Called to Glory

By Abundance N. Solomon

Called To Glory is a scriptural guide to understanding the true purpose of our calling in Christ and how to fulfill the primary purpose for our existence. Many Christians are living-dead but are called to live the glorious life of heaven on earth by being living sacrifices unto God. This is a clarion call from heaven, a voice in the wilderness sent to prepare the way for the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ by preparing his bride, the Church, for the last days prophetic agenda of world domination.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jan 6, 2017
• ISBN: 9781664286870

Abundance N. Solomon

Since 1991, when A. N. Solomon gave his heart to the Lord, his walk with God has been one of a rare adventure of trials and triumphs, fear and faith, defeats and victories. In May 2012, however, the Lord revealed to him a truth that would set him on a path of spiritual stability and guaranteed victories in the battles of life. Solomon shared some of these revelations in small home-fellowship meetings and with family and friends until February 2014, when the Lord instructed him to put these revelations in a book, which he was to title Called to Glory. Within twenty-four hours of receiving this instruction, the Lord connected him with the publishers of the book. This book is the result of Solomon’s obedience to that divine instruction.

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Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version

(Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic

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ISBN: 978-1-5127-6901-2 (sc)

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WestBow Press rev. date: 12/13/2022

Contents

Preface

Chapter 1 — The Glory

Chapter 2 — God Is Light

Chapter 3 — God Is Love

Chapter 4 — The Real Matrix

Chapter 5 — The Master Key Principle

Chapter 6 — Light Me Up

Chapter 7 — Sheep and Goats

Chapter 8 — The Royal Law

Chapter 9 — The Truth

Chapter 10 — Knowing All Things

Chapter 11 — Called to Glory

Chapter 12 — Jesus—a Perfect Example

Chapter 13 — The Era of the End-Time Giants

About the Author

Preface

When the Lord began to reveal certain truths to me about the true meaning and source of his glory in May 2012, I was blown away and yearned for deeper insight and understanding of the topic. These were truths I had heard preached and taught by anointed men and women of God, but the Lord gave me a personal revelation of his glory, its essence, and its source and how to consciously walk it in a way I had never heard or understood. Suddenly, my eyes were opened and my understanding was greatly enhanced. After this encounter, as I walked in the light of the truth I had just received, I discovered that a lot of issues, struggles, and strongholds that had held me back over the years—although I had given my heart to the Lord over twenty years earlier—suddenly disappeared of their own accord. My heart was overwhelmed and filled with joy, like one who had found a great pile of treasures, and my walk with God turned over a new leaf as I moved from struggling to soaring, from defeat to victory, and from death to life.

In February 2014, the Lord gave me the title of this book and asked me to write it, pouring out as much as I could of all he had shown me about his glory. He also revealed to me the publishers of the book the following day. I believe that this book is one of the channels through which the scriptures will be fulfilled, as written in the Bible:

For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. (Habakkuk 2:14)

They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:9)

My prayer is that God will reveal his glory to you, as he did to me, as you read this book and that you will experience his power and glory in dimensions you never imagined. This is his perfect plan and purpose for your life and the primary reason you were created by God, formed in your mother’s womb, and called to the faith. The truth is that you are called to glory.

CHAPTER 1

The Glory

The word glory is defined in several ways, but a few words are more commonly associated with it:

1. honor

2. magnificence or great beauty

3. essence

4. luminescence

5. distinction

6. full weight

It is used more in the scriptures in relation to God than to anything or anyone else. This gives most of us the impression that glory is just another way of describing the incomprehensible and unquantifiable state of existence that can be ascribed only to God, which no human mind ever could conceive or interrogate, let alone hope to fully comprehend.

On one hand, we may be right to say that the fullness of God’s glory may never be understood or appreciated by the human mind. On the other hand, the Bible says:

God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. (1 Corinthians 2:10)

This means that by the ministry of the Holy Spirit, the believer’s spirit person has the ability to receive and fully understand God, his depth, and his glory. Looking at the words that define the meaning of glory, we realize that they are not restricted to the description of God’s incomprehensible being and power. Rather, these are words that easily apply to both living and nonliving things. We know, for example, that there is the glory of the sun, moon, and stars:

There is one glory of the sun and another glory of the moon and another glory of the stars; for one star differeth from another star in glory. (1 Corinthians 15:41)

Then there is also the glory of humanity:

And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. (Matthew 6:29)

So what is glory? I define glory as a state of honor and renown; the state of full magnificence and the greatest manifestation of beauty. It is the very essence of existence that is visible and is illuminated to a point of excellence and clear distinction from another.

