IN THE BEGINNING GOD…In the coming days, we will literally be witnessing the whole earth beginning anew. God Almighty has hit the reset button, physically, and spiritually. The evening of March 14 on our 2021 Gregorian calendar will usher in darkness giving way to "Earthrise", as a new year, and a new era begins for the entire world at the direction of God Himself.
Man's witnessing "Earthrise" from the moon is the perfect representation of witnessing this exciting Hand of God from an impeccable vantage point: the moon, which God has appointed to begin each and every month in his year. In 1968, Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot Jim Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders becIame the first of God's creation to travel beyond low Earth orbit, the first to see Earth as a whole planet, the first to directly see the far side of the Moon, and the first to witness "Earthrise", as pictured by the commemorative stamp. They also became the first to communicate God's Word from the vast expanse of the Universe He created. As they took turns reading the first 10 verses of Genesis 1, a billion people on Earth heard the Word of God being broadcast 240,000 miles above them, and knew beyond a doubt, a new era of time was being ushered in.
"We are now approaching lunar sunrise. For all the people back on earth, the crew of Apollo 8 has a message we would like to send to you. "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnyNXLXl8iA
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth."
This profound statement stands alone, defying exegesis or commentary. If we had been with the astronauts that memorable day, we would have understood why they chose to read God’s Word at just such a defining point in human history. Indeed, it wasn't about all the nuances of what happened when, or the swagger of intellectual knowledge and ability of mankind. The Apollo 8 astronauts realized there is all the difference in the world (pun intended) between SEEING God as Creator and SEEKING Him as Creator.
That's exactly where we are today, but even more so. A new era is being ushered into the world in our lifetime. Nothing will ever be the same again. Someone else is in charge of our time, and what we can and can't do. We have all been reduced to humans... which is really what we have been all along.
We've had flashes of God as Creator, and many of us have bowed in His presence, acknowledging Him as Lord and Creator. But soon after, we set about creating our own worlds, effectively SEEING God as Creator but not SEEKING Him as Creator on a daily basis.
Every day as we hurtle through space and time at 66,700 miles per hour, we've sought everything ELSE except our Creator. We have drifted into darkness, physically and spiritually, out of the presence of our Maker and His blessing and healing. We are now subject to increasing global pandemics and human misery and suffering. The whole earth has been quarantined because of our propensity to infect ourselves with our own gods, our own pestilence and death.
We're been reckoning physical and spiritual light and darkness on our own terms. If we refuse to honor God in the physical calendar of His created time and on His appointed Holy days, we have drifted into spiritual darkness and will never be ever be able to honor Him in a way that glorifies Him. Our appointed Gregorian calendar and days of the week are prime examples of how we have brought other gods into our lives daily. See more: https://www.facebook.com/fontanacommunitychurch/posts/3611813992232097
We need to acknowledge life and it's marked passage as God created it. “And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.” Genesis 1:5.
All it takes is 8 minutes for the light of sunrise or sunset to get to Earth, where we can observe it. That's how quickly things can change from darkness to light under God's direction. The day begins in approaching darkness at sunset, and morning begins at sunrise with first light. Together, and in that order, they constitute what God called "day".
"Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also." Genesis 1:14-16
Today, astronomers estimate there are ten thousand billion trillion stars – that’s a 1 followed by 25 zeros! And there are between 100 billion and 1 trillion stars in 1 normal galaxy. Our universe alone may contain 100 billion galaxies! Using elements from the staggering array of His heavenly handiwork, God has appointed a lunar and solar calendar for His creation on Earth. Genesis 1:14. Jeremiah 31:35 and Psalm 136:7-9 state these lights are the sun, moon and stars.
On March 16, 2021, the day and night hours will be exactly equal in the area of the ancient city of Rameses, Egypt, where God marked the first month on His calendar for His Chosen People. Known as the vernal equilux, it is a clear indication that the physical circuit of the sun in the heavens is completed as appointed by the Almighty. Most locations of Earth, except those on the Equator, do have almost equal day and night twice a year. The dates for this event, known as equilux, depend on the location's latitude and can be a few days before or after the equinoxes. After this point the daylight hours begin to outweigh the dark hours, and the sun can truly be said to have begun another renewed cycle, or year.
God has given us an awesome spiritual picture of this in Psalm 19:4-6. “...In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course, It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat." We explored the physical and spiritual imagery of Jesus being crowned King, and leaving the heavens, making His way to His Bride, His church.
God's appointed time periods within the year are based on the cycles of the moon which He created. The Hebrew word for month, “chodesh”, literally means “new moon.” A new month begins with the rising of the new moon at twilight and lasts until the next new moon rises at twilight. The moon’s phases follow one another in clock-like precision, giving mankind the ability to easily follow God's calendar as He has designated it in the heavens.
Our Creator also formed the stars and their specific, named groupings in the constellations. (Genesis 1:14; Job 9:8-9; Job 26:13; Job 38:31-33; Amos 5:8). “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades? Can you loosen Orion’s belt? Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear with its cubs? Job 38:31-32.
The Pleiades is a star cluster approximately 400 light-year distance from Earth near the constellations of Orion and Taurus in the night sky. The cluster includes seven bright stars that are easily seen with the naked eye, gravitationally bound together. (One can only imagine how Job knew that.) Every year the star group appears in close proximity to the newly visible crescent moon -- just after sunset, in the Spring, at the beginning of the FIRST biblical month.
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year.” Exodus 12:1-2. The name of the month is given In Deuteronomy 16:1, where the Israelites are told to keep the Passover in the month of Abib, aka Nissan, because they were delivered from the 10th death plague of Egypt on that very day by God Almighty.
Numbers 9:5 states that they kept the Passover "on the fourteenth day of the first month at even in the wilderness of Sinai..." Yes, the Israelites observed the first celebration of the Passover on the prescribed month, setting the date in the middle of the desert, with only the heavens as their reference point. And they did so every year for the remainder of their 40 years in the desert!
"Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven...for signs," Recognizing God’s 1st month is extremely important, as it literally ushers in God’s appointed dates for the crucifixion, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ! When Jesus came as the Passover Lamb, whose blood was shed for all mankind for forgiveness of sins, that divine appointment had been appointed on God's calendar 1500 years before. When He was raised from the dead as the sinless, Unleavened Bread, He fulfilled the timing of God Almighty made 1500 years prior. When Jesus ascended to the Father after His death and resurrection on Firstfruits, He not only fulfilled the 1500-year appointment of the Almighty but guaranteed the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in His name, 50 days from that date, known as Pentecost!
We also can look forward to heavenly signs of at least 3 more divine appointments on God’s calendar. Jesus will return as the anointed Trumpet Call for our righteous ingathering. Jesus will reign as the divine Atonement for our sin. And finally, Jesus will Tabernacle WITH His people when He returns as the King of Glory! Yes, when Jesus returns to this earth, it will be by Divine Appointment only, right on schedule by God's calendar. Check out God's appointment schedule given to His people in Leviticus 23.
God’s calendar is not about celebrating a religious festival or a Sabbath day just to please Him. It’s always been about the revelation of Jesus, the Christ, the Deliverer, the Anointed One, come to set His people free! “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” Colossians 2:16-17
In the coming year, as we hurtle through space, we will travel nearly 600 million miles. That's certainly more than enough time to be humbled by the Almighty, as He reveals His glory and majesty, just as He planned all along. His plan to redeem us and restore His kingdom on earth will culminate soon in the coronation of His Son, Jesus as King of Kings!
The Apostle Paul said this to the people of Athens, "The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth...made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us...’” (Acts 17:24-28)
"IN THE BEGINNING GOD..."
