Isaiah prophesied of the coming Prince of Peace, and the angel, Gabriel, prophesied at the birth of Christ, "Peace on Earth." There was peace on Earth in the Garden of Eden, but it didn't last long. Throughout human history, there has been very little peace, only "wars and rumors of wars." Animosity pervades nature and the animal kingdom, as well as almost all marriages, which are doomed with antagonisms. Harmonious Rapport in Marriage all but ended in the Garden. Even the angels fight. Yet, God's prophetic plan is to bring peace on Earth for a thousand years and to provide peace in the Eternal State for all Eternity.
The major theme of the Bible is God's Gracious Love relationship with mankind. The love relationship begins with Salvation and is fulfilled in Spiritual Rapport with God. Spiritual Rapport with God is analogous to harmonious rapport in Marriage. So long as there was Spiritual Rapport with God in the Garden of Eden, there was harmonious rapport between Adam and his wife. However, when they sinned, there was no peace in the Marriage or outside. Even the animals became wild, and God cursed the plants.After the Garden peace became the prophecy of God and the dream of mankind. Peace with God was achieved in Salvation, but the Old Sin Nature wrought havoc with rapport between God and man. Internally, there was friction with the Sin Nature and externally there was war with the evil hoards who were inspired by Satan, the evil genius of angelic creation. "Wars and rumors of wars" persisted in human history.
Marriage in the human race became a short-lived love relationship and a lifetime of conflict. There was no peace in the home or outside. Yet, the Divine Institution of Marriage was designed to symbolize the Love relationship between God and mankind. Spiritual Rapport with God was the ultimate Love relationship, though for most it remained an elusive dream. Speaking of harmonious rapport with her Shepherd Lover, the Shulamite woman said, "Then I became in his eyes like one who finds peace" (SOS 8:10b). Here, "peace" refers to harmonious rapport, which symbolizes Spiritual Rapport as well as the peace on Earth during the Millennium and in the Eternal State.
Isaiah prophesied of the coming Prince of Peace, and Gabriel declared, "Peace on Earth" at the birth of Christ. However, there could be no peace in harmony with evil. In order to have peace, evil would have to be destroyed. The absolute Righteousness of God can only exist in the absence of evil. So, before Millennial peace can come, the evil hoards will have to be annihilated and Satan's Cosmic System removed from the Earth. Only God can provide peace, not the lying politicians, who proclaim, "Peace! Peace! when there is no peace." The Cross must precede the Crown. Sin must be Judged before Righteousness can reign. Peace prospers only when its enemies are dead. Before God can provide peace on Earth, the enemies of peace will have to the destroyed at the Second Advent and Judged in the Baptism of Fire, and Satan and his demons will have to be removed.
God's prophetic purpose is to provide peace on Earth. He will fulfill His prophecy in due time. But first, the Church must be completed because the Church is the Bride of Christ. After the Church is resurrected, the arch enemies of peace, the Evil King and Prostitute of Babylon, must be destroyed in the Tribulation. Then the enemies of peace must be annihilated in the War of Armageddon, and Satan and his demons must be removed from the Earth. Even so, there will be limits to the peace on Earth during the Millennium due to man's Old Sin Nature, which will still exist. When the Old Sin Nature is finally gone and all the enemies of peace have been Judged in the Lake of Fire, there will finally be peace for all Eternity in the Eternal State.
In the meantime, the Church Age believer with the indwelling and filling of the Holy Spirit has the potential of reaching Spiritual Rapport and being blessed with harmonious rapport in the midst of the devil's world. The Christian has an opportunity to demonstrate the power of the greatest Spiritual Life of all human history. One of the productions of the Holy Spirit is peace and prosperity. The purpose of every Church Age believer is to reach Spiritual Maturity and advance to Spiritual Rapport in order to glorify God to the maximum. Christians in Spiritual Rapport have peace with God and harmonious rapport with mankind in the midst of Satan's Cosmic System. Though the fulness of blessing of peace on Earth will not occur until the Millennium, the Christian can have his own portion of it now in the Church Age.
