Part 3: The Present Heavens and Earth

Following on from Part 2, this article looks at the present Heavens and Earth. It describes how Lucifer (now Satan) is influencing humanity to bring about God’s judgment.

Scripture indicates that before the “Heavens and Earth” were created (2 Peter 3:5, 7), there was “the beginning” (Gen 1:1). This was where God established to send His Son Jesus Christ to the Earth 2,000 years ago as stated below:

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

“[Jesus] Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world [to become the ‘Lamb of God’], but was manifest in these last times for you, {21} Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.” (1 Pet 1:20–21)

God’s Desire to Restore the Heavens and Earth

Paraphrase by Alan Manson

Scripture indicates that both God and Jesus Christ witnessed the corruption by Lucifer (now Satan) of the Original Heavens and Earth (Genesis 1:1). This act brought about God’s “…fierce anger” (Jeremiah 4:23-26), which left the Earth and the Heavens in total darkness (Genesis 1:2-3).

Possibly millions of years later, scripture seems to indicate that God the Father sent His Son Jesus Christ to re-create the Earth back to its former habitations and glory. In this He possibly said:

“My Son, it is time for you to restore the Earth to its former glory. Do this in exactly the way you saw Me create it (John 5:36). I want You to battle with Satan where Your influence on mankind will save the souls I have made. Worldliness and lusts rather than Biblical spirituality will be the means by which this spiritual battle will be won by my children.

“It is My desire to dwell throughout eternity with faithful mankind (Rev 22). I will only do this with those who truly love, honor, and respect Me and my words. Sift My children out of the Earth (Matt 3:12; Luke 22:31) using the Godly requirements of holiness (1 Peter 1:16; Heb 10:12-14), righteousness [Matt 5:20], having a love of the truth [2 Thes 2:10], justice [Psalm 82:3; Prov 21:3] and of love [Luke 6:27-28] that separate My children from others unto Me.

Christ’s role is to cleanse the planet of Satan’s evil

Christ’s new role after having victory over sin, satan and death is to purify the Earth from evil. This includes the corruption Satan has established upon it [Prov 10:30]. Jesus Christ will one day present the purified Earth back to Me in the pristine state that I originally created it to be [1 Cor 15:27-28]. Then I will come to the Earth and dwell among all of My faithful creation, forever [Rev 21:1-3].” END of the paraphrase.

“And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.”
(Eph 3:9). See also John 1:3, 10; Col 1:15–18; Heb 1:2; 11:3.

Jesus Christ’s Obedience to His Father

With reference to Label 3 (above), this indicates that Jesus came to repeat the same works that He had seen the Father do when creating the Heavens and the Earth. This is revealed in the verses of scripture below:

"Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. {20} For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all things that himself doeth...{27} And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man [or, the son of Mary].”  (John 5:19–27)

"For he [God the Father] hath put all things under his [Jesus] feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he [God the Father] is excepted, which did put all things under him [Jesus]. {28} And when all things shall be subdued unto him [Jesus], then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him [God the Father] that put all things under him, that God [the Father] may be all in all." (1 Cor 15:27–28)  See also 1 Peter 1:19–21.

Christ’s Restoration of the Heavens and Earth

In the darkness of the heavens of Genesis 1:2, Jesus appeared above the Earth as the ‘Light of the World’ (John 9:5).

Jesus came from Heaven while the Earth was in its state of divine judgment. He did this to restore the Earth to its original habitable condition from its watery state (Gen 1:2).   Doing this took Him six literal days of restoring it back to its former glorious state.

"And God [the Father] said, Let there be light: and there was light [from His Son Jesus]. {4} And God [the Father] saw the light [from Jesus], that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. {5} And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.”

Please note that it was on Day 4 of Creation that Jesus re-established the light from the sun (Genesis 1:14-19).

"Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”  (John 8:12)

The Six Days of Creation

During the six days of “replenishing the Earth” (Gen 1:28) the Bible records the sequence in which this happened.

• Day 1: Jesus as the ‘Light of the World’ created the evening and the morning (Gen 1:5).
• Day 2: Jesus divided the Heaven from the Earth (Gen 1:6–7).
• Day 3: Jesus divided the Earth from the seas and created the grass, herbs, trees, and seeds (Gen 1:9–14).
• Day 4: Jesus re-established the sun’s light and heat — together with the ‘lights’ from other stars and planets (Gen 1:14–18).
• Day 5: Jesus created the birds of the Earth and the fish of the seas (Gen 1:20–22).
• Day 6: Jesus created all animals and mankind (Gen 1:24–27).
• Day 7: Jesus rested and made the seventh day a day of rest (Exod 20:11).

