Chapter 7d

At the Center of the Universe is

Christ

and Jesus the Pattern Son

If there is one chapter that could be labeled as the very epicenter of Angelfall, the one central truth from which everything is based and emanates out from, it would has to be this one. Understanding the following in its most basic and simple form, will set our feet on the established foundation—the universal foundation that God the Father Himself has established and upon which everything in the universe is based. Please read carefully the following Bible passages.

"And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the MYSTERY, which from the beginning of the ages hath been hid in God, who created ALL THINGS BY JESUS CHRIST: To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places (the angelic realm) might be known BY THE CHURCH the manifold wisdom of God, According to the eternal purpose which he PURPOSED IN CHRIST Jesus our Lord" (Eph 3:9-11).

"For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and BY HIM ALL THINGS CONSIST. And he is the head of THE BODY, THE CHURCH: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have the PREEMINENCE" (Col 1:16-18).

"That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one ALL THINGS IN CHRIST, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first TRUSTED IN CHRIST" (Eph 1:10-13).

"…in CHRIST, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Col 2:2,3).

What is the Reason?

Why did God create the universe? The stars and the galaxies? The world we now live in? All living things? The various spiritual dimensions? Why did He create angels and men? What is the CENTRAL reason behind all of it? What is God's major and number one emphasis of truth? Where is everything headed? What is the very Epicenter?

There are two related answers to this question. The entire and ultimate plan and purpose of the universe is centered on just two dynamically related objectives. God's goal and objective points to one thing—Christ and the Church.

Nothing exists and nothing will ever take place either in space or time, but as it fits in and relates to these two factors. Unless we understand this principle at its fundamental core and base, nothing else will ever add up or make sense. Everything that exists is centered on this eternal marriage of—Christ and the Church.

Comment: The word "church" in this sense has little or nothing to do with the concept of church or churches as the term is presently used in modern day Christian or secular society.

1. Christ is the Very Center of Everything

God the Father has appointed Jesus Christ to occupy a position in the universe that is unparalleled, is without equal, it is unrivaled, unsurpassed, and at times incomprehensible. And it will last forever (Eph 3:21). For Jesus Himself declared that all authority in heaven and upon earth has been placed into His hands (Mat 28:18). The kingdom of Christ encompasses everything that exists and is real, both in the spiritual realm and the physical/material world. Nothing can happen or take place anywhere in the entire creation outside the realm where Christ rules supreme sitting on His throne far above the heavens.

Similarly, as far as man upon earth is concerned, there is no revelation, there is no knowledge or true wisdom, no progression in spiritual things, apart from a full and complete submission to, and comprehension of this fact. People can invent all sorts of religions or ways and means of finding God. But all the searching will result in nothing but weeping and frustration, always searching for someone or something that is worthy of our trust. Man's epitaph will forever read, as expressed in 2 Timothy 3:7—"Ever learning, yet never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." The bottom line is that any religion or belief, doctrine, or teaching, that does not fit into the centrality and preeminence of Christ, can be safely discarded.

Nothing else can or does exist other than the universal kingdom ruled by Jesus Christ. He is God's exclusive benchmark and PATTERN Son, because there is no one else like Him. He is exclusive and one of a kind. He alone possesses all wisdom and knowledge. And there is no other way to reach God except through Him. For it was Jesus Himself who declared, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father but by Me" (Joh 14:6). He is the alpha and omega, all things beginning, ending, and flowing through and around and unto Him.

Yet the most important thing to realize is simply this. Unless we truly understand and comprehend and KNOW who Christ is on a PERSONAL level—we will completely "miss the train," so to speak. If you do not both believe and understand this as the ONLY basis of your individual understanding, then everything will either grind to a halt or you will be completely in the dark when it comes to spiritual things.

Christ must exist in the very center of your own life and have the preeminence. To have preeminence means to literally have the first, highest, chief, and position of ascendancy over everything else. All of your thoughts and actions, each and every day of your life, every breath you take, must be surrounded by a conscious awareness that Jesus Christ and obeying Him is the most important thing you could possibly do. As a branch whose very existence is dependent upon the life that comes from the vine, so likewise our very existence as Christians must be rooted in the life that comes from our Lord and Savior (Joh 15:5). Without Him we can do nothing.

