The Force of Creation, Salvation and Judgement

By Roger W. Carter

Carl Sagan, a prominent American astrophysicist and philosopher said, Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. The Bible does just that! The Scriptures are self revealing, self interpreting and self dramatic. Questions about the origin and foundation of the universe and the earth continue to confound the paleontologist, the astrophysicist, and even the theologian. While many mysteries of the universe are being progressively unlocked in our age of technological advances and discoveries, questions begging definitive resolutions still remain unanswered. Such questions posed are: Why and how did the dinosaur become extinct? What became of Eden, the garden of God? Did Atlantis really exist and how was it destroyed? What is the newest planet in our solar system and where did it come from? Surprisingly, definitive resolutions to these questions and more are contained within the pages of the Bible in ofttimes dramatic detail, translated into all languages. Only through divine inspiration can the extraordinary information penned by the prophets of old confirm the many wonders of the universe and the world that have come to light in our modern age of scientific exploration and discovery. God frustrates the tokens of the liars, and makes diviners mad; that turns wise men backward and makes their knowledge foolish ( Isaiah 44:25 ).

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Feb 3, 2011
• ISBN: 9781449710736

Roger W. Carter

I was born in the year 1948. I graduated from Morgan State University in 1971 with a Bachelor of Science degree. In 1995 I made a new year resolution to read the entire bible with no exegical commentary. The direct results of this endeavor didn't come to pass until 2005 when I spent 4 years compiling information about the scriptures and competing the final manuscript.

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PART I

I. THE CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth (Gen 1:1).

The Bible begins with a truth that cannot be contradicted. The Scriptures do not begin with philosophic arguments justifying God’s existence or nonexistence, but with the creation of the universe. Heaven is expressed in singular form throughout the first chapter of Genesis in the King James Version. The heaven is the universe and all physical forces, both visible and invisible, that shape the myriad of stars and galaxies throughout its domain to include the earth. The physical heaven and its inhabitants were purposed to glorify God’s supreme majesty and absolute powers. The celestial lights from heaven speak to us in a hidden language and their radiant glory fill our senses with mystery and wonder. We convert this celestial vocabulary into speech or written words, either through literature, music, or scientific jargon. The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows his handiwork. Day unto day utters speech and night unto night shows knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard (Psa 19:1-3).

From a macrocosmic perspective, God’s scope and power is expressed in Isaiah’s metaphor about the size of God and David’s expression of the heat generated when God established the laws of thermodynamics. My majesty is so great that it fills both heaven and earth (Isa 66:1-2). Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and contained the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountain in scales, and the hills in a balance (Isa 40:12)? His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the end of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof (Psa19:1,6).

The first law of thermodynamics (energy conservation) tells us that no energy can be created or destroyed in the universal sphere. It can only be transferred from one state to another so the universe could not have created itself. Heat is heat to God and the minimum temperature of deep space is 2.73k above absolute zero which is the point where molecular motion ceases with no transfer or generation of heat. It is not possible in theory or practice to reach absolute zero in our present understanding of the fabric of the universe. We receive variant heat around the globe from the rays of the sun but the minimum temperature gradient of the universe cannot get any lower according to the Bible. Scientists attest to this fact through research in the field of cryogenics. Job never traveled into outer space, but yet he knew that it is very cold out there. Out of whose womb came the ice? And the hoary frost of heaven, who has gendered it (Job 38:29).

The accuracies of the Scriptures are confirmed by the celestial signs in the heaven. King David expressed the heliocentric concept of positional astronomy in his metaphor about the sun relative to the earth. In them he has set a tabernacle for the sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoices as a strong man to run a race (Psa 19:4-5). It was this biblical concept that got Copernicus (1473-1543) in hot water with the Catholic church. Church authorities during his time believed that the earth was the center of the universe and that all celestial bodies revolve around a stationary earth. There are some people who still adhere to this belief in our day and age. It wasn’t until 1992 that Pope John Paul II officially conceded that the earth was not stationary - it revolved around the sun!

Copernicus proposed that all motion must be referenced to some assumed fixed point (the sun) in time and space by which surveyors, navigators, and astronomers determine the relative motion of the celestial bodies for practical measurements. The sun is a natural wonder created by God and it provides the energy to maintain all of the earth’s natural processes. What Copernicus didn’t know was that the sun moves in a gigantic orbit in the Milky Way galaxy and that the galaxy itself moves among the other galaxies in clusters. David perceived the sun to be a bridegroom running a race throughout the circuit of the heaven followed by his bride, the earth. God, the Supreme Navigator and Orchestral Conductor, set all heavenly bodies on assigned courses of travel and he orchestrates the celestial spheres in harmonic motion together.