Peace in Eden
Abraham
The Tabernacle
David the Warrior
Solomon Peace and Prosperity
Song of Solomon
Prophecy - Savior, 2nd Advent, Millennium
False Prophets
Incarnation - Cross Precedes the Crown
The Church - Bride and Royal Family
Tribulation
Second Advent
Millennium
Eternal State
Adam was created trichotomous, with a body, soul, and human spirit. He was created in the "image" of God, which means he was a representation and representative of the triune God. There was no sin or evil in his life and nothing to hinder fellowship with God. He had a mind for rational thinking, a heart that was capable of receiving and expressing love, and a volition for the expression of free will. He was able to communicate with man, God, and angels.
Adam was created perfect for the role he was designed to fulfill. In his Spiritual life he had to take the tree test. He had to obey God's command not to eat of the forbidden fruit.
God made for Adam the perfect mate. He built his Right Woman and blessed his Marriage to her. Adam and 'Ishah, enjoyed a perfect Marriage with perfect love and a perpetual honeymoon. They enjoyed harmonious rapport. They were quite content in their love life and were never bored. They were happy with each other and never wanted anything else until Satan entered the picture. The love relationship of Adam and 'Ishah in Marriage symbolized the Love relationship between God and the two perfect members of the human race.
The Spiritual life of Adam and the woman in the Garden
was quite simple. They took the tree test daily. As long as
they did not eat of the forbidden fruit, they were free to enjoy the blessings
of life in the Paradise of the Garden of Eden. The Lord came to Garden
and taught them face-to-face. They enjoyed fellowship with Him, and
God was free to bless them. Their relationship with God was a state
of Spiritual Rapport in which they glorified God to the maximum.
God was glorified by their obedience to His command and their fellowship
with Him.
By way of definition: Spiritual Rapport
is harmony between the believer and God in which God gives Grace blessing
in full and the believer has peace with God. In Spiritual Rapport
God is free to bless the mature believer compatible with his role in life
and the believer is able to glorify God to the maximum. Adam and
the woman did not have to be promoted to this rank. They were created
perfect in the "image" and "likeness" of God. There was nothing to
hinder God from having fellowship with them in Spiritual Rapport and blessing
them to the maximum. After the Fall, Spiritual Rapport would be difficult
to achieve because of the Old Sin Nature, but Adam and the woman were created
perfect in a state of Spiritual Rapport. Spiritual Rapport is the
ultimate Love relationship between the Lord and the mature believer.
It is a state of full blessing from God and glorification of God to the
maximum.
Man
in Spiritual Rapport was still no match for the evil genius of Satan.
Satan began to work on the woman through her pet serpent and soon convinced
her to eat of the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:6).
She ate the fruit and died spiritually, and then gave the fruit to her
husband and he ate and died spiritually. Spiritual death replaced
Spiritual Rapport.
In spiritual death the Judgment of God replaced the Love of God, and Hardness of the Heart (scar tissue of the soul) blocked the Light of God and left the soul in darkness. The hearts of the man and woman were hardened toward each other. The perfect Marriage had failed. The peace between the man and the woman ended when they sinned. The Justice of God had to condemn the sin. The man and the woman were Judged with Spiritual death. They were kicked out of the Garden. Perfect environment ended, and the Earth was polluted. The Edenic Covenant of peace was replaced by the Adamic Covenant, which defined the new rules for life outside the Garden. The Lord promised a solution to the sin problem, however. A Savior would pay for sins and provide Salvation for mankind (Genesis 3:15). Adam and the woman accepted the offer of the Savior and were born again Spiritually. However, they were left with an Old Sin Nature, and would have to bear the consequences of their actions.
Adam and the woman picked up the pieces outside the Garden and began the long trek of the human race back to the peace of Eden. This was like the impossible dream. The environment was polluted. The land grew weeds. The animals were cursed and became wild. The Adamic Covenant made Adam the authority over his wife, but it also predicted friction from the woman's desire to usurp his authority just as Satan had tried to usurp God's authority. The peaceful bliss of Eden had ended, and the rest of human history would be a quest to restore the peace of the original Creation. But that peace would not be fully realized until the heavens and the Earth were completely destroyed and replaced with the Eternal State (Heaven).