2. The Ultimate Goal of the Universe is the Church

But we must not just stop at the revelation of who Christ is. God's ultimate plan was not just to build Jesus. Like Adam who was alone, God's plan was for him to have a wife in order that He Himself might be complete. Similarly, God the Father has chosen a bride for His Son, someone He could have a deep, close, intimate, and eternally binding relationship with. That "bride" will consist of all those who have put their faith and trust in Him.

It was impossible for God to accomplish this sort of close and intimate relationship with the first Adam or with the angels (the first Adam was symbolic of the male nature within the original creation of angels—see Chapter 5d)). For the Bible clearly states the fact it is impossible for angels to have an intimate and ORGANIC relationship with God's own divine nature—see Heb 2:16,17 and Heb 1:13). God could only reach and accomplish His goals through man, more specifically redeemed humanity, because only through redemption could man be conformed to God's image. And it was ordained that this relationship would come about through adoption into sonship.

Yet it is important to mention that this indeed was God's original plan for the angels when He first created them, and even the unfallen angels are now part of this very redemption process—see Chapter 5g on the prodigal son and his older brother). The angels in heaven were also in need of Christ's shed blood (see Heb 9:23 and Col 1:20). The unfallen angels, as scripture expressly implies, are actually part of the church in heaven (see Heb 12:22,23). (Comment: This fact goes against present day evangelical thought which completely separates angels from men).

God's entire program for the universe is centered on the marriage between Christ and the Church. This concept began in the garden of Eden, it was further expressed when Jesus had the last supper with His disciples (see Mat 26:29), and it culminates in Revelation at the great marriage feast of the Lamb (Rev 19:7-9). All of these things mentioned about marriage and a wedding feast is obvious spiritual symbolism.

When God created Eve and brought her to the man, Adam declared "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man" (Gen 2:23). And concerning Christ and the Church, it states in Ephesians "For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones" (Eph 5:30). Right here we see the fulfillment of what God originally intended in the garden.

It is important to point out that when we speak of the Church, we can only be referring to the mystical body of Christ. This consists of all Christians and believers from all ages throughout the world, who will comprise the one heavenly body of Christ. For they comprise the "church of the firstborn ones enrolled in the heavens" (Heb 12:23).

So for this reason we are now about to see a fantastic revelation of what the word "Christ" in the Bible truly means.

Christ Means Much More than Just Jesus

Whenever Christians hear the word "Christ" they always think of the person of Jesus Christ. Yet this is only one aspect of what the word Christ actually means. God's definition of the word is much broader and goes WAY BEYOND just a reference to the God/man Jesus. It can have a wide universal application as well. Look now at this verse.

"For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: SO ALSO IS CHRIST. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, BUT MANY" (1 Cor 12:12).

The above verse DEFINES what the word Christ ultimately means. According to the Bible (I say this respectfully), every person who is a Christian is in a certain sense comprises Christ. Numerous verses all through the New Testament clearly teach that each Christ-ian is a member of the actual Body of Christ.

Only One Man in Heaven

Now in order to more fully understand this divine concept from God's own point of view, here is yet another verse. Here the one body is actually defined as comprising ONE MAN—a many membered man that God is creating after His very Own image.

"Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain ONE NEW MAN, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God IN ONE BODY by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby" (Eph 2:15,16).

And for further confirmation of this concept in scripture, here is a beautiful passage that expresses this concept of the one man, i.e. the "we" (plural) becomes "a perfect man" (singular). This "we" then becomes the "fullness of Christ."

"Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto A PERFECT MAN, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, EVEN CHRIST" (Eph 4:13-15).

In heaven, God does not necessarily see millions of little Christians running around. In fact, what He perceives is ONE completely whole man in heaven. That one man comprises one unified Body. Jesus is the head of that Body, and all Christians comprise the remaining portion of the one heavenly man. Obviously, the Head is the most critical part of any man or woman. That is where the brains, intelligence, and intellect reside.

At the very beginning of this chapter the following verse was quoted. Here now is the more complete passage.

"For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And He is the Head OF THE BODY, THE CHURCH: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence" (Col 1:16-18).

Therefore, all divine knowledge and spiritual insight that any of us will ever possess, must come from Christ our Head. Let us now look a little deeper into this subject.

God Has His Own Bureau of Standards

Throughout the world in many countries, there are various governmental organizations called "the bureau of standards." The major institute of weights and measures in the United States is in the state of Colorado.