The biblical term glory is also synonymous with energy and all physical bodies in the universe vary in energy emission as explained by the apostle Paul in his continuation of the law of kinetics. There are bodies celestial and bodies terrestrial; but the glory of the celestial is one and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory (1 Cor 15:40-41). Stargazers during ancient times were unaware of quasars, pulsars, neutron stars, or galaxy clusters. Even today, who can visibly tell the difference between energy output from the stars in our galaxy except for sensitive electronic spectrometers which were nonexistent in Paul’s day?

Heaven in plural form may be used to refer to terrestrial vantage points from which celestial bodies are observed. Terrestrial is the entire earth, relative to space, while celestial is in reference to physical bodies in the vault of heaven as we look up to the starry skies. When the astronauts landed on the moon, they looked up to the vault of heaven and from the moon’s terrestrial vantage point, they observed through their direct natural senses what God has revealed to the ancients through his Holy Word. He stretches out the north over the empty place and hangs the earth on nothing (Job 26:7). As our astronauts travel further into the solar system to one of our near celestial bodies, the planet Mars, they again would land on terrestrial ground. While looking up to the Martian vault of heaven, they observe the celestial body Earth. From the perspective of Martian terrain, the beauty and majestic glory of the earth as experienced by our astronauts on the moon would be greatly diminished as it melts into the vast array of stars and galaxies in the heaven. The earth would then be a point of light barely distinguishable from other celestial bodies in the Martian vault.

Traveling past the solar system at a velocity far exceeding the speed of light, our astronauts would then land on a terrestrial body revolving around a sun in a distant galaxy. The configuration of the constellations having dominion over this particular planet would be different from what we observe on earth and our planet would be virtually non-existent save God’s revelation of our presence to the hosts of the universe. [ Neh 9:6 ] Thou even thou art God alone. Thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their hosts, the earth and all things therein, the seas and all that is therein, and thou preserve them all: and the hosts of heaven worship thee (Spencer’s principal of space).

Sir Isaac Newton is considered the father of celestial mechanics. His gravitational theory encompasses the motive forces that brought the earth and the solar system into existence. What Isaac didn’t know was that if there were no attraction between celestial bodies, the planets with their moons, or satellites, would be compelled to move away from their primary source of influence. Each planet is impelled by its momentum to proceed away from the sun and if it were not for this second urge, they would fall into the sun and as a result, a counterbalancing orbit is formed. Gravity is an attractive force between two objects but anti-gravity is a force which repels.

The theory of eternal inflation is an expanded concept of the Big Bang theory. The predicted existence of a peculiar matter called a false vacuum or anti gravity force was discovered early in this century and was quantified. Researchers from the Johns Hopkins and Princeton University Astrophysical Laboratories published joint papers affirming that the universe is made up mostly of dark energy, a mysterious force that causes continuous expansion (The Baltimore Sun, Nation Section, March 17, 2006). The force required to make the universe expand is much greater than the average density of all mass scattered throughout the cosmos. A false vacuum was still just a theory in 1997 as the energy needed to produce it is much greater than any force in the universe to be measured.

The discovery of dark energy came about as an unexpected surprise when the researchers attempted to triangulate the speed and relative positions of three distant galaxies perceived to be on the edge of the known universe. Newton’s law of gravity would have yielded a (+) end result but they came up with a (-) end result in their calculations and permutations thus presenting an aberration of the laws of gravity. For want of an empirical definition of this anomaly, the original researchers initially called this energy the Dark Force simply because it was a new discovery and they were in the dark about where it came from and how long it had been around. The universe is made up mostly of dark energy, a mysterious force that causes continuous expansion. We only observe about 5% of the matter comprising the universe, the rest being dark matter and antimatter.

