Evening Light Message

This is part two, please read part one first if you haven’t already.

We left off part two by making some statements concerning Adam’s actions at the fall.

We said he turned loose of the Word.

He stepped out from behind the Word.

He turned life into death.

He turned innocence into guilt.

He turned fellowship with God into spiritual darkness that brought forth all sin, moral decay, pain, suffering, delusion, and corruption that wars within the souls of men.

Adam, by taking Eve back, become a sinner. One minute he wasn’t a sinner the next minute he was.

Yes, we know that Satan beguiled Eve and Eve was deceived, but the prophet told us that God held Adam responsible.

114-2    SMYRNAEAN.CHURCH.AGE  –  CHURCH.AGE.BOOK  CPT.4

Revelation 2:8,

 “These things saith the First and the Last, Which was dead and is alive.”

  “The First and the Last, Which was dead and is alive.” Now these are not the words of a man. A mere man (could he speak from the grave) would say, “I am the first and the last which was alive and is dead.” The first thing that happens to a man is that he is born (is alive) and the last thing that happens is that he dies. So this is not a man speaking. This is Deity.

Man (Adam) took life and turned it into death.

But this MAN (Jesus) took death and turned it into life.

Adam took innocence and turned it into guilt.

This One took guilt and turned it into righteousness.

Adam took a paradise and turned it into a waste howling wilderness; but this One is coming back to turn an earth rocking and reeling with destruction into another Eden. Adam took a life of fellowship and joy with God and turned it into a desert of spiritual darkness that brought forth all sin, moral decay, pain, suffering, delusion, and corruption that wars within the souls of men. But this One, from all the tragic death and degradation that filled mankind, brought forth a life of righteousness and beauty, so that as sin once reigned unto death, even so might men now reign in righteousness by One, Christ Jesus; and not as the offence was, though terrible indeed it was, but now much more is His gift unto eternal life.

65-0217  A.MAN.RUNNING.FROM.THE.PRESENCE.OF.THE.LORD_  JEFFERSONVILLE.IN  V-5 N-8  WEDNESDAY_

93    Shirk this? We must tell the people that we’re living in the hours of the Coming of the Son of God. We want to watch and (God) be on the move, all the time, ready to give a man a correct answer.

94    It’s always been that way. It’s been in man, has shirked and went away from God, ever since Adam, in the garden of Eden. When Adam was in the garden of Eden, when he come to the responsibility to make his choice, would he stay with God or go with his wife? He had to make that res-… he had to make that, the responsibility was up to him. He either had to take what his wife said or what God said. And when he chose to go the way of his wife, and when he did that, then he lost his original condition. And brought the whole world subject to death, when he had to take the responsibility, or either accepting a new light that his wife had found, which was contrary.

O God! Think of it. God only give them about eight or ten Words to keep. “But of that tree thou shalt not eat.” That’s all they had to keep. And even with that much Word, they broke It.

Then Adam had to face up, “Will I, will I do as my wife has said do, or shall I do what God said do?” And he walked out with his eyes open. He had to take the responsibility. That throwed the whole human race unto death.

THE ONLY WORD GOD GAVE THEM TO KEEP, THEY BROKE IT.

THE ONLY WORD!

And notice what the prophet said happened when they broke the only Word given to them.

They LOST THEIR ORIGINAL CONDITION. They, by breaking the Word on their own free moral agency, lost their original condition. I’m not sure how they could lose their original condition and not be in another condition, a sinful condition, after the fall. Their souls had not sinned and now they had sinned. Remember, the prophet said Adam turned innocence into guilt.

What condition did they lose? Paragraph 114-2 that we listed above talks about it in great detail but let us see if the prophet took it any further.

63-0317E  THE.BREACH.BETWEEN.THE.SEVEN.CHURCH.AGES.AND.THE SEVEN.SEALS

91    Now, we don’t need anybody to interpret that for us. See? For of course, we know it was Eternal Life they had fallen from, and they lost their claims on Eternal Life by the fall of Adam and Eve, who fell from Eternal Life to death in the garden of Eden and brought all nature under them to death.