Society cannot function unless there is uniformity and agreement. What is a foot? What is a yard? What is a bushel of wheat? What is a gallon of gasoline?

Before 1960 the meter was defined as the distance between two scratches on a prototype metal bar kept at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures at Sèvres, France, near Paris. In 1960 it was redefined in terms of an atomic standard. This new standard is more stable than the old meter bar, is indestructible, and is easily reproduced, eliminating the need for periodic comparison with a single standard. The kilogram is defined in terms of a prototype cylinder kept at the bureau.

It is important to realize that any measurement that mankind uses, is initially arbitrary. A foot or an ounce or a quart of something is a totally arbitrary sum. Yet somewhere back in history, somebody defined measurement—usually the width of a human hand or distance from elbow to the finger tip (such as a "cubit" in the Bible) as a standard of measurement. Later, it became necessary to define things a little more precisely.

Interesting Fact: Even the length of days, months, and years in our calendars are somewhat arbitrary. For example, we gauge all time by how fast the earth turns on its axis (24 hours), and how many days it takes to revolve around the sun. The 365.25 days in a year must be adjusted every four years by a leap year. But even .25 day isn't exact. The actual time is, believe it or not, is 365.24218967 days. This means an additional correction must be made downward. To compensate for this error, every year ending in 00 is not a leap year, even though it is part of the four year leap year cycle. But even that is not exact, so every 400 years, the 00 year is a leap year. This gets us pretty close to being on track. The net result is that we deduct three leap days every 400 years.

So even though man realizes that life and society cannot exist without some basis of objectivity, God Himself also has a heavenly "Bureau of Standards" by which EVERYTHING must be measured. Something a whole lot more objective than anything on this earth—the ultimate standard by which all good vs. evil can and must be ascertained. And this is where the whole concept of Jesus Christ and the Bible as the Word of God comes into play. These are God's standards. And ultimately the whole concept of Sonship is tied into that.

Jesus is the Pattern Son

Jesus Christ and the 66 books of the Holy Bible is God's bureau of standards. God's Word, the eternal Word of the heavenly Father, has been spoken to us and is revealed thorough His Son. In the Bible, Jesus Himself is referred to as being the Very Word of God.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men… He was in the world (cosmos), and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth" (John 1:1-4,10-14).

The following words describe Jesus Christ as being a pattern for all those who believe.

"Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first might be shown in all long suffering, Jesus Christ FOR A PATTERN to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting" (1 Tim 1:16).

Here now is the direct application of the Word.

"God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they" (Heb 1:1-4).

All through the Bible, particularly the New Testament, the Bible makes it unmistakably clear, that our basis as Christians, our entire salvation for that matter, is based upon one thing. Faith in the Son of God.

"These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life" (1 John 5:12,13).

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

Yet Jesus is not only God's pattern Son, He is also God's greatest sign (Isa 7:14, Luk 2:12,34). His life is a SIGN pointing to, and pattern for His Body, which is comprised of you and me. The Father's eternal plan and purpose is revealed, and only revealed, through His only begotten son. A son is a carbon copy of His Father. And just like Jesus is a copy of His own Father, God wants us as Christians, in the same way, to be a copy of Him too.

Perfect God, Perfect Man

The one fact that sets Jesus apart from anybody else who was ever walked the earth, is one thing. He is BOTH God and man—a perfect composite and blending of both humanity and divinity. That is why He had to be born of virgin and birthed by the Holy Spirit of the Living God. He did not have any of Adam's sinful blood flowing in his veins. His blood was purely divine (see Chapter 7f on the meaning and significance of the blood of Jesus).

The fact that He is perfect God and perfect man, makes Him God's EXCLUSIVE standard as the perfect man created in God's image. What God sought to accomplish through the first Adam ended in failure due to willful disobedience. But praise God! His original objectives were finally fulfilled (Rev 12:5) in the new man child, who is also the "second Adam," our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That is why Jesus is referred to as "the ONLY begotten Son of God, the one being in the VERY BOSOM of the Father.

"No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him" (John 1:18).

"For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God" (John 3:16-18).

"In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him" (1 John 4:9).

Again, the key point to remember in all of this, is that Jesus is BOTH perfect God and perfect man. In that sense, He is the sole mediator between God and man (1 Tim 2:5). He exhibited in His humanity, all the qualities and attributes of the very divinity itself.

