Greetings again.
As I noted in my last post, the fourth day (or period) in man and woman’s journey toward God, had Adam and Eve chosen God, as well as their descendants, was to be a time of milestones and accomplishments, and deeper intimacy with God – represented by the creation of the sun, moon, and stars, on the fourth day.
This was God’s original design prophetically framed in creation, for the masterpiece of his creation, man and woman.
The sequence and events of creation “God’s story,” represented the journey and story ahead for Adam and Eve, and their descendants, over six different stages or periods, to ultimate union with God.
The creation account is another way of seeing our journey and story in Christ.
Yes, the creation account is what it says, but it is also so much more.
By sharing the account of creation with Adam and Eve (how could the Lord not share with them the start of all things) the Lord introduced them to the concepts of stages, growth, maturity, time, and calendar, among others.
Simply, the events of creation on each day have prophetic meaning and symbolism, whether mankind fell or not, of their journey toward God.
(In my last post I talked about how Adam and Eve were not created perfect, they were just beginning their journey when they fell. The whole point of their creation was to create beings with the “choice” to love. And choice requires journey and story.)
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The account of the six days of creation, and the day of rest, and the various symbolism, types, and sequences those numbers represent, are used over and over again in varying forms in Scripture.
I liken it to the first day of school; the Lord hands Adam and Eve a notebook showing forth his creative acts, the foundation of their existence, and says go and do likewise.
Only his likewise will involve their growth, maturity, connection and ultimate union with him.
They are the “object” of creation; the acts of creation pointing them to God.
It is sad to hear some Christian scientists say the creation account is flawed because the sun, moon, and stars, could not have come on the fourth day because of “science.”
They’re missing the wonderful picture God painted of creation and what he wants us to know from it for our own personal journey.
The Lord uses the natural order of things to communicate spiritual truths in our relationship with Christ.
For example, the conception, birth, growth and maturity of an individual is primarily in six stages, naturally and spiritually.
There is much already written on this.
The Fall
What would have been an increasing level of intimacy and ultimate union with God over six periods, had Adam and Eve chosen God, and their descendants, quickly fell apart, yet God’s creative design – in the account of creation – was broad and deep enough to cover man’s fall, and bring him back into relationship and union with him in accord with his original design and calendar!
Because of the fall, the fourth day or period (in accord with the chronology of biblical history), is the time beginning with King David spanning 1,000 years to the advent of Christ – completing the Old Testament and starting the New.
(Days one to three cover from Adam to the reign of Saul, about 3,000 years according to biblical chronology.)
Instead of the sun, moon, and stars, being milestones and accomplishments, and greater intimacy with God, they came to represent the advent of Christ (sun), the closure of the Old Testament (moon), and the exaltation of the testimonies of the Saints of old as beacons of light in the nighttime’s sky (stars).
(The sun, moon, and stars, are used over and over again in Scripture to represent the transition from the Old to the New Testament, and in typology of that transition, Revelation 12:1, though the pregnant woman represents the Church at the end of time.)
Because of sin, the fourth day is the darkest day, the deepest plummet.
Israel is carried away into servitude and ultimately destroyed as a nation during the early years of Christianity.
Christ’s glorious appearance connects the end of the fourth day with the birth of life beginning on the fifth day.
The fourth day or period, is the darkest time of the Church, the Church of Thyatira, who is “birthing” sin and darkness in her children, surpassing the previous church, the Church of Pergamum, rebuked for teaching sin.
The fourth day or period, is the darkest time of the parables spoken by Christ in Matthew Chapter 13, yeast hidden in dough, defiling the entire loaf of bread, surpassing the previous parable, the growth of the church and the “roosting” or “harboring” of false doctrine – birds of the air.
The fourth day or period, is the darkest time of Paul’s letters to the churches, the letter to Galatia, where works preempt grace, the basis for our salvation, surpassing the Corinthian church in the depths of sin, where Paul concludes his final letter to the Corinthians with warnings.
Yes, the fourth day or period brings wounds, brokenness, and sin to their height of darkness.
On the third day, in our personal lives, bad fruit matures, coming to the surface, though troublesome, yet still manageable – or so we think.
On the third day, wounds and sins bear fruit and great effort is made by the tree, you and me, to cover the bad fruit with the leaves from our tree, to hide our bad fruit from ourselves, others, and God.