A tree never died before Adam. A animal wouldn’t die before Adam. And there’s only one thing that cannot die, and that’s God because He’s Eternal. And that’s the only way we can ever keep from dying; we have to have Eternal Life in us to be sons and daughters of God. But when we died (as I said in the message this morning) to sin we sold out our birthright and crossed this chasm. Now, we’re beyond the reach of God on this other side of the chasm.

93     Now, of course, when Adam fell to death, he brought death upon all creation. Now, he was given free moral agency. It was given to them just as we—so to make a choice.

Now, Adam and Eve, in the beginning there was a tree of right and wrong before them, and that same tree sets before each and every one of us. See, God isn’t doing for Adam or for Eve… You say, “Well, it’s their fault.” No, not now it isn’t. It’s your fault. You can’t place it on Adam now. You got to place it on yourself, because right and wrong is set before you. We’re on the same basis as Adam and Eve.

 95     But, you see, when we are redeemed, we no more want our own choice, but we want His choice. See, see? Now, Adam and Eve wanted their own choice. They wanted to find out what it was to have wisdom. So they probed into it, and it caused death.

Notice that they had claims on Eternal Life. Those claims were based on what they would do with the free moral agency given them by God. Their claims/rights could disappear at any moment. It all depended on their actions, their choice.

We know they made the wrong choice and it caused them to lose their claims on eternal life. Lets read it again:

we have to have Eternal Life in us to be sons and daughters of God. But when we died (as I said in the message this morning) to sin we sold out our birthright and crossed this chasm. Now, we’re beyond the reach of God on this other side of the chasm.

Now, of course, when Adam fell to death, he brought death upon all creation.

Adam sold out our birthright, our claims on eternal life. Adam, was tested by the Word and he failed. He chose his wife over the Word. Adam and the whole human race crossed the chasm beyond the reach of God. The prophet said that, not me. But I believe it.

There was a breach between Adam(man) and God now. Someone had close that breach between God and man. SOMEONE ELSE HAD TO MAKE OUR CLAIMS FOR US NOW!!! Praise God, for Jesus Christ!!! HE MADE OUR CLAIMS FOR US! The full manifestation of the Word of God, Jesus Christ, made our claims permanent! Not based on what Adam would do or you could do, but what God HAS ALREADY done. HE IS OUR ETERNAL CLAIMS MAKER, OUR ETERNAL CONNECTION TO GOD, OUR KINSMAN REDEEMER. DO YOU SEE IT! BOAZ REDEEMED NAOMI AND RAISED UP A CHILD BY RUTH. NAOMI HAD NO CHILD BEFORE. Her husband’s line being cut off when their sons died. BUT BOAZ THE REDEEMER GAVE THEM A SON AND RESTORED THE LINE THAT WENT ALL THE WAY  DOWN TO JESUS CHRIST, THE SON!

Just think on that example for a bit.

And look at where this is placed in the message timeline! Just before the seals opened God thought it was the right time to bring it to our attention that the breach had to be closed and our claims made by Jesus Christ. THE SEALS ARE OPENED WHEN THE LAMB GOES TO MAKE THE CLAIMS ON WHAT HE PAID FOR!!! That wasn’t some happenstance that this message was preached just before the seals opened!

One last thing here before we move on from this quote. Notice what the prophet says about Adam and Eve wanting their own choice. But also notice what he says about us AFTER WE ARE REDEEMED.

But, you see, when we are redeemed, we no more want our own choice, but we want His choice.

WE NO LONGER WANT OUR OWN CHOICE!!!! REDEEMED YES!!! But Adam and Eve wanted their own choice. We don’t want our own choice. DO YOU SEE THAT. Not only does He redeem to us our inheritance but He BECOMES OUR CLAIMS ON ETERNAL LIFE!!! Oh I could run around this room right now!!! Do you see why that first Garden of Eden claims, based on what Adam would do, would never work!!! BECAUSE JESUS CHRIST WAS ALWAYS OUR CLAIMS ON ETERNAL LIFE!! IT CAN NEVER FAIL NOW!! HE WAS ALWAYS THE ONLY PLACE GOD WOULD MEET MAN!