Every living and nonliving thing has its state of glory; for example, the glory of this book will be made manifest when you are enlightened and empowered by it to step up into your own state of glory. My prayer is that the God who predestined you for one great purpose—and who also predestined the day you found this book—will confirm his perfect will for your life by giving you the required insight and revelation of the truth, as contained within this book. I pray also that he will grant you the grace to walk in the truth, such that your profiting from it may appear to all.

There is glory in you that the earth, the universe, and all creation need in order to experience the fullness of their own glory.

Let Us Make Man

A manufacturer always has a well-defined purpose for every product, long before it goes into production. In fact, the purpose for the product is conceived first in the inventor’s mind. The inventor identifies a problem and takes time to design a product with the specific aim of providing a solution. Long before a manufacturer produces and packages any product, an inventor would have conceived the idea for the product and designed its components to suit the specific purpose of solving a well-defined problem.

It is also a scientific fact that every creature in all of creation serves a particular function or purpose in the ecosystem. Therefore, when a creature fails to serve that purpose or, for some reason, becomes extinct, then the entire ecosystem suffers a major loss. This causes a reduction in the system’s overall beauty, essence, and glory.

Humans are not just God’s idea and invention; rather, human beings are the epitome of God’s handiwork and creativity. God saw a problem and first designed a creature called man with the sole purpose of solving that problem. Note that when the Bible uses the term man, it refers to the species of humankind; for instance, Genesis 1:26–27 includes both male and female in the usage of the word man:

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowls of the air, and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in His own image, in the image of God, created He him; male and female, created He them.

God created the first man in his own image and likeness. In other words, God created a being with the same attributes and characteristics as himself in order to perform a well-defined goal and purpose.

And God blessed them, and God said unto them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowls of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. (Genesis 1:28)

God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, concluded his work of creation and saw that it was good, but he needed capable hands to manage and to help bring out the glory (the full weight) of his creation.

If it took a god—in this case, the God of the Judeo-Christian Bible—to create this awesome and most glorious universe, then it will take a godlike being to effectively manage all that was created and bring out its full potential, beauty, and ultimate glory. Therefore, God could only create a being just like himself and from himself to be the god of the earth and god over all other created things.

Humans were created to be the gods of this earth. We were created in the image and likeness of God himself, with absolute authority and power over all creation. Humans were created fully equipped for this great responsibility and have all the attributes of God that are required to fulfill this unique purpose—though the first man’s physical body was created from the dust of the earth, giving him the ability to live within this three-dimensional world:

And the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul. (Genesis 2:7)

Adam’s innermost being, his spirit, came directly from God—from the breath of God himself. God breathed his nature into this man so that he would become a living soul—or, as translated directly from the original Hebrew text, a speaking spirit. All humans were created as spirits in the very image of God, fully equipped to rule, dominate, subdue, and administer all the affairs of the entire universe with the full, unhindered backing of God. This was the very purpose of humankind’s creation.

God created a cocreator in humans and empowered them to carry out the responsibility of maintaining and continuing the work of creation. Humans were created by God and placed on the earth to bring out the full glory of all of creation. The full glory of all creation will never be known until humans take their rightful place and begin to fulfill their purpose on earth.

For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. (Romans 8:19)

Until the children of God (humankind) begin to take responsibility for the glory of the earth, all creation will continue to grope in the dark.

Made after His Kind

At creation, God made every creature to reproduce after its kind. Every creature was created and programmed to be fruitful and bring forth only its kind; therefore, the son of a fish must be a fish, the son of a goat must be a goat, and the son of an eagle must be an eagle, and so on.

And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and everything that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:21–25)

Notice, then, that in the very next verse, God himself followed suit to reproduce after his kind:

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (Genesis 1:26–27)

The first man, Adam, was reproduced by God in his likeness and after his kind. It therefore follows that the son of God is a god. Humans are God’s offspring, and we bear God’s DNA with his very nature and characteristics. It is this nature of God that enables humans to have dominion over all created things.

I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High. (Psalm. 83:6)

Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? (John 10:34)

What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. (Psalm 8:5)

Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands. (Hebrews 2:7)

The original Hebrew translation of the above scripture says, a little lower than Elohim, not angels. Elohim is a name often used for God in the Old Testament. Nowhere in the scriptures is an angel referred to as Elohim, but the translators must have found it difficult to accept the concept that God was calling man a god and stating here that he had made man only a little lower than himself. God did not make man lower than angels; rather, angels were created as servants sent to serve the heirs of salvation (humans):

But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? (Hebrews 1:13–14)

Human beings were created to be the gods of this world with the sole responsibility of completing God’s work of creation and bringing out the full honor, magnificence (great beauty), essence, luminousness, weight, and clear distinction of all God’s creation. Humans have been living and operating well below their potential and creative purpose. Why is this so? In order to appreciate the root of humankind’s failure, we must go back to the beginning, back to the garden of Eden.

