Lecture on Genesis(12)
Scripture
Genesis 1:1
[1] In the beginning God created heavens and the earth
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
This is the 12th Lecture on Genesis.
Let's review briefly what we have learned so far.
In the beginning, God the Origin existed in the original space in the form of the Light that contained the Sound (or Voice).
At a certain time, God the Origin cohered as a light at the vertex of the spiritual realm to begin the human cultivation.
At the same time, the original space was divided into four spaces that have different density of the spirit and different brightness of the light.
This is how the first, second, third, and fourth heavens were created.
The light that cohered at the vertex of the spiritual realm was divided into three different lights, and each put on a spiritual form that is like that of man.
That is, God the Origin became God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
The process of God the Origin being God the Trinity was the Division of the Spirit in which original entities came forth from the one original entity.
That is, two more original entities were made from the only one original entity.
The division of the spirit in which the original entities issued forth from the original entity took place only once and at this time.
And it is only God the Trinity that has the ability to separate spirits from its original entity.
Therefore, not only God the Father, but also God the Son and God the Holy Spirit can freely divide their Spirit as They please.
However, it is the division of the Spirit that "sub-entities" come out of the original entity.
Through the division of the spirit, God the Trinity has managed so many works throughout the history of human cultivation.
Different names are used in the Bible according to the characteristics of the work done, or to the roles of God.
There are about 30 names that refer to God the Trinity.
I spent last 8 lectures to explain the meaning of each of these names.
Beginning with this lecture, I will explain the works of the Creation after God the Origin became God the Trinity.
God the Trinity created what is necessary first in the place where He stays.
When God existed in the original space as the light that contained the sound, He didn't need a separate place to stay.
However, He now needed a place to stay since He put on a form.
God the Trinity, or course, can either put on the form or not when He is in the Fourth Heaven.
God can change His form as freely as He pleases in His heart.
It is possible because the attribute of the Fourth Heaven is the same as the original space.
However, God the Trinity puts on a form in the Third Heaven where the heavenly kingdom is located.
And there are separate places for God the Trinity to stay in the Third Heaven.
Of course, there is a place for God the Trinity in the fourth heaven as well.
It is the place that is necessary only when God the Trinity puts on a form.
When He created this place, God the Trinity created spiritual beings that co-exist with Him and that He oversees.
There are two kinds of spiritual beings that God oversees; they are 'angels' and 'cherubim.'
God created angels and cherubim with His word.
I am going to explain about these angels and cherubim over the next few lectures.
An angel is almost the same in its form as that of a man except that it has wings.
There are various shapes of 'cherubim'.
The spiritual beings that have the appearances of forms such as lions, eagles, and cows are all cherubim.
Dragons are generally considered imaginary creatures, but they were originally a kind of cherubim.
I will come back to 'cherubim' later, but for now, I'm going to tell you about angels.
Let's take a look at general characteristics of angels.
Since the shape of angels is almost the same as that of a man, some parts of the Bible described 'angels' as 'men'.
For example, when the Lord resurrected, the women who went to the tomb saw an angel.
For this, Mark 16:5 says that 'they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe.'
For this same scene, however, John 20:12 describes it as 'two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying.'
When the Lord ascended into Heaven, two angels appeared to His disciples who were gazing into the sky.
But for this, Acts 1:10-11 says that 'two men in white clothing' told them that the Lord would come back.
From the fact that the people of the bible who witnessed angels described them as men, we can see that the shape of angels is similar to that of men.
Just as man was created in the image of God, angels were also created in the image of God.
Of course, angels were created before men.
However, there is a clear difference between men and angels.
Angels only resemble the outward image of God, but man was created to resemble even His heart.
This I will explain in great detail when we get to the creation of Adam the first man.
Now, since the shape of an angel is similar to that of a man, is the size and height also similar each other?
There are angels that are similar to men. However, there are very tiny angels and huge angels as well.
There are also male angels and female angels (in attribute?).
However, it doesn't mean that angels have physiological features of a man or a woman.
Angels don't need to marry or to breed just as men do.
However, according to their roles, they may have the form and characteristics that are masculine or feminine.
For example, if there is an angel who plays the role of an army general, which form would be more appropriate, a male form or a female?
Of course it is a male shape.
What about dancing and singing? Then a female form might be more suitable.
Well, I don't mean that there are no masculine appearing angels that dance.
Just as there are male dancers in this world and they play their roles, there are male-like angels as well.
Dear brothers and sisters.
When God created angels and cherubim, He didn't give them the humanity that He gave to man.
He created them so that they would only obey orders according to their hierarchy.
However, angels can also feel the heart of God whom they are serving.
