The Most High
Ruleth
is a study about world government — past, present, and
future.
There is an
existing universe that God not only brought into existence
but one over which He also exercises absolute, sovereign
control. And the Bible is God's revelation to man
concerning His actions in the preceding respect, especially
as these actions relate to the earth and to man.
Man is a
latecomer in the universe. He was created after
God's creation of the physical universe, after God's
creation of angels, and after God's government of the
universe had been established and was in full operation.
Man's existence dates back only six millennia, and he
was brought into existence for the specific purpose of
replacing a disqualified provincial ruler in God's kingdom,
one who had been ruling for a prior unrevealed period of
time.
Man was created
to replace the ruler whom God had, in the beginning, placed
over the earth (Ezekiel
28:14).
This ruler, Satan, disqualified himself because of his
rebellion against God's supreme power and authority (Isaiah 14:12-15).
And man was subsequently brought on the scene to take the
scepter and with the woman rule this one province
in God's kingdom in the stead of Satan and his angels (Genesis
1:26-28).
Thus, matters
surrounding man's fall and redemption both revolve around
the reason for his creation — "…let them
[the man and woman together]
have dominion…"
Satan knew why
man had been created, and he immediately set about to effect
man's disqualification (through disobedience), as he himself
had been disqualified — an act which, if successfully
accomplished (as it was), would allow Satan (though
disqualified) to continue holding the scepter (Genesis 3:1ff; cf. Luke 4:5, 6).
And redemption,
remaining within the same framework of thought, simply has
to do with God providing a means whereby He could not only
bring man back into a right relationship with Himself but
also a means whereby He could ultimately bring man into a
realization of the purpose for which he had been created (Genesis 3:15; cf. Hebrews 2:5).
This is the
manner in which Scripture not only begins in the book of
Genesis
but also concludes in the book of
Revelation
(22:1-5).
And all intervening Scripture must be viewed and understood
within this same framework.