After he became a believer, Abraham left Ur of the Chaldeans and settled in Canaan. He separated from the world to find peace in his new Spiritual Life, but he called himself a "stranger and sojourner" in Canaan. Even with his Right Woman, he never found the peace he wanted in Canaan. He went down to Egypt for a while, and Pharaoh took Sara1 from him. Abraham faced the heartache of Compatibility Testing. He did not have harmonious rapport in his Marriage. His wife was rightly named Sara, which means contentious or bossy. He also married Hagar, who bore him Ishmael, but Ishmael was a "wild ass" of a man who had to be run off along with his mother.
Abraham eventually had harmony with Sarah when he reached Spiritual Maturity. Her name was changed to Sarah, which means princess. She finally learned to respect Abraham's authority. Abraham was promised a son and a great nation. He received the son at age 100, but he died without seeing the great nation. He thought of himself as a "stranger and sojourner" on the Earth and lived in a tent even though he could have afforded a castle. He lived in a tent because he understood the doctrine of Heaven where God would build for him a city. The city would last forever, and in it, he would finally have the peace for which he longed.
The Tabernacle was "a model and a shadow-type of heavenly things" (Hebrews 8:5). The Tabernacle with the Tribes camped around it in the Exodus became the pattern for Client Nation Israel in the Promised Land. It will also be the pattern for Client Nation Israel in the Millennium as well as the pattern for the Eternal State with the Heavenly Jerusalem and the New Earth.
The Old Testament prophets did not clearly distinguish between the Millennium and the Eternal State. Instead, they often ran together. The Davidic Covenant and the Covenant of Peace are said to be an Everlasting Covenant (Ezekiel 37:25-28). They saw the Millennium as extending into eternity. They expected to live on the Earth for eternity, which will indeed be true. However, it will be a new kind of Earth as explained in Revelation (Revelation 21:1-2). Since the Church was not revealed in the Old Testament, the prophets were blind to the Royal Family of God (the Church), the order of Resurrections, and the Heavenly Jerusalem from which the Lord will rule the Earth in the Eternal State (Heaven).
After the Tower of Babel was destroyed, the idea of peace on earth continued under various guises. Dictators tried to conquer the world, and kings made peace treaties to avoid war. They cried, "Peace, Peace" when there was no peace. False prophets from the religious community quickly proclaimed pacifism in lieu of war. Both the kings and the false prophets fell for the devil's lie. As soon as the Davidic Covenant promised a Millennial Kingdom, Satan redoubled his efforts to usher in a false millennium under one of his religions apart from fulfilling the unconditional covenants to Israel.
"Glory to God in the highest! And on Earth peace among mankind, with whom He (God) is well-pleased." (Luke 2:14)God the Father was glorified in the birth of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. God was in Heaven. The newborn Son was on Earth among mankind, whom God had graced out. "Peace among mankind" has nothing to do with world peace. The word, "peace," is the Greek eijrhvnh (eirene), which corresponds to the Hebrew <olv* (shalom). Peace refers to the relationship between God and mankind at Salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ came to pay for the sins of the world to provide Salvation for all mankind. Those who believed in Jesus Christ would receive the free gift of Eternal Life and have peace with God. God was offering mankind peace through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:14-18; 6:15; Colossians 1:20).
The Gospel message of peace on earth related to Salvation was, however, distorted by the religious Jews, who wanted to crown Jesus Christ King and usher in the Millennium. They wanted a deliverer from the Romans, not a Spiritual relationship with God. They misunderstood that Messiah must first pay for the sins of the world. The Cross must precede the crown. Before the Lord could fulfill the Davidic Covenant, He must become the Savior by going to the Cross as foretold by the animal sacrifices in the Tabernacle.
Those who proclaim peace on earth today have the same problem. World peace will not occur until the Millennium. The Covenant of Peace of the Millennium cannot occur until the peace of Reconciliation with God occurs at Salvation. Salvation requires a solution to the problem of sin. Mankind must be freed from slavery to sin in order to have Salvation. God cannot have a Love relationship with sin. Nor can He have a relationship with Spiritual death, unrighteousness, or human mortality. These problems were solved by the Lord Jesus Christ, the new Savior, who was able to offer Eternal Life to all who would believe in Him.