Look at the words of this marvelous Bible passage. Here we see mentioned all the elements of what this chapter discusses. Christ, in whom there is all principality and power—in His physical being all the fullness of God dwells

"Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after CHRIST. For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power" (Col 2:8-10).

Yet all of this means nothing unless there is ultimately a divine purpose and a specific/certain goal in mind. And what is that purpose and goal?

Bringing Many Sons into Glory

God bringing His only begotten Son into the world, was not an end in itself. It had a wonderful objective in mind—God wanted in that process to create MANY sons (who would be just like the pattern Son).

"For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, IN THE MIDST OF THE CHURCH will I sing praise unto thee. And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me. Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil" (Heb 2:10-14).

Thus we find in the above passage, in a nutshell, the whole plan of restoration and redemption. God's eternal objective was to bring about a whole family of sons, which ultimately consummated in the Church. And all of these children whom the Father gave as a bride for His son, do so through the holy communion supper of bread and wine (partakers of flesh and blood). The end result is a BODY of believers who carry within themselves the very NATURE of the Son of God Himself.

Here is one more verse. Not only does the Bible refer to the "many sons," but Jesus refers to His children as actually being His brothers.

"For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn AMONG MANY BRETHREN" (Romans 8:29).

God's objective in creation, when He created man in the first place, was that all people might ultimately become sons of God. Yet in order for this to happen, just like the bureau of standards, God first of all had to have a Son (singular). One that all the other sons (plural) MUST AS A REQUIREMENT, be patterned after.

Angels

God could never have an eternal love relationship with any angel, i.e. an organic relationship. No angel, apparently, could ever become congenital member of the family of God. No angel could ever possess the "genes" of God. Unlike Abraham, no angel could ever become the "friend" of God (see Heb 2:16 and Jam 2:23). Look now at this spectacular verse.

"For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? And again, when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him" (Heb 1:5,6).

Important Comment: The expression BENE ELOHYM in the Old Testament, i.e. which means "sons of God" in reference to angels, should not be taken in the same context as sons of God in the New Testament. The term actually means "sons of the gods"). It implies a creation of beings who are "gods unto themselves." The word "God" in Hebrew, ELOHYM is actually the Hebrew plural as "gods," and in some Bible verses the very word "god" itself is actually translated as "angels" (see Psa 8:5).

Satan's Objective

Going back to the original sin in the garden, it was the serpent's goal to steer man away from God's Word so that he himself could be the determiner of all things (discern good from evil). The great sin of Satan is to destroy God's eternal plan and purpose from coming about—a plan that can only be carried out by the birth of a man child.

In the book of Revelation chapter 12, it talks about the woman who gave birth to the man child (see Chapter 5a). This is obviously talking about Jesus (the expressions "her child" and "the man child" both are 888 in theomatics, the same as Jesus = 888). The dragon or Satan is out to DESTROY THE MALE ASPECT or man child—who represents not only Jesus, but the one heavenly man as well that God is creating (compare the unmistakable parallel in Rev 12:5 to Rev 11:12—the two witnesses represent the witness of Jesus in His body).

Here is the Main Point

Before anything was created, God determined in advance that the universe, and everything in it, would be established, presided over, and governed by and through Jesus Christ, and that this goal would be accomplished through the Church. God has never altered from that original intention and purpose. In order for that to take place, Jesus had to be born into this world and die on the cross for man's sin, and then be raised from the dead. This singular transaction forms the backbone principle of the redemptive and Heavenly Order, which in turn governs the Irresistible Kingdom—a kingdom to which THE ENTIRE WORLD ORDER AND SATAN'S OWN KINGDOM OF FALLEN ANGELS, IS DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSED TO.

"If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you" (John 15:18,19).

Literally everything that Satan does, is focused on this one objective, and that is to destroy the man child, i.e. to tear asunder God's one objective of creating a perfect man conformed to His image. Satan's singular goal is to destroy the male/objective aspect of the godhead. And this fact is punctuated throughout the Bible—one example being wicked king Herod who destroyed all the boy children at the time of Jesus birth (see Mat 2:16).

