In order
to see the place, importance, and significance of the Rapture we need to
begin with some verses that give us a glimpse into the big picture. We
need to consider what has gone on in
heaven and on
earth in the timeless past and its impact upon each of us today as
we press toward the consummation of the ages.
Most
thinking people would have to agree that there is a pervasive darkness in
the world and humanity today; we see society becoming more and more
debased before our very eyes. “…the
whole world lieth in wickedness.”
(1 John 5:19b). What is behind all this evil?
Paul here
below wrote of the whole creation in
HEAVEN, and
on EARTH. He notes the spirit world’s visible
and
invisible “thrones…dominions…
principalities… powers” – those
on the earth and those unseen in heaven.
“...by
him (Christ) were all things created, that are IN
HEAVEN, and that are IN EARTH, VISIBLE
(physical) and INVISIBLE
(spiritual), whether they be
THRONES, OR DOMINIONS, OR PRINCIPALITIES, OR POWERS:
all (these)
things were created by him (Christ),
and for him (Christ)” (Col.
1:16).
These
titles as seen above originally were levels of God ordained rank and
authority among the angelic “host” (Isa 45:12b) in the “
Kingdom
of
God
” in heaven. But Paul also wrote here of these being the fallen
spirit world’s “Principalities,
and Powers” as the “Rulers
of the Darkness of This World.”
“We
wrestle not
against flesh and blood, but against
(spirit) PRINCIPALITIES,
against (spirit) POWERS,
against THE
RULERS OF THE DARKNESS of THIS WORLD (Gk., aion, age),
against SPIRITUAL WICKEDNESS
(depravity) IN HIGH PLACES
(above the sky).” (Eph.
6:12)
The
“conflict of the ages” originated in the heavens with Lucifer, meaning
“the morning
star”; he was the third highest angel
serving God in the 3rd heaven. Lucifer, who became Satan,
meaning “the adversary,”
caused this conflict that rages even today. He rebelled against God,
scheming to be as “the Most High
(God)” (Isa. 14:12-14). As
result, Lucifer was cast out of the 3rd heaven (the abode of
God) to the lower 1st and 2nd heavens where today he
still has dominion;
ruling by his “principalities,
powers,” as the spiritually
wicked rulers of darkness over the lower
heavens and
on the earth.
These
heavenly positions of rank and authority are now under Satan, while he is
the “God of this world” (2Cor
4:4). Satan’s “invisible”
host of fallen spirits (angels) rule the lower heavens and the earth. They
rule the earth through the “blinded”
(2Cor 4:4) “princes of this
world.” These worldly “princes”
are Satan’s political and religious system cohorts on earth. As we’ve
seen, sometimes our political leaders, dictators, prime ministers,
governors, and “religious” leaders rise and appear suddenly as by the
hand of the unseen
“principalities and powers”; e.g., Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, and
perhaps Obama. Paul says it was the secular and religious “princes
of this world” who “crucified
the Lord of glory” (1Cor
2:8). These “princes”
were the human, visible, Roman authorities in conjunction with
Israel
’s religious leaders of that day. They no doubt were influenced by
Satanic forces in an effort to stamp out the Savior. They did this not
knowing they were actually fulfilling God’s eternal plan for the Savior
of the world, while sealing their own demise.
God’s
eternal purpose in creating man was to justly
recover the earth from the hand of Satan. God instructed Adam to “replenish,
subdue… have dominion” on the earth
(Gen 1:28). With these phrases of God's instruction, one
might assume there were some conflicting forces already at work in the
earth. This is borne out when
we consider the perfectly created earth being in chaos already in Genesis
1:2. “The earth
was (became) without form and an empty waste, and darkness was upon
the face of the very great deep (the waters). The Spirit of God was moving
(hovering, brooding) over the face of the waters.” (Genesis 1:2 AMP).