The Garden of Eden

God planted a beautiful garden called Eden and put the first man there to dress it and to keep it:

And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone. And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. (Genesis 2:8–15)

God’s original intention was for the first man and his offspring to reproduce the garden of Eden all over the earth. The garden of Eden was not so much a geographical location as it was a divine place of fellowship between God and humans. Eden was a special place on the earth that God formed, where the supernatural met with the natural, the spiritual met the physical in perfect harmony:

And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. (Genesis 3:8)

Eden was the perfect habitat and God-given environment for humans to dwell and to be able to carry out their assignment and purpose as the gods of this world. In Eden, humans were empowered by a state of pure, complete, and unbroken fellowship with God to bring forth their glory and have dominion over all of God’s creation. This was and is the purpose for which humans were created—to reflect and represent God on the earth. The moon reflects the sun’s light, as it has no light of its own, yet it beams a reflected light so strong that it illuminates the entire dark planet at night.

The moon is only able to do this by positioning itself right between the sun and the earth, thereby reflecting the sun’s light on the earth at night. There is no such thing as the sun’s moonlight. It is simply called moonlight.

Only by dwelling in Eden, the garden of God, where the first man enjoyed unbroken fellowship with God, was Adam able to have dominion, manifest his glory, show forth the full essence of his creation as the god of the earth. All that God had created; including Eden, was just a seed. Adam’s job was to nurture, care for, grow, reproduce, multiply, dominate, replicate, and thereby bring forth the full weight and beauty of all created things.

Adam was truly the god of this world, operating in the fullness of glory, as he began to carry out his unique purpose. I believe that Adam was so divine that every creature looked up to and knew him as their god. Adam must have gone into the ocean to name all the sea creatures that God brought to him; he also must have suspended himself in the air as all the birds of the air flocked to him to receive their names, as did all land creatures he named on the land. Adam was a real-life Superman.

And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. (Genesis 2:19–20)

More likely than not, God trained Adam to communicate with the animals and other creatures by some sort of telepathic means.

Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? (Matthew 6:26)

Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. (Matthew 10:29–30)

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (Genesis 1:27)

Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: (Psalm 8:6)

The Bible makes it clear that Jesus Christ of Nazareth is the second Adam.

And so it is written, the first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. (1 Corinthians 15:45)

For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:17)

In certain instances, Jesus’s mode of operation gives us a picture of the manner of dominion that Adam had over all creatures.

Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee. (Matthew 17:27)

Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. (Luke 5:4–6)

And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm … And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’ (Mark 4:39–41)

And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find anything thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter forever. And his disciples heard it … And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.’ (Mark 11:13–14, 20–21)

Note that in Mark 11:14 that Jesus answered the fig tree; this means that the fig tree spoke to or communicated with Jesus.

I had a humbling experience that gave me somewhat of a taste of the kind of dominion that Adam and Jesus operated over all created things. It was during my National Youth Service Corps, a mandatory program organized by the Nigerian government; every university graduate had to serve the nation for one year in some capacity. I was posted to the western part of the country to a community called Oke Opin, in the Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State, as a biology teacher in a secondary school. A friend of mine—another Youth Corps member—and I teamed up to buy a goat with what was left of our meager monthly allowance. We had tied up the goat to a poll near the lodge where we lived. We returned from work one afternoon to find that our precious goat had disappeared. We immediately raised an alarm and rallied many of our students into a thick forest behind the school premises in hot pursuit of this goat. The forest was a jungle and the students told us that it led to the border of the neighboring state. It would be impossible to find the goat in such a big forest. We had no clue whether to go left, right, or straight ahead. The trees were tall and large and were interspersed with big shrubs and all manner of thick grass and weeds. Nonetheless, we scattered ourselves in all directions in search of the goat.

As we grew weary and lost hope, a big black bird suddenly descended quite close to my head. I pointed to it and said something like, Come here! You know I can’t see much from down here, and you have a very good view of things from up there. I’m looking for my goat, so make yourself useful and show us where the goat is. Now, go. The strange thing was that as I spoke to it, the bird hovered in the air, rather than flying away. It seemed to be waiting for my instructions. When I’d finished giving instructions, it lifted up into the sky and swung toward the right side of the forest.

My fellow corps member, who is now a pastor in Winners Chapel, Lagos, Nigeria, was standing right beside me and looked like he had just seen a ghost. I said to him, Tell the students to follow the bird. Then we turned and shouted that instruction to the students, who were confused but obeyed us out of respect for their elders. They all began to run after the bird and follow its lead.