Let me make an example of animals.
Man raises animals such as cows, horses, pigs, chickens, and dogs.
Among these animals, for example, can chickens feel the heart of their owner?
No, they can't. There are exceptions as with dogs.
If dogs stay with their owner over a long period of time, they can feel the heart of their owner a little bit.
If an owner gets angry, his dog can feel it, put its tail between legs, and tries to read the owner's face.
On the other hand, if the owner rejoices, his dog also wags it tails and they rejoice together.
Likewise, angels can also show various facial expressions and attitudes according to a given mood.
If their master sings praises and dances with joy, the angel also follows the master in happiness.
If the master laughs at something funny, the angel also laughs following the master.
If the master becomes sad, the angel also looks sad, and sits down helplessly.
According to the status of the master's mind, the look and attitude of the angel also changes.
The characteristics of angels also vary according to their given duties.
For example, the angels that sing or dance usually laugh with ease.
Some angels are playful, and they are good at making funny faces.
On the other hand, the angles that play the role of a security guard don't laugh.
In the same way, there are angels that are given a unique duty in the spiritual realm, but there are other angels that minister the children of God on earth.
Hebrews 1:14 says, "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?"
As recorded, a child of God is assigned at least one angel that ministers that child.
If you believe this fact, what should you do?
If you doze off during a worship service, you should know how much your angel tries to wake you up.
The angel will say like, "Master, you shouldn't doze off. It is rude before God", and desperately try to wake you up.
However, the voice of angels is spiritual, and so you cannot audibly hear it.
It is because you are spiritually asleep, not fleshly.
In other words, you have too much untruth in your heart.
So, when you listen to the Word during the worship service, you cannot understand it due to your fleshly thoughts.
Moreover, if you have idle thoughts, you cannot concentrate and easily fall asleep.
In this case, no matter how desperately your angel tries to awaken you, you cannot hear its voice.
On the other hand, to the extent you fill your heart with the truth you can hear the voice of the spirit well.
Even if you cannot see your angel with spiritual eyes, you can sense, "The angel must be feeling like this now.'
Even if you cannot feel it, since you know it now, please try to do what your angel desires for you.
If you gossip and speak ill of someone, your angel will stay away from you.
Well, your angel will say first, "You shouldn't do this or that."
However, if you don't listen to it, but continue to do it, the angel will stand farther from you and eventually turn its back to you.
If your angel ignores you like this, the enemy devil and Satan will never lose this opportunity.
They will incite and instigate you to speak more words of untruth.
On the contrary, if you live by the word of God, your angel will be so much pleased.
And it will stay close beside you, keep you, and protect you.
Even if you have an encounter with a dangerous accident or situation, your angel can keep you safe.
There are many Manmin members who were not injured at all even though their cars were wrecked in car accidents.
Some of them were thrown out of the moving car through its window and fell down to the ground, but they were okay.
And they said that they felt someone was holding them up and supported comfortably.
If you live in the light by the word of God, you can be protected by angels in any situation.
In addition, angels are recording your every word and action in Heaven.
And the record will be submitted as the evidence of judgment during the Great White Throne Judgment.
In Matthew 18:10, Jesus said, "See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven."
Therefore, I urge you to live all the more perfectly in the light by believing that an angel is right beside you.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
God created the whole universe, and searches every man on earth.
An angel is assigned to each man on earth, and records their every word and action.
These angels are in Heaven.
I also told you that at least one angel is assigned to each man on earth to minister to them.
The number of these angels is so huge.
The total number of the angels that God created is uncountable.
And the world of angels is well organized.
In the Bible, there are not only angels, but also heavenly host and archangels.
Luke 2:13 says, "And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host."
Here, the heavenly host is the heavenly army.
Therefore, we can see that there are angels that play the role of soldiers.
1 Thessalonians 4:16 also says, "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God."
As said, the existence of the 'archangel' proves that there is order in the world of angels.
In fact, the world of angles is very well organized like a government organization of a nation in this world, and the order is very strict.
The government of this country has the Prime Minister who is the head of the Administration, and there are many departments beneath him.
There are the Department of Defense, Department of Administration, Department of Culture and others, and the head of each department is called a Minister.
The Minister-equivalent in the world of angels is the archangel.
Archangels play the role of God the Father's hands, feet, eyes, and ears, and they search various fields.
They receive direct orders from God the Father, and they report to Him.
Underneath such archangels, there are countless angels.
However, an archangel doesn't manage angels beneath it individually; angels are grouped by numbers and there are leaders the command at each group level.
It is like the system of the Roman Army because there were chiliarchs, centurions, and captains according the number of soldiers they commanded.
