Why should a series whose subject is apocalypse and disaster begin with the paradise of Eden?
The obvious answer may escape the eyes of a perishable mortal facing a life-ending disaster. In an instant we may wonder what’s next, yet in accelerated times we may not have considered what was before.
What was before me, even before man? How did I get here? Even more importantly, why am I here? Why, and what does my life have to do with my death?
Certainly disaster will ensnare many: accidents, seemingly random events which bring an unexpected end to an already brief life. That death should overtake a man or woman should not ambush any.
Yet have you considered your death, the death of man, the death of the earth upon which we walk?
If so, you may also have considered the beginnings of the same. Our hesitant conclusions about our beginnings may logically lead toward answers to our existence and inevitable conclusions. So from before Eden and paradise we begin.
Before we move forward with creation let’s just take a minute to consider what we believe. Do you believe in God?
Can you define God? In fact, you may ask, ‘Why God?’
In these last days man has observed both creation and destruction of distant universe of which we have but minuscule evidence.
DNA strand & computer-sequenced 5.5 petabits of data [Harvard research]
We have mapped mysteries of our flesh, split the stuff of our existence with fearful explosion of devastation. Yet our awestruck wonder of creation fails to comprehend —the impassable great divide
We shall consider man next and even the angels and spirits, but first consider the primordial soup of stuff from which great power formed the beginnings of all.
If you must ask what inertia from nothingness moved hydrogen twice into oxygen, then consider the power to bring both into existence. No logic states, ‘in the beginning was water’ or rock or atoms.
Who created atoms and universe? In the beginning was… something: yes, One more powerful and more intelligent; yes, even One more wise and more good than all of which we wonder in awestruck human observation.
If you must deny that things cannot create themselves, then you deny the very purpose for which God, Who IS and Was and Will BE forever, created you for this brief flash of life in our human flesh.
You are not here for nothing any more than you were created by nothing from nothing. In the beginning, God created …
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
4 God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness.
Let us confess that NO man or alien from planet yet uncreated from nothingness and NO mathematically improbable coincidental collision of primordial matter could possibly have done this!
Do you see the the light is good and must be separated from the darkness to define the glory of the light? Will you consider separating darkness which brings disaster from that light with which your life is blessed?
We with eyes to see know the glory of our creation and the defining darkness which beckons our countenance back toward the deep dark chaos opposing the light of of this life.
The LORD speaks the beginning into existence
5 God called the light “day,” and He called the darkness “night.” Evening came and then morning: the first day.
6 Then God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters, separating water from water.” 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above the expanse. And it was so. 8 God called the expanse “sky.” Evening came and then morning: the second day.
9 Then God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land “earth,” and He called the gathering of the water “seas.”
And God saw that it was good.
11 Then God said, “Let the earth produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.” And it was so. 12 The earth produced vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.
And God saw that it was good.
13 Evening came and then morning: the third day.
Light separated from darkness to celebrate God
14 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night. They will serve as signs for festivals and for days and years. 15 They will be lights in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made the two great lights—the greater light to have dominion over the day and the lesser light to have dominion over the night—as well as the stars. 17 God placed them in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth, 18 to dominate the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 Evening came and then morning: the fourth day.
The Beginning of Life on earth
20 Then God said, “Let the water swarm with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” 21 So God created the large sea-creatures and every living creature that moves and swarms in the water, according to their kinds. He also created every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 So God blessed them, “Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the waters of the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” 23 Evening came and then morning: the fifth day.
24 Then God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that crawl, and the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25 So God made the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and creatures that crawl on the ground according to their kinds.
Stand by the roadways and look. Ask about the ancient paths: Which is the way to what is good? Then take it and find rest for yourselves. But they protested, “We won’t!”
Perhaps in these last days one might ask, who wants to hear from the Lord? Yet even now, as in the days of the Prophets and fall of Jerusalem, ‘We won’t.’
Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment.
Will we even seek the presence of the Lord in humility and silence? Though we claim His righteousness we speak judgment to the nations without counsel of His Word.
“Son of man, you live among rebels who have eyes but refuse to see. They have ears but refuse to hear. For they are a rebellious people.
Have we not heard these words before, “you with eyes to see, you with ears to hear?” Yet we also remain a rebellious house, a rebellious nation, a rebellious claimant of God’s favor.
Why will we not seek God’s leading before the disaster by which the Lord will judge? What difference could it possibly make?
“Come, make us a god who will go before us because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!”