The second chapter of Genesis begins with the creation of heaven in plural form. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all the hosts of them(Gen 2:1). The physical universe is empirical in that scientists can measure and quantify forces both visible and invisible to our direct natural senses. Recent scientific developments have given expanded insights into the multitude of universes that conform to the totality of the expression of God’s powers through his word. Psalm 33 and Jeremiah 10 sum up the creation of the heavens in brief powerful metaphors. By the word of God were the heavens made; and all the hosts of them by the breath of his mouth (Psa 33:6). He has made the earth by his power, he has established the world by his wisdom, and has stretched out the heavens by his discretion (Jer 10:12). Some people may refer to these verses as the biblical explanation of the Big Bang" but despite the general acceptance of this theory, it gives no clue about the universe’s source or cause. The Scriptures were written during a pre scientific age and were not meant to be scientific documents. This is not to say they lack astrophysical accuracy but in the age that God presented mankind with his written scrolls through the prophets, only divine inspiration could account for the technical accuracy of its scientific information. Such accuracy was unknown in ancient times but taken for granted today.

Today, many cosmologists are looking for ways to go beyond the Big Bang theory to describe the very moment of creation in terms of the laws of nature. Space is teeming with galaxies, about 100 billion of them within the reach of our most powerful telescopes. One such telescope is named after a prominent American astronomer, Edwin P. Hubble. In 1929 he discovered that the universe is expanding at ever increasing velocities and is remarkably uniform and evenly dispersed throughout space. Evidence of this uniformity was discovered in the 1960’s through the measurement of the even distribution of cosmic background radiation coming from every direction in the sky. This faint microwave radiation is believed to be the residual glow from the blazing heat of the initial primordial explosion as revealed in Psalm 19:6 (principal of force).

The theory of eternal inflation predicts that dark energy expands forever and constantly decays into a number of alternate universes consistent with the laws of the decomposition of matter and energy (thermodynamics). Alan Guth, a prominent American astrophysicist, propounded that all matter that was to become the observable universe was condensed into many balls of extreme heat, one billion times smaller than a proton in a dimensional realm beyond which our current universe exists. In just a fraction of cosmic time, these multiple fireballs of matter exploded and increased in size by a factor of trillions of trillions resulting in the creation of multiple bubble universes parallel to our own; some smaller and some larger than our own (Alan Guth, Beyond the Big Bang, World Book Science Year, 1998 - Paslm 102:25-26 ). Hubble’s theory of 1929 came full cycle at the beginning of the 21st century and anti-gravity is perhaps on the cusp of becoming a law like Newton’s law of gravity allowing for jet propulsion. As scientists gain a deeper understanding of the workings and fabric of the cosmos by tunneling deeper into the sky, the universe shows no sign of running out of surprises. Who does great things past finding out: yea and wonders without number (Job 9:10).

God does not have the space in his written scrolls to deal with the naturally brutish mind of humanity concerning the knowledge and understanding of the foundations and overall fabric of the universe and he makes this evident in Ecceles 3:11: He has made everything beautiful in his time: also he has set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God makes from the beginning to the end. God did not endow the regal lion with the possibility of understanding matrix algebra or yoga aphorisms and you would not want him to be in your face when attempting to do so. So it is in our relationship to the Creator in that we were not made to comprehend the makings of the entirety of his created orders, let alone his capability to create a full blown balanced universe complete with living hosts. Scientists can only brag about their ability to manufacture DNA from the earth’s elements by rearranging molecules in test tubes. Scientists are on their own over what to do next. The Bible does not expound on the detailed quantum mechanics regarding God’s method of creation, neither does it have to. God, the Supreme Scientist and Mathematician, has endowed humanity with the ability to crunch the numbers by observing natural phenomena for the purposes of creating new things, enhancing the knowledge and understanding of the creation process, or the destroying of every thing that God has made on this earth (e.g. by abusing E=mc2). God intends for us to focus on the Creator and not the created but he also reveals through his Holy Book his supreme powers over all creation. God kept the writers of the Bible from error by exposing his divine truth which cannot be contradicted by those who despise his Word.

In Michael Martin and Ricki Monnier’s book (The Improbability of God Prometheus Books, 2006), the omnipotence of God is questioned. One of their views is that in the absence of any knowledge of other universes, we are not justified in believing that the Creator is all powerful. The Bible does not support this point of view. Psalm 19:6 says that God proceeds forward from the end of the universe but where to or where from? Isaiah speaks of God’s omnipotence over all creation when he created the forces of the cosmos in all physical dimensions. At his command, both the heaven and the multitude of heavens came into being. My hand also has laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand has spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together (Isa 48:13). The stretching and spanning of the heavens indicate a continuing expansion process since the beginning. King Solomon in building the temple at Jerusalem, was awed at the tremendous task of erecting an edifice dedicated to God. Solomon viewed God from a multi-dimensional perspective and he understood the relationship of the world to the totality of all created dimensions in God’s expansive domain. But who is able to build him a house, seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain him. Who am I then, that I should build him a house, save only to burn sacrifice before him (2 Chron 2:6)?