64-1227  WHO.DO.YOU.SAY.THIS.IS

141    He made one man, and many man from that man. As all die in Adam, all live in Christ. He made one way of death, and they all walked into it. And He made a way of Life, and as many walks there has Life. Off of one Man, not a dozen man come dying. A dozen man didn’t have to sin. One man sinned one sin. One Man paid the complete penalty. It don’t need any more crawling on your knees, and saying Hail Mary’s, and all these other kind of things, and paying tributes to dead people. Jesus died that the Gift of God could be free. He paid the debt completely. But you see, we want to have something else to say into It.

He made one way of death, and they all walked into it.

And He made a way of Life, and as many walks there has Life.

You see, Adam could not keep his claims on eternal life himself because God had ordained Adam IN CHRIST and Adam’s only place of worship was in Christ, just like all of us. Even before the fall come the eternal God had ordained that Adam’s only place of worship was in Christ. GOD WAS BRINGING THAT WORD TO PAST.

Now, consider for a moment what the prophet said about it being God in Moses that delivered Israel. The ONE DELIVERING ISRAEL had to be God, not Moses and his abilities or strong will as a man. Adam could not maintain his claims on eternal life on his own because it was ordained that Christ would be Adam’s claims on eternal life. Unconditional, claims on eternal life. That was the law of God(grace, life), through Christ.

And when we are redeemed, we have our claims on eternal life but NOT ON CONDITIONS AS IT WAS BEFORE, ITS UNCONDITIONAL. The law of life was not through the Adam covenant, the law of life was through Christ. Its not about our rights anymore. We surrendered those when we accepted Christ as our claims on eternal life. It’s God interpreting His own Word!

MATTHEW 5:6

6   Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

I remember years ago when I first read this verse and how it stirred something in me. It was a promise that I felt applied to me somehow. Years later I realized that at the moment I read that scripture God had begun to fulfill it to me. I was hungering for something I knew nothing about, and what I had just read was food that God had provided for me along the way.

God had a goal He was working towards, the same goal He has for you, to become one with you. But He didn’t start there at being one with us, no, but He brought us there in the end, when His Word is fully manifested. But along the way He was teaching and building in us a perfect character.

This pulling and receiving runs through the whole Bible. A hunger and thirst for God and God providing for that hunger and thirst. Israel hungering to be free from Egyptian rule and God providing a Moses. The sick hungering to be well and God providing healing. The lost desiring to not be lost and God providing the Savior.

Jehovah Jireh, God will provide. He is true to His Word, of this I am a witness.

The scripture also tells us that God is the same, yesterday, today and forever.

HEBREWS 13:8

8  Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and forever.

With those two thoughts in mind,

God will provide and

God is always the same,

Let’s consider in the message what appears to be God doing something two ways but turns out to be just God bringing us to His One Way.

65-1128M  GOD’S.ONLY.PROVIDED.PLACE.OF.WORSHIP

76    Now, the word Deuteronomy, the word itself means “two laws,” the word Deuteronomy. And God has two laws. The two laws: one of them is disobedience to the Word, and die; and the other one is obedience to the Word, and live. That’s the two laws, and Deuteronomy means those two laws. They have both been absolutely displayed to us in the Scripture. One of them is death, the other one is Life; Life and death. God deals only in Life, Satan only in death. And these was displayed to the world publicly, openly before every eye, and there’s no excuse for it. One of them was, displayed on Mount Sinai when the law was given, which condemned the whole human race to death; the other one was give on Mount Calvary, that brought the whole human race to Life, when the penalty was paid in Jesus Christ. The two laws of Deuteronomy was fulfilled in these two, great things.

77    I want you to notice again, there was also two covenants give. One covenant was given to Adam, which was on conditions, like law: “If you will not touch this, then you will live; but if you touch this, you will die.” That was a law. Then there was another law given to Abraham, which was by grace, unconditionally: “I have saved you and your seed after you.” Amen! That is a type of Calvary, not the type of Adam covenant, it’s a Abrahamic covenant.

78    But now we hear Him say there is only one place where He will meet man to worship. You heard it right here in the text. We’ll refer to it, back, in a few minutes.

And God has two laws. The two laws: one of them is disobedience to the Word, and die; and the other one is obedience to the Word, and live.

One of them is death, the other one is Life; Life and death.

One of them was, displayed on Mount Sinai when the law was given, which condemned the whole human race to death; the other one was give on Mount Calvary, that brought the whole human race to Life, when the penalty was paid in Jesus Christ. The two laws of Deuteronomy was fulfilled in these two, great things.

