Is life hopeless?

In part one of “What is the Bible about? we left Adam and Eve in a rather hopeless situation. We saw that as God drove them out of the Garden of Eden, though everything did appear hopeless, God gave Adam and Eve a glimpse of His unfolding plan of redemption.

Adam and Eve would now by faith not only trust God for everything they needed to sustain their lives, but they would also need to trust Him to redeem their lives. 

There are two ways that man responds negatively to their new for redemption.

The highest point of our Mount Everest is the point where we realize that there is no answer within ourselves to answer the problem of sin. Just like Adam and Eve, we have been driven away from the presence of God and now find ourselves alone and without hope.

Our human nature doesn’t desire to find a way back to God so we climb “Mount Everest” hoping that we will find the answer to sin within ourselves and our ability to do good works. We often look down from the climb, terrified we won’t make it, for the pressure to be “good enough” is crushing.  

We are thirsty and our fingers feel numb gripping for dear life; worried at any point, a small, seamlessly insignificant rock could give way, and we are a goner. 

Doesn’t this sound like how we live and understand the Christian life, struggle? We claw our way through life, exhausted; everything feels unsteady ready to collapse at a moment’s notice. We think we are on the right track until the last second, deception. You don’t see it until it’s too late.  

Trying to earn our own goodness confirms we have missed the point of what it means to be a sinner.

We must remind ourselves of who we were the moment we desire to scale the side of Mount Everest. There is no hiking gear, hiking shoes, or support; there isn’t even a mountain! Our Mount Everest doesn’t exist! What!? Yes, you heard me, there is no mountain because you are dead! 

In the book of Ephesians, the Apostles Paul gives a very clear picture of what it means to be “dead”.

“1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience- 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”   

Ephesians 2:1-3

  

Understanding who we were in the first place striving stops. What can a dead man do? Nothing! A dead man can only lay there and stay dead! Understanding we are desperate and without hope is the place “Mount Everest” disappears, and we can begin to see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, 2 Corinthians 4:6.

Paul continues in Ephesians;

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” 

Ephesians 2:4-10

The second place striving stops when we remember “But God.” God regenerates our hearts and brings us back to life. He also gives us a new spirit and a new life in Him.

God made Adam and Eve desire Him, to rely on Him for everything they needed to live life in perfect fellowship with Him.  When they chose to believe in Satan, they forfeited that life and exchanged it for death, both physical and spiritual.   

Adam and Eve, taking fig leaves, tried to cover their shame; they tried to climb their imaginary mountain back to God; however, like us, they were dead. “But God” was their answer.

  

“And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.”    

Genesis 3:21

In Chapter 3 of Genesis, verse 21, God gives them a picture of the final offspring, Jesus, mentioned specifically in verse 15. God then provided a blood sacrifice that would foreshadow Jesus’s work on the cross. God provided hope to all humanity through this act and promised that one day sin would be dealt with permanently.   

Let’s jump to the end of the plan of God in Revelation to see how God accomplished this promise. We will begin in Revelation 5, where we see the Lamb of God, who was slain, worthy of all rule, and worship, who restored our fellowship with God, and who is coming back again! 

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The Plan of God: Paradise Won

Revelation 5

• In chapter 5 of Revelation, we see a scene unfolding in the throne room of God. Those seated around the throne are distressed; they long to see God’s glory revealed through the gathering of His saints and the judgment of His enemies, but they don’t see anyone worthy to open the scroll, the title deed of the earth.   

• If you aren’t familiar, a deed is a document that holds the name of the legal owner of a property, who holds all rights and privileges of an owner.

In Colossians 1:15-18, we read;

“15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.”  

Colossians 1:15-18

• Jesus is the Creator of all things, and He rules over all things. 

• When Paul, in verse 18 of Colossians 1, says that “He is the beginning the firstborn from the dead,” He is not referring to Jesus as being the first created being; instead, he is referring to Jesus as the first fruits (after His resurrection) of the those who have fallen asleep. 1 Corinthians 15:20&21. Just as Jesus rose we will also rise to new life in our glorification.   