7 The Lord spoke to Moses: “Go down at once! For your people you brought up from the land of Egypt have acted corruptly. 8 They have quickly turned from the way I commanded them…
9 The Lord also said to Moses: “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people. 10 Now leave Me alone, so that My anger can burn against them and I can destroy them… But Moses interceded:
Turn from Your great anger and relent concerning this disaster planned for Your people. 13 Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel—
The Writing on the wall
The Lord has warned man, made in His Image, over the generations and millennia.
Prophets of the Lord have both pointed us backward toward our disobedience and forward to its consequences.
Ah, Lord—the great and awe-inspiring God who keeps His gracious covenant with those who love Him and keep His commands— 5 we have sinned, done wrong, acted wickedly, rebelled, and turned away from Your commands and ordinances. 6 We have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, leaders, fathers, and all the people of the land.
7 Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but this day public shame belongs to us…
11 All Israel has broken Your law and turned away, refusing to obey You. The promised curse written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, has been poured out on us because we have sinned against Him… 13 Just as it is written in the law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not appeased the Lord our God by turning from our iniquities and paying attention to Your truth.
14 So the Lord kept the disaster in mind and brought it on us, for the Lord our God is righteous in all He has done. But we have not obeyed Him.
Some indictment! Those who have claimed the Lord and righteousness have disobeyed the Lord God. Therefore God will judge our sin. Does the Lord our God not have this right – to judge sin and execute justice or show mercy?
Grace of a Cross and Judgment of all Righteousness
Some in these last days yet claim that disaster will not come upon us. Others claim that the Lord will not return. After all, it’s been a long time just like with Israel did not know what had happened to Moses.
Many claim that Christ will tolerate false teaching and false prophets, that the Lord would not punish those who put their trust in the idols of our own desires.
Yet if Jesus IS, if He IS the true and only Son of the Living God; how can the Lord not faithfully return in fulfillment of all Scripture?
How can Jesus not return once more, when He IS risen and ascended and He has prophesied a glorious eternal new Kingdom?
18 While He was praying in private and His disciples were with Him, He asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” … 20 “But you,” He asked them, “who do you say that I am?”
Peter answered,
“God’s Messiah!”
21 But He strictly warned and instructed them to tell this to no one, 22 saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and be raised the third day.”
Luke 10:18
He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like lightning…
21 Then He said to them again, “I’m going away; you will look for Me, and you will die in your sin. Where I’m going, you cannot come.” …
25 “Who are You?” they questioned.
“Precisely what I’ve been telling you from the very beginning,” Jesus told them…
33 “We are descendants of Abraham,” they answered Him…
34 Jesus responded, “I assure you: Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin…
42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, because I came from God and I am here…
58 Jesus said to them, “I assure you: Before Abraham was, I am.”
He IS before those who prophesied, before David and Moses and Abraham. Jesus IS before Eden and before Adam, created in His Very Image!
And as the Lord has promised, He will return. Sin and death will reign no more. All flesh living and dead will be judged and all souls will bow before Him, making account for our sins or proclaiming His own Sacrifice for those He loves.
Jesus IS Lord. He has saved us from sin and death to dwell in His love forever and ever.
As these last days draw to a close, we will examine predictions of His certain return, God willing.
What witness of the ascension of the risen Christ shall we share? Our witness of Christ two-thousand and some years after the resurrection and ascension is different than first century believers. Some, but not all, had had encounters with the risen Christ! Many were Jews and some Gentiles, just the inverse of 21st century witness. When the Apostles had stood in awe observing Jesus’ ascension into the clouds it brought them to worship for days.
Christ IS risen and He will return! And thousands upon thousands first century followers believed from hearing first-hand witness of Jesus by others. Good News of Jesus was proclaimed by men and women from every walk of life.
Jews, Gentiles, Samaritans; rich and poor, soldiers, merchants, lepers, the working class and religious leaders; Greeks, travelers, tax collectors; Romans,shepherds and foreigners… yes, even women and children.
And all had heard first-hand witness of Christ! They heard from those who knew Lazarus or from witnesses to other miracles; diverse followers the Way of Christ Jesus.
Luke the physician is one of these witnesses and a Gentile who records witness and proof of Christ Jesus. This current series has focused on Luke’s two-part history from first-hand interviews and written testimony. His introductions to the Gospel and Acts point to the motivation of Luke’s writing.
Luke 1 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Many have undertaken to compile a narrative about the events that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as the original eyewitnesses and servants of the word handed them down to us. 3 It also seemed good to me, since I have carefully investigated everything from the very first, to write to you in an orderly sequence, most honorable Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things about which you have been instructed.
Events of the first century recorded by a Gentile physician. Why?