Albert Einstein groped for the theory of everything in 1916 and to this day this quest continues. Recent developments in the field of astrophysics point strongly to the conclusion that, on a sufficiently small scale, neither time nor space exists. The current notion is that subatomic particles without an inner structure such as neutrons, quarks, and bosons, and as mathematical points, are too simple to contain the laws of nature. On this hypothesis, scientists have advanced the string theory. Each subatomic particle in the universe is derived from infinitesimally smaller strings of energy denoting its own peculiar vibration much like the wide range of tonality produced on a violin or guitar string. Just as Einstein’s theory contain Newton’s law of gravity, the string theory contains Einstein’s theory of relativity and it holds up more, up to eleven dimensions. One is left with a series of strings of energy vibrating somewhere in it’s ten dimensional realms to ultimately emerge as ordinary physics in an ordinary space-time continuum; the 11th dimension being the universe which we inhabit (J. Craig Wheeler, Cosmic Catastrophes, 2000). The Bible is not in aversion to this way of thinking in terms of numbers. Jesus spoke of 11 dimensional realms in God’s expansive domain when he promised each of his remaining disciples special places in the realm of heaven and eternity. In my father’s house are many mansions: If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you" (John 14:2).

All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another (1 Cor 15:39-40). The hosts of heaven are the inhabitants of the physical realm of God’s domain and the spiritual dimensions of his ordered creation. While the sun, moon, stars, and planets are celestial bodies in the infinite vastness of the cosmos, the apostle Paul also differentiates terrestrial and celestial states of bodily existence or being. Here, terrestrial and celestial are expressed in a different context in that terrestrial, in the juxtaposition of verse 39 to 40, pertain to terrestrial creatures on earth relative to celestial creatures inhabiting the universe as the hosts of heaven. The apostle Paul’s expression of glory is unchanged. The energy emitted by the electric eel is different from the luminous glory of the firefly and so it is with all breathing life in the heaven and the earth.

When Satan was cast out of the abode of God, he sought to destroy God’s creation in all physical dimensions of his created orders. Paul says that God’s Holy Spirit makes intercession with us with groaning that cannot be uttered. Rocks do not groan but plants whither and animals die. The entire creation groans and travails in pain waiting for redemption as we on earth are waiting for the adoption of our bodies through the universal lamb of God (Rom 8:22-26). From the vantage point of rational intelligence in other worlds or dimensions - whether they are physical or spiritual - they would perceive our existence to be God’s revelation to them of the heavenly hosts in all creation even though they may or may not be aware of our presence.

God’s Word through his prophets declares that all the forces of nature were set in motion when he created the hosts of heaven to include other worlds besides our own. God who at various times and in different ways spoke in times past unto the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoke to us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things by whom he also has made the worlds (Heb:1-2). Heaven is a common biblical term denoting the entire universe and all breathing life therein glory in the light of God’s supreme majesty though his Christ. And every creature which is in heaven, and earth, and such that are in the sea, and all that are in them heard I saying, Blessing and honor, glory and power be unto him who sits upon the throne and unto the lamb forever and ever" (Rev 5:13).

II. THE THIRD HEAVEN: THE ABODE OF GOD

[ John 1:1-3 ] 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 anything made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men (principal of time).

