Finding Jesus in the Bible…So We Can Follow Him in Life
Bible Reading Plans
- Plan One: New Testament Only
- Plan Two: New Testament + Psalms
- Plan Three: New Testament + History
- Plan Four: The Entire Bible – Year 1 of 3, Year 2 of 3, Year 3 of 3
Don’t know which plan? Go to A Christ-Centered Bible Reading Plan: Quick Start.
Extras
Verse of the Day, Audio Capsule, and Video Minute
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(Today’s Book Installment)
Living in the Kingdom of God
Chapter 15 – The Three Temporary Ages
1) The Age of Patriarchs
2) The Age of Israel
3) The Age of Church
4) The Age of the Kingdom of God
The first three ages of humanity were preparatory. Only the fourth is permanent.
The first three stages were temporary. The fourth is eternal.
The first three stages were scaffolding. The fourth is the building that lasts forever.
The first three were the booster rockets necessary to break gravity. The fourth was the vehicle designed for travel in outer space.
All four stages were planned by God before anything was created.
As Peter said of Jesus on the day of Pentecost:
Acts 2:23 this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.
It wasn’t just Jesus’ crucifixion that was predetermined. It was the entire plan of redemption for the human race.
Let’s examine each of the first three stages in this plan for redemption and notice why none of them could be permanent.
1) The Age of Patriarchs
Noah’s flood demonstrates the limitations of the patriarchal age. Though God worked with many men successfully during this time period, the trend line of morality was downward.
Although God was able to succeed with men like Abel, Enoch, and others, He was eventually down to one man: Noah. So, God started over with that man. And the downward trend line immediately resumed with Noah’s drunkenness and Canaan’s mischief.
Was God supposed to flood the world the next time – and every time – He got down to one man? He promised to never do it again because He had something better in mind.
2) The Age of Israel
The age of the fathers ended when God chose one of Abraham’s descendants to organize the rest of those descendants into a nation. His name was Moses.
The descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob became slaves in Egypt, but, through miracles, Moses led them out of Egypt and gave them laws, feasts, and customs – all the elements necessary for nationhood. Surely fathers would do better with God if they were operating in the context of a nation designed with the same purpose, right?
No. This God-ordained nation eventually fell just as humanity as a whole fell in the time of Noah. It ended up being destroyed with relatively few survivors.
3) The Age of Church
Upon His resurrection from the dead, Jesus called to Himself out of the Jewish nation all those who would believe in Him. This invitation was not limited to those Jews who were citizens of Israel proper; it included Jews who were citizens of any and all nations. Within a decade, Jesus expanded His invitation to Gentiles as well.
Surely having a spiritual nation which manifested itself as a worldwide brotherhood of believers in Jesus would give humanity a permanent vehicle for redemption that patriarchs and a nation could not, right?
No. For even late 1st-century churches began rejecting the apostles and going their own way.
Thus some greater and more permanent age than the first three was needed.
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