God, the Author

If you turn with me to the book of Hebrews, chapter 12.

Hebrews chapter 12. We'll read two verses here. 1 and 2. Hebrews 12 verse 1.

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

This comes right after the faith chapter where we read about the heroes of the Bible and how they move forward in this plan. And it comes to this point where we look at our Savior, Jesus, the author and the finisher. In Revelation 22.13 it reads something similar. It says, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

This is our God. I'd like to focus today on Jesus being our author.

He is the Creator. He is the one who began it all.

And as we know, he began this process before creation. We read at different places, including 1 Peter 1, verse 20, that he indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world.

Before the foundation of the world.

He planned with God the Father our existence. He is our Creator. He is our author.

As it says here in verse 2, Who for the joy that was set before him.

The plan that God has for mankind is so wonderful, is so amazing that he was willing to endure humiliation, shame, pain and death.

And continual service for mankind.

That is our author. That's what I'd like to review today, is our God, the author of all creation, the author of our faith.

And we should understand that he's not done yet.

So let's review the Creator. We'll start in John, chapter 1, at the beginning.

The Gospel of John, chapter 1, verse 1.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. Here's our tandem, the team of the Almighty God, God our Father, and God the Word, who is the future Jesus Christ. Verse 3. We understand that they created all things, and Jesus Christ was the executor. He was the one that made sure it all happened. All happened through him. And in Genesis, chapter 1, we have a history of all creation. We can start turning towards Genesis if you like.

At that history, we have the separation of light and darkness. We have the separation of land and water and the air. We have the creation of all plants, the trees, the sea, animals, the birds, all land animals. Finally, mankind, who, as we know, were created in the image of God, God-kind.

And then God called it good. He called it very good.

But did it stay good? Well, let's be reminded, in Genesis, chapter 3, we'll start reading in verse 16, the evil one, the adversary, he deceived the woman. She ate of what she was not supposed to do. She gave to her husband, and he ate.

And so after that, God has a conversation with them. But we're going to jump into verse 16. To the woman, he said, I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception. In pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you. Then to Adam, he said, Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it. Cursed is the ground for your sake. In toil you shall eat of it, all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground. For out of it you were taken, for dust you are, and to dust you shall return. The curse that was pronounced in mankind here shows us that there were changes, changes that happened within creation. And the author did not intend for it to stay the way it was at that time and the state that we see it in today. Let's turn to Romans chapter 8.

My tactic to keep you awake this afternoon is lots of scriptures. Romans chapter 8.

And we're going to start in verse 18.

Paul speaking here, Romans 8 verse 18, For I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly awaits, for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope, because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans in labors with birth pangs together until now. Paul personifies creation here. He says it's waiting for a change. It's waiting for an improvement. It's looking forward to this immensely. In Matthew 19-28, Jesus calls this time of regeneration. And in Acts, Peter calls it the restoration. We know change is coming. And today, during the Feast of Tabernacles, we review what those changes are, looking forward to that millennium period. So let's turn to those wonderful scriptures. Let's turn to Isaiah 11, the ones that we tell our children about, the ones we sing about in hymns. Isaiah 11. And let's look at this picture. Isaiah 11, verse 6, The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb. The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf of the young lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. We read here that the nature of animals has changed. They're not aggressive towards mankind. Not like they would be today. My family and I, we went up to the Crater Lake area. Beautiful, beautiful area. And we happened to see a bear. It was a cub. But it just ran across the street in front of our vehicle. So naturally, I stopped the car and yelled out the window at it. I whistled to get its attention, and it looked back, and it gave me some major side-eye.

It did not trust us. But that's our nature now. But here in the future, we see a change. We see real-life stuffies, animals that you could go right up to. Give a big hug. Kind of like dog lovers love to pet their dogs. And here we have a picture of animals that were aggressive.

But now, they're peaceful. Verse 7. The cow and the bear shall graze. Their young ones shall lie down together. And the lion shall eat strong like the ox. So predators will be predators no more, no sharp teeth, no hunters. Which leads to other changes, probably. There may be some that have no need for a nocturnal tendency. Some animals are awake at night because they want to be hunted. So how many animals now will we see? Just out and about on a regular basis. We'll have no jumpy squirrels or rabbits. My wife and I, we sit in our office and we look out our back window as we're working. And we have a lot in Northeastern Ohio and a lot of squirrels, a lot of rabbits. But boy, are they jumpy! If you make a little noise or something, they're gone.

They won't have that same tendency to just run away because things have changed. There's been a restoration. Verse 8, The nursing child shall play by the cobra's home, and the ween child shall put his hand in the viper's den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Eternal, as the waters cover the sea.

So this knowledge of God, of who's in charge here, it coincides with this peace, this lack of violence, the hurt that's caused. Nature of creatures on earth are going to be changed back to what the author had intended.