I was a wall,The Pauline epistles usually begin with the Apostolic greeting, or salutation:
And my breasts were like towers;
Then I became in his eyes
Like one who finds peace. (SOS 8:10)And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall garrison your hearts and your thinking by means of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7)
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:2)Grace is God's policy toward mankind. Grace is the free gift of God. Peace is Spiritual production in the believer from response to the Grace of God. The believer who responds to the Grace of God will receive the peace of God and will come to know the "God of peace" (Philippians 4:9).
The removal of Satan and his demons from the earth will enable the Millennium to proceed with perfect environment and without interference from Satan's Cosmic System. There could be no peace on the earth during the Millennium so long as the Devil ruled the world. Thus, the Tribulation is necessary to destroy Satan's evil Cosmic System in preparation for the Millennial rule of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Peace is only possible when the enemies of peace are dead.The only way to have world peace is to kill the enemies of peace. Thus, the Armageddon War will be necessary before the world peace of the Millennium can occur. Furthermore, in the Baptism of Fire which follows, unbelievers will be taken off the earth and sent to Hell to await their final Judgment. Only believers will be allowed to go into the Millennium. Here again, there could be no peace on earth among unbelievers ruled by Old Sin Natures. They would turn into criminals and slaves of sin and corruption. The only hope for world peace will be to start with good - not evil.
Satan will be let out of prison near the end of the Millennium. He will start the Gog Revolution, which the Lord will destroy with fire from Heaven, and Satan will be thrown into the Lake of Fire. Unbelievers will be Judged at the Great White Throne and thrown into the Lake of Fire. Then the entire Universe will be destroyed, and a New Heaven and a New Earth will be created for the Eternal State, which is also known as Heaven.
Then I saw a New Heaven and a New Earth, for the first Heaven and the first Earth passed away; and the sea no longer exists. (Revelation 21:1)The word, "New," is the Greek kainov" (kainos), which means new in kind. The New Heaven and New Earth will be built of a different kind of material than the current heavens and Earth. The new kind of material will never grow old and never be destroyed because it will be eternal and not able to be changed. The new material will not be related to energy per E = mc2.
In the Eternal State, Church Age believers will live in the New Jerusalem along with God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Elect Angels.
And I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from the source of God, having been prepared as the bride who has been adorned for her husband. (Revelation 21:2)
The
New Jerusalem will be a new kind of Jerusalem. The word, "New," is
kainos,
for new in kind. The New Jerusalem is also known as the Heavenly
Jerusalem (Gal
4:26; 2 Ti 4:18; Heb 12:22; 13:10-14). The Heavenly Jerusalem
will be a huge city 1,378 miles in length, width, and height. The
streets will be paved with a gold, crystalline element. The city
wall will be made of diamond, and gates of pearl will be named for the
12 Tribes of Israel. The city will rest on 12 foundation stones of
precious gems that represent the 12 Apostles of the Church. A river
will flow from the Throne of God through a garden, and the Tree of Life,
which bears 12 types of fruit, will be on each side of the river.
The Throne Room, Heavenly
Control Room, where God resides will be in the city, and the Lord Jesus
Christ will sit on the Throne. The whole Earth will be will be lighted
with Light from God, and there will be no night.
The Heavenly Jerusalem will be the eternal home of the Church and not Israel. The Church is the Royal Family, the Bride of Christ. Israel, the divorced wife of Jehovah, rejected this. Israel will live on the New Earth in the nation that surrounds the Heavenly Jerusalem. Cities of the New Earth will also be prefabricated and be named for patriarchs like Abraham and Moses. Gentile nations will be located beyond the border of Israel. The gates of the Heavenly Jerusalem will remain open, and the kings of the earth will be allowed to come in and visit. Church Age believers will live in the Heavenly Jerusalem with roles and responsibilities according to their eternal rewards earned in this life. Winner Believers will have special roles and privileges, such as being allowed to eat of the fruit of the Tree of Life.
Released February 9, 2005 - Revised September 23, 2013
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