SONS OF GOD

THE SONS OF GOD

                Before the fall of mankind, heaven and earth occupied the same space. Zion was both a place in heaven and on earth. The mountain of God and the Garden of God are said to be in heaven, but they were also on the earth. And the reason the land of Israel and particularly Jerusalem as such a hot topic to this day is because God’s plan is to heal the rift, the separation that took place at the fall thus bringing heaven and earth together again.

                This is why it is hard to distinguish at times whether the Bible is talking about heaven or earth when it mentions things like Zion, or the mountain of God or the garden of God or the city of God. These locations seem interchangeable and likewise with the tabernacle in heaven where our High Priest now ministers on our behalf. For God told Moses to build the earthly tabernacle after the heavenly pattern that He had shown Moses on the mount.

                According to Dr. Michael Heiser, one of the world’s foremost experts on ancient biblical languages as well as Jewish sages, when God said, “Let us make man in our image.” This is God sharing His plans with His divine council, the sons of God, the angels or heavenly hosts.

                Job 38:7 tells us that during creation, or probably more particularly when God shared His plans with the divine council the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy.”

                Into His newly created physical universe God was about to create a new creature uniquely designed to occupy both the physical and the spiritual realms. This new creation must have been intensely interesting to the sons of God. After all, the angels are sons of God as well, created in His image. And as Jesus told the woman at the well: God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:24.

                Again Hebrews 1:14 tells us that angels are ministering spirits sent forth to minister to the heirs of salvation. But now, in the creation of the physical universe, God is going to do a new thing. He is going to create a creature that is a spirit being just like they are, but he is going to give this being a physical body made up of the elements of the physical creation. What would this new creature be like? How would he look? The curiosity of heaven was piqued.

                It was a sad day in heaven when Adam and Eve defected. It caused a separation between the Spirit of God and the Spirit of man and in that spiritual sense Adam and Eve died instantly. Death is separation from God and this death happened the very day that Adam and Eve chose Satan as their new god.

                Likewise the entire physical creation experienced the same separation so that the Garden of God in heaven was separated from the Garden of God on earth and the same with the mountain of God and the Tree of life and the river of God and all the rest of it, for they all have or had their corresponding location here on earth in Eden and Eden was located in the Promised Land. The mountain of God and the Garden of God were in Jerusalem on the mountain of God...

                So, shortly after the flood, God called a man named Abram out of Ur of the Chaldees and started him on a life- long trek towards that very location where Eden had been and where the mountain of God had been and the city of God and the Garden of God. On that very spot God would build His kingdom and it would be upon that very spot where God would restore all things so that in the end, heaven and earth will reunite and that which is in heaven and that which is on earth will once again occupy the same space… the same dimension.

                Am I making this clear enough? The contest over the land of Israel and the city Jerusalem is an infinitely bigger issue than Israel verses the Palestinians, or Muslim verses Jew. This land is contested because it belongs to God and Satan wants it and he wants to rule the earth in the place of Christ and he wants to be worshipped as God… and having gained ownership of the human race he is not about to give it up. He won it fair and square.

                Christianity has done a poor job of putting two and two together. The vast majority of Christians have no clue as to what I am telling you right now. So they deal on a blinded level. Some hate the Jews and some love the Jews. Some side with the Jews and some side with the Palestinians and in a very real sense they are both wrong. They are both wrong because they do not see the real contest. This is a spiritual battle over ownership of the mountain of God and who will reign there.

                The Messiah is supposed to build the true temple as described in Ezekiel, but they are jumping the gun… taking it into their own hands… building a third temple in hopes that Messiah will come and honor their works and occupy the temple. But to their shock and amazement the temple is going to be occupied instead by the enemy of Christ, the antichrist as he is possessed by Satan.

                It is not until he commits the Abomination of Desolation in the temple, calling himself God that the horrified Jews will flee the city and rush to the mountains just as Jesus describes it in Mt. 24 and elsewhere.  And they are to pray that this escape doesn’t happen on a Sabbath day or in the winter. But why? It is because on Sabbath Israel is basically shut down. The freeways are empty. Everything comes to a standstill on Shabbat as worshippers come to Jerusalem. Likewise it will be extremely difficult for mothers carrying small children or nursing babies and almost impossible if it is winter time.

                So replacement theology has taken the focus off of literal Israel, and in the process they have also lost sight of the real battle. And if we would put two and two together as we should we would come to understand that the last great battle, the Battle of Armageddon will be fought in the Holy Land and it will be the final battle over Jerusalem and Jesus Christ Himself is going to fight that battle. (See Zech. 14: 1-5, Rev. 16:13-16) and it happens again 1000 years later when Satan is released from the abyss ( See Rev. 20:8) to deceive the nations once again into taking the beloved camp of the saints and the city of God. (Guess which city that is.) Jerusalem of course and Satan arouses people from the nations which Rev. 20:8 tells us are in the four corners of the earth.

