His
Twofold Purpose
"Study
to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be
ashamed, Rightly Dividing the Word of
Truth." (2 Timothy 2:15
(KJV)
Rightly Dividing His
Word reveals the Lord's twofold Purpose in His creation of the
heaven and the earth.
Have you ever noticed the
wording of the majestic statement with which the Bible opens?
“In
the beginning God created the heaven and
the earth” (Gen. 1:1).
It does not say that God
created “the universe,” but “the
heaven” and “the
earth.”
This is because God had a
special purpose for the earth quite distinct from His purpose for the rest
of the universe.
·
This purpose concerning the earth and the
nations to dwell upon it is progressively revealed in the Scriptures. We
look forward to its glorious consummation when “the
earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the
sea” — when the Christ who was crucified here shall come
into His right, reigning as King of kings and Lord of lords on earth
·
But God also
had a very special purpose concerning heaven which He kept hidden in His
own heart of love until man’s sin and rebellion had reached their
climax. Thus He then stooped down, saved the “chief of sinners” (Paul
of Tarsus) and used him to make known the wondrous secret of His purpose
to offer to all sinners everywhere, salvation
by grace through faith alone, reconciling them to Himself in one body by
the cross and giving them a present position and a future prospect in the
highest heavens.
God’s purpose
concerning the earth and
Christ’s reign upon it is the subject of prophecy
that Jesus spoke it to
Israel
(Luke 1:68-76) when they the believers
of
Israel
shall reign in righteousness on earth with Him, forever (Rev 5:10,
20:6).
Yet, His purpose
concerning the heaven and the church's exaltation and
reign (2Tim 2:12) in heaven
with Christ is the subject of “the
mystery” (Eph. 2:4-10; 3:1-4), first revealed to Paul for the
Gentile "church,
which is His body."
It is into these two
great subjects the Scriptures are basically divided.
We need to keep this view
in mind whenever we approach the Bible, else we will incorrectly
apply that which applies only to
Israel
... to "the body of Christ."
By
Arthur J Licursi with some thoughts from Cornelius Stam