| E-MAIL SERVICE | Sign me up to receive the daily Word of Righteousness free via my E-mail address! ( ONLY AVAILABLE IN ENGLISH ) | |
| ARCHIVES | I want to check out the daily Words of Righteousness for any of the last fourteen days or from previous weeks. ( ENGLISH ONLY ) | |
| FEEDBACK | I have a question or comment about today's Word of Righteousness. ( ENGLISH AND SPANISH ONLY ) | |
| BOOK LIST | I would like to see the complete book list of the Words of Righteousness author Robert B. Thompson. (SOME SPANISH TITLES AVAILABLE ) |
The Daily Word of Righteousness
Your Redemption Draws Near, #3
And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. (Genesis 2:8)
Have you ever thought much about the garden in Eden, in the area now known as the Middle East?
What did mankind forfeit? What is to be redeemed?
By obeying Satan rather than God, Adam and Eve lost the Presence of God. Adam and Eve lost Paradise. They also lost immortality in the body. The fruit of the tree of life apparently changed the chemistry of the physical body, making the body incorruptible.
What did the Jews forfeit?
Because of their continued sin and disobedience the Jews lost the blessing of God. The Jews lost the territories won by David and governed by Solomon. The Jews lost the Temple and the priestly ceremonies that took place there. They lost Jerusalem, and finally the entire land of promise.
Mankind and the Jews forfeited all that God had given them. Satan enticed them and tricked them. Mankind and the Jews need a redeemer.
The Redeemer has come. His name is Jesus. God has made Jesus both Lord and Christ.
A Redeemed People in a Redeemed World
When the Lord Jesus said, "Lift up your heads because your redemption draws near" He was speaking of a new world filled with righteous people. He was announcing the coming of a redeemed world to be inhabited by redeemed people. All that Satan has stolen is to be restored to its original and rightful owners.
The new world does not belong to angels but to mankind.
For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak. But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? (Hebrews 2:6)
Redemption as the receiving of eternal life, the Presence of God. There is a literal Heaven. There is a literal Hell. We must remember, however, that in the beginning God did not threaten Adam and Eve with Hell but with the loss of life. "In the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die," not you shall go to Hell.
The popular concept of salvation, that it is an escape from Hell and a ticket to Heaven, is certainly not the emphasis of the New Testament writings.
Paul and John do not use the term "Hell" in their epistles, which would not be the case if escape from Hell were a principal subject of the new covenant. The expression "go to Heaven" is not found in the entire King James translation of the Scriptures!.
What is stressed in the Gospels and the Epistles? Eternal life is stressed. The Lord Jesus emphasized that He came to bring us eternal life. It is eternal life that was lost originally. It is eternal life that must be redeemed from the hand of the enemy.
Eternal life is the Presence of God in us and with us.
To be continued.