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    God's Eternal Plan
    God's Eternal Plan
    God's Eternal Plan
    Ebook192 pages2 hours

    God's Eternal Plan

    By Michael Scantlebury

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Let me quote this very important passage of Scripture: Hebrews 11:1-3

    "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible."

    So, this is the premise from which this book would be written. We cannot even begin to understand the Scriptures or the heart of God if we do not believe that He is. And to do that we must enact the faith that everyone of us were given at birth according to: Romans 12:3

    Because God always existed, we must understand and believe that He existed outside of space and time in the realm called Eternal. I believe that this is why we could understand the following passage of Scripture: Matthew 25:34-40

    So, He knew exactly what He was seeking to accomplish, and nothing could take Him by surprise.

    And that time, as we know it only began when He created it. This was done when He created the Heavens and the earth as recorded in the book of Genesis, when He established the sun and the moon and day and night causing, the establishment of days and night, and the record of days.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWord Alive Press
    Release dateMay 29, 2024
    ISBN9781486625314
    God's Eternal Plan

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      Book preview

      God's Eternal Plan - Michael Scantlebury

      God’s Eternal Plan

      Copyright © 2024 by Michael Scantlebury

      Editorial Consultant: Anita Thompson – 604-521-6042

      Question Section: Anoja Wijesuriya – 604-314-6605

      All rights reserved. Neither this publication nor any part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

      All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All Scriptures marked KJV are taken from the King James Version; Scriptures marked (NASB) are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All Scriptures marked NIV are from The New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Those marked YLT are from the Young Literal Translation and used by permission; and those marked MSG are from The Message Bible and are used by permission.

      Hebrew and Greek definitions are from James Strong, Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, n.d.).

      Michael Scantlebury has taken author’s prerogative in capitalizing certain words that are not usually capitalized according to standard grammatical practice. Also, please note that the name satan and related names are not capitalized as we choose not to acknowledge him, even to the point of disregarding standard grammatical practice.

      ISBN: 978-1-4866-2530-7

      eBook ISBN: 978-1-4866-2531-4

      Word Alive Press

      119 De Baets Street Winnipeg, MB R2J 3R9

      www.wordalivepress.ca

      Cataloguing in Publication information is can be obtained from Library and Archives Canada.

      BOOKS BY MICHAEL SCANTLEBURY

      Understanding the Dual Aspects of Faith

      Understanding the Revelation

      Are We Living in the End-Times or Last Days?

      Heaven and Earth – A Biblical Understanding

      Understanding the Kingdom of God and The Church of Jesus Christ

      Eschatology – A Biblical View

      As It Was in the Beginning, So Shall It Be…

      Daniel In Babylon – The Study Guide

      Principles for Victorious Living Volume II

      Principles for Victorious Living Volume I

      Present Truth Lifestyle – Daniel In Babylon

      Esther: Present Truth Church

      The Fortress Church

      Called to be An Apostle – An Autobiography

      Leaven Revealed

      Five Pillars of The Apostolic

      Apostolic Purity

      Apostolic Reformation

      Jesus Christ The Apostle and High Priest of Our Profession

      Kingdom Advancing Prayer Volume I

      Kingdom Advancing Prayer Volume II

      Kingdom Advancing Prayer Volume III

      Internal Reformation

      God’s Nature Expressed Through His Names

      I Will Build My Church. – Jesus Christ

      Identifying and Defeating the Jezebel Spirit

      INTRODUCTION

      Before we launch into this book, let me quote this very important passage of Scripture: Hebrews 11:1-6

      Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, and was not found, because God had taken him; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

      So, this is the premise from which this book would be written. We cannot even begin to understand the Scriptures or the heart of God if we do not believe that He is. And to do that we must enact the faith that everyone of us were given at birth according to: Romans 12:3

      For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.

      Because God always existed, we must understand and believe that He existed outside of space and time in the realm called Eternal. I believe that this is why we could understand the following passage of Scripture: Matthew 25:34-40

      Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ "Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

      Acts 15:18

      Known to God from eternity are all His works.

      So, He knew exactly what He was seeking to accomplish, and nothing could take Him by surprise.

      And that time, as we know it only began when He created it. This was done when He created the Heavens and the earth as recorded in the book of Genesis, when He established the sun and the moon and day and night causing, the establishment of days and night, and the record of days.

