`If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of

God'. (Col. 3:1)

THAT GOOD LAND

In the first article `In the Beginning', we established from the Scriptures that there are three different spheres of

blessing for the redeemed according to the purpose of the ages centred in the Lord Jesus Christ. They are:

The Earth

The Heavens and the Heavenly Jerusalem

The Heaven of Heavens, the right hand of God where Christ is enthroned.

Let us concentrate on what the Word of God reveals concerning the first sphere, namely the earth.

The very fact of creation implies a purpose, for it is unthinkable that God would create as a mere whim. A part

of this purpose is revealed in Isaiah 45:18:

`... God Himself that formed the earth and made it; ... He formed it to be inhabited'.

So the earth was intended to be a dwelling place for the greatest of His creation - man. Psalm 8:4-8 takes the

revelation further:

`What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? ... Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands;

Thou hast put all things under his feet'.

Here is the extent of the rule that the Lord God willed Adam and his posterity to enjoy, but one surely does not

need to stress the fact that something has come into human experience to spoil the Divine plan. This dominion is

not true now, for sin has entered and passed to all men, `for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God'

(Rom. 3:23). Not only this, but creation itself has also become involved.

`The creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children

of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now' (Rom. 8:21,22).

The thorns and thistles of Genesis 3:18 and the conflict we see around us in nature are only an external evidence of

this fact. Consequently the original purpose in the creation of the heaven and earth has been held up as it were by

sin and death, and God is now concentrating on the removal of these enemies of this great plan and purpose. Hence

the revelation in the Scriptures of the wondrous work of redemption centred in the Lord Jesus Christ, for He came to

put away sin righteously by the sacrifice of Himself on Calvary's Cross and to abolish death for ever. It is here that

we find the great basis upon which sinners can be redeemed and the very creation itself restored to its original

perfection and beauty.

But God is pleased to use human agents to carry out His will and as regards the earth, we have the first unfolding

in Genesis 12:1-3 in the call of Abraham. In these verses is revealed seven `I wills' of Jehovah, ending with `and in

thee (Abraham) shall all families of the earth be blessed'. In order that this shall be true Abraham must have a seed

and Genesis 15:5 states:

`And He (Jehovah) brought him (Abraham) forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if

thou be able to number them: and He said unto him, So shall thy seed be'.

Now the seed must have a home or land in which to dwell, so later on in the same chapter God says (15:18)

`In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the

river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates'.