In less than ten minutes, the bird stopped flying and hovered around a particular tree in the forest. We could see the bird from afar but could not see what was at the base of the tree. Some students who were much faster than we were arrived at the foot of the tree, only to find the goat, standing within some shrubs there. They caught the goat under that tree before we arrived.

Amazingly, I noticed that the bird hovered over that tree for a little while before it lifted up and flew away. I guess it wanted to make sure the goat was in my custody before leaving. It was the strangest experience, but that helped me to appreciate a little of the level of dominion that Adam had over all animals.

Adam was in full control of all created things, fulfilling his divine purpose with total ease and natural flow. He did not need to sweat and struggle under hard labor to fulfill his purpose; it was as natural to him to operate in full dominion over all creation as it was for the fish to swim in water and for the birds to fly in the air. As long as Adam was in his natural habitat, Eden, and was going about his specific assignment, he was an unstoppable, invincible super-being—the god of the whole earth. To Adam, Eden was like an ark of refuge, a city set on hill, and a control tower from which he reigned as king over all created things.

The Fall

The first man, Adam, in his rightful place and executing his divine assignment, was a magnificent splendor to behold, the pride of God’s creation and God’s perfect masterpiece. Something, however, happened that turned the tides against him and changed the course of humanity’s destiny. There was an incident that reduced humans to the status of their subjects—the animals—and material things. It disconnected them from their spiritual source, environment, and natural habitat, from which their power for dominion flowed.

And the Lord God took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man saying, Of every tree of the Garden, thou mayest freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shall not eat of it. For on the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shall surely die. (Genesis 2:15–17)

Out of Eden

God placed Adam in Eden and gave him just one commandment to keep. The consequence of breaking this commandment was that Adam would die that same day. In Genesis 3:1–24, Adam and Eve were deceived by the devil, through the serpent, into breaking the commandment of God. By so doing, they successfully pitched their tents against God. Adam and Eve had chosen to believe the word of the serpent rather than God’s commandment.

The devil knew that the only way to take authority and power from man was to get him out of Eden. So he came to man in his usual subtle and deceptive manner to beguile him.

Now the serpant was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he saith unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpant, we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpant said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die. (Genesis 3:1–4)

He convinced Adam and Eve that God was lying about the consequence of eating the fruit of the tree of good and evil. Rather, he presented them with a loftier picture of a much greater and seemingly more beneficial outcome for their disobedience to God’s commandment:

For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. (Genesis 3:5)

The devil, through the serpent, gave Adam and Eve an alternative to obeying God’s commandment by painting a picture in their minds of a happier and greater life than what God had for them. He showed them the possibility of a life of total freedom from any rules and regulations, a life where man would be his own god, like God himself, free to do as he pleased, and having the power of choice without the attending consequences or the need to submit himself to another god (God).

The devil has not changed his tactics; they are still the same today. He convinces you that there are no consequences for wallowing in disobedience to the known will of God—that there are no wages for sin and that nothing will happen. And if there are any consequences, they could not be immediate; otherwise, everybody in the world would have dropped dead by now. The truth is that if God says the wages of sin is death, then it is so. The Creator of the heavens and earth—the God of the whole world, your Maker—must surely know better than you.

For what if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?’ God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, that thou mightiest be justified in thy sayings, and mightiest overcome when thou art judged. (Romans 3:3–4)

God’s commandment and the consequences for disobeying it were made very clear to Adam:

But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. (Genesis 2:1)

Adam was faced with the right and the authority to exercise his God-given power of choice:

I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live. (Deuteronomy 30:19)

The consequences of his choices were made very clear:

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting. (Galatians 6:7–8)

Eden was a place where Adam and Eve walked in total obedience to the commandment of God and enjoyed God’s blessings and glory, but when they ate of the fruit of the tree of good and evil, they died instantly, just as God had said they would.

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sowed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons. (Genesis 3:6–7)

Adam and Eve did not understand that the spirit realm, the root from where all things were created, is where all things will always be controlled. They died spiritually at that same moment, and immediately, their glory (covering) was lifted, and dishonor and shame became their lot. The consequences of sin (disobedience to God’s commandments) are much more than humankind can afford to bear.

The fruit was sweet and pleasant to the eyes and seemed such a wise decision at the time.

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. (Genesis 3:6)

What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. (Romans 6:21)

Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the Lord.

Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.

Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.

Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them.

Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it. (Jeremiah 6:15–19)

But the consequences begin instantly with a disconnection from God, which then culminates into a series of events that bring us a harvest of shame, dishonor, suffering, and disrespect that we cannot bear.

Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. (Genesis 3:16–19)

Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. (Genesis 3:23–24)

Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes. (Romans 3:16–18)

Why enjoy the moment and cry for a lifetime, instead of enduring with God for the moment by resisting the temptation today, but then enjoying life and peace for the rest of your days?

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

Since the day that Adam died in the garden of Eden, the glorious Superman lifestyle was taken from him. Adam, by his decision, had allowed the devil to disrobe him.

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. (John 10:10)

He was driven out of Eden, the garden of God, where he was designed to function. Just as a fish cannot manifest its glory outside of water, humankind cannot manifest its glory out of Eden. Adam had reduced himself almost to a mere animal living, by the dictates of his five physical senses instead of his spirit. Adam had kicked himself and all of humanity out of Eden, the presence of God. Superman had suddenly become a mere creature, groping in the dark and living by his feelings (five physical senses), as dictated by his flesh and his animalistic survival tendencies.

God had already created, equipped, empowered, and instructed man to be god over all his creation, but the devil came along and offered Adam what he thought was an even better deal—man would supposedly maintain his position as god of the earth but without the need for the presence of God or the burden of obeying God’s commandment. And he would most certainly not be made to answer to God as a higher authority. In the devil’s contract, man would become his own god, knowing all things and being all powerful by himself.

Adam and Eve learned the hard way that the devil was a liar and that God was true. Man was already god over all of God’s creation by God’s original purpose and creative plan for their destiny.

The devil could be whispering thoughts and deeds to you today that you know are contrary to the will of God, but the enemy promises you peace, happiness, and prosperity as your reward for your obedience to his ways. The enemy’s ways always look so attractive and instantly offer temporal peace, happiness, prosperity, and/or relief, but the end of it will never be as tasty, peaceful, happy, or prosperous. God’s way may seem harder for your flesh right now, but as you humbly submit yourself to his ways, you surely will find the true and lasting peace, joy, and prosperity, even more than your heart desired. God will always do abundantly above all you could ever ask or think.

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. (Ephesians 3:20)

God created man in his image and his likeness, with the sole intention of making man the god of the earth and over all creation. When Adam broke God’s commandment, he instantly lost fellowship with God. As a result, he lost his glory and the essence of his creation. When man fell, he lost the ability to be like God; he lost the power to have dominion over all created things and subdue them as he should. Man could no longer reflect the image and likeness of God upon the earth, so the earth lost its God-given caretaker and overseer. With man now out of place, God’s creation could no longer be considered as very good.

And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. (Genesis 1:31)

Until humankind is restored to their place of glory, where they once again reflect the full image and likeness of God, the earth will never know, experience, or reflect its own true beauty and essence. The earth and all of creation is yet to expose its hidden potential and manifest its most magnificent state. The loss of humankind’s glory was the loss of the glory of the earth and all of God’s creation. Until humans can appreciate the true value of what was lost, humanity will never be able to generate the necessary motivation and drive to passionately seek the restoration of that which was lost.

To fully understand what was lost, we must ask the following questions:

What is the nature and likeness of God?

Who is this God in whose image man was made to be?

Essentially, we are asking who is God and what is He like? Once this question is adequately answered, then humankind can take the right steps toward their restoration to the place where they are seen as the very image and likeness of almighty God. Then—and only then—will humanity reposition itself to bring forth the full weight, magnificence, beauty, and true glory of itself and, consequently, the glory of the earth and all created things.

CHAPTER 2

God Is Light

It is rightfully said that the best place to begin is at the beginning. According to the Bible, there is one person who brought everything else into existence, and that person is God.

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

God was at the beginning and is, therefore, the beginning of all beginnings. But who is this God? Where does he come from, and what is he made of? These are some of the questions we will address in this chapter, which will set the pace and create the foundation for achieving the purpose of this book—to bring you back to your glorious state of being.

In Search of Truth

It is nearly impossible for anyone to accurately define, describe, and explain God with the who, the what, and the how about him. Some have tried, through various religions and belief systems, to define and describe God. Many others have made gods out of created things, all in a bid to develop and establish some sort of understanding of this Supreme Being and to answer the nagging questions in our minds about the supernatural. It is natural for us humans to seek a clearer understanding of our roots because we are made in the image and likeness of the supernatural God. We are certainly supernatural beings ourselves, and we know that God is a spirit.

God is a spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. (John 4:24)

Therefore, man, who is made in God’s image, is also a spirit, but he has a soul (will, emotions, and intellect), and he lives in a body.

And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:23)

Our understanding and definitions of the word spirit appears to