From Here to Eternity

From Here to Eternity - Pete Garcia - http://www.omegaletter.com/articles/articles.asp?ArticleID=8275

 

"We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America." Barack H. Obama, 30 October 2008

 

I believe the then presidential candidate Obama, was and is a man of his word.  He has spearheaded the transformation of this nation from that of a constitutional republic under the rule of law into something else.  What exactly, I'm not sure anymore.  Perhaps a socialist oligarchy, or maybe some kind of capitalist-socialist hybrid of the Chinese sorts, no longer under the rule of law, but under the rule of 'political correctness'.

 

Benghazi, IRS targeting, "Fast and Furious", Solyndra, Black Panthers, Beergate, VA Scandal, Monsanto, Timothy Geithner, Syria's 'vanishing' red lines, Ferguson, Keystone Pipeline, Email servers, Snowden, drone strikes, etc., ad nausea.  Scandals, schemes, power plays, political machinations of every sort plague our every waking moment.  Men and women trying to get ahead or get even, thinking all the while that what they're doing in the here and now will somehow gain them the world while the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer.

 

Now, to be fair, America had been in the process of transformation since the days just after the Civil War, when we went from being referred to as 'these' United States, to 'the' United States.  Once the Federal government exerted its will over the states she began to grow and in that growth, a hunger for power and control stirred.  Truth be told, aside from the Federal Reserve and Federal Income Tax Acts of 1913, it's hard to pin down a specific point in time when the Constitution wasn't under massive assault by politicians, bureaucrats, special interest groups, and other subversives because it's been a constant and steady stream of erosion.

 

It's been 'death by a thousand cuts' and the Constitution has always ever been increasingly marginalized in taking power away from both the state and the individual and giving it over to some federal agency or department.  Although not known for its efficiency, a federal bureaucracy is only ever at the top of its game when it comes to bestowing power and authority on itself.  If anything, a bureaucracy can only ever be counted on being efficient when it comes to giving itself more authority and in this endeavor, it has been thorough and persistent in its incrementalism over the decades.

 

So consistent is its persistence and addicted to the power that comes with potential authority it wishes to give itself, that a federal agency(s) must constantly find reasons (think crisis) to insert its own relevance into every facet of an individual's life.  Thus, the only constant we have is change, and under the current regime, that change has been on steroids.

 

I liken this time we live in, to the lead up of the coming global order. For those in power today, are simply laying the groundwork for the final ruler who will come, the man known as Antichrist.  There is nothing being done today, no matter how disheartening and frustrating that hasn't already been tried many times before.  We simply are watching the culmination of corruption being expedited on a global scale due to the advancements in technology and rapid decline in moral foundations.

 

Assessment

 

Why do the nations rage,

And the people plot a vain thing?

The kings of the earth set themselves,

And the rulers take counsel together,

Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,

"Let us break Their bonds in pieces

And cast away Their cords from us."

 

I realize we are in an election year, and we are all hoping for some real change to come in terms of the type of governance we are currently experiencing.  But regardless of who wins in November, real change is coming...and the world under Satan's control, does not like that one bit.

 

He who sits in the heavens shall laugh;

The Lord shall hold them in derision.

Then He shall speak to them in His wrath,

And distress them in His deep displeasure:

"Yet I have set My King

On My holy hill of Zion."

 

Christ is returning as promised.  First, He will come for His bride the Church. (John 14:1-3, 1 Thess. 4:13-18, 1 Cor. 15:51-55)  Then, He will allow the earth to purge itself, and its inhabitants of all their violence, bloodshed, wickedness, and corruption through a series of 21 judgments. (Revelation 6-18)  This will have two major outcomes, to utterly destroy the gentile nations, and to punish, yet not destroy the nation of Israel.  (Jeremiah 30:7-11)

 

 "I will declare the decree:

The Lord has said to Me,

'You are My Son,

Today I have begotten You.

Ask of Me, and I will give You

The nations for Your inheritance,

And the ends of the earth for Your possession.

You shall break them with a rod of iron;

You shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel.'"

 

At the end of those 21 divine judgments, the Judge Himself will return in power and glory and all the nations of the earth and all the inhabitants on the earth at that time will mourn at His coming.  For the sky will part, and He, along with the armies of heaven, will fill the heavens, watching, as He instantaneously subdues the armies of the earth through the destruction of His spoken word. (Matthew 24:29-30; 2 Thessalonians 2:8; Rev. 1:7)

 

Now therefore, be wise, O kings;

Be instructed, you judges of the earth.

