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BORNAGAIN
(Continuedfrom paf!,e 3)
"the Kingdom" is sorne mysterious
ethereal nothing "in men's hearts."
Jesus said. "The time is fulfilled.
and the kingdom of God is at
hand."
What did He mean? WHY had
this Message never been proclaimed
before? The answer rcquires a pre–
history background.
There Was Once Peace on Earth
It
isn't popular today to mention 1he
existence of a devil. But the Bible.
again and again, puts great empha–
sis on the presence of a reaL literal
devil.
Bíblica! revela1ion shows that
originally this earth was a place of
PEACE. happiness - a real utopía.
lt
was then ruled by thc GovERNMENT
OF Goo. That Government will be
once again RESTORED (Acts 3:20-21)
by Christ returning to earth in th e
supreme POWER and GLORY ofGod!
But what happened? WHY don't
we have that Government now?
Why
is there no PEACE on earth?
Whcn lhe earth was originally
crcated, the angels shouted for JOY!
(Job 38:7.) It was beautiful. 1t was
PEACEFUL.
lt
was populatcd by an–
gcb - not then by humans. h was
governed by the GOVERNMENT OF
Goo. There was a super archangel
- a cherub named Lucifer (meaning
"bringer of UGHT") -
one
of two
cherubim whose wings stretched
over the very throne of God in
heaven. Lucifer was thoroughly
trained in the administration of the
GOVERNMENT OF Goo (lsa. 14:12-
14: Ezek. 28: 12-17).
God governs by His spiritual Law
- a Law based on the principie of
LOVE. Love. first. to God with sub–
mission and obedience. and sec–
ondly to His creatures - the way of
outgoing concern for the good and
welfare of others. But Luci fer's
heart was lifted up in vani1y. be–
cause of his beau1y and vasl knowl–
edge. He rebelled against God,
mutinied. set out to organize his an–
gels into an invading army and 10
conquer GoD - in order 10 rule the
en1ire vast UNIVERSE. This removed
The
PLAIN TRUTH February 1977
the Government of God from the
earlh. But also it disqualified Luci–
fer as earth's ruler. However. the
very principie of God's Government
req uires that the ruler retain office
until
a successor qualifies
and is in–
ducted into office.
Lucifer's name was changed to
Satan. the devil. His angels became
demons. As a result of this universa l
rebellion on earth, universal de–
struction and chaos struck the sur–
face of the earth. In six days God re–
shaped the earth's surface (Genesis
1). creating fauna and flora - and
MAN!
When Man Appeared
God formed MAN, not after any ani–
mal kind. but in God's own likeness
- not of spirit composition as is
God. but of material flesh and
blood. The first man. Adam. father
of the human race, allowed Satan's
altitude of REBEl.LION 10 enler his
hcart , failing to qualify as Satan's
successor.
When Jesus was baptized by John
(Mark 1:9-11 ), immediately He un–
derwent the most titanic struggle
ever. in His temptation by the devil
(verses 12- 13; Malt. 4: 1- 11).
Jesus had come to qualify to re–
place Satan - to rcstore the Gov–
ernment of God on earth. and bring
back WORLD PEACE! But. as the first
Adam had undergone and suc–
cumbed to Satan's temptation, Jesus
had to face and ovcrcome this dis–
qualified Satan.
Jesus underwent this test under
the most trying and difficult condi–
tions possible. He had been almost
totally depleted of physica1 strength
by fasting 40 days and nights - no
food and no water! Yet even in this
physical weakness. He was made thc
Stronger SPIRITUALI..Y.
Few have ever realized 1he stu–
pendous struggle that took place in
lhat crucial temptation. Jesus re–
sisted Satan's supreme temptations.
He did it by quoting Scripture and
OBEYING Goo. He
proved
under the
maximum possible test that He
would obey God's laws and admin–
ister God's GOVERNMENT faithfully.
Then, in utter physical weakness but
supreme spiritua1 st rength, He
proved He was Satan's Master. by
g1vmg Satan a crisp command to
leave - and the defeated Satan
slunk away!
Then (Mark 1: 14), having qua1i –
fied for the executive administralion
of the Governmcnt of God on earth.
Jesus carne into Galilee. saying, as
quoted above. "The time is fulfilled,
and the kingdom of God is at
hand"! (Verse 15.)
WHY the News Was NEW
How was the time fulfilled?
WHY was the Kingdom of God
then at hand - and not before?
Simply because the wonderful
news of the coming Kingdom of
God could not be announced UNTIL
a successor had QUALIFIED lo re–
place Satan as earth's ruler!
At last the Kingdom of God -
Goo's GovERNMENT over the earth
- was at hand! At last, it was as–
sured, and the time was fu1filled!
The One who had qualified to rule
the earth was now free to announcc
His coming Government!
WHY Kingdom Not Yet Set Up
Yet Jesus was not going 10
take over
the reign immediate1y. There were a
number of reasons:
1) God had set a definí te PLAN.
with a definite time-program. for
working out His PURPOSE here be–
low! It is a 7.000-year plan of seven
míllennia1 "days." of which the first
seven literal days of re-creation
were a type. The first six of these
millennia were allotted for man,
of his own free vo1ition (though
swayed by Satan) lo go
his
own way.
Also, in effect, they were allotted as
the six millennial "days" for Satan's
"labor" of deceplion over humanity.
to be followed by the millennia1
"Sabbath." in which Satan will ob–
serve
enforced
rest from his work of
deceiving the nations, and God will
teach humanity Hts TRUTH!
2) Jesus. in God's PLAN. was first
to choose and teach discip1es to be–
come apost1es. to carry on the proc–
lamation of the Gooo NEWS - and
to become the foundation of His
Church.
3) Christ is going to set up a world
government over all earth's nations
on ly with the administration of a
thoroughly trained and experienced
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