THE BEGINNING OF THE OF THIS AGE
THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF THIS AGE
But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. —Genesis 3:4-6
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. —Genesis 3:15
And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. —Genesis 3:21
The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. —Genesis 4:6-8
Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him… Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.” —Matthew 2:13,16
Disobedience to God and following the directions of Satan started the beginning of the end for this age. There are two kingdoms— the kingdom of Light/Jesus (Colossians 1:12-13) and the kingdom of darkness/Satan (Acts 26:18). Sin’s impact was swift. In the first family was the first murder as Cain got angry at God and took it out on his brother, Abel, and killed him. When Cain killed his brother, we are told in I John 3:12 that “Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.” And so sin has mushroomed and permeated our world so we have what we have today— evil practiced everywhere and “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God” (John 3:19-21). There you have it— men love the evil deeds of darkness rather than live for God and seek to live by the Truth.
The sin of pride, jealousy and power caused Herod to want to kill Jesus who came to “seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10). Everyone who would call on Jesus would be saved (Romans 10:13), but Satan was working through Herod to kill God’s Messiah. But God guided His family to Egypt before Herod could carry out his wicked plans. Unfortunately, in his raging anger, “he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.” Wicked people do wicked things as they are in “the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will” (II Timothy 2:26).
Evil has permeated out world and we can see it in—
- The slaughtering of children in the womb
- The trafficking of children and adults
- The slaughtering of people by those in power
- The slaughtering of people through the love of money
- The slaughtering of people through drugs
- The slaughtering of people through alcohol
- The destruction of lives through gambling
- The destruction of lives through divorce
- The destruction of lives through governmental lawlessness
- The destruction of lives through the lawlessness of citizens
And the list goes on as evil has impacted every area of our world. BUT, the good news is “of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve” (I Corinthians 15:3-5). So, “as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive” (I Corinthians 15:22). God “sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him” and all who “receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God— children born not of blood, nor of the desire or will of man, but born of God” (John 1:12-13). Jesus was our substitutionary sacrifice on the cross. He took our penalty and punishment so we could be in relationship with God through Him. But a person has to call on Jesus to be saved. Praise God if you have, but if you haven’t why not do so now. Prepare to meet your God now! This age will end, but Jesus said He would be with us until the end of this age (Matthew 28:20). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYZw0dfLmLk
Dear Father, thank You for providing the way out of this evil, sinful world so that I could be saved from my sin and everyone who calls on Jesus may also. Oh, that many others may call on Jesus by the power of Your Holy Spirit and in the authority of Your Son Jesus as we bring the gospel to them. So may it be! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_gBpvihKcQ