When we look around at us on the earth, we see things as they are today. Has it changed? It’s tempting to think everything has always been this way. Have we always had sickness, pestilence, and disease? Have the oceans, mountains, forests, and deserts always looked like this? Have governments always fought each other for control of the people? Have we always had racial strife and prejudice? Have we always struggled to care for the poor, homeless, and orphans?
They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.” (2 Peter 3:4 NLT)
The answer to all these questions is revealed by God.
- Psa 25:9 He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.
- John 7:17 If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.
- John 14:26 the Holy Spirit … will teach you all things and will remind you
- Luke 24:45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.
- 1 Cor 2:9-12 but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit
- 1 Jo 2:20,27 His anointing teaches you about all things
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.(Genesis 1:1-2 KJV)
There have been thousands of years of debate about how much time did or did not elapse between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. I don’t know how long it was because the Bible doesn’t say. It might have been anything from the indivisible quantum “twinkling of an eye” duration of the future rapture to an eternity of millenia. We know a lot changed between those 2 verses.
- Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth
- 101 Verses that prove Jesus Christ is the Creator
- Does young earth versus old earth matter?
The world changed when Satan cast down to the earth
God didn’t create the earth in vain, he formed it to be inhabited (Isaiah 45:18), yet here it is empty and void. What changed? We know that Lucifer was created as the most beautiful of all God’s creation, but he was lifted up by pride and wanted to be like God, and there was a war in heaven when Lucifer and his angels were cast down to the earth. This didn’t happen in recorded history, but it had already happened by Genesis 3 when Satan deceived Eve. So, it must have happened between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2.
- Dan 10 The prince of the kingdom of Persia opposed Michael the archangel
- Isa 14 How you have fallen from heaven, O Morning Star, son of the dawn!
- Ezek 31 brought down to the depths of the earth to be with the trees of Eden
- Luke 10 I saw Satan fall like a flash of lightning from heaven.
- Rev 12 Michael and his angels waged war with the dragon and his demons
Fortunately, even a demon as powerful as Lucifer couldn’t stop God’s plan. But he changed it. Therefore, this world is temporarily under the power of Satan. Everywhere we look, we see his evil handiwork.
- Matt 13:19 the wicked one who steals the seed from unbelieving hearts
- Eph 2:2 the prince of the power of the air
- Eph 2:2 the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience
The 7 days of creation that changed the world
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. (Genesis 1:3-5)
It has always thrilled me that the God who is the light of the world (John 8:12) created the light of the world (Genesis 1:3). The first thing he did was to cause a separation between light and darkness. That separation still exists. It’s a one-way separation. Darkness is dispelled by light. Despite lots of research into black holes and Vantablack (the darkest material ever made), nobody has ever figured out how to make a dark bulb that shines darkness. This is true of God’s word in your life. You can accept the Light of the World as your personal savior, which will dispel the darkness in your world, and keep you from ending up in the blackness of darkness forever.
The Adamic curse changed the world
God created a beautiful Edenic garden, that even today, is used as a metaphor for perfection. He placed Adam and Eve in the garden and gave them one job. It didn’t end well for them. So, God drove them from the garden and cursed the ground for mankind’s sake. What changed? Everywhere we look today, we see the remnants: hard work, weeds, thorns, disease, pain, and death. God has promised it won’t always be like this (Gen 6:3) and someday all our labor and strife can be ended in the hope for all mankind (1 Tim 4:10).
- Gen 2:21 Marriage
- Gen 3:1 FAILURE: The serpent deceives Eve
- Gen 3:17-24 JUDGEMENT: pain & travail
The Noahic flood changed the world
God brought a cataclysmic flood over the whole earth, which changed everything and left an indelible mark on the earth everywhere we look. Archeologists who accept the Bible account of creation, see this everywhere. But unbelievers find ever more fanciful fairy tales to explain why the earth is the way it is now. Jesus Christ said the people of the world would get worse and worse until they were like this again just before the final judgement (Matt 24:37). It seems like it’s almost that bad now. I hate to think how much worse it will get. Fortunately, God stepped in and offered salvation to whosoever will believe (1 Peter 3:20).
- Gen 4:7 sin’s … desire is for you, but you must master it.
- Gen 6:5 FAILURE: his heart was only evil continually
- Gen 6:13- JUDGEMENT: flood
The Babbel scattering changed the world
When mankind disembarked from the ark into the fresh new world, God changed the conventions. He changed the animals to become meat eaters and be afraid of mankind. He allowed man to eat meat. And he instituted governments. Things were never the same after that.
But all that was not enough for mankind, and they soon turned their ingenuity upon building a mighty monument to themselves. When God saw that mankind could accomplish whatever they put their collective mind to, he confounded their language and scattered them throughout the earth. Everything changed! We are still reeling from this judgment, with different ethnicities and different languages that have made it hard to cooperate and work together for thousands of years.
