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Those of you who are parents know the wonders of giving life to another.
God had created angels who loved and served Him, but He desired to have beings to be His children.
(Gen 1:26-28) Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. And God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."
(Psalm 8:3-9) When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, The moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained; What is man, that Thou dost take thought of him? And the son of man, that Thou dost care for him? Yet Thou hast made him a little lower than God, And dost crown him with glory and majesty! Thou dost make him to rule over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast put all things under his feet, All sheep and oxen, And also the beasts of the field, The birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas. O LORD, our Lord, How majestic is Thy name in all the earth!
(Hebrews 2:5-8) For He did not subject to angels the world to come, concerning which we are speaking. But one has testified somewhere, saying, "WHAT IS MAN, THAT THOU REMEMBEREST HIM? OR THE SON OF MAN, THAT THOU ART CONCERNED ABOUT HIM? THOU HAST MADE HIM FOR A LITTLE WHILE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS; THOU HAST CROWNED HIM WITH GLORY AND HONOR, AND HAST APPOINTED HIM OVER THE WORKS OF THY HANDS; THOU HAST PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET." For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him.
(Mat 4:12-17) Now when He heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into
Galilee; and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the
region of Zebulun and Naphtali. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the
prophet, saying, "THE LAND OF ZEBULUN AND THE LAND OF NAPHTALI, BY THE
WAY OF THE SEA, BEYOND THE JORDAN, GALILEE OF THE GENTILES-- THE
PEOPLE WHO WERE SITTING IN DARKNESS SAW A GREAT LIGHT, AND TO THOSE
WHO WERE SITTING IN THE LAND AND SHADOW OF DEATH, UPON THEM A
LIGHT DAWNED." From that time Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent, for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand."
At almost every funeral...In Psalm 23...."yea though I, walk through the valley of the shadow of death.."
(Hebrews 2:14-15) Since then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also
partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of
death, that is, the devil; and might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to
slavery all their lives.
Our citizenship is in heaven, and the ultimate victory
comes to the faithful children of God when the Savior
comes back for us.
Phil. 3:20- 21.
(Phil 3:20-21) For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.
(John 6:38-40) "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him, may have eternal life; and I Myself will raise him up on the last day."
(John 6:44) "No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day."
(John 6:54) "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day."
(1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those
who are asleep, that you may not grieve, as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe
that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep
in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, and remain
until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord
Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the
trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we
shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.
(John 5:28-29) "Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the
tombs shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; those who did the good deeds to a
resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment."
Jesus will then deliver up His rule over the kingdom of
God to the Father.
I Corinthians. 15:20-28.
But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming, then comes the end, when He delivers up the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. For HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET. But when He says, "All things are put in subjection," it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him. And when all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, that God may be all in all.
(Col 1:13) For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,
(1 Pet 3:20-22) PETER TELLS OF THOSE BEFORE THE FLOOD...... who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water. And corresponding to that, baptism now saves you-- not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience-- through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.
(2 Pet 3:1-10) This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles. Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation." For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. But the present heavens and earth by His word are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.
II Pet. 3:11-12. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, on account of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!
"I bet there would be a rush on all the banks!"
(1 Corinthians. 15:50-58) Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the
imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying
that is written, "DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. "O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR
VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?" The sting of death is sin, and the power
of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus
Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the
work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.