen.3:7. Just as he covers us with the Lambs blood rather than our own good efforts. Let,s look carefully at what God said to Eve and the serpent because it,s parallel can be found in Rev.12:1-4,17.....she was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth.....the dragon (serpent of old) stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth,so that he might devour her child....and he went off to make war with the rest of her offspring....And Gen.3:15....''I will put enmity between you and the woman,and between your offspring and hers.....'' and to the woman he said ''I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing;with pain you will give birth to children'' Gen.3:16.The curses given to the 'woman' and the serpent in Gen.3 have now reached a climax in Rev.12.The 'woman' in Rev.12 is symbolic of Mary and the Church, her offspring.Mary is being portrayed as the 'new' Eve (mother of the new creation) ''Woman, behold,your son! Then he said to the disciple ''Behold,your mother!'' John 19:26,27. You will notice quite a bit in the Gospel of John how Jesus calls Mary 'woman' rather than mother.Read the story of the wedding at Cana how Jesus makes new wine out of water which is a symbol of the New Covenant.This wedding is also a symbol of the bridegroom and the Church.A new wedding for a new creation As Genesis 'begins' with a creation story and a marriage, so too does the Gospel of John 'begin' with a new creation story and a new wedding feast 'symbolically' between a new Adam and a new Eve. And how does the bible end? With a 'creation' and a 'wedding' Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth,for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away...Rev.21:1,, and....Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb'' Rev.19:9...''Come I will show you the bride,the wife of the Lamb.''Rev.21:9
But to understand this we need to go back to the 'beginning' Gen.1:1. In 1 John 1:1 it says
''That which was from the beginning,which we have heard,which we have seen with our eyes,which we have looked at and our hands have touched......'' Here John is giving testimony on the coming of God in the
flesh. John 1:1-3,14 says ''In the beginning was the Word,and the Word was with God,and the Word was God.He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made;without him nothing was made that was made. In him was life,and that life was the light of men.....The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. This means that Jesus was there when God said ''let US make man in OUR image and in OUR likeness'',Gen.1:26. Now ''image'' and ''likeness'' implies kinship . Look at Gen.5:1-3 When God created man,he made him in the likeness God.....when Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness,after his image and named him Seth. As Adam was God's first born son Jesus was God"s only begotten Son.In col.1:15-17 it says "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.For by him all things were created.....all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things. And heb.1:1-2 says ''In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways,but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things,and THROUGH WHOM HE MADE ALL THINGS.''
When God commanded Adam not to eat of the tree of good and evil He said ''for when you eat of it you shall surely die'' And when God put Adam in the garden He gave him 'dominion' which gave him authority like a King (like Christ) He tells him to ''till and keep it'' which means he was given priestly duties (like Christ) to defend the sanctuary Num.18:5. But Adam failed in his duties and failed to protect the 'woman' Eve his wife . And so the serpent went straight to the woman and lied ''you will not surely die' Gen.3:4. Eve doubted God's word and fell into temptation and Adam did likewise. God's plan of Salvation began immediately. Gen.3:15 ...he will crush your head and you will strike his heel.'' and The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. Gen.3:21 .God provided a 'covering' for their sin rather than their own covering .Gen.3:7. Just as he covers us with the Lambs blood rather than our own good efforts. Let,s look carefully at what God said to Eve and the serpent because it,s parallel can be found in Rev.12:1-4,17.....she was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth.....the dragon (serpent of old) stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth,so that he might devour her child....and he went off to make war with the rest of her offspring....And Gen.3:15....''I will put enmity between you and the woman,and between your offspring and hers.....'' and to the woman he said ''I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing;with pain you will give birth to children'' Gen.3:16.The curses given to the 'woman' and the serpent in Gen.3 have now reached a climax in Rev.12.The 'woman' in Rev.12 is symbolic of Mary and the Church, her offspring.Mary is being portrayed as the 'new' Eve (mother of the new creation) ''Woman, behold,your son! Then he said to the disciple ''Behold,your mother!'' John 19:26,27. You will notice quite a bit in the Gospel of John how Jesus calls Mary 'woman' rather than mother.Read the story of the wedding at Cana how Jesus makes new wine out of water which is a symbol of the New Covenant.This wedding is also a symbol of the bridegroom and the Church.A new wedding for a new creation As Genesis 'begins' with a creation story and a marriage, so too does the Gospel of John 'begin' with a new creation story and a new wedding feast 'symbolically' between a new Adam and a new Eve. And how does the bible end? With a 'creation' and a 'wedding' Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth,for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away...Rev.21:1,, and....Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb'' Rev.19:9...''Come I will show you the bride,the wife of the Lamb.''Rev.21:9
Now Adam and his wife broke the Covenant and a curse came over them and on the rest of humanity from generation to generation, father to father until Jesus came Mat.1:20-21 "he will save his people from their sins'' and 1 Pet.1:18... ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your fathers.... And in rom.5:14 says ''But from the time of Adam to the time of Moses death ruled over all mankind,even over those who did not sin (the prophets) in the same way Adam did when he disobeyed God's command. Adam was a figure of the one to come'' (Jesus):15 ''but the two are not the same''. What it,s saying here is that death came through Adam but life came through Jesus! 1 cor.15:21-22 says ''For since death came through a man,the Resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.For as in Adam all die,so in Christ all will be made alive''. 1 cor.15:45-47 says ''the first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam (Jesus),a life giving-giving spirit...the first man (Adam) was of the dust of the earth, the second man (Jesus) from heaven...2 cor.5:17 says"Therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation;the old has gone,the new has come'' Look at what it says in Rev.1:12,13 ''I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me.And when I turned around I saw seven golden lampstands ,and among the lampstands was someone like the Son of Man dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest.'' This is a vision of Jesus in heaven ! Daniel the prophet had a similar vision hundreds of years earlier...in Dan.7:13 he says ''In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man,coming with the clouds of heaven....In Rev.1:17 it says ''When I saw him,I fell at his feet as though dead.Then he placed his right hand on me and said Do not be afraid . I am the first and the last. I am the living one;I was dead ,and behold I am alive forever and ever ! And I hold the keys of death and hades.'' Rev.21:6 he says '' It is done .I am the Alpha and the Omega,the beginning and the end. Now we can proudly sing "Death has been destroyed Victory is now complete''! 1cor.15:55 Amen, in my next post I will discuss Jesus and Noah. God bless!
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