                Ever since heaven and earth were separated this battle over the mountain of God has raged on and throughout history Satan has placed his human counterparts there. The inhabitants of Canaan were planted there and they were Nephilim giants. What was Satan trying to do? HE was trying to prevent God’s people from coming back into the disputed territory and to occupy the City of God. He knew that somehow he would be defeated there, because Gen’ 3:15 says so.

                And sure enough, Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God came to His own people in His own land on the mountain of God and there He paid the price for the sins of mankind and there He defeated Satan and right in that same spot where mankind fell. He brought salvation by His death and resurrection. And right on that very spot in the end time Jesus is going to overthrow the kingdom of Satan that now occupies His land and Jesus is going to defeat them at the final battle of Armageddon and then He is going to ride into Jerusalem on a white horse and take up His millennial reign.

                By the way we often talk about meeting each other at the eastern gate of the city. Well, are we talking about heaven or earth? There is an eastern gate into the city in literal Jerusalem and there is an eastern gate in heaven. Which one are we talking about then when we plan to meet our friends there?

                I say it is both earth and heaven, for when the saints enter through the eastern gate, heaven and earth will be reunited once again.

                Jesus is going to cleanse the earth and prepare it for the reuniting of heaven and earth into one location once again as it was before the fall…. And this is the purpose for the millennial reign of Christ. The curses must be broken and the land cleansed once again from the defilement of sin.

                We often picture heaven as being far away in some distant galaxy, but this is not true. Heaven is right here, but separated by a thin veil in another dimension invisible to us, but close. None of those who were caught up into heaven say anything about travelling thousands or millions of lightyears through space. Heaven is just a blink away… on a higher plain… and yet if we are born again we can be seated with Him in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:6.

                The kingdom of God is not far away, but near us, even in our mouths as we speak. (Rom. 10”6-9) So we who are born again, even though we are still physically in this fallen Kingdom, we have died spiritually to Satan’s kingdom and we have been born again into the kingdom of the New Adam and so by faith we occupy unfallen territory and it is by this Spirit of Christ that we are learning to live rather than the spirit of this world.

                So when it comes to our salvation as well as when it comes to Jerusalem we tend to think way too small. Yes, the people, whether Jews or Palestinians or the Pope and the New world Order… we forget that these are merely the visible players in a much bigger contest between Christian and Satan as to who will reign on the throne if Israel . If Satan, the entire physical creation and mankind with it, will be lost forever… but if Jesus Christ, then He will restore all things as promised and the kingdoms of this world will once again become the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ and in this kingdom, we who have chosen Him will reign at His side until all of His enemies, including death and hell have been conquered forever. Then and only then will we enter eternity.

                We tend to think too small about the creation of the new heavens and the new earth as well. We picture God destroying the universe as we know it and starting creation all over again, but is that true? In reality all God has to do is to reunite the physical and the spiritual kingdoms and when He does the elements will melt with a fervent heat and in its place will appear the eternal universe, now fused once again with the presence of God so that entropy and death will no longer apply as the universe is rendered secure forever.

                Can you see the importance of our marriage to Christ… our becoming one with Him… our being born again of imperishable seed? Here again our thinking has been way too small. We have thought that we can convert people to our religion, our list of doctrines, our prophetic interpretations, but as Paul said in Phil 3:1-14, all of this is but dung or rubbish compared to knowing Christ. It is our personal encounter with Jesus Christ that transforms us and makes us citizens of heaven… not a list of doctrines. Mental agreement with the facts will not save us. Salvation is a supernatural encounter with the living Christ who now operates as our High Priest in heavenly places.

                As amazing as it may seem… in spite of the fall of mankind and the separation that resulted, we have been invited through Jesus Christ to become once again sons of God. And when this happens, heaven and earth will be joined together again. Mt. Zion in heaven will reunite with Mt. Zion on earth. The Garden of Eden and the Tree of Life and the River of life will once again occupy the same dimension and Jesus will be Lord over all.

                This is why Romans 8:19 tells us that it is with anxious longing that creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. On that day heaven and earth will be rejoined, for even the physical creation itself, which was subjected to futility, entropy and death will once again become one in Christ. This then is the meaning behind Jesus Christ’s millennial reign. He has been our High Priest in heaven, but He is going to come back as our King, to judge the earth and along with all how have joined the rebellion, to cleanse it of sin and to prepare it to be joined to the heavenly realm once again… and all of creation is waiting eagerly for that time when sickness and sorrow and death will no longer rule over this physical universe.

                But for now, we have been called and invited to become sons and daughters of God through Jesus Christ and rather than just playing church, we should study into these things and come into cooperation with God in the restoration of all things, firstly in the kingdom of our hearts.

                I hope and pray that you will gain a greater picture of what salvation is all about and what the battle over Israel is all about, because when we understand one, we will better understand the other. Both in our hearts and in Jerusalem there is a battle going on as to who will reign there. Selah.