It is somewhat similar to the organization of this church.
There is the General Great Parish Pastor, and underneath there are Great-grand parish pastors, Grand parish pastors, and parish pastors.
Also underneath parish pastors, there are district leaders, sub-district leaders, and cell leaders.
Likewise, in the world of angels, with archangel in its center, there are leading angels at different levels.
In a strict order, they work according to the orders of their higher ranked angels.
Those of you who have spiritual eyes opened can see that the size and dignity of angels are not the same from each other.
It is because angels are in different levels and their given duties are different.
The organization of angels that consists of archangels, different levels of leading angels, and angels underneath them are well organized.
Once an order is given from the top, it is precisely conveyed, and the reports made at the lower level are well conveyed.
Even if an order has to go through many steps, it can be conveyed instantly.
Since the order is very precise like this even though there are countless angels, the rule of God can be well practiced.
Even though God is sitting on His throne, He can search everyone on earth because angels work like this.
Of course God is almighty, and He can manage all this all by Himself.
However, angels directly check all things by themselves, and report it to God.
Like this, angels play not only the role of a reporter, but also the role of the witness to it.
This fact adds the light of justice to God's judgment when God judges something.
Even though God searches even the heart of man, He doesn't judge anything alone.
He decides and judges in justice according to the report of angels that see and hear all things directly.
For example, how did God work when He judged Sodom and Gomorrah?
Genesis 19:1 says, "Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening."
I come back to this in greater detail later, but for now, these two angels are actually archangels that are under the direct supervision of God.
Before God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, God sent archangels under His direct supervision to check on them again like this.
However, the people of Sodom were very devious even desiring to harm these two angels.
Finally, God brought the judgment of fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah.
Likewise, angels are the workers of God, and they help the government of God be managed in perfect justice.
There are many records about various works of angels in the Bible. Here are a few.
In Revelation 7:11, there is a scene that all the angels were standing around the throne and worshipping God.
When our Jesus was born, a multitude of the heavenly host praised God.
It is written Luke 2:13-14, some good shepherds witnessed it, and they found baby Jesus.
In Daniel 6:22, Daniel said in the den of lions, "My God sent His angel and shut the lions' mouths and they have not harmed me."
In Acts Chapter 12 is a scene where an angel saved Peter, who was locked in a prison.
Revelation 8:3-4 describes a scene that an angel puts the incense of the prayers of the saints in a golden censer and gives it on the golden altar before the throne of God.
As written in Matthew 4:11, as Jesus passed the 3 temptations of the devil after the 40-day fasting, "angels came and began to minister Him."
A strong angel appears in Revelation 10:1 and Revelation 18:21.
In Revelation, from Chapter 8 to 11, each time seven angels sound a trumpet during the 7 Year Great Tribulation, a serious disaster comes to the earth.
And in Revelation Chapter 16, there is a scene that the seven angels "pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God."
Moreover, just as 2 Samuel 24:16 says, "When the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it," there are angels that execute the judgment of God.
Psalm 103:21 says, "Bless the LORD, all you His hosts, You who serve Him, doing His will."
As Psalm 68:17 says, "The chariots of God are myriads, thousands upon thousands," we can see how huge the scale of the heavenly host is.
In emergency, God sends the heavenly host to protect the people of God.
For example, if you read 2 Kings Chapter 6, Elisha was surrounded by the army of Aram.
At this time, Elisha's servant was seized with fear and worried so much.
However, Elisha said to his servant, "Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them."
And as he prayed to God to open his servant's spiritual eyes, the servant saw "horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha."
Since the heavenly host is riding on the horses and chariots of fire, it means that the heavenly host came in a great mass at that time.
Eventually, Elisha was not harmed at all.
There are many more works that these that angels do.
Even the names of some angels are mentioned in the bible.
They are Gabriel and Michael.
In fact, they are all archangels.
Since their names are written in the bible, they must be given very important duties.
I will explain the duty of these archangels in the next lecture.
I'll cover the roles of other archangels in the next lecture as well.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
The air that we breathe all the time is invisible, but it surely exists.
Likewise, the spiritual realm is invisible, but it is actually exists.
Just as our bodies are in the midst of the air, this physical world is actually subordinate world to the spiritual realm.
This physical world - fleshly world - is an extremely small part of the whole world that God created.
Therefore, understanding the spiritual realm becomes power to you.
To the extent you understand the spiritual beings of the spiritual realm - the angels, you can understand the bible well and your believing life can be strengthened.
May you make bread from this Genesis Lecture to become all the more powerful children of God, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, I pray!
[Amen]