Back to, like we heard in the video, a Garden of Eden environment. And this peace that is experienced in creation, of course, will also be experienced by mankind.

Let's turn to Psalm 72.

Humanity is in for a real treat.

Psalm 72. We're going to jump in at verse 5.

Psalm 72 verse 5. It says, They shall fear you, capital Y, as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations. He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass, like showers that water the earth. In his days the righteous shall flourish, in abundance of peace, until the moon is no more. So this speaks of the Messiah, and we notice here that peace, the abundance of peace that humanity will enjoy. Now, maybe not immediately, maybe not the first day, but there will be a peace. It will get to that, and I think rather quickly.

Verse 8. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. Those who dwell in the wilderness will bow before him, and his enemies will lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish out of the isles will bring presents. The kings of Sheba and Seve will offer gifts. Yes, all kings shall fall down before him. All nations shall serve him, for he will deliver the needy when he cries. The poor also in him who has no helper. He will spare the poor and needy, and will save the souls of the needy. He will redeem their life from oppression and violence, and precious shall be their blood in his sight.

There is going to be deliverance and rescuing from the author, from our Creator for mankind. A personal, a personal involvement of God, and this will result in a peace that is lasting. That will continue. It won't stop peace in nature, peace in man, and as we read, there will also be abundance. As we saw the video portray, an abundance on earth. Let's read verse 16. There will be an abundance of grain in the earth, on the top of the mountains. Its fruit shall wave like Lebanon, and those of the city shall flourish like the grass of the earth. It's not too normal for mountains to have a lot of farm crops on it, right? But in this environment, we see that even the tops of the mountain are going to be plentiful, and there will be plenty. Everything will be fruitful. Even humanity will be fruitful, and they'll grow. But that burst of population won't cause problems, because the earth will just yield an abundance for all mankind.

Times under Christ's rule will be so good, it says they won't even focus on the past. Let's turn to Isaiah 65. Isaiah 65.

We're going to jump in starting at verse 17. Isaiah 65, 17.

This is a restoration. This is a restoration for mankind, for all creation, that we'll get to see and enjoy on earth. Verse 18.

Where the king is, there will be no tears.

They shall not plant and another eat.

So in verse 22 and in verse 20, we notice there's going to be long life. People will live in peace, and they'll live a long time, and there'll be abundance. They'll own personal property, as it says here.

And this will accompany a change in government, like we're not used to, because as it reads here, people will plant, and then they'll partake of that. There won't be somebody else planting, and then not reaping, or building houses. I used to work in construction. It was very normal to build somebody else's house, but that's not the type of interaction we see here in the kingdom.

They'll be building for themselves. It's a different type of government.

The restored creation, the nature, the abundance, the peace that will be experienced finally, this is what the author has in mind. He's spoken it. He started it. And we see this glorious picture that will be in the future.

We can't wait for that time, and we look forward to reviewing that physical part, every Feast of Tabernacles. And we're one Feast closer.

But this, of course, is not the only thing that our God is authoring. As we read in Hebrews 12, verse 2, that God is the author and finisher of our faith.

He's writing our story now, and so we have a spiritual long-term that God is working on right now. He has great plans for His children, for us collectively as a body, for you as an individual. He has plans. He is your author.

Let's turn back to Romans chapter 8. Pick up where we left off. Romans chapter 8.

We had just read verse 22, personifying the creation, what it's waiting for. And verse 23, And not only they, but we also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves, grown within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.

Verse 24, This is not only a physical hope that we have. Of course, we have a spiritual destiny written by God.

Verse 28, That's who we are. We are THE called according to His story, His purpose.

And Jesus's physical life and His death and His service, even now, God's throne room, He's doing this for you and me, as first fruits, as children of God. Verse 29, What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all. How shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died and, furthermore, is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.

So much of God's plan in just these few scriptures here. We highlight that Jesus Christ is the firstborn among many. His plan that he has written, as we heard in Luke chapter 11, includes our names. They are written. This plan included justification for sinful mortal man. We know who we are, who we were, and these individuals, of course, like you and me, we must choose willingly. We must commit. God wants that faithfulness from us. He wants us to believe and move forward in it. And we are forgiven according to God's beautiful grace, according to the plan that he authored and he made for us. And it is glorious, as we have received the very Spirit of God Almighty.

And Jesus continues his work, day and night without sleep, as he is up there on our side, our advocate, our high priest. And his accomplishments that he has done and he continues to do have made this all possible, that we can be part of this story. He is our author.

Let's go back to Hebrews chapter 2.

Back to the book of Hebrews chapter 2, continuing to read about our author. We're going to jump into verse 9. Hebrews chapter 2, verse 9.

But we see Jesus, who is made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that he, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. Jesus did fulfill the role of sacrifice for mankind.