One covenant was given to Adam, which was on conditions, like law: “If you will not touch this, then you will live; but if you touch this, you will die.” That was a law. Then there was another law given to Abraham, which was by grace, unconditionally

We find here what “looks like” God doing something two ways.

In the garden He set Life and death before Adam and Eve. They had to choose to be obedient or choose to be disobedient.

But to Abraham He told him that HE had already done it.

He set up the Garden of Eden under a law, NOT UNDER GRACE.

He set up the Garden of Eden on the shoulders of Adam but told Abraham HE had already done it for him.

The law was death and grace was life.

65-0427  DOES.GOD.CHANGE.HIS.MIND

49    But, you see, God, the great Spirit, the Father, in Him was attributes, and these things that you see displayed now is just His attributes being displayed. He dwelt alone, He was not even God; God was an object of worship. He was the Great Eternal One. And in Him was attributes, such as to be Father, to be Saviour, to be Healer. And now, how could He first… He had to be Father, because it proves He was Father, but He dwells alone. He alone is immortal. And, now, but His attributes has to be displayed.

50    Now, to be a Saviour, there has to be something lost. And God cannot purposely lose anything and then redeem it. It wouldn’t be becoming to His holiness and His great judgment. But He put man on free moral agency, knowing that man would fall.

51    And He showed here, in the beginning, that His perfect will was to create man out of the dust of the earth. But, you see, He permitted sex to be brought in. He never did intend children to be born by sex, but it was permitted, which soon will fade away.

Here we see God placing Adam in a position He knew Adam could not keep.

Just as he mentioned in the previous quote that the law He gave Israel condemned the whole human race to death.

Why would God give Israel a law to keep if they couldn’t keep it? Remember, if they could not keep it, it condemned man to death. Why would He give them a law when His Word, being eternal, says the only place He will meet man is in Christ? Furthermore, why give Adam claims to eternal life on conditions and give claims to eternal life to Abraham unconditionally?

Was He doing things two different ways?

NO, He was bringing His one way, Jesus Christ, on the scene. The entire Bible is the revelation of Jesus Christ.

SO, we also see why He did it. Something had to be lost for God to show forth Himself. He could not make a lost man, man had to lose himself. If man did not corrupt himself or lose himself then what will he be guilty of on judgment day? But how can God hold all man guilty for what Adam done? He wouldn’t and He doesn’t. Men are guilty today of rejecting what God did for them, to bring them out of what Adam done. Jesus Christ is what God did for the human race. The whole human race from Adam down to now is accountable for accepting or not accepting what God done for them on Calvary.

Think of it. God had already made Adam acceptable in Christ before the fall every came. He just hadn’t brought it to pass yet.

Do you see what God was doing? He gave Adam a law Adam couldn’t keep in order to bring Grace that Adam would accept. He started with the Adam covenant to bring the Abrahamic covenant. The “I Will” covenant. The “I AM” covenant. The “I already have” covenant. The eternal covenant.

SO, God did not change. Grace was always His way and Grace was His way when He created man in the Garden of Eden. He was just revealing Grace the whole time. Grace, the one way God had to bring man into full expression. Grace… Jesus Christ!

Jesus Christ, THE ONLY PLACE THAT GOD WAS EVER GOING TO MEET MAN! THE PLACE THAT HE PREPARED AND HE DREW MEN TOO!

102-2      EPHESIAN.CHURCH.AGE  –  CHURCH.AGE.BOOK  CPT.3

Now that we have come this far, let me try to crystallize your thinking on this subject so you can see the necessity of our going into the ‘serpent seed doctrine’ as I have. We start with the fact that there were TWO trees in the midst of the garden. The Tree of Life was Jesus. The other tree is definitely Satan because of what came forth of the fruit of that tree. Now then, we know that both of those trees had a relationship to man or they would never have been placed there. They must have had a part in the sovereign plan and purpose of God in their relationship to mankind and to Himself or we could never impute omniscience unto God. This is all true so far, is it not? Now the Word most definitely sets forth that from BEFORE the foundation of the earth the purpose of God was to share His Eternal Life with man.

Ephesians 1:4-11,

 “According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love:

Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,

To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved.

In Whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace;

Wherein He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;

Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself:

That in the dispensation of the fulness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him:

In Whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him Who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.”

 Revelation 13:8,

 “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him (Satan) whose names are not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”

 But that Life could not, and would not, be shared in any other way than through the way of “God manifest in the flesh.” This was a part of His eternal and predestinated purpose. This plan was to be to the praise of the glory of His grace. It was the plan of Redemption. It was the plan of Salvation. Now listen closely. “God being a Saviour, it was necessary that He predestinate a man who would require salvation in order to give Himself reason and purpose of being.” That is one hundred percent correct and multitudes of Scripture bear it out as does the very pointed verse of Romans 11:36,

 “For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are ALL THINGS: to Whom be GLORY for ever. Amen.”

 Man could not directly come and partake of that Tree of Life in the midst of the garden. That Eternal Life of the Tree had to become flesh first. But before God could raise and save a sinner, He had to have a sinner to raise and save. Man had to fall. The fall which would be caused by Satan, had to have flesh to make fall. Satan had to come through flesh also. But Satan could not come through human flesh to make the fall as would Christ come in human flesh to restore the fallen.

BEFORE the foundation of the earth God had ordained and purposed one way to share eternal life with man and that was made very clear by what came to pass. What God brought to pass down through history, despite Satan’s every effort to stop it.

It was NOT the LAW. It was GRACE.

He did not share eternal life under the LAW and also share it under GRACE. Grace alone was the way

And notice what the prophet told us;

 Man could not directly come and partake of that Tree of Life in the midst of the garden. That Eternal Life of the Tree had to become flesh first.

The Eternal Life of the Tree could not be partaken of until it became flesh in Jesus Christ which was also the fulfillment of the covenant with Abraham, THE PROMISED SON. Calvary was the fulfillment.

Notice one last thing before we wrap up this first part.

Adam fell by his own choosing, but Satan is the one that caused the fall. Adam did not go out looking to sin. But Adam did sin when he made the choice to turn loose of the Word and that polluted the WHOLE human race, himself included. He turned loose of the Word.

But once the Word has a hold on you, you cannot turn loose.

63-0318  THE.FIRST.SEAL

59    Now, the Lamb in the time of intercessory back here, He knew that there were names in there that was put in there from the foundation of the world, and as long as them names have never been manifested on earth as yet, He had to stay there as Intercessor. Do you get it? Perfectly predestination… See?

All right, He had to stay there, because He came to die for those that God had ordained to Eternal Life. See, see? By His foreknowledge He saw them, not by His own will. His will was that none should perish, but by His foreknowledge He knew who would and who would not.

I want to point out something he says here and in the next few quotes that is of vital importance if you want to know the difference between the Foreknowledge of God and the Predestination of God.

First, he states that God by Foreknowledge saw who would and who would not, not by His will, because His will was that none should perish.

Hold that thought for a moment.

63-1129  THE.SUPER.SIGN

10      God knowed the end from the beginning, therefore He could plan everything, that it would work out just to His glory. And that gives us courage, to know that no matter what comes or goes, God is making everything, the clock is ticking just exactly on time.

11    Sometimes we get weary, upset. We get hastily. We think, “Oh, we must do this, or do that.”

12    But, remember, God’s clock will be just exactly on time. All these things has to be this way. It has to all be done according to His great knowledge, His foreknowledge, for by foreknowledge He could predestinate; not by His desire, but by His knowledge. God doesn’t predestinate by His desire. He is not willing that any should perish, but by His foreknowledge He knew who would accept it and who would not. Therefore He can make everything work according to His big time clock that’s ticking away, for He could foretell the end from the beginning. And, therefore, He knew that we would live in this day. He knew that this would be our day. He had plans for this day. He has had plans for every day. And never has one of His plans ever failed. He is always on time.

Here, he states it again that God could predestinate by His Foreknowledge; not by His desire. Before He predestinated He knew who would and who would not accept.

