While
the first city man ever built was done in rebellion against God, God was the
first to build a city.
When
God brought Israel out of Egypt, and the children of Israel sang the song on
the way to the Promised Land, ÔHe is my God, and I will prepare him an
habitation,Õ they understood God would have a dwelling place on the earth, and
that HeÕd set His city on some foundations and beams HeÕd already placed on the
earth.
Jordan
says, ÒGodÕs a city dweller and He built some cities down here on earth after the
model He has for the one He lived in originally.Ó
In
Revelation 21:2-3, John reports, ÒAnd I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem,
coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her
husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle
of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people,
and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.Ó
Jordan
says, ÒNow, I know people come along and spiritualize that passage and talk
about how itÕs ÔChrist in youÕ and all that stuff, but that isnÕt what
Revelation 21 is talking about! That isnÕt what Psalm 132Õs talking about! That
isnÕt what Isaiah 45Õs talking about! ThatÕs not what Isaiah 40 or Jeremiah 25Õs
talking about, and that sure isnÕt what Genesis 2 is talking about!
ÒWhen
that city comes down and lands on Planet Earth and dwells there, itÕs done! You
see, His coming down to dwell with men is the end result of something HeÕs been
working at from waaay, waaay back there (in the beginning).
ÒIn
Genesis 2, when God says, ÔAdam, everythingÕs ready; I got this plan; got a
book over here,Õ I bet if HeÕd picked that book up and looked at the spine
of it . . . you know what itÕd say? I know you think IÕm nuts. But if you could
have read it and it was in your language, you know what it would have said? It
wouldnÕt have said ÔNIV.Õ
ÒGod
says to Adam, ÔEverythingÕs ready for me to come down here and live with you,Õ
and when He blessed it, He tells Adam what itÕs for. Then He sanctifies it.
ÒNow,
that word sanctify means to set it apart for the purpose for which it was
created. Write that in your mind! When He talks about sanctifying it, He tells
Adam when
the what
is going to happen: ÔWhat am I going to do? IÕve got it all ready for me to dwell
in and IÕm gonna do it on this day.Õ
ÒYou
know what, Adam went, ÔOne, two, three, four, five, six, seven—this dayÕs
special to God! He plans to dwell on the earth! ItÕs a great day. Look what HeÕs
going to do on this day.Õ
ÒThat
means the next Sabbath. Luke 6:1, talking about the feast of the tabernacle,
calls it the Ôsecond Sabbath after the first,Õ and just as sure as youÕre
sitting here, on that first Sabbath day Adam and Eve—one-day-old apiece—stand
there with the commission of God to go out there and be His regent and ruler in
the earth. They knew that the next Sabbath day God was going to bring His city
down—Rev. 21:6 wouldnÕt have waited until then; it would have come and
been right there on the planet!Ó
*****
Preacher
John Verstegen of San Juan Capistrano, Calif., similarly explains, ÒWhen God
placed Adam on the planet and began to instruct him, Adam understood GodÕs city
was going to come to the earth and that he was supposed to get prepared for
that.
ÒIn
a sense, God, when He gave Adam the commission to, ÔGo be fruitful, multiply,
subdue the earth, replenish it,Õ instructed him, ÔLook at this marvelous
beautiful creation that IÕve created for ME to dwell in. What I want you to
do—I want you to run it for me! I want you and your children to run it
for me. I want you, Adam, as I teach and instruct you, to use your creativity
in connection with my Word. I want you to take the wisdom from my Word and use
it to have the earth bring forth in abundance.Õ
ÒBy
doing this, Adam would have absolutely demonstrated the creativity, the
majesty, the wonder and the genius of the Creator. In a sense, thatÕs exactly
what God can do with you and me as members of the Body of Christ.
ÒGod
says to the Body of Christ, ÔI want you, through the headship of Christ, to
(prepare to) fill those positions of (heavenly) power—the thrones, dominions,
principalities and powers.
ÒI
want you to take the wisdom of my Word and (one day) have the heavens function
to the absolute, total, 100% capacity that Christ created them to function in.
In so doing, their absolute perfect operation will demonstrate and manifest and
magnify the genius and wisdom and majesty of the Creator.
ÒThe
Bible says the angels of God are going to Ôascend and descend upon the Son of
manÕ but the Son of manÕs going to be on the earth. ThereÕs still going to
be that traffic; that diplomatic flow of information between the Lord, whoÕll
physically be present on the earth, and the Body of Christ out there in the
heavenly places where it says weÕre going to judge angels.
ÒIf
youÕre saved, youÕre going to occupy either a throne, a dominion, a
principality, a power, a might or youÕre going to be in every name thatÕs
named.Ó