And we understand that he had to physically die for that. Verse 10.

And this term, author, it might read as captain in your Bible. It's defined as chief leader. But Jesus, our author, our captain, he died and he lives so that we might be one. Just like he prayed to the Father in John 17, that we might be one. There's a wonderful plan for us.

Continuing on in verse 14.

Jesus gave his physical life to break us out of prison, to free us from sin, free us and help us against the devil. And he is able to relate to us personally because of the experiences he was willing to go through for us. And all that he accomplished, including these things, allows the called, that is us, to fulfill the role Almighty God has authored for us. He has a role for us. He has a beautiful role, and that role begins now.

And we'll talk about our role in the millennium, but let's talk about our role right now. Because a big part of preparing for our future, a big part of our future and knowing it is to prepare for that future as a child of God.

We had a wonderful message right before the feast. We heard from an elder, a beloved elder in a congregation in Illinois where we used to live. And he spoke about the meaning and the purpose of life, the meaning being who you are. You are a child of God. And so then what is your purpose? Our purpose is a couple of things.

But it's to become like God. That's the plan he has for us. So let's review a little bit. What is our purpose now? What is part of our role as a child of God? Let's turn to Ephesians chapter 2.

In Ephesians chapter 1 and 2, Paul speaks quite eloquently of what God has accomplished with us so far.

Ephesians chapter 2, we're going to jump in at verse 19.

Ephesians 2 verse 19. Now therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building being joined together grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.

That's part of our current role. We are working together. And as we heard in the opening message last night, we need to be working on that, working on working together. That's part of who we are. If we're going to become one, it's going to take effort. It's going to take flexibility and patience. We're going to have to bear with one another. It's going to take resources for us to do this. And this structure, the structure that we're becoming a part of is literally a dwelling place for God Almighty.

I know we hear that a lot, but we shouldn't take that for granted, how special that is. Individually, we house that spirit, but we are becoming a family, a house, a structure to be with God. Let's jump forward to chapter 4, Ephesians 4, verse 7 here. But to each one of us, grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. We all have a gift or gifts. Verse 11. He himself gave some to the apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints, so that when the saints are equipped for the work of ministry, the saints can serve, for the edifying of the body of Christ.

We all have a responsibility in the edification of this structure, this body, as we become more like our elder brother. Verse 13. Till we all come to the unity of the faith and to the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. This is our goal, to be measured up to our King, our Savior, our Author. This is all of our goal, and we're to help one another on that route.

Verse 15. But speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things, into him who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

We understand that part of our role, that God has authored for us, is to grow together. We are to mature. We are to become perfect together in love, included in our role in that path to perfection.

We are also to overcome. We have to prove that we will overcome. Revelation 21, we'll turn here a little bit later as well, but Revelation 21, like to read verses 7 and 8. Revelation 21 verse 7, He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my Son. In verse 8, But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake, which burns with fire and burns stone, which is the second death.

We understand our time of judgment is now. Peter says that in 1 Peter chapter 4. God wants us to prove where we stand. He's authored this plan for us, but we do have a responsibility. And in the message to the seven churches earlier in Revelation, he mentions overcoming seven times. We must overcome. This is part of our role now. Will we make God a priority? Will we choose His will and not our own? That is the question. But good news, keeping the feast is a positive response.

We have said yes to God. We do want to do it His way. And that is good. And that is why a big part of the reason we're here. God commanded us. We must overcome. We must grow together as one, and we must overcome. And finally, another portion of our role right now, as we look to the future, is that we have a responsibility to proclaim. God's good news to shine a light is something He's commanded us. We see that in Matthew that He tells us to shine our light in the Sermon on the Mount.

Also, in Matthew 28, we read the Great Commission. I'm going to read Mark 16, verse 15. And He said to them, this of course, Christ, saying, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. During our physical life, we must overcome. That's going to take work.

We must work and grow together. We want to be a suitable dwelling place for God, for the Holy Spirit. And we also work together to spread the Word of God. This is our role now, as we look forward to our Millennial role.

So let's take a little peek at that Millennial role. Let's turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. We often will read this at a funeral or at least at trumpets. But let's just be reminded here. 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 16 and 17. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

And thus we shall always be with the Lord. This is part of our Millennium. Always being with Jesus, our author, our king, our Savior. Well, what will we do? What will we do when we're with Him? Let's turn back to Revelation. Let's turn to Revelation, chapter 19.

Revelation, chapter 19. We're going to jump into verse 6.