64-0416  AND.WHEN.THEIR.EYES.WERE.OPENED.THEY.KNEW.HIM

205    Just like the word predestinate, it’s a bad word. I used it a few minutes ago, and I caught myself, ’cause I felt the spirit move back. Many people don’t believe in predestination. Predestination is a bad word. It’s really foreknowledge. God knows, before, who will and who won’t, so therefore He can predestinate by His foreknowledge. That’s the reason He knows who will and who won’t. See? He don’t… He, “He’s not willing that any should perish.” But He knows who will perish. If He wasn’t, then He wasn’t God. He has to be omnipotent just the same as omnipresent; see, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, infinite. He’s infinite. If He isn’t, He isn’t God. So He knows all things, therefore He can tell the end from the beginning, because He is the Word.

“God knows BEFORE who will and who won’t, so therefore He can predestinate by His foreknowledge.”

64-0816  PROVING.HIS.WORD

75    We find out over there in, I believe, it’s in First Thessalonians, He said, “He has predestinated us to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ.” God, not saying, “I’ll choose you, and don’t choose you,” but His foreknowledge knowed what you would do. So by foreknowledge He can set in order, and He’s made everything to work for His good, and for your good.

“God, not saying, “I’ll choose you, and don’t choose you,” but His foreknowledge knowed what you would do. “

65-0221M  MARRIAGE.AND.DIVORCE

154    Now, He could not be just and make a man to fall. He had to put him on equal basis, of free moral agency, to make his own choice, but knowing he would fall.

Each of these five quotes gets stronger and clearer as he brings it out.

What was God’s foreknowledge of? What did He know before He predestinated? The prophet tells us He knew who would and who would not and that it was not God willing them to be one way or the other! God knew He would create man with a soul, make Him a free moral agent. God created all people with a soul. Gave all people a choice. Without a soul, man was not a free moral agent. Without a soul, man could not make a choice. Without a soul, man could not become a sinner. Without a soul, there was no way there could be a lost man. Does not the scripture say the soul that sinneth it shall surly die? Without a soul, man could not have fallen from the way God made him originally. God knew that always. He ALWAYS knew who would and who would not and yet He did not make them fall or make them choose him in his foreknowledge. He made vessels to honor or dishonor, not souls! I know that’s hard to comprehend, but that’s God, and we just have to accept it by faith because it’s what the prophet said.

BUT, how do we reconcile the many scriptures that say God is sovereign and chose His own Bride? That’s where predestination comes in. Because it was by predestination that He chose us in Christ. It wasn’t that we could keep God’s Word, no man alone could keep God’s Word. Any man that ever manifested the Word of God was because God manifested it through Him. God interprets His own Word.

63-0728  CHRIST.IS.THE.MYSTERY.OF.GOD.REVEALED

182    “Heavenly places.” Oh, how I wish I had time! Here I’ve got it marked right here in my Bible, about Heavenly places, what is Heavenly places. Heavenly places, just for a moment, is “the believer’s position in Christ,” see, “where the believer stands in Christ,” in Heavenly places.

According as he has chosen us… (listen close)… chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,…

183    When did He choose us? “Before the foundation of the world,” when His great hidden mystery, His great secret.

… He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in (what?) love:

Having (what?) predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

184    “Predestinated!” There’s the mystery. He, before Christ or anything else was ever on earth, you see His great mystery, that He chose the Bride. Knowing Eve would fall, from disbelieving the Word, knowing that she would fall; but He would choose a Bride that would not fall, that would hold to that Word regardless of what all the rest of the world had to say about It. They would hold to that Word! They are predestinated to stand there, “the adoption of children by Jesus Christ,” predestinated the Church to that great, glorious stand!

We don’t stand on the Word because we wanted too, especially not in the condition we are born in. The prophet told us that man could not keep God’s Word. But we stand on the Word because He predestinated us to. HE MADE IT HAPPEN despite our weakness! How we should praise Him!!!!!

We will pick up there next time and discuss the UNION and God and His Bride.

63-0728  CHRIST.IS.THE.MYSTERY.OF.GOD.REVEALED

153    Oh, if God can get Him prisoners like that! Now, that’s when He can express the preeminences, you see. He, He’s got the man, or the person, so that he knows nothing but Christ. You get what I mean? [Congregation says, “Amen.”–Ed.] All right. That’s secondly.

Isn’t that a beautiful thought? God has preeminences in you when you know nothing but Christ. Can He have preeminences in you outside of Christ? No, He cannot. The prophet told us that the only relationship we have to God is Jesus Christ.

