BY G. T. HAYWOOD
Our God shall come and not keep silence; a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. For Our God shall come and not keep silence; a fire shall devour yet a little while he that shall come will come and will not tarry.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Gen. 1:1). The Word was with God and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that is made. He was in the world and the world was made by Him and the world knew Him not.
He came to his own (people, the Jews) and his own received Him not. He declared Himself to be their God, but they could not understand. The works He did, no other man on earth hath ever done. He healed their sick and raised the dead and walked upon the sea, till questions rose in every heart, “What manner of man is this?”
The prophet declared that the “Child Born” was to be the “Everlasting Father”; the “Son” (of God) given was the “Mighty God.” (Isa. 9:6). There is no difference. He that was in the world “as” the only begotten
of the Father, is the same who laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning. The prophet declared it before He came. (Isa. 44:24; 40:9, 10,11, 22; Psa. 104:2, 5). The Spirit spake of it through the Psalmist
and confirmed it through the apostle Paul. (Psa. 102:25-27 with Heb. 1:10-12).
He came to visit His people, but began with Moses in Horeb. (Gen. 50:24, 25; Ex. 3:8). His presence was with them all along the way, but no man had seen His shape. (John 1:18; 5:37). Moses desired to see His
face (His glory) but was not granted the privilege. (Ex. 33:18-23). He was given a glimpse of His future manifestation (I Tim. 3:16), but some day we shall behold His glory (John 17:24), for we shall see His face. (Rev. 22:4).
Long, weary years passed by as the prophets sat on the shores of time scanning the distant horizon, while in their anxious bosoms arose the querulous sign. “O. when shall our Lord God come?” The sacrifices of the temple were polluted. The priests had erred in judgment, and the joy and mirth of the feasts had gone. The holy House had been shamefully desecrated and the glory of the temple had waned. Their “idols had spoken vanity,” and the diviners had seen a lie and told false dreams. Their attempt to comfort them was in vain, therefore they went their way as a flock and were troubled, troubled because there was no shepherd. (Zech. 10:2).
To give comfort and hope to his people, the Lord sent word of rejoicing, saying, Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people…speak comfortably to Jerusalem… prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together….O Zion, that bringeth good tidings,…O Jerusalem, that bringeth good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength…be not afraid: say unto the cities of Judah. Behold your God! Behold, the Lord GOD shall come with a strong hand…He shall feed His flock like a SHEPHERD. (Isa. 40:1-11.)
When the fulness of time was come, a Virgin brought forth a Son whose name was Immanuel (God with us). The hope of Israel had come. He came to visit and redeem his people. He fed “His flock like a Shepherd,” and declared, “I am the Good Shepherd.” He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. They smote the SHEPHERD of Israel. He bowed His head and died. He arose and ascended into heaven and He will come again. Not in the glory “as of the only begotten of the Father,” but in all the
glory of the Father, the Great God our Saviour. Titus 2:13.
Slain and Glorified From the Foundation of the World
In the garden of Eden God slew a lamb to make a coat of skins. he had to shed blood for the transgression of Adam. Now this did not take away sin but only covered it until the true Lamb should come that (taketh away the sin of the world). In this manner God was beginning to fulfill his purpose and plan before the foundation of the world, that man should be holy and without blame before him in love. (Eph. 1:4).
God foresaw the fall of mankind and therefore (predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will. (Eph. 1:5.) ) God predestinated the destination set before man, that he should either be saved or damned.
In this connection note the word of the Lord in Isaiah 46:10, saying (Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, DECLARING THE END FROM THE BEGINNING, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, “My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure; calling a ravenous bird from the East, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.”)
God laid his plan out and saw it all before it took place. Now you can begin to see how “the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world,” in the heart and foreknowledge of God; also how he has chosen us according to this plan which he ordained to come to pass in these last days, whereby we should be saved, Amen. Before the foundation of the world God planned to save us through the method of the cross of Calvary, but which is now made manifest in these last times for us. Jesus once said, “Glorify thou me with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.” John 17:5. Since this glory was to follow the
sufferings of Christ, was the Lamb of God slain twice? No. This glory for which Jesus prayed was ordained before the foundation of the world through foreknowledge of God in the beginning even as was also the slaying of the lamb.
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THE ABOVE MATERIAL WAS PUBLISHED BY APOSTOLIC BOOK PUBLISHERS, PORTLAND, OR 1968, PAGES 45-49. THIS MATERIAL IS COPYRIGHTED AND MAY BE USED FOR STUDY & RESEARCH PURPOSES ONLY.
