Part 3 Creation of Temporal Realm – The Seen
Scripture Reading for today Genesis 1-2 – the creation account.
2 Corinthians 4:18 (NASB) “while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
Two Realms Revealed
There are two realms, the seen and the unseen; two different realms, each having very important characteristics. The first realm is God’s unseen realm and its nature is eternal. We’re going to refer to it as the eternal realm. Eternity and the word “eternal” must be defined. Most people think eternal means from now into forever, but eternal actually means “no beginning and no ending.” Aionios is an adjective that means without beginning or end and appears 70x in NT.
From the Collin Brown Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Vol 3 (p.832): In (ancient Greek) Homers writing. Aion is often parallel with psyche – soul, life. The expression “eternal life” (zoe aionios) is to be understood primarily as life which belongs to God. It corresponds to basileia tou theou, the kingdom of God. John’s gospel, understands eternal life in relation to Christ through faith…The word eternal here indicates a definite quality; it is a different life from the old existence typified by hate, lack of love, sin, pain and death. Therefore, eternal life does not just begin in the future, it is already the possession of those who have entered upon fellowship with Christ. Thus John 3:15 speaks of having eternal life in the present.” “…that whoever believes may in Him have eternal life.”
I John 5: 11-12 “And the witness is this, that God has given us eternal life and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the LIFE; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the LIFE.”
On the other hand, the temporal, proskairos, literally means “for a time” or “for a season” and should be understood as not eternal, and also as changeable. As our opening passage charges, it is the seen. From Genesis 1, it is what was brooded over by the Holy Spirit, and came into existence as the word was spoken, “In the beginning (of space & time) God created the heavens and the earth.”
A clear understanding should be drawn, what was created is temporal and changeable and as we look at the creation of man, this is especially true of the human soul and body and also what the Bible warns the believer of concerning the flesh.
On the other hand, what is eternal is of God’s eternal realm and His characteristics, unchangeable, holy, righteous, etc. The born-again spirit of man is also eternal and is a new creature with the characteristics of Christ, whose eternal life has given the new life to that spirit.
What is temporal has beginning and end, is under the bondage of sin & death, passing away, material, flesh ruled, and is where the body exists and the soul relates much of the time. We’ll look more at this as we talk about the creation of man and the fall.
Let’s look at some scriptures that help us get a revelation about creation from the word:
Heb 11:3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.
Ge 1:1 | IN the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Ps 33:6 | By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, And by the breath of His mouth all their host.
Jn 1:3 | All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
2 Pe 3:5 | For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water,
Heb 12:27 And this expression, “Yet once more,” denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, in order that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
Is 34:4 | And all the host of heaven will wear away, And the sky will be rolled up like a scroll; All their hosts will also wither away, as a leaf withers from the vine, or as one withers from the fig tree.
Is 54:10 | “For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, And My covenant of peace will not be shaken,” Says the LORD who has compassion on you.
Is 65:17 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind.
Ro 8:19 | For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.
Ro 8:21 | that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
1 Co 7:31 |and those who use this world, as though they did not make full use of it; for the form of this world is passing away.
Heb 1:10 |And Thou, Lord, in the beginning didst lay the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of Thy hands.
To simplify this and discover what this means to us as we grow in maturity, we are going to draw a line between eternal and temporal and make our aim to live “above the line”.
Eternity and the things Eternal:
No beginning, no end, LIFE, ruled by the law of the Spirit of Life, spiritual, Spirit led, all that we are in Christ, where the new spirit man lives, where Grace comes from, where the Fruit of the Spirit originate (Gal 5: 22-23), where gifts of the Spirit are sent from (I Cor 12), where His callings, His plans & purposes for each human life have existed for eternity (I Tim. 1:9-10); the source of the word of God, all these and more are “above the line” in His Eternal Life (zoe aionios) the God kind of Life.
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Below the line: the Temporal Things are where the body lives, Psuche life, the deeds of the flesh, (Gal 5:19-21); the mind set on the flesh (Rom 8:5); where the Law operates (I Tim 1:9); where suffering is (2 Cor 4:16-17); The world and all it contains, its systems, governments, mind sets, philosophies, and knowledge.
Living by Faith in the unseen is necessary while in the temporal. Romans 4:18-20 reveals that Abraham had to have above the line hope (eternal hope in the unseen) set against below the line hope (temporal hope in what was seen). Grace is God’s eternal plan to give us His LIFE to live in the temporal. So here’s two critical questions:
1) Where would you like to live? ________________________________________________
2) When will you get to live there? __________________________________________________
John 12: 23-25: “And Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone, but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life (psuche, soulish life) loses it; and he who hates his life (psuche. soulish life) in this world shall keep (phulasso) (save, preserve) it to LIFE (zoe) eternal (above the line living).” Jesus’ secret was in dying in order to have eternal life in this life. More to come.
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