October 7, 2020
FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:
MAN’S ORIGINAL POSITION AND POWER AT CREATION, RESTORED AT FINAL REDEMPTION OF ALL THINGS
“What is man, that Thou art mindful of him?……Thou crownest Him with glory and honor…..But now we see not yet all things put under him.” Heb. 2: 6, 7, 8, KJV (Read the complete verses and Job 7:17; Ps. 8: 4-6).
“GLORY AND HONOR.’ This distinctly points to the experience of Adam and Eve recorded in the first chapter of Genesis. God did not create man to be a servant or slave [all colonial powers, past and present and all involved in any all forms of enslavement are self-condemned here]. He made man to be king, and bestowed glory and honor upon him.
“This, though he lost his first estate because of sin, is prophetic of the high destiny which God has in mind for him.
“Men may degrade men, use of misuse them, and attempt to erase the image of God in the soul. Men may even degrade and misuse THEMSELVES, entirely contrary to God’s plan [‘Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit!’]. But God has something great in store for them. The day of redemption will reveal this fully [to the redeemed of the ages].
‘ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION.’ In God’s original plan man was set ‘over the works of Thy hands;’that is, he was made ruler of the earth, and was told to ‘subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.’ Gen. 1:28. Scholars are not agreed as to the extent of this original dominion, some contending that it included power nature and the elements as Christ had power over them while He was on earth; others hold that all that is meant is to affirm that man was given dominion over, and was superior to, brute creation. The reader must decide for himself this not too important question.
“WE SEE NOT YET.’ Man does NOT NOW have dominion over the earth [although the papacy and the past empires and great nations of earth think and act thus]. He constantly faced with powers over which he has no control [such as pandemics, “firenados,” earthquakes, tsunamis, gigantic tornadoes, hailstorms, floods, etc.]. But God intends [through the plan of redemption] that the dominion he lost by sin shall be restored to the promise recorded by the prophet: ‘Unto thee shall it come, even THE FIRST DOMINION.’ Micah 4:8, KJV. This, we understand, is the meaning of ‘NOT YET,’ which thus really constitutes a promise of that which shall be.” -M.L. Andreasen, The Book of Hebrews, pp. 92, 93.
Remember, God is a God of order, does all things “in His time” not in man’s time. The only safe way is follow His order, prophecy time-line and chronology of all prophesied events as well as conditional promises. God bless all, NMF