What Happened on the Cross. Nick Peros

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      Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. (Rev 21:1 NIV)

      These passages describe the ultimate redemption of the earth. Two key points of that redemption is the lifting of all curses upon the earth (Rev 22:3). This lifting of all curses upon the earth includes specifically the lifting of the curse of darkness (night), as well as the lifting of the curse of seas—the two curses upon the earth present in Genesis 1:2—both of these curses will be finally and fully removed by God upon his redemption of the earth.

As a result, from these various passages which outline the removal of all curses upon the earth, and which specifically include the removal of the curse of darkness and the curse of seas, it is clear the two elements upon the earth in Genesis 1:2—darkness and the global ocean—are elements of God’s curse upon the earth.1

      The Third Element—The Holy Spirit

      In addition to the two elements of God’s curse that are present upon the earth in Genesis 1:2, the curse of darkness and of the global ocean, there is a third element present, and that is the Holy Spirit himself. The Holy Spirit is described in Genesis 1:2 as being present over the earth:

      and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. (Gen 1:2)

      Why would the Holy Spirit be present upon the earth when the earth is in an accursed state? The Holy Spirit’s presence in Genesis 1:2 can be understood via 2 Thessalonians 2:1–8:

      Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. (NIV)

      In this passage we are told there will be a man of lawlessness coming upon the earth; this “man of lawlessness” is traditionally understood to be the coming antichrist. We are told something, or some “one,” is holding back the man of lawlessness from being revealed (2 Thess 2:6, 7), and that the man of lawlessness will not be revealed until the one who holds him back is taken out of the way.

      Who is the one who is holding back the revealing of the man of lawlessness? Many people understand that the one who is holding back the revealing of the man of lawlessness is, in fact, the Holy Spirit. In that capacity, the Holy Spirit is restraining or holding back evil.

      It is in this capacity that we are to understand the Holy Spirit’s presence upon the earth in Genesis 1:2—he is present upon the accursed Earth because he is restraining, or holding down, great evil, an evil that has been cast down to the earth, a casting down which resulted in both the earth and the creation being cursed.

      The Earth in Genesis 1:1 was created perfect, beautiful and fully habitable for man (Isa 45:18), but the earth in Genesis 1:2 is formless and void, utterly uninhabitable, surrounded by darkness, and covered by a global ocean; the earth in Genesis 1:2 is a cursed place. Over it all is the presence of the Holy Spirit, who is there in the capacity as a Restrainer of evil.

      Why is the earth in Genesis 1:2 cursed? What was the evil that was cast down upon it which the Holy Spirit was restraining? What caused this? The curse upon the earth in Genesis 1:2, the curse of darkness and of the global ocean, as well as the curse of darkness that is upon the entire universe, was the result of the fall of the angels, the angelic rebellion.

      1. In various translations of Genesis 1:2, for the words “Now the earth was formless and void . . .” there is often a small footnote attached to the word “was,” with an explanation that the word “was” can also be translated as “became.” In fact, that is the correct sense by which to understand Genesis 1:2—God did not create the earth as an empty chaos wasteland, he created it perfect, but it became an empty, chaos wasteland, surrounded by darkness and the global flood, all as a result of the curse of God.

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      Angels

      In the sequence of God’s creation, God first created time and space, the fabric of creation. Second, he created heaven, the place where he established the temporary seat of his throne within his own creation. Third, he created the angels, who inhabit and live with God in heaven (Mark 13:32). Fourth, after he created the angels, God continued to create the rest of the heavens (the fullness of space) and the earth, all while the angels watched him, rejoicing as he created the earth (Job 38:4–7).

      The Sons of God

      The angels were created to inhabit heaven—heaven is their home. They were created to serve. They, like you and I, were created in God’s image, since in the Old Testament they are called “the sons of God” (Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7; Gen 6:1 NKJV). Though they are created in God’s image, unlike us, they were not created in his likeness (Gen 1:26).

      In the entire time span between Adam and Jesus Christ, no human being is ever called a “son of God.” We know very clearly from Luke 3:38 that Adam was the son of God, and we know Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Apart from that, no other human being between Adam and Jesus Christ is ever called a son of God. Also, in the Old Testament, no human being ever calls God “Father.”

      After Jesus’ Resurrection, when a human being believes in Jesus Christ, they become “born again” (1 Pet 1:23), born of the Holy Spirit, and at that point they are born a “son of God” (Rom 8:14, 19; 9:26). As a result, we see then that Adam was the created son of God, Jesus Christ is the begotten Son of God, and Christians are the adopted sons of God (Rom 8:15). These three uses of the term “sons of God” as applied to human beings occurs only in the New Testament. The term “sons of God,” when used in the Old Testament, refers solely to the angelic beings of heaven.

      The Nature of Angels

      As sons of God, angels, like you and I, have bodies and physicality, though theirs is a different kind of physicality than the flesh-and-bone physicality of human beings. As sons of God, they also have will, intelligence, emotion, and personality, and they can choose between good and evil—like us, they are moral beings. Unlike you and I, angels were not born, they were created:

      Praise the Lord!

      Praise the Lord from the heavens;

      Praise him in the heights!

      Praise him, all his angels;

      Praise him, all his hosts!

      Praise him, sun and moon;

      Praise him, all you stars of light!

      Praise him, you heavens of heavens,

      And you waters above the СКАЧАТЬ