Further Discussion on This

All of the things discussed here in this chapter of Angelfall, have to do with our very salvation itself. Why does God save people today and forgive them of their sins? Why has He made a way for us to go to heaven when we die? As mentioned previously, God's ultimate plan was to have a wife or bride for His Son, someone He could have a close and eternally binding relationship with.

Stop and think about this for a minute. The reason Christ must have rule in our lives in all departments, is very simply because—due to the fall—that is the only way there can be peace and harmony between God and the beings that He created in His very own image. Without there being one heavenly man, i.e. the Body of Christ, then every person would essentially be independent and the universe would be full of billions of gods (the Mormon concept), all running around doing their own thing. There would be constant self exaltation and rivalries—the end result would be STAR WARS. These rivalries due to the fall continued to take place (amusingly), even among the disciples of Jesus clear up until the time of the last supper, where at the table they were elbowing and arguing amongst themselves as to who would be the greatest (Luk 22:24).

That is why in saving us, God HAS TO destroy our individuality of pride and self sufficiency. All individuality is sin, and God had to destroy it by HIS OWN DEATH on the cross. And He accomplished that by sacrificing His very own Son on the cross in order to teach us this eternal object lesson. That is why each Christian must take up his own cross and die the same death that Jesus died on the cross in his/her stead—giving up and sacrificing our own individual will to God in order that the life of Jesus can be manifested in and through us. In going to the cross Jesus had to say "not my will, but thine be done," and in that ultimate sacrifice be willing to actually die (which means giving up ones right to even exist) so that God the Father could be all in all.

"And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all" (1 Cor 15:28).

If the very Creator of the universe itself had to die and give up His own individuality, how much more all of us fallen angels? The bottom line is that without the sacrifice of our individuality to God, there can be absolutely no salvation or redemption. Only by baptism into Christ's death can there be any newness of life. Christ's sacrifice on the cross in GIVING UP HIS VERY OWN SPIRIT TO THE FATHER, IS THE POWER OF ALL THAT EXISTS.

Enhancing the Personality

But the beauty of all this, is that in sacrificing our own desires and intellect back to God—resulting in the death of our individuality—in that process God wants to enhance our personality. This is the wonderful news! God has created each person with unique characteristics, certain looks, likes and dislikes, et al. And as each one of us becomes conformed to the image of God's true pattern Son, then all the beautiful characteristics we have been gifted and created to have—those things are further ENHANCED and can now blossom forth according to God's perfect plan. And that is what ultimately brings about heaven and paradise—a place where all of creation works and is in perfect harmony within the framework of its created purpose. There is no sin, sickness, warfare, or contention, and everybody lives in perfect rest and peace.

"Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, SO MAKING PEACE; And that He might reconcile both unto God IN ONE BODY by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God" (Eph 2:15-19).

"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son" (Rev 21:4-7).

Yet none of this can happen, nor can these eternal blessings ever be ours, unless in this lifetime we learn to know what it means to die to ourselves.

We will either die now with Christ and become part of the first resurrection (Rev 20:5,6). Or we will die later in the lake of fire (which is the second death). The choice is ours.

Conclusion to this Discussion

The subject matter discussed in this chapter has been very brief. All of the topics presented could easily be enlarged into literally dozens of scriptural passages and eventually present an entire book. The purpose here has been to simply state in the most clear and simple way possible, the basic eternal principles. Once we understand clearly the centrality of Christ as the only begotten Son of God, then every spoke of the wheel must eventually go into that hub. All the glorious mysteries of the universe and redemption, can be much more easily understood if we see the fact that the center of the garden—the trees of knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life—are all contained in the one life of the Son of God, and eventually the Church. There is no spiritual understanding and there is no relationship with the Creator, apart from that.

Without this centrality, man can only wander in an eternal wilderness, going round and round in circles, and never even knowing why he even exists and why all things were created.

There is no knowledge or wisdom that exists apart from Christ Jesus our Lord.

Christ = Maker of the universe and altogether glorious,

yet willing to be in submission.

Additional Comment: There are relatively few books in my library that I recommend every Christian read sometime during their lifetime. One is entitled Spiritual Union and Communion by Arthur Pink (who was an American and British pastor for many years before he died in Scotland in 1952—ISBN 0-8010-6893-2, 160 pages). In this book he describes in the most eloquent way, the whole intimate relationship and union between God and those whom He created in His own image. It discusses much more extensively many of the principles discussed herein.