      Here is a thought: What happens to today when it passes and becomes yesterday? Where does it go? Where is tomorrow? I would think that only the Creator, God would be able to effectively answer these questions.

      Let us now get into the depth of this book, which we pray would be a source of Divine revelation.

      CHAPTER ONE

      Spiritual Warfare and God’s Divine Council

      I would like to submit to you that creation began with the Heavenly Host of the Angels and God’s Divine Council and from there the creation of mankind. Let us delve a bit deeper into this statement. I would like to begin with spiritual warfare because this gives us a much clear understanding of the importance of God’s Divine Council.

      Spiritual Warfare

      For the next few pages, we are going to be talking about spiritual warfare. By spiritual warfare, I mean battling with spirit beings, who are non-physical, non-humans. They are supernatural beings. I believe that this would set the tone for us to explore the whole issue of a Divine Council. So, let’s get started.

      Paul put it this way: Ephesians 6:12 NASB

      For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

      This is speaking about a battle with spiritual forces, who are not flesh and blood.

      When it comes to spirit beings such as satan, the devil, demons, and unclean spirits there are basically three positions or views.

      1. Some Believers don’t believe in a personal devil or demons; to them there is no such thing.

      2. Some believe that satan, demons, and unclean spirits are real beings that are still very active today.

      3. Some believe that satan, demons, and unclean spirits are real beings, but were all defeated and destroyed in AD 70 at the return of Christ when the destruction of the Temple and judgment took place.

      Those who hold to view 1:

      Hold the idea that satan is not a real spiritual being, but instead is merely referring to a personification of sinfulness in the human heart, or to wicked human beings. They would say that satan is merely our own internal sinful human nature or inclination to sin. How would that view fit with Scripture?

      Let’s start by looking at a verse from the Tanakh, the Old Testament:

      Deuteronomy 32:17 NASB

      They sacrificed to demons who were not God, To gods whom they have not known, New gods who came lately, Whom your fathers did not dread.

      • Here demons, the Hebrew word shed, are called gods, this is the Hebrew elohim.

      • Here God is Eloahh, and gods is also elohim.

      • So, demons are also called elohim.

      Michael H. Heiser, the Jewish scholar says, "Elohim is a place of residence term." He meant that elohim is only used of those in the spirit world. So, in this verse demons are called elohim, meaning they are spirit beings, they are not sinful human nature. Do you understand this? Are you able to see this?

      Let’s move to the New Testament: Matthew 4:1 NASB

      Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

      Question that needs to be answered: If we say that devils and demons never existed then was Jesus being tempted by His own sinful nature? To go there is an attack on the deity of Christ.

      The Bible teaches that Christ was sinless: Philippians 2:7 NASB

      but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.

      Here the word likeness is homoioma, which suggests similarity, but different. Though His humanity was genuine, He was different from all other humans in that He was sinless.

      We see this same Greek word in: Romans 8:3 NASB

      For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh.

      Christ came in the likeness of sinful flesh. Likeness is from homoioma, meaning similar, but different.

      The difference was that He wasn’t sinful. Jesus had real human flesh He felt pain, sorrow, wept, died, but He was sinless: 2 Corinthians 5:21 NASB

      He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

      Christ knew no sin: Hebrews 4:15 NASB

      For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.

      Jesus can’t be tempted by His own sinful nature because He didn’t have a sinful nature.

      Is Christ being tempted by wicked human beings? Most would say that Christ’s adversaries were the Jews.

      Question then: Could satan here represent the Jews?

      Matthew 4:8-10 NASB

      Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me. Then Jesus said to him, Go, satan! For it is written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.’

      Would the Jews at that time ask Christ to worship them? No! Is Christ carrying on a conversation here with Himself? Throughout the text the tempter or the devil is given personal attributes and clearly distinguished from Jesus as being another person.

      I mean that nowhere in this context do we get the idea that the devil is merely referring to a sinful human nature of Christ.

      It’s kind of ridiculous to think that a sinful nature within Christ demanded Christ to worship Christ, and if He did, Christ would give Christ the nations. satan offering Christ the nations is not an empty promise. satan was ruling the nations. Sinful human beings could

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