Think of it as a chronicle of witnessed history recorded for the certainty of the nations and generations to come. We have certainty that Christ was born a man, Immanuel, God with us. The Cross becomes realization that Christ died for sinners; sinners Jew and Gentile; sinners then and sinners now.
Luke chronicles an eye witness of the Good News. Christ Jesus IS Risen!
Jesus IS risen from death on a Cross and then forty days later He ascends into the clouds. For forty days the risen Christ Jesus continued to instruct the Disciples in His fulfillment of Scripture and a new covenant with believers.
Luke 24:
26 Didn’t the Messiah have to suffer these things and enter into His glory?” 27 Then beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted for them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.
Then forty days after His bodily resurrection, Jesus departs once more, this time not by uncertain death on a cross, but ascending in certain victory.
The Ascension of Jesus
50 Then He led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up His hands He blessed them. 51 And while He was blessing them, He left them and was carried up into heaven. 52 After worshiping Him, they returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 53 And they were continually in the temple complex praising God.
END – Luke’s Book I, Continued in Book II – The Acts of the Apostles
I wrote the first narrative, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach 2 until the day He was taken up, after He had given orders through the Holy Spirit to the apostles He had chosen. 3 After He had suffered, He also presented Himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during 40 days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
The Holy Spirit Promised
4 While He was together with them, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father’s promise…
7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or periods that the Father has set by His own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
The Ascension
9 After He had said this, He was taken up as they were watching, and a cloud took Him out of their sight.
Luke then proceeds to record the miraculous events of Pentecost caused by their receiving the Holy Spirit.
4 Then they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different languages, as the Spirit gave them ability for speech.
5 There were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 When this sound occurred, a crowd came together and was confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language.
Peter then preaches a Spirit-filled sermon convicting the hearers of the word.
37 When they heard this, they came under deep conviction[m] and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles: “Brothers, what must we do?”
38 “Repent,” Peter said to them, “and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
Three-thousand converts that day! But it gets even better.
Luke’s witness continues with the conversion of the church’s most zealous Jewish persecutor, Saul. And later Luke recounts conversations with the Apostles, more miracles and he details Paul’sjourneys as Apostle to the Gentiles.
It is written
Beloved remnant of scriptural faith, perhaps you had not anticipated our journey’s end. For we began with Resurrection, moving to Ascension then Pentecost.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John is certain! Yet this series we close with forgotten prophesy, confirmed by New Testament witness.
Could Christ have also instructed the Apostles in these fulfilled prophesies before His Ascension?
… They are striking the judge of Israel
on the cheek with a rod.
2 Bethlehem Ephrathah,
you are small among the clans of Judah;
One will come from you
to be ruler over Israel for Me.
His origin is from antiquity,
from eternity.
Luke records: 4 And Joseph also went … to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David.. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 Then she gave birth to her firstborn Son..
Luke’s Gospel also witnesses: 63 The men who were holding Jesus started mocking and beating Him. 64 After blindfolding Him, they kept asking, “Prophesy! Who hit You?”
And the Apostle John records an incident in the Temple and Jesus’ witness to Jewish authorities. Consider the words of Micah 5:2 with which these Temple officials should have been familiar.
12 Then Jesus spoke to them again: “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows Me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.”
13 So the Pharisees said to Him, “You are testifying about Yourself. Your testimony is not valid.” …
21 Then He said to them again, “I’m going away; you will look for Me, and you will die in your sin. Where I’m going, you cannot come.” …
He told them, “I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 Therefore I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”
25 “Who are You?” they questioned.
“Precisely what I’ve been telling you from the very beginning,” Jesus told them…
28 So Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing on My own…
42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, because I came from God and I am here. For I didn’t come on My own, but He sent Me.43 Why don’t you understand what I say?
54 “If I glorify Myself,” Jesus answered, “My glory is nothing. My Father—you say about Him, ‘He is our God’—He is the One who glorifies Me…
56 Your father Abraham was overjoyed that he would see My day; he saw it and rejoiced.” …
Christ died. Jesus IS risen and His ascension confirms what the He told officials of the Temple. These same words of the LORD confirmed to Israel through Moses His very eternity.
Jesus’ ascension confirms the ONE who sent Him. Surely our Lord will return as is His promise. And we can know with certainty that Christ’s eternal reign draws near in these last days.
Amen,
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Perhaps in these last days one might ask, who wants to hear from the Lord? Yet even now, as in the days of the Prophets and fall of Jerusalem, ‘We won’t.’
“Come, make us a god who will go before us because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!”
