For God has allowed us to know the secret of His plan and it is this, He purposed long ago in His sovereign will that all human history should be consummated in Christ, that everything that exists in heaven and earth should find its perfection and fulfillment in Him (Ephesians 1:9-10-J. B. Phillips).
The Virgin Birth was God’s way of bringing all of creation back to its original position before Adam’s sin. Jesus is called the last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45). He came to restore to us the relationship that Adam had with God, and with the earth and all of creation. He came to destroy Satan’s works and to restore to humanity all that was lost in Adam’s disobedience.
The first thing Jesus did was to restore our fellowship with God. Through the New Birth we now have boldness to approach the throne of God just as Adam did before he sinned! Our personal closeness with God is now available.
The second thing Jesus did for us was to break Satan’s dominion over our lives. Jesus defeated Satan in his own territory. He showed the spoils of His victory over the dark kingdom in the spirit world before He was resurrected (Colossians 2:15). His all authority in heaven and in earth has been given to the church. Now you and I have the same power over Satan and demonic forces that Jesus exercised.
The third thing Jesus did for us was to guarantee us a new body at the rapture of the church. God never intended that the human ever die and vacate his body. Before the fall, God’s plan was that we live in these bodies of ours for eternity. The death that sin brought is not the plan of God. Jesus conquered death and brought life and immortality back from the grave for us! At the rapture, each believer will receive a glorified body that he or she will inhabit for eternity. This body will fit us for life both in heaven and in the new earth. It will last for eternity. Read 1 Corinthians 15 for the details.
The fourth thing that Jesus did for us was to make the way for the curse that was placed on the earth when Adam sinned to be removed. This is when God through Christ rids the earth of all rebellion, judges His enemies, and returns the earth to its pristine pre-fall state. No longer will there be a curse upon anything. For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him (Revelation 22:3-NLT).
Here’s how it happens. Jesus returns to earth with the redeemed church and sets up a one thousand year reign here (Revelation 19, 20). He rules until all of His enemies are subdued (1 Corinthians 15:24-25). Then Jesus judges Satan and his forces and casts them into the Lake of Fire, their eternal abode (Revelation 20: 10). Then God judges all of the unbelievers of all ages, and they experience the second death. They are likewise cast into the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20: 11-15). They receive the same judgment as Satan their spiritual head.
Then God autoclaves the earth. He renovates it with fire (see 2 Peter 3). This cleansed earth is called the New Earth (see Revelation 21). A city called the New Jerusalem comes down from heaven and is suspended between the present heaven and earth. It’s a cube 1400 miles high, wide, and deep. There the saints of God will conduct the business of heaven and earth with the Father for eternity.
The curse is completely removed from the earth (Revelation 22:3). And we get to live here in glorified bodies for eternity. We will be able to travel back and forth between heaven, earth, and the New Jerusalem! We will reign with Him for eternity. It will be even better than life would have been if Adam had never sinned.
That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:7).
But as it is written: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God (1 Corinthians 2:9-10). Oh the wonder of the grace of God!
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