• Jesus’s resurrection was God’s sign to mankind that His sacrifice was satisfying to appease the wrath of God and all-sufficient to pay the penalty for sin Romans 5:8&9, 1 John 2:2, 2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Thessalonians 1:10. Jesus’s resurrection also demonstrates the hope we have as believers that we to will rise again when the Lord Jesus returns in glory. 1 Corinthians 15:22&23

• Briefly looking back to Genesis 1:28 we see that God also gave Adam and Eve specific instructions. They were to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth. This blessing was not just the blessing of children, but the command to subdue and have dominion (rule over creation as God’s representatives). God’s blessing of fruitfulness came with the responsibility to spread God’s glory throughout the earth.

• When Adam and Eve sinned against God, they not only died both physically and spiritually they also failed to obey God’s command to subdue and have dominion.

• In Luke 19:10 Jesus tells us that He came to save that which was lost and in Matthew 3:15 Jesus stated that He came to fulfill all righteousness. The Apostle Paul sums up Jesus’s accomplishment in redemption like this:

 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:17

• When Adam and Eve fell into sin their ability to rule righteously and perfectly was lost. Through His righteous life, Christ fulfilled perfectly God’s original plan for man. This is why Christ is preeminent (has the right to rule).

Revelation 7:9-12,19:1-5 

• The second way we see paradise won in the plan of God is in chapter 7. Jesus is not only worthy to rule; He is worthy of worship.

• Jesus in this scene is on His throne, with all the saints who have believed in Him. Christ was the sin offering, the payment, in our place satisfying the wrath of God. 1 John 2.2. You have been bought by the blood of Christ and as a result, God has highly exalted Him and given Him the name Lord, the one who is worthy of all worship. Philippians 2:9-11

• The Holy Spirit regenerates the heart of one who has believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. A regenerated heart desires to worship the worthy One.    

Revelation 19:6-9

• The third way we see paradise won in the plan of God is by the gathering of the saints at the marriage supper of the Lamb. This scene reflects the celebration of all the saints throughout redemptive history. The saints include those who have died, those raptured, and those saved during the tribulation.   

The Plan of God: Paradise Restored 

Revelation 21:1-5a 

• In the first coming of Jesus, we saw the conquering of sin and death and the establishment of His right to rule. In His right to rule, sin and death have been defeated and we have been restored both relationship, fellowship, and worship to God.  

• We now turn to the point in the plan of God where we see the restoration of heaven and the earth, the place where the saints of God will live under the perfect rule of their King.   

• In chapter 3:10 of his second letter, the Apostle Peter gives us a picture of God’s destruction of the present heavens and earth. He says;   

• Peter doesn’t end with destruction; he continues in verse 13;   

“But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”  

2 Peter 3:13

• There it is again, “But” .”This time our “But God” takes us from our current state, living in a sin-stained world, to a world where righteousness dwells.   

• This supper is the personal heavenly renewal of our fellowship with God restored at the cross. First, we were saved, second, we will be joined to Christ as bride betrothed to her husband, and third, we will be united to our bridegroom in heaven. Together with all the saints, we will worship the King, in perfect fellowship, as one fully glorified Bride!  

• God will bring down from heaven a new earth where we will dwell in perfect fellowship with Him. There will be no tears, no pain, that part of this earth will pass away, and all unrighteousness.  

Revelation 22:12-15  

• Why can we have this hope of a new heaven and new earth?

12 “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” “14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates.” 

Revelation 12:12-15

• Jesus has promised to return this is our ultimate hope.  

• He will not only bring down a new earth from heaven, but He will repay all that is due (that is just) to each person, To those who are in Christ, mercy has been given. For those who have rejected Christ, justice is in the form of eternal death, separation from God, and eternal punishment in hell.

• Refusing to repent and receive salvation through Christ results in the removal of God’s grace and the giving over to the passions of our flesh that are in opposition to God Romans 1:18-25.  

• Those who are His will make themselves ready by living a life set apart for Him in holiness.

• Hebrews 12:14 speaks about “a holiness that is required to see the Lord”. This holiness is what God enables, motivates, and preserves in us so that we might be set apart holy unto Him.    

• The Lord Jesus is coming back; this day will be the consummation of all of human history, restored to perfection to carry out the purpose it was created, to the praise of His glory.   

• In conclusion, let’s tie together Genesis and Revelation. The universe, including Adam and Eve, was created to reflect God perfectly.  

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Conclusion

Jesus is who we hope in, His sacrifice, His righteousness, His resurrection, and His return. 

Resources I recommend on Understanding the Plan of God in Redemption

A Biblical-Theological Introduction to the New Testament: The Gospel Realized

How to Understand and Apply the New Testament: Twelve Steps from Exegesis to Theology