Serve the Lord with fear,

And rejoice with trembling.

Kiss the Son, lest He be angry,

And you perish in the way,

When His wrath is kindled but a little.

Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him. (Psalm 2)

 

After a brief but absolutely devastating battle for those who actually try to fight Christ, He will separate those nations as a shepherd does with the sheep and goats between those who can enter His Kingdom, and those who are cast into everlasting punishment.  (Matt. 25:29-44) At the conclusion of this judgment, the glorious Messianic Kingdom will begin.  And while, we don't know everything that will happen in this Kingdom age and while this short list doesn't cover everything we will do, this here is a partial list on the information we do have about it:

 

1.The natural order to the earth will be rightfully restored  (Romans 8:18-22)

2.The Animal Kingdom will no longer fear man, nor will the act defensively (or offensively) against him or each other. (Isaiah 11:6, 65:25)

3.Israel will be the head of all nations, and Christ the head of Israel. (Isaiah 2:1-4)

4.The Church will reside in the New Jerusalem, which will float over the earth similar to how the moon does now...only closer. (Rev. 21)

5.This Kingdom stage, will last for 1,000 years (Rev. 20:1-6)

6.At the end of the 1,000 years, Satan is loosed again for a short season in which a brief but tragic rebellion will be quelled and Satan and those he deceives are tossed into the Lake of Fire for the rest of eternity. (Rev. 20:7-10)

7.The Great White Throne Judgment begins, and the unsaved of all ages (and possibly those who died during the Millennial reign [good and bad]), will stand before Christ the Judge to account for the deeds. (Rev. 20:11-13)

8.At this conclusion, death, hell, and all those who were not found written in the Lamb's Book of Life are thrown into the Lake of Fire for all eternity, thus, ushering in the age eternal. (Rev. 20:14-15)

 

Conclusion

 

Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."  Revelation 21

 

Even less is known about what transpires after the Millennial Reign of Christ as we transition into eternity future, but given what we do know about God, we should expect to see more of His creative efforts.  (1 Cor. 2:9)  Full disclosure here, I am in full-speculation mode now, so I'm in no way dogmatic about the following, but perhaps, we, in eternity future, serve as a foot note for some future story.  Here is what I mean.

 

Consider the angels.  We know they were created outside of our own timeline because they were there to witness ours.  (Job 38:4-7)  We know that they themselves had a certain degree of free will because Lucifer and a third of the angels fell from glory.  The difference between them and us though, is that they lacked a means of redemption. (Hebrews 1:5, 13-14)

 

While we know they were created and are given glimpses of their existence prior to ours, the Scriptures doesn't go into much detail about how they were created, or how long they existed before our own creation.  Likewise, it could be that our own entire human history, all 6,000 years or so, with its plan of redemption, and all of our trials and struggles is only summed up in certain passages for some future beings, in whom God creates for His own design and purposes.  Perhaps, all that we've been through, ties into some future plans He has for then.

 

The Bible never says that He won't create any other living beings on into eternity future and use us in some capacity to rule and reign.  We just know that those of us who are redeemed are certain that we will live on with God into eternity.  It could also be that Satan, who is growing to understand more and more of the vastness of God's future plans, is becoming increasingly furious at the prospect of his own certain judgment and confinement because he realizes how futile and shortsighted his own original efforts were considering the vast panorama of all God has in store for His us.

 

It is difficult for us to reconcile that even though evil will be forever vanquished, that God could create other civilizations in the future.  This seems antithetical to the nature of our own understanding of our existence, because trials and struggles produce growth and also because it's the only kind of existence we've ever known.  But that is only because we are fallen creatures, living in a fallen world.  At that future point, we will be in our immortalized, eternal bodies, and we won't desire to sin, nor will we desire anything that separates us from God's fellowship.  We won't need an antagonist in our future story because our natures won't require one.  I imagine that God has such wonderful and amazing things in store for us we really can't (at the present), wrap our minds around it, thus, why the Bible is silent on the subject.

 

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  Ephesians 2:4-7

 

Now that is change you can believe in.  Even so, MARANATHA!