Thus Satan’s hand
had already brought chaos upon the earth, before
God’s recreation of the earth
seen
later in Genesis, and before Adam was created (see Genesis
1:3-31). Peter tells us that world was judged by water long before
Noah’s flood. “Whereby
the WORLD THAT THEN WAS, being OVERFLOWED WITH WATER, PERISHED”
(2 Peter 3:6)
Very soon
after Adam’s creation, likely within the first week, Satan came as the
Serpent to deceive and tempt Adam and Eve with the original lie. Satan
contradicted God’s words, saying if they would defy God’s warning to NOT
“eat of the Tree of Knowledge
of Good and Evil” and
actually did eat of that tree, they could obtain new found knowledge
and “…be
as gods” (Gen 3:5).
“Be
as gods?” Hardly! The Serpent had lied. We know Adam’s
rebellion and fall has actually brought “sin”
and “death” upon ALL of
us as Adam’s human offspring. “…
BY ONE MAN (Adam)
SIN ENTERED INTO THE WORLD
(Gk., kosmos, the arrangement between God and man),
and DEATH BY SIN; and so death passed upon all men, for
that all have sinned” (Rom
5:12). Adam’s fall brought mankind into slavery
to sin, sickness, and death,
entirely affecting the arrangement of the world.
Adam had
apparently made himself independent of God, but unknowingly he had become
subject to and the slave of the “god
of this world” - Satan. When Adam and Eve ate of that tree they took
into themselves the lies of the Evil One, the one whose “Sin-spirit”
now lives in the flesh of all mortal men born into this world. Man had
gained a fallen nature. “… the lusts
of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and
were by nature the children of
wrath, even as others. (Ephesians 2:3)
Mankind,
by Adam, has gained a “knowledge
of good and evil” that he cannot bear, satisfy, or live up to.
Fallen man knows what is right but the Sin-nature that he has gained by
Adam contradicts that knowledge. “However,
it is no longer I who do the deed, but the
sin [principle] which is at home in me and
has possession of me.
18 For I know that nothing
good dwells within me, that is, in
my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot perform it. [I
have the intention and urge to do what is right, but no power to carry it
out.] 19 For I fail to
practice the good deeds I desire to do, but the evil deeds that I do not
desire to do are what I am [ever] doing. 20
Now if I do what I do not desire to do, it
is no longer I doing it [it is not myself that acts], but the sin
[principle] which dwells within me [fixed and operating in my soul].
(Romans 7:17-20)
Mankind
was brought under the dominion of Satan’s kingdom that reigns by“Sin
and death.” Only Christ’s “Spirit
of life” can set us free from the operation of “Sin
and death.” The fact is that every believer can say; “For
the law of (the regulating operation of) THE
SPIRIT OF LIFE IN CHRIST JESUS HATH (ALREADY) MADE
ME FREE from the law of (the regulating operation of) SIN
AND DEATH. (Romans 8:2).
Whether we walk in that liberty is another question for discussion at a
later time.
Thus, with
the fall of Adam, mankind was and is today usurped by Satan. But God’s
eternally planned kingdom in
HEAVEN and on
EARTH will ultimately come to pass and be co-ruled by
regenerated willing men who have been
saved and born of His
Spirit-loins, that is of His “Seed
(Greek, sperma) which is Christ”
(Gal 3:16, 1Pet 1:23). God’s eternally planned Kingdom was put in
abeyance until His eternal plan and purpose would be completely
fulfilled in and through our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ, and through
its outworking in “the fullness
of times.”
Christ
will establish His eternal Kingdom in
ALL the heavens
and on
earth, through the saved and redeemed of mankind. Christ saves
all men who will believe.
“That
In The Dispensation of THE
FULNESS OF TIMES he (God)
might gather together in one ALL THINGS IN CHRIST, BOTH which
are IN
HEAVEN, and which are
ON EARTH;
even in him (Christ)”
(Ephesians
1:10)
You might
be asking, “What does this
“Conflict of the Ages” have to do with the Rapture?”
- The
Rapture of “the body of
Christ” to heaven marks
a significant point in the outworking of God’s plan to undo
Satan’s usurpation and reign in the heavens.
- The
Rapture immediately precedes and starts the outworking of God’s plan
to undo Satan’s usurpation and reign in the earth, through a
believing
Israel
.
In
the next installments we will examine the Rapture in greater detail, and
then trace the future events of the world to their ultimate conclusion.
This “conflict of the ages” will end in “the
fullness of times” when God’s eternal plan is entirely fulfilled.