On the third day we adopt practiced ways of coping with wounds and sins by hiding.
Then comes the fourth day, the darkest part of the bride’s journey.
Bad fruit has multiplied and its seed is being passed down from generation to generation, so much so, the Lord intervenes to strike captivity to save a few from total darkness and depravity.
We see the spreading of sin throughout the loaf in the fourth parable, the striking of children dead in the fourth church age, and the distress of Paul to the Galatians who have forsaken the gospel of truth in grace in his fourth letter.
What was originally planned by God, the fourth day, to be a transition point to greater intimacy with him, became the opposite in man and woman’s embrace of sin.
Thankfully, oh so thankfully, there’s a fifth day!
The Word
When the Lord speaks, his words speak forth life.
The tree can only bring forth the fruit of the seed it carries.
Holiness and righteousness can only manifest holiness and righteousness.
The creative act of being born again, filled with the spirit, and the lifelong journey of baptism in Christ are to change our nature into his glorious nature, to be completely and fully grafted into the tree of life.
The process of bringing life to you and me exposes the works of death in our life.
Because of the embrace of wounds and sin, anything outside of grace, faith and obedience, in the revelation of Christ, is works and death.
The revelation of the work of sin and death, and the glorious revelation of faith, grace, and obedience – faith, hope, and love – collide headlong at the end of the fourth day.
The dawning of the fifth day, the revelation and appearance of Christ, brings a death blow to darkness.
It happened historically 2,000 years ago, corporately in the New Testament accounts of the journey of the bride, and individually in your life and mine, in one form or another.
From the beginning, the creative acts of God set in motion the foundation of life and outflow to you and me.
We are recipients of the grace of God manifested in creation; and it’s serves us well to better understand our Christian foundation, origins, and the source and reason of God’s work today and his calendar.
There is a master plan at work, which began with creation, to make you and me into the likeness of Christ.
If you’re in Christ, you’re on an interstate highway system prepared by God to advance you through his design he established at the beginning.
The fourth day or period is a slide toward total darkness, only halted by the appearance of Jesus. Without his appearance, there would be no life and darkness would encompass everything.
The end of the fourth day births the appearance of the bridegroom, Jesus Christ.
Jesus shows up in all his splendor.
The end of the fourth day is the birth of life, the fulfillment, expectation, and hope of life, and more abundantly.
The sun, moon, and stars, are in the proper place to reflect and emanate the beauty of Jesus Christ to a dying and desolate earth.
Those who transit the end of the fourth day into the fifth realize everything is lost except Christ. The law, works, and sin no longer have their appeal.
Those coming to Christ realize the marketplace of man is insufficient to meet their needs.
The end of the fourth day, the beginning of the fifth, is the fulfillment of Passover and Pentecost for the church and the beginning of the feast of Tabernacles, Christ the first fruit.
The beginning of the fifth day is the planting of the seed of Christ in the sons and daughters of God – the conception of Christ in those who embrace him.
Yes, the end of the fourth day and the beginning of the fifth are pivotal times.
The five wise virgins are awakened, the trumpet blast of Tabernacles is sounded, and Christ comes and “takes” one (Peter being one of the first recorded) and leaves another, to build the church of God and set in motion the gospel over the next 2,000 years.
The fifth day begins the journey from the inner room to the Holy of Holies for the Church.
This is the day the deeper things of God become unveiled as originally planned.
This is the day the body of Christ moves from the Church of Thyatira to Sardis, and eventually on to Philadelphia and Laodicea.
This is the day the yeast “false doctrine,” spread throughout the Church, is discarded by some, and instead, find treasure hidden in a field.
This is the day the Church forsakes the doctrine of law and works, and embraces the truths of grace and faith in Christ, the saints in Ephesus, eventually birthing the day of Christ in Philippi.
Yes, the end of the fourth day is pivotal.
The appearance of Christ changes everything and sets in motion the Church ages to come.
New seasons, new times, new routines, everything changes, activities, desires, appetites, friends, etc., everything changes in Christ. And yet, God’s calendar remains unchanged.
The old has passed and the new has come.
At the end of the fourth day, the trail for men and women finally turn uphill, the bride begins another segment of her journey.
Blessings, Drake