154    First, to express Hisself completely, God in Christ.

So He had preeminences in Jesus, that was God’s thought. To do that First. He could do whatever He wanted in Jesus. Jesus testified that He did nothing unless His Father first showed Him. Nothing. Jesus said it wasn’t He that did the miracles and works but the Father. It was ordained that He would do that first in Jesus Christ.

155    Second, to have the preeminences, by this, in His Church, which is His Body, the Bride, till He could have the preeminence to express Himself through them. All right.

Notice here that after stating that He had preeminences in Jesus He moves secondarily to have preeminences in His Church. Why secondarily? Didn’t He have full preeminences in Adam and Eve before the fall? The prophet said a “life lived” would have been the Word but that Adam and Eve did not do that. So, even though He had preeminences for a short while it was not His full preeminences, He was not expressed completely in Adam, otherwise the prophet lied here in paragraph 154 when he said “First, to express Himself completely, God in Christ” That was God’s plan from the beginning to FIRST express Himself in Christ. And notice what he says here:

64-1205 THE.IDENTIFIED.MASTERPIECE.OF.GOD
133 And when He made His first masterpiece, He put him behind the Word. When He made His second Masterpiece, He was the Word. Amen. He was the Word; not behind the Word. But, He was the Word. God never changes His plan.

Notice Bro Branham making the bold difference between Adam and Jesus. He does not say Adam was the Word, only that he was behind the Word. I’m not trying to say Adam was not spoken by God. No. What I’m wanting to point out is that in Adam, God did not fully express Himself as was in His mind since the foundation of the world. That did not happen until Jesus. So, the statement from paragraph 154 above follows through later on in the message here.

But lets not miss something very small and very important in paragraph 155. Two words “by this”. He is referring to God having preeminences in the his church by something. He is referring to God’s first expression of His attributes, Jesus Christ. So, again he is making it clear that preeminences in the church only comes by Christ. It was ordained that way in the Garden of Eden in before the fall and its that way now. Preeminences in God’s people was ordained to be in one way and one way only. It would not be by Adam’s will or my will or your will or anybody else’s but the “I will”, the “I am”

63-0728  CHRIST.IS.THE.MYSTERY.OF.GOD.REVEALED

156    And, thirdly, to restore the Kingdom to its rightly position, that fell by sin by the first Adam, back to where He walked in the cool of the evening, with His people, talked with them, fellowshipped with them.

157    And now sin and death had separated them from His Presence and His entire expression. Do you read it? Before the foundation of the world, to express all of His attributes, what He was.

Lastly do not miss what the prophet tells us here as he drives the point home. Adam and Eve was separated “from His presence and from HIS ENTIRE EXPRESSION”. Separated from God, they had not and could not ever express all of His Attribute. The only way they could do that is with Christ. It was that way at the beginning, it was ordained that way from the very beginning that we would receive eternal life one way and one way only, through Jesus Christ. So, why hadn’t Adam and Eve already partaken of the Tree of Life? Let me leave you with one more thought to back up what I just stated.

102-2 EPHESIAN.CHURCH.AGE – CHURCH.AGE.BOOK CPT.3

……….
We start with the fact that there were TWO trees in the midst of the garden. The Tree of Life was Jesus. The other tree is definitely Satan because of what came forth of the fruit of that tree. Now then, we know that both of those trees had a relationship to man or they would never have been placed there. They must have had a part in the sovereign plan and purpose of God in their relationship to mankind and to Himself or we could never impute omniscience unto God. This is all true so far, is it not? Now the Word most definitely sets forth that from BEFORE the foundation of the earth the purpose of God was to share His Eternal Life with man.
….
But that Life could not, and would not, be shared in any other way than through the way of “God manifest in the flesh.” This was a part of His eternal and predestinated purpose.

So, you can see that all through the message this thought of God having ordained Life/Preeminences would come one way and one way only. Man would not win it or earn it. But it would be given without money and without price to babes such as would learn. The Tree of Life in the garden was Jesus and the only way to partake of that tree, was for Christ to come and GIVE His life.

63-0728  CHRIST.IS.THE.MYSTERY.OF.GOD.REVEALED

155    Second, to have the preeminences, by this, in His Church, which is His Body, the Bride, till He could have the preeminence to express Himself through them. All right.

Next time we will take up on when and how the Bride received this life.