The Whole span of History!

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Hi all,

A brother sent me the following notes about the overall span
of history of earth and mankind, from the beginning, and perhaps BEFORE
that, to the end when nothing is left but the eternals.

Wow!!  What insight this guy has!  It explains WHY mankind is in a world
where a devil has been relegated!  And it tells why God did not
make man immortal in the beginning, but made to go through
steps to get there, for a very good reason!

Enjoy!
-- 
In Christ,
Mike Blume
mfblume@ns.sympatico.ca
http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/mfblume/mblume.htm

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1. The purpose for all the trials and tribulations we are going
through is to test and perfect our loyalty to God, so that in the
next life we won't fall into the same sin as Lucifer and try to
overthrow God.  Everything that is related to our Christianity,
to what God is doing in our lives, to how He deals with saints
and sinners, is centered around this one theme, teaching us
loyalty.

Some scripture references (although this is not an exhaustive
study, merely an overview): Isaiah 14:4-23   Ezekiel 28:11-19  
Romans 5:3-5   Revelation 12:3-13:1

Supporting argument:

The Bible tells us that Lucifer (Light Bearer) walked in the
midst of the glory of God.  He was the guardian angel who
protected the glory of God, as opposed to now where the Bible
tells us there are 4 angels who guard the glory of God. The Bible
also tells us he was the most beautiful of all of God's angels.
However, there came a time when Lucifer decided being number 2 in
Heaven wasn't good enough.  He wanted to overthrow God.  In the
process of attempting to do so he deceived 1/3 of the angels in
Heaven into following him.  Up to this point in time there is no
record of there ever being a rebellion in Heaven.

Now we come to why God allowed us to be tempted.  This was a test
of loyalty. Because man hadn't eaten of the tree of life, he was
at this point not an eternal being.  

So when he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the
sentence of physical death could be carried out without there
being a guaranteed sentence of eternity in Hell. Because the
angels were eternal beings, there was no possibility for their
redemption. Thus eternity in Hell was the guaranteed sentence for
them.

Man was given the same test as the angels, temptation from Satan.
Had man won the battle, he would have proven himself to be better
than the angels, having defeated Satan.  He could have then eaten
from the tree of life, thus becoming an eternal being, and then
taken his place at the right hand of God.  

But instead man failed the test, desiring to become like God, not
dependent on God, but rather to become another God who could also
rule heaven.  This was the same temptation that caused Lucifer to
leave his place in heaven; his desire to become God.

Because of man's failure, God was faced with the choice of
allowing the race of man to continue with all falling into the
service of Satan, or to destroy the race at it's inception, or to
create a system whereby man would face temptation on all sides,
be beaten and bruised by the results of sin, and then be given an
opportunity for salvation through dependency on the God of all
creation.  God chose the latter.  

So He created a system whereby man would be born in sin, that is
to say, without the knowledge of God, independent from God in
attitude.   He would be given a temporary body to live in, what I
call a biological machine, with no life of it's own so that it
could be done away with after it had completed it's designed
purpose. 

Man would face a lifetime of being pulled on all sides away from
God, and being prevented from serving God both through the
deceptions of the sinful nature (sarkinos) and through the
constant temptations provided by the cravings of his physical
body, only to find himself living a miserable existence, a life
that would make him cry out, "Father in heaven, please free me
from  this body of sin and death and this life of misery!"  God
provided a plan for salvation, but it was available to man only
on His terms; absolute dependence on God for salvation and for
day to day living.  Some men eventually willingly agree to the
terms, others don't.

Some time after the fall, God designed a system of judgment for
man. This system was to be a tutor to teach man that he is not
independently "all powerful", but in fact needs God's protection
if he is to escape the same judgment as the devil and those who
followed him.   In its design it both showed man that he was a
sinner, and that the only method for salvation was a  blood
sacrifice from someone who had no sin.  We know this system as
the "Law of Moses."

This law was designed as a tutor to lead us to faith in Jesus
Christ.  It's purpose was to show man that he was not in control
of his own behavior.  That the harder he tried to control himself
and prove himself worthy of God, or rather, equal to God, the
more He would fail. 

It also taught us that Jesus, the only begotten Son of God who
came to earth, took on human form, did what no man was able to do
in that He met and fulfilled all the requirements of the law for
a sinless sacrifice, who then voluntarily died on the cross of
Calvary as final payment for our sins, was our only hope for
salvation both in this life and in the life to come.  This
redemption is available for all who accept the fact that we can't
overcome on our own, that we are in no way equal to God, and who
consequently accept Christ as their personal Savior.  These are
then grafted into the body of God.  The blood that flows through
the spiritual veins of this body of Christ keeping them alive is
the Holy Spirit.

The best analogy I can give you as to how this overall system God
has designed works has to do with our own immune systems.  The
angels and man are like the American Indians who met with the
early settlers in the new world.  They had no immunity built up
to the diseases of the white man. Consequently many died. The
angels and man also had no immunity built up to temptation, and
consequently many easily gave in to Lucifer with little or no
resistance.

It's different now with those of us who have been defeated many
times by trials and temptation, but have as a result come to a
saving knowledge in Christ.  In the new life, when God creates
the New Heaven and New Earth, we'll have an immunity built up, an
immunity that we are in fact seeing in our lives today, an
immunity to any possible temptations that might come our way. If
another "Lucifer" attempts to overthrow God, he'll have
difficulty finding followers, simply because we'll have already
made up our minds that we're with God and that we'll never be
equal to God.  


We'll have tasted life on both sides and already made the
decision of where our loyalties are.

So you see, everything related to our spirituality has been
designed and enforced by God to test and prove our loyalty,
whether to God or to ourselves.  

If we are loyal to ourselves the spiritual laws governing sin are
designed to tear down that attitude, teaching that such an
attitude is futile.  If we are loyal in our hearts to God the
spiritual laws governing holiness are designed to strengthen and
support that attitude.



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