The abode of God is the heaven of heavens and John begins his story of Jesus Christ with his eternal preexistence before he appeared on the earth in human form. God the Father is detached from the physical universe and therefore, the causative force of creation is his Holy Spirit, his Christ, or Logos. The Word created all things to include time. If it were possible to publish a 200-page book about time with nothing but zeros without comas from the first page to the last, the book would have no significance unless you end your tome with 0.1on the last page which would signify the beginning of time from the point placed there. Your next 200 page book would be about the years before the end of time beginnig with 1,000 followed by all zeros with appropriate comas until the end of the sentence on the last page: 000,001. Jesus Christ is first, last, and Lord of all and everything comes after him and not before. Jesus Christ, being the causative force of creation, is distinct but not separate from the Father for the word is so intimately related that he even shares his divine essence in equal manifestation. Origen, an early church patriarch around the 2nd century A.D. quotes, Who is able with certainty to find out the total nature of the Word of God except God alone with whom the Logos existed? (Richard A. Norris Jr. The Christological Controversy) No man has seen God at anytime; the only begotten son: who is in the bosom of the father, he has declared him (John 1:18). The word is one substance with the Father and it was by the power of the Holy Spirit that the word was born through the flesh of a virgin woman. The Word was made man with equality to the Father according to his divinity but inferior to the Father according to his humanity. The Word was made incarnate so that he, as Christ the redeemer, may learn the way of the righteousness of the Father in the flesh so that those that are born imperfect may be lifted up and adopted into the kingdom of heaven as the children of God through the resurrection power of his Christ.

We are mortal in our human flesh and are not able or capable of confronting God in his pure essence and expect to live. Moses has just brought his people out of the land of Egypt and he sought a new vision of God for the new task at hand. He asked God to present himself but the glory and splendor of God was so intense that he had to shield himself when answering Moses. You cannot see my face: for there shall no man see me and live. And I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back parts. But my face shall not be seen (Exo 33:20). John was imprisoned on the isle of Patmos and on a Lord’s day, he was in the spirit when suddenly, a burst of brilliant light and sound exploded in his cell. When he turned around, he was confronted with a heavenly sight that overwhelmed him so much that he fell to the floor in a state of death but was revived by the resurrected Lord. And when I saw him I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me saying Fear not; I am the first and the last. I am he that lives and was dead; and behold I am alive forevermore, and have the keys of hell and death" (Rev 1:17-18).

Thomas Nelson in his King James Bible Commentary explains a five-fold avenue of transmission of the word: the Father to the Son, to the mediating angel, to John the prophet, and to God’s servants. Since we cannot approach God in our physical flesh, the Lord in times past has appeared to mankind through theophanies, i.e. a physical manifestation of his divine being. God appeared to Moses through a burning bush in the manifestation of his Holy Spirit through an angel. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was not consumed (Exo 3:2). Angels have incomprehensible powers and God creates them either in spiritual form, human form, or sometimes as an elemental force when displaying his power before the world. The angel that appeared before Moses through the burning bush was manifested in serene reverent fire so sacred that he was commanded to remove his shoes because he stood on holy ground. But when God appeared to the Egyptians and the world at large, his spirit was manifested in an elemental pillar of fire and smoke (Exod 13:21-22).

God later appeared to the Israelites in their encampment at Bochim and Gilgal through one of his angels. An angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal and Bochim and said, It was I who brought you up from Egypt and led you into the land which I promised on oath to your fathers (Judges 2:1). The angel appeared to the Hebrews for the divine purpose of judgment for their participation in the worship of Baal for which the Lord forbade. When the angel of the Lord had made these threats to all the Israelites, the people wept aloud; and so that place became to be Bochim (weepers). They offered sacrifice there to the Lord" (2:4).

Jesus was not a created being as was with Adam and Satan. The position of Jesus Christ in the flesh of humanity above his designation as the angel Par Excellence is explained in Heb 1: 4-6,13: For unto to which of the angels said he at anytime, You are my son? Being made so much better than the angels, as he by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. (6) And again, when he brings in the first begotten into the world, he says, And let all the angels of God worship him. But to which of the angels he said at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool. The book of Revelation chapters 1-3 speaks of the glory that will be bestowed upon the church of the resurrected Christ in this present age. The church is presented as seven candlesticks while the seven stars are the subordinate angels of the church. John witnessed seven lamps of fire burning before the throne into which the seven candlesticks fit perfectly (Rev 4:5). "The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which you saw are the seven churches: (Rev 1:20).

Revelation also speaks of the absolute power and authority of the resurrected Lord over all the earth and heaven. [ Rev 4:5, 5:6 ] And out of the throne proceeded lightning and thundering and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. (5:6) And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. Nelson’s commentary says that the number seven speaks of fullness and completion and the head and eyes a symbol for wisdom while horns represent power and authority in scripture.

