“In the Beginning…” – all was formless and void, and darkness covered it all (chaos)
> Angels created and some rebelled – lucifer … now satan … cast down to the earth–their new prison…
> Creation: Light à heaven/ atmosphere à land springing with vegetation à Lights – Sun, Moon & Stars à fish & birds à land animals made like physical representations of the heavenly host
> Man to rule over every living thing – moving on the earth… satan would not have it
> A tree was given, so they would not be like prisoners in paradise
> A rebellion in the earth brought death… and separation from the tree of life in Paradise
> In that day, the grave had its birth, and has kept men in bondage to fear ever since
All appeared lost, but there was a time before the beginning…before Lucifer had his birth
> The eternal One begat a son…who would be known by many names.
> In that son were untold billions of those chosen to be holy and blameless in His love
> That son became a lamb – weakness, purity, unquestioned innocence
> and was slain – The mystery being…how can the eternal God be slain?
He would become manifest in various forms through history
> In God’s economy, he permitted the innocent to pay a price for the guilty
> Coverings for the man & woman
> Sacrifice for atonement … like Abel
> With death as the expected end…the only hope seemed to be finding forgiveness through sacrifice
> Every Pagan faith began to imitate…sacrificing whatever the demon required to get what they needed
The ones who listened to God’s voice have always known better…life was made to be enjoyed for eternity
Job — The earliest witness to God’s promise,– “I know that my redeemer lives.” – 16 centuries prior to Christ
“As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last He will take His stand on the earth. “Even af-ter my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God; Whom I myself shall behold, And whom my eyes will see and not another. My heart faints within me! (Job 19:25-27)
Over the centuries that Lamb became manifest through God’s people time and time again…
> God’s friend, Abraham – as a ram in the thicket Isaac knew to ask, where’s the lamb?
> A Passover lamb — sacrificed to protect God’s people from the plague of death…remembered annually
> A Tabernacle…a pattern on earth of the one in heaven…where the eternal lamb’s ministry rests
> Lambs sacrificed daily in the AM & PM to keep God’s presence among His people
> Lambs for freewill and sin offerings… thousands sacrificed…the innocent paying a price for the guilty
> In the annual feast of Atonement…the mystery of impartation manifest…
o The lamb’s blood sprinkled on the mercy seat to restore God’s people to Himself…at least for now
THOUSANDS OF LAMBS FOR 1000’S OF YEARS…BUT NONE OF THOSE LAMBS ROSE AGAIN
UNTIL THE APPOINTED TIME…
Then came the day that the eternal lamb would become flesh and blood –
> In the form of man…since man is what the image of God looks like in flesh form…
> He was most naturally a lamb…which is why shepherds came to see him first
> John’s decree – not “Look, here’s the Messiah!” …Behold the Lamb of God
> Tested and proven to be perfect and without spot of sin
> Sacrificed in the prime of His life – 33 years old
> If the devil has been around before the beginning he would have understood better, and would have NEVER gone through with it…
At His death…the eternal lamb became manifest…
> The sky became dark
> the ground shook and graves were opened
> The veil of separation torn in two…as the lamb’s sacrifice in time was made in the eternal tabernacle – heaven and earth were one once again
And as He lay in that tomb, a power not yet revealed began to work in His body…
> You cannot slay the eternal, so the Lamb Slain from the foundations of the world is ALWAYS alive.
> The lamb slain –
LIFE CANNOT BE TAKEN FROM AN IMMORTAL BEING, BUT IT CAN BE LAID DOWN…
HOWEVER, BEING IMMORTAL, IT WILL ALWAYS COME BACK TO LIFE AGAIN
> Death and the grave would pay a price for laying hold of one who didn’t deserve death!
> So a power would now begin to work in the mortal body of Jesus…
> Resurrection Power: bringing dead things to life not just renovating something which is alive but broken:
Rising from that Grave, heaven began a party which has been prepared since before the dawn of time!
In the heavenlies:
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing… “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.”
And they *sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations! “Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy; For ALL THE NA-TIONS WILL COME AND WORSHIP BEFORE YOU, FOR YOUR RIGHTEOUS ACTS HAVE BEEN REVEALED.”
Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready…blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb…
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, (Ephesians 1:18-20)
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