It could be assumed that it was Jesus who “walked as God” (Phil 2:6) “in the cool of the day” (Gen 3:8) with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. In this, Jesus gave Adam ONE commandment to NOT eat of ‘The Tree’ in the Garden (Gen 3:8).

Satan’s Deception with Adam and Eve

Adam and Eve did this faithfully until Satan in the form of the serpent approached Eve.

He cast doubt in her mind about what God had commanded them NOT to do (Gen 3:1). Here, Satan caused Adam and Eve to offend God. This required God to bring judgment upon them for their disobedience (Gen 3:24). Their act of disobedience allowed Satan to usurp their God-given authority to rule over the Earth. Their collective ‘sin’ negated what God had previously given to Adam and his descendants (Gen 1:26–28). This proves Satan is both a liar and a thief (John 8:44; John 10:10).

Satan’s Temptation with Christ

Jesus final confrontation with Satan occurred during His 40 days of fasting and temptation in the wilderness. Satan tempted Jesus to worship him by claiming all the kingdoms of this world were his. Jesus did not dispute his claim, as highlighted in the verses of scripture below:

"Again, the devil taketh him [Jesus]...And saith unto him, All these things will I [Satan] give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me...”  (Matt 4:8–10)

It is worth considering that the spiritual battle between Jesus Christ and Satan commenced in the Garden of Eden. This is because Adam was the “First Adam” sent to defeat Satan.

The points to note in this are:

• God has permitted Satan to roam about on the Earth (Job 1:7; 2:2) for the purposes of testing all of mankind. He uses the same techniques as he used with Adam and Eve to tempt their obedience to God. This occurs because Satan is known in the Bible as “the tempter” (Matt 4:3; 1 Thes 3:5).
• If a Christian dies with any sins not repented of, this means they have succumbed to Satan’s lies. Christians who believe such lies will realize not long after their death it is too late for repentance. God has reserved a place in eternity for all who succumb to Satan’s lies.

"But the fearful, and unbelieving [that God does not punish sin], and...all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”  (Rev 21:8)

Satan’s Role in Deceiving Mankind

Satan attempted to invade Heaven with his angels to overthrow God’s rule of the Earth. He proudly believes that he can still achieve that goal (Job 41:1, 34) .

God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit have responded to his challenge. Jesus came to the Earth in the weakness of human flesh to engage in this battle with Satan.

The Need for Spiritual Fruit in God’s Kingdom

Jesus said these words in regards to the need for Christians to produce the minimum quantity of spiritual “FRUIT” unto God the Father” to be assured of Salvation. In this Jesus said:

"I [Jesus] am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth MUCH FRUIT…{8} Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear MUCH FRUIT; so shall ye be my disciples.”  (John 15:5–8)

God requires all Christians to read, believe and apply what the Bible tells them – in FAITH! If Christians prefer to ignore this requirement, they will forfeit their Salvation. This because it is Satan’s desire that Christians don’t read, believe and do what their Bibles tell them.

"For if [Christians] after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein [in their former lusts and sin], and [have therefore become] overcome [by Satan], the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. {21} For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them." 
(2 Pet 2:20–21)

"But other [seed of God's words] fell into good ground,[of a hearer's heart], and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold."  (Matt 13:8) 

The above verse indicates that God requires Christians to personally evangelize a minimum of 15 unsaved sinners and for them to become Disciples of Jesus Christ in accordance with Luke 14:26-33.

Summary

Lucifer’s rebellion in Heaven caused him to be cast to the Original Earth by God the Father. Jesus was witness to that event according to Luke 10:18.

It is believed that prehistoric animals roamed the the Earth at this time – together with mankind.

Lucifer (now termed ‘Satan’) corrupted the institutions of good government that God had established with mankind back then.

God’s wrath was so fierce at what Satan had done, that He destroyed the Earth. In this His wrath was so severe that “…the heavens, and they had no light” (Jeremiah 4:23)!

Heaven and the Earth were kept in this state of ‘judgment’ until Christ restored it to its former glory as described in Genesis 1:3 and onwards. It also signaled the battle between Jesus Christ and Satan had commenced. The one who becomes ‘victor’ *at the end of this age) will eventually rule the Earth – forever. This battle is still in progress, and the souls of mankind are the spoils for each contestant.

Please leave a comment or any questions you may have in the box below.

Other related articles:

• Part 1: The Generations of the Heavens and the Earth
• Part 2: The Old Heavens and the Earth
• Part 3: The Present Heavens and Earth
• Part 4: The End of the Age
• Part 5: The New Heavens and New Earth