Revelation chapter 4 begins with a scene from heaven before the breaking of the seven seals of judgment (Rev 4:1-3). John was caught up to heaven and his spiritual vision may be taken as a symbolic representation of the translation of the Church of Christ. He witnessed a throne set in heaven surrounded by twenty four elders and four beasts. The elders are not identified in Scripture but only that they sit on thrones wearing regal crowns of gold which they cast before the lamb that was slain. They proclaim the omnipotence and omniscience of Christ and his authority over all creation. Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for you have created all things, and for your pleasure they are and were created (Rev 4:11).

The thrones upon which the elders sit are associated with the central judgment throne of God and may very well represent the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles. They may also represent the special elect of God inhabiting the universal realm as the hosts of heaven to include the earth. Matthew speaks of the gathering of the elect with the trumpet blast as the Son of man appears upon the clouds of heaven. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. And then he shall send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven(Matt 24:31; Mk 13:27). The four living creatures may also represent God’s universal creation of beasts and as with the twenty four elders, they praise God unceasingly in humble adoration. [ Rev 4:8 ] ….Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

The seven spirits of God are the angels of the Christ of God when the seventh seal and the seven vials are loosed as revealed in the heptad of judgment in chapters 8, 9,10 and 16. God the Father, being the holy of all holiness, does not judge anyone but all judgment is dispensed through his Christ. For the Father judges no man, but has committed all judgment unto the Son (John 5:22). According to Scofield, the term first born (Greek prototokos) refers to priority of position rather than that of origin. As God commanded Moses in Exo 4:22: And you shall say to Pharaoh, thus says the Lord: Israel is my son, even my first born. God declared Israel a national priority over all nations. But Israel as a nation has fallen from the grace of God many times throughout biblical history.

Jesus Christ is the principal of creation meaning he is first in priority, time, place, order, and rank. Christ as the eternal Son, holds the position of priority in relationship to all creation in that he was before all things, he created all things and by him all things hold together. The apostle Paul speaks of the Godhead incarnate in Christ: For in him dwells the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And you are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power (2 Col 2:9-10). All believers who have received the free gift of the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ will be joint heirs with him exercising authority over his entire universal creation while clothed in heavenly glory in the abode of God. To him who overcomes will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my father in his throne. He that has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches (Rev 3:21-22). Who is the image of the invisible God, the first born of every creature. For by him all things were created, that are in heaven, and that are in the earth, visible or 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 (Col 1:15-17).

Paul expresses the relationship of all breathing life in the universe to the Creator while Asaph the psalmist speaks of the positional status of man in God’s created order. He says that we are gods but fell from this exalted position and therefore we all must die. I have said, Ye are gods, sons of God most high. But ye shall die like men and fall like one of the princes (Psa 82:6-7). Jesus was in the temple at Jerusalem during the Feast of Dedication as were many others for it was a cold winter day (John 10:22). He became surrounded by a hostile crowd and they confronted him over the ongoing issue of his godhood. The Jews thought it blasphemy for anyone to call themselves a god and they wanted to stone him to death because he declared that he and his father were one. Jesus pointed out what was already known to the legalists in the crowd for it was written in the scripture. Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, ‘I said you are gods’, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; say you of him, whom the father has sanctified, and sent into the world ‘You blaspheme’ because I said I am the son of God (John 10:34-36)? Jesus referred to Psalm 82 in making a scriptural point but unfortunately, his spiritual and legal points fell on deaf ears and he had to escape the temple for his life.

We are lower than the angels, not because we will remain that way, but because the position of man, that was once supreme, has been ruined by the fall. King David, while considering the wonders of the universe, asks an awesome question. [ Psa 8:4-8 ] What is man that you are mindful of him? And the son of man, that you care about him? For you have made him a little lower than the angels, and have covered him with glory and honor. You made him to have dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet: all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; the fowl of the air and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passes through the paths of the seas (ref. Gen 1:26-28). The paths of the sea are ocean currents that circumnavigate the earth allowing for trans-oceanic travel.

Paul was admonishing his followers in regard to bickering over worldly legal matters and taking each other to court to be heard by secular judges. He pointed out the spiritual status of the saints relative to the angels. Do you not know that the saints shall judge the world? And if the world shall be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Do you know that we shall judge angels? How much more things that pertain to this life (1 Cor 6:2-3)? Godhood transcends angel-hood and Jesus in his ministry on earth was made a little lower than the angels but for a little time. He was made to suffer and taste death therefore brining many of the lost to the fullness of the Godhead by his resurrection power. "Who being 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. (10) And thou Lord, in the beginning has laid the foundation of the earth;