And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters, as the sound of mighty thundering, saying, Alleluia! For the Lord God omnipotent reigns. Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then He said to me, Right, blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And He said to me, These are the true sayings of God. So we see here a bride joined to Jesus Christ. Marriage. Marriage to God. And as we know, what does God think of marriage? He believes that it's permanent. It's not a temporary arrangement. So this story that God writes is about a permanent assignment, a permanent responsibility, a permanent relationship with the one who loves us so much that He died for us. That's part of our role in the future. Verse 11. Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And he who sat on him was called faithful and true, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed him on white horses. We understand Jesus is going to come back, and as it says in verse 11, He's ready and He is going to make war. And then we notice the description of those that match the description of those of the bride. Fine linen, white and clean. We know we're going to be with Him. We read that in Revelation, but we also read that in 1 Thessalonians. We're going to be with Him. Okay, so what's next? Verse 15. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh an aemorrhine, King of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus is going to come. He is going to reign. And that is going to require some amount of force. And we'll be with Him. He is not alone. He is the King of kings. He is the Lord of lords. We have a responsibility here. Now we'll come back to Revelation, but let's turn to Psalm 149 briefly. You probably know where I'm going here. Psalm 149. We're going to jump in at verse 5. Psalm 149. Verse 5.

Now we understand that Paul, he talks about the Word of God, and he calls it the sword of the Spirit. And also in Hebrews, which very well could have been written by Paul, it states that the Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword. So whether this is literal or figurative, we understand we ride with the King. We're going to be with Him, and we are going to help Him make things right at the beginning of His reign. Because as we know, things aren't right right now. This is not the state that the author is going to leave things in. No, it needs to be made right. Revelation 20, verse 4. Hope you saved your spot.

Verse 6.

Over such second death as no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. We will reign with the King of Kings. That is part of what our assignment is going to be. We will be priests.

We're going to serve mankind under the high priest, the King, the author. And of course, we will be teaching love. We'll be teaching the Word of God that we're growing in right now, that we are practicing together. We will help mankind to learn this. And how will we do that? Well, how does God work with us now? He works with us through His Scripture and through His Spirit.

He communicates with us. We also will communicate with mankind directly. We read that in Isaiah 30, and I'm sure we'll turn there later in the feast. But we know that mankind will hear a voice behind them to go a specific way. That's part of our role. That's part of our role as first fruits.

If you would turn with me to Isaiah 65. Isaiah 65, also where we left off. Isaiah 65, we left off in verse 22. For as the days of the trees, so shall be the days of my people. And my elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth children for trouble. For they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the Eternal and their offspring with them.

As we read this picture, this context can fit the physical elect. But I'd like for you to consider that the elect is our title, too. We see that used through the New Testament. We see Paul use it in Colossians 3, 12. He calls us the elect of God. So consider this portion from that perspective that we, the elect, are going to love our work. We are going to love working with God's people. And we will be fruitful. We will be successful in helping mankind learn about God.

We know God desires children, and we will be working with Him, working on humanity with humanity, leading them toward His family. That's a huge part of our Millennial role. But our role continues. It continues into our eternal role. Now, we don't know very much. Well, what goes on in forever?

We don't have the capacity to understand forever. Dr. Dunkle, back at the home office who teaches ABC, he had an interesting theory. I'd just like to throw out there as a possibility. He said, you know how when your kid is excited and you want to do something for him, sometimes you just say, what do you want to do?

And so he theorized that perhaps, perhaps some of forever, is God saying, what do you want to do? You have God-like powers. I don't know. I thought that was interesting. One thing that we do know for sure is that we are children of God. It says that in 1 John chapter 3. And that we will be like him. And if God is a creator, we will be creators. We will be creators like God is. We read in Revelation 21, verse 6 and 7, that we, the he who overcomes, will be God's son and will inherit all things.

And we know Paul says that flesh and blood can't inherit all things. So we are going to be the first to inherit all that God has already done. We will inherit God's creation. And as bride of Christ, our next rule we know is going to continue forever. And one thing we know about the kingdom is that it doesn't stop. I'd like to turn one more time, if you bear with me, to Matthew chapter 13 this time. Matthew 13 and read a parable.

Matthew 13, verse 31. Jesus speaking of the kingdom. He says, The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds, but when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches. Also, verse 33. Another parable he spoke to them. The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till it was all leavened.

God's kingdom, it starts at a small point, and it's going to continue to expand and grow and grow and grow. And we will be those creators, helping God expand that creation. Isaiah 9 says, Isaiah 9 said, I know the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end. No end. That is part of our role as the bride of Christ. We will be with him. We will be helping expand God's creation.

And we know, according to Psalm 1611, that there's pleasures forevermore by the side of God Almighty.

So as we look forward, not totally knowing everything that will happen, we understand that the author of our faith, the creator God, he has a plan. He has a plan that he started, he has a plan that he started in us, and he will complete it.

He will finish this book. The foundation is in place. We have a special role, a very special role. And it begins in this age, it begins in our time now, in the physical realm, but this is only the beginning. And the story of God, the one that's authored for us, leads us to a beautiful, joyful, peaceful, abundant future that will last forever.