The Mystery of the Kingdom of Heaven: The Origin of Man
Why we're here, and where we came from.
Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Bible & Bible Studies, Criticism & Interpretation, Commentaries, Theology
| Author: | Craig McElheny | ISBN: | 1230000186632 |
| Publisher: | Craig McElheny | Publication: | September 26, 2013 |
| Imprint: | Language: | English |
| Author: | Craig McElheny |
| ISBN: | 1230000186632 |
| Publisher: | Craig McElheny |
| Publication: | September 26, 2013 |
| Imprint: | |
| Language: | English |
There are a number of mysteries in the Bible. Foremost of those mysteries is where we came from. The Bible says that “what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.” It is a tall order to ask you to believe this statement, but the Bible just puts it out there in plain sight (Hebrews 11:3). What the Bible does not openly state is why there is a connection between the spirit world and the corporeal world. It began with the Descent of the Watchers – a group of angels who descended to the earth, prior to the Flood. That led to a freakish world in which giants (Nephilim) roamed the land. This prompted God to make a change to His Creation. It involved man, but to what extent?
Enoch was a godly patriarch, the sixth generation from Adam. He was shown “all the secret things of heaven that shall be,” and was told to write them down and declare them to his son Methuselah. In the first chapter of the Third Parable in The Lost Book of Enoch, Enoch addresses his message to “the righteous and elect” and tells them that their lot (destiny) “shall be glorious.” Then, Enoch declares that “the holy in heaven (angels), …should seek secrets of righteousness, and the destiny of faith” on the earth. God does, in fact, have to change the angels to solve the problem of sin in His Creation, and it has to be done on earth through the agency of Man. For it is said, in Hebrews 2:16, that God does not give help (transform) angels, but he does give help to the descendants of Abraham – the elect. If the angels are not transformed into the image of God, bearing His nature, the potential for sin will still exist.
The subject of sin being eliminated from the cosmos is the central theme of this book. In the Bible it is expressed as a ‘great mystery’. It is labeled The Mystery of Christ and the Church becoming ‘one flesh’. The Church is the body of believers in Christ Jesus who will overcome the world. They will one day be completed in the image of God, and His Son. Enoch knew of this mystery and referred to it as ‘a generation of righteousness’. Enoch said, “I know the mysteries of the holy ones, for He, the Lord, has shown me and informed me, and I have read them in heavenly tablets. And I saw written about them that generation after generation shall transgress, until a generation of righteousness arises, and transgression is destroyed and sin passes away from the earth and all manner of good comes on it.” (The Lost Book of Enoch – Chapters 106, verse 17 and 107, verse 1).
How does God intend to eliminate sin entirely? It is explained in this book – a goal worthy of your attention, for it involves a change to your character if you are included in God’s final generation of His Creation – the generation of righteousness. Discover who was chosen for this opportunity, and who has to work harder to obtain it. Was God just in His choices? Were they based on something we did, or something we believed in? If God is just, they had to be based on merit. Does it not follow, then, that we existed at some point in the distant past? That point was ‘The Foundation of the World’ when the Bible says that God chose some to be holy and blameless before Him. It involves a division of His Creation over multiple millennia, into those who will live eternally before God, and those who will be left behind to an eternity in Outer Darkness, away from God and the other angels.
There are a number of mysteries in the Bible. Foremost of those mysteries is where we came from. The Bible says that “what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.” It is a tall order to ask you to believe this statement, but the Bible just puts it out there in plain sight (Hebrews 11:3). What the Bible does not openly state is why there is a connection between the spirit world and the corporeal world. It began with the Descent of the Watchers – a group of angels who descended to the earth, prior to the Flood. That led to a freakish world in which giants (Nephilim) roamed the land. This prompted God to make a change to His Creation. It involved man, but to what extent?
Enoch was a godly patriarch, the sixth generation from Adam. He was shown “all the secret things of heaven that shall be,” and was told to write them down and declare them to his son Methuselah. In the first chapter of the Third Parable in The Lost Book of Enoch, Enoch addresses his message to “the righteous and elect” and tells them that their lot (destiny) “shall be glorious.” Then, Enoch declares that “the holy in heaven (angels), …should seek secrets of righteousness, and the destiny of faith” on the earth. God does, in fact, have to change the angels to solve the problem of sin in His Creation, and it has to be done on earth through the agency of Man. For it is said, in Hebrews 2:16, that God does not give help (transform) angels, but he does give help to the descendants of Abraham – the elect. If the angels are not transformed into the image of God, bearing His nature, the potential for sin will still exist.
The subject of sin being eliminated from the cosmos is the central theme of this book. In the Bible it is expressed as a ‘great mystery’. It is labeled The Mystery of Christ and the Church becoming ‘one flesh’. The Church is the body of believers in Christ Jesus who will overcome the world. They will one day be completed in the image of God, and His Son. Enoch knew of this mystery and referred to it as ‘a generation of righteousness’. Enoch said, “I know the mysteries of the holy ones, for He, the Lord, has shown me and informed me, and I have read them in heavenly tablets. And I saw written about them that generation after generation shall transgress, until a generation of righteousness arises, and transgression is destroyed and sin passes away from the earth and all manner of good comes on it.” (The Lost Book of Enoch – Chapters 106, verse 17 and 107, verse 1).
How does God intend to eliminate sin entirely? It is explained in this book – a goal worthy of your attention, for it involves a change to your character if you are included in God’s final generation of His Creation – the generation of righteousness. Discover who was chosen for this opportunity, and who has to work harder to obtain it. Was God just in His choices? Were they based on something we did, or something we believed in? If God is just, they had to be based on merit. Does it not follow, then, that we existed at some point in the distant past? That point was ‘The Foundation of the World’ when the Bible says that God chose some to be holy and blameless before Him. It involves a division of His Creation over multiple millennia, into those who will live eternally before God, and those who will be left behind to an eternity in Outer Darkness, away from God and the other angels.
