Chapter 5 Being Expelled Out of Heaven
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was the law to Adam’s family in the garden of Eden. God, knowing that they would fall into the meshes of the law, set up the administration of redemption before the creation of the world. And God chose people who were to be saved at that time in advance. As it is written;
【Eph 1:4-5】 「For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will–」
According to the above verse, We can know that Adam and Eve were destined to be put to death.
If God had made Adam who would not die, there would have been no reason to establish the administration of redemption to save those who would die before Adam’s creation. The fact that God established the administration of redemption before Adam’s creation is an evidence that God knew Adam would commit sin. God who is omniscient and omnipotent can not fail, and He does not make efforts in vain
Regarding to the matter, ‘God chose’, we have to imagine as follows; Did God choose those who would appear in the future? Or did He have chosen them among the angels before the creation of the world? For this subject, let’s look into the passages which describe the history before the creation of the world in the Scripture.
Solomon, being inspired by the Holy Spirit, saw the history that he had existed before the creation of the world. As it is written;
【Prov. 8:22-25】 「”The LORD brought me forth as the first of his works, , before his deeds of old; I was appointed from eternity, from the beginning, before the world began. When there were no oceans, I was given birth, when there were no springs abounding with water; before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I was given birth,」
Job also wrote that he had already existed before the foundation of the world as follows;
【Job 38:3-21】 「I will question you, and you shall answer me. “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone- while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? “Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place.” …… Surely you know, for you were already born! You have lived so many years!」
As it is written, “Surely you know, for you were already born! You have lived so many years!”, Job had already been born before the creation of the world. Then, where was Job at that time? He must have been with the group of angels.
【Job 38:7】 「When the morning stars sang together And all the sons of God shouted for joy?」
And the prophet Ezekiel was moved by the Holy Spirit and made a record of the angelic world before the creation. Ezekiel said; King Tyre had been anointed as a covering cherub, before he was born in this world. But he had sinned and been expelled.
【Ezek. 28:11-17】 「”Son of man, take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre and say to him: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: ” ‘You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz and emerald, chrysolite, onyx and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared. You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones.」
The prophet Isaiah, touched by the Holy Spirit, wrote that the king of Babylon had been at the high and glory position in heaven before he was born into this world.
【Isa 14:4, 12-15】「you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon …… How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit.」
And Jesus also said that all of us had been with the righteous angels who do not need to repent in heaven. He mentioned about us, who had been lost from the kingdom of heaven due to sin.
【Luke 15:3-7】「Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.」
In Hebrew, The Scripture said that the kingdom of heaven is our homeland, As it is written;
【Heb 11:13-16】「All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country–a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.」
Where is the place from which angels has been expelled? If you study seriously, you can realize that it is not the place where we live now, but the world of God. To understand the administration of redemption, we need to study the spiritual world thoroughly.