- Gen 9:6 “Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed”
- Gen 10:8-10 Nimrod, a mighty one on the earth
- Gen 11:1-9 FAILURE: the tower of Babel
- Gen 11:6-9 JUDGEMENT: confounded the language and scattered them abroad
The Sinai unbelief
When the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (whose name was changed to Israel), went down to Egypt to escape famine in the land, they were eventually trapped and enslaved by Pharoah. God heard the groaning of his people and delivered them in the most epic way possible. When he tested them at Mount Sinai, they proudly proclaimed they could do everything the Lord required of them (Exodus 19).
- Gen 12:1-9 Go, I will bless you, I will bless those who bless you
- Gen 13:14-17 The LORD said to Abram…
- Gen 15:1-18 Abraham promised a true heir
- Gen 17:1-8,19 Abraham promised nations
- Gen 22:15-18 Abraham offers Isaac — God provides himself an offering
- Gen 26:1-4 promise renewed to Isaac
- Gen 28:10-16 promise renewed to Jacob
- Ex 2:24 God remembers his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
- Ex 6:2-8 God appears to Moses as LORD
- Ex 19:8 FAILURE: “All that the Lord hath spoken we will do”
The Mosaic Law
Because of the pride and unbelief of the people, God gave the Ten Commandments and hundreds of additional rules and regulations. Nobody can keep them except through the supernatural substitutionary work of God. Every nation and tribe on earth has adopted some form of the concepts codified in the Ten Commandment Law system.
- Ex 19-24 Laws, commandments and ordinances
- Ex 25-40 Tabernacle, priests and worship instructions
- 2 Cor 3:7-9 “ministration of death, written and engraven in stones”
The Messianic sacrifice changed the world
Nowhere in the pages of history is there a story of such epic proportions. Cinema and literature struggle to duplicate the concept. But they pale in comparison to the real thing, which is celebrated in the Christmas story of birth and the easter celebration of resurrection. This Messianic death, burial, and resurrection changed the world. It took some lowly fishermen who couldn’t stand up to a few servants and converted them into the most powerful evangelists the world has ever seen. Their change was so dramatic that their sermons are still working today.
- Rom 3:19-20 Law == no flesh will be justified
- Rom 3:21-31 Law “established” by propitiation of Christ through faith
- Rom 5:21 Death through Adam –> Life through Christ
- 2 Cor 3:3-13 tablets of human heart … more glorious … no veil
- Gal 3:6-14 Faith Brings Righteousness
- Gal 3:15-29 Intent of the Law — “opposed to the promises of God? No”
The Church which is Christ’s body changed the world
As if the preaching of the Messiah wasn’t enough. The embodiment of his teaching in the Church has changed the world forever. Love your neighbor. Love your enemy. Turn the other cheek. Care for the weak, the widows, and the fatherless. You have benefited from these changes, won’t you take a moment to get right with the creator and receive the full power of Jesus to change your life?
- John 3 The gospel of the new birth in Christ
- 1 Cor 15 The power of the resurrection of Christ
- Eph 1 Jesus Christ is head over all things to the church
- Gal 3 composed of all believers in the world
- Philip 2 God exalted him to the highest place
- Col 3 Christians raised with Christ to new life
- 1 Thess 4 The blessed hope!!!!
- Acts 1 The kingdom to be restored to Israel
The great tribulation will change the world
God is not slack concerning his promises (2 Pet 3:9) but he won’t wait forever, and sometime very soon, his promises of judging the sin and unbelief in the world will also come to pass. You don’t want to be here during that time. Men will cry out to the mountains and the rocks to fall on them to hide from the face of God (Rev 6:16). Don’t wait any longer accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior today!
- Ezekiel 5:9 I will do to you what I have never done before and will never do again
- Daniel 12:1 There will be a time of distress such as never has occurred
- Jeremiah 30:7 In all history there has never been such a time of terror
- Matthew 24:21 For then there will be great tribulation, unequalled
- Revelation 2:22 throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works
The future restoration of the Jewish Kingdom will change the world
Then God will keep all the promises that he has made to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Daniel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Jonah, and all the rest. There are hundreds of eternal promises to Israel — but that is the subject for another post — that Jesus Christ will keep. Here are a few that will be fulfilled after the tribulation…
- 2 Sam 7:10-17 Davidic Covenant: kingdom forever
- Isa 9:6-7 Prince of Peace
- Luke 1:26-38 Gabriel foretells Jesus’ birth in fulfilment of prophecy
- Eze 37:15-28 Reunited Israel in future Davidic kingdom
- Jer 31:31-37 The new covenant
- Mat 24:1- Christ’s return as the lion
- Heb 8:8 The new covenant
- Heb 9:1- The Old and the New
- Heb 12:18- You have not come to a mountain that cannot be touched…
- Heb 12:22- But you have come to Mount Zion…
Here is an old chart that shows some of these changes. It was adapted from a similar chart by Clarence Larkin. We’re living in the last days of the age of grace. The world around us is very different than it was thousands of years ago. Lots has changed. But, hang onto your seats because lots more is going to change very soon.
