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for certain purposes through the
ages. They have been predestinated,
and. in due time, called into the
service of God.
Man's Awesome Potential
Now we come to the final, most
AWESOME, TRANSCENDENT potentia)
of man- the
Jarthest possible away
from one ojDOOM.
Jt was mentioned first by King
David in the eighth Psalm.
David was inspired to ask:
"WHAT IS MAN. that thou art mind–
ful of him? ... For thou hast made
him a liule lower than the angels,
and hast crowned him with glory
and honour. Thou madest him to
have dominion over the works of
thy hands; thou hast put all things
under his feet'' (Psalm
8:4-6).
But David probably did not. in
his early days, realize the FULL EX–
TENT of that glory and that domin–
ion.
lt
is explained in more detail in
Romans and in Hebrews in the New
Testament. And lest you think my
imagination is running away with
itself,
1
quote this direct from the
Bible.
Begin with Hebrews
2:5:
"For
unto the angels hath he not put in
s ubj ec tion
the world to come,
whereof we speak."
The theme
here- the context-is "the world to
come"- not this present evil world.
The implication is that angels
hove
been
in subjection over a previous
world.
Continue: " But one in a certain
place testified, saying, What is man,
that thou art mindfuJ of him? (here
quoting Psalm 8] .. . . Thou madest
him a little lower than the angels;
thou crownedst him with glory and
honour. and didst set hlm over the
works of thy hands: Thou hast put
al/ things
in subjection under his
feet. For in that he [God] put ALL in
subjection under him [man], he
[God] left NOTHING that is not put
under him" (verses 6-8). The "all
things." appearing also in Hebrews
1:3. is properly translated in the
Moffatt trans1ation as
"the Uní–
verse."
God has put - u1timately. but
not in this life-the entire endless
universe
under subjection to man.
But finish verse 8 of chapter 2: " But
now we see NOT YET all things (the
universe] put under hirn [man]."
Oh, NOT YET! But after the thou-
The
PLAIN TRUTH October-November 1977
sand years of peace under Christ ,
and after the "great white throne
judgrnent." After ALL humans ever
born have been called, granted re–
pentance if they will repent. and be–
lieved-and finally changed from
human to DIVINE!
But continue on. What DO we see
now, already? "But we see Jesus,
who was made a little lower than
the angels
for the su.ffering of death.
crowned with glory and honour;
that he by the grace of God should
taste death for every man. For it
became him. for whom are
al/ things
[the universe], and BY WHOM are
al/
things,
in bringing ma ny sons unto
· glory, to make the captain of their
salvation perfect ihrough suffer–
ings" (verses 9- 10).
In Hebrews 1, the Motfatt trans–
lation shows Jesus Christ even NOW
Man,swayed
unknowingly by Satan, is
already beginning to bring
on this greatest time of
world trouble, but God will
step in and cut it short, and
save humanity alive.
is sustaining the entire universe by
the word of His POWER!
Notice again, carefully. verse 10.
"For it became him [Christ], for
whom are all things [entire uní–
verse], and
by whom
are all things
[God the Father created the uní–
verse by Jesus Christ], in bringing
many sons unto glory ...." We
HUMANS are those sons, who become
rhrough
Christ HEIRS o f a ll God has
and co-heirs
with
Christ: become
actually BRETHREN of Chris t, now,
"in [His] bringing many sons unto
glory." You see, Christ is the CAP·
TAIN (verse lO) of our salvation. In
other words, He who was the first–
born (Rom. 8:29) among many
brethren....:..first to be BORN of God
by a RESURRECTION (Rom. 1:4)–
simply is our PIONEER who has gone
on before the rest of us into this
grea t and supreme glory. We see
NOT YET the whole uni verse under
man, but we DO see it aU UNDER
CHRIST. and sustained by the word
of H is power (Heb. 1:3).
Glorlous Llberty to Come
Now to Romans
8.
This fantastic
awesóme potential of man is made
even clearer in the book of Romans.
I shall use the Revised Standard
Version, for the King James is not
accurate- a pparently the translators
in the year 1611 simply could not
believe the Greek original COULD
mean what it plain1y says. Can you
create in your imagination a HOPE
as great as thi s?
The apost1e Paul is inspired to
write, beginning verse 18, Romans
8: "1
consider that the sufferings of
the present time are not worth com–
paring with the GLORY that is to be
revealed to us. For the CREATION
[universe] waits with eager longing
for the revealing of the sons of God
(at the resurrection, when we shall
become composed of SPIRIT]; for the
creation was subjected to futility.
not of its own will but by the will of
him who subjected it in hope; be–
cause the cre¡llion ·itself will be set
free from
its bondage to decay
and
obtain the g1orious liberty of the
children of God. We know that the
whole creation has been groaning in
travai1 together until now; and not
only the creation, but we ourselves.
who have the first fruits of the
Spirit, g roan inwardly as we wait for
adoption [our resurrected birth] as
sons, the redemption of our bodies
(from mortal ftesh and blood to im–
mortal spiri t] . For
in this hope we
were saved"
What a wonljerful, majestic, tre–
mendous hope!
That , and NOT DOOM, ÍS what
Garner Ted Armstrong and
I
pro–
claim to this world!
There may be "prophets of
doom"-but we are nor of them.
No
one else- but NO ONE- proclaims the
full truth you have read here. It's
ALL IN THE BIBLE- and the Bible is
THE WORD OF ÜOD.
Jt's the mOS( WONDERFUL HOPE
your eyes ever read! Not DOOM- but
qualifying to remake and beautify the
universe!
1
believe it and look for–
ward in joyful anticipation to it.
Thousands today believe it and are
grateful for the opportunity to have a
part in helping us spread this message
of real hope. No one else does!
o
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