“..Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which
are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of
ungodly me….. Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and new earth, wherein dwelleths
righteousness..”
We have seen from part 3 of this study that unbelief is the cause of the unforgiveness all through the ages.
This unbelieving, rebellious hearts of these people is what keeps them bound from enjoying the “rest” of the Lord (Mt 11:28) to which He has called us into, and so their sin is unforgiven in this age until they come again to this realization through the ministration of the sons of God. (2 Tim. 2:24-26), for the Lord said “… Receive the Holy Spirit; if you forgive any one’s sins, they are forgiven. If you refuse to forgive them, they are unforgiven.” Jon. 20:23. And again,
THE FIRST WORLD, THE WORLD THAT THEN WAS.
So far It is evidence that, the use of the word “WORLD” is not in reference to the planet earth and her neighbours, but rather, to humanity with his system or arrangement of things’ that involves the way of life, social structures, culture, political ideologies etc, that is being fashioned and operated by man independent of God’s life and Spirit.
I Jon. 5:16, Rom. 8:7-8.
And this living outside of God’s life, despite its pull on man, the rejection of this extension of God’s mercies to man through the Holy Spirit, and the inability of man to acknowledge this operation of God, is what constitute what the Bible calls “ETERNAL SIN” (Mk. 3:22-30, Matt. 12:22-32, Acts 7:51, I Jn 5:16-17, Heb. 6:4-6). Only as long as one remains adamant to the call of God, thereby constituting himself as His enemy, because of his darkened mind and conscience, devoid of God’s glorious light does he stand in condemnation. Col. 1:21, 2 Cor. 4:3-4, compare verse 6-7.
This state of affairs, which is a reflection of the state of the mind of humanity and its manifestations in all facet of human endeavour, is what constitute “the world” which the Bible says is “the fashion of this world (that) passeth away” I Cor. 7:31. “AND THE WORLD PASSETH AWAY, and the LUST THEREOF” I Jon. 2:17a.
WHAT THEN IS THE FIRST WORLD? (2 PET. 3:6)
“For just as life went on in the days of Noah so will it be at the coming of the son of man. In those days before the flood people were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage until the day that Noah went into the ark, and knew nothing about the flood until it came and destroyed THEM ALL. So will it be at the coming of the Son of man.” Matt. 24:37-39.Lk.17: 26-27.
Here, we are told that the life of man in the days of Noah was fully preoccupied with self-indulgence, completely involved in the gratification of the self-appetite, and worldly cares, just like we are having in our age today, without taking heed to the warning of God that He will put an end to the wickedness of man. Gen. 6. And the Bible records that only Noah heed this warning of God in his days, ‘ in preparing an ark to the saving of his household.
This action of faith condemned the UNBELIEF OF THE REST OF THE WORLD (mankind) and won for Noah the righteousness before God which follows such a faith”. Heb. 11:7, Philip.
Therefore the FIRST WORLD here speaks of mankind in the days of Noah, for when we talk of “the world that then was…. “ 2Peter 3:6. It is evidence that it was not referring to the physical globe or planet earth, even as the scriptures confirmed that Noah inherited the physical earth after the flood. Gen. 9, rather it was the wickedness in man, the full manifestation of the flesh that was destroyed, hence we read
“And knew not until the flood came, and took them (wicked) ALL AWAY’ KJV. “..sweep them all away” RSV “…destroyed them all… “Philip. Compare Gen. 6:5-8, 7:6-24
Again, this is made plain in the words of Peter that, the word ‘world’ means ‘mankind’ “For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment. And spare not the OLD WORLD, but saved Noah the eight person – BRINGING IN THE FLOOD UPON THE WORLD OF THE UNGODLY… making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly” 2 Pet. 2:4-6 KJV
“making them an object-lesson for godless men in future days” NEB “. …..as a fearful example of those who wanted to live in defiance of His laws”. Philips
For the “Lord knows how to rescue a good man (such as Noah and Lot who believe in God’s word) surrounded by temptation, and how to reserve His punishment for the wicked (unbelievers in God’s saving power and mercies through the Holy Ghost in His messengers) until His day comes. Particularly for those who walk after the flesh and indulge in the lust of polluting passing, and scorn and despise authority, presumptuous and daring, self willed and self loving (creatures). They scoff and revile dignitaries (glorious ones) without trembling” 2 Pet. 2:9-10. Philip Amp.
So what are we saying? The world is always ending for the wicked and they are the ones that are always taken away through judgment and not the righteous, like the rapture teachers will want to make us believe.
Mind you the scoffers were … “saying, where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation” 2Pe 3:4(KJV)).
Meaning where is the judgment he promised will come upon the ungodly, as stated in Mathew 24; but don’t forget that Peter wrote in AD 62-64. So they thought the judgment would not come again, hence they were eating and drinking like the ‘days of Noah’.
UNDERSTANDING THE TERM “THE DAYS OF NOAH”
From the record of Math. 24:37-39, it is crystal clear that the wicked – unrighteous ones in the “days of Noah” were the people that the flood took away, leaving behind Noah, the family and all living creatures, through the means of the ‘Ark’, to repopulate the same earth.
“And the LORD said unto Noah, come thou and all thy house into the Ark; FOR THEE HAVE I SEEN RIGHTEOUS BEFORE ME IN THIS GENERATION… And God remembered Noah and every living thing…. In the Ark… And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and REPLENISH THE EARTH”. Gen. 7:1, 8:1, 9:1 Please read from Gen. chapter 6-9.
Therefore, for Jesus (Matt. 24:37-39) and Peter (2 Pet. 2:5) to allude to this particular account is a clear indication that “THE DAYS OF NOAH” is a PROPHETIC PATTERN of the “coming of the Son of man” and the “day of Judgment and destruction of ungodly men” 2 Thes. 1:6-12.
People of God, let us understand that, the person that is coming is “the Son of Man” and not “Son of God”, and you know why? Because “… the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son; and hath given Him authority to execute judgment also, BECAUSE HE IS THE SON OF MAN” (Jon. 5:22,27). As son of God, he cannot deliver judgment on men, because in that state he has not tasted what it means to be tempted as human in the flesh.
But who is this “Son of Man? This is the visible manifestation of ‘the Christ’ in power and glory through His Body, the overcoming church “the man Child” Company (Rev. 12:5) to execute judgment upon the world of the ungodly, as He “comes to be glorified IN HIS SAINTS, Look at it “… and ye shall see the SON OF MAN sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN” (Mk 14:62).
Here the “right hand of power” speaks of the authority that He wields, while the “clouds of heaven”, speaks of the “Saints” through whom this authority is manifested, just like he came through the Roman soldiers in AD 70 to Jerusalem. That was then his cloud of heaven.
Now we read “… Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His Saints to execute judgment upon all, and convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him” Jude 14:15. Compare Math 19:41, 16:27, 25:31. Lk 12:8.
This “son of Man” is one person because “he that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit”. “Now the Lord is that Spirit”. I Cor. 6:17, 2 Cor. 3:17. And because He is one, and in His Body the church, He identified Himself with the Saints when He said to Saul, “Saul, Saul, WHY PERSECUTEST THOU ME? This is because, Saul was killing the Christians and He, the Christ was in them.
Please may I be bold to declare to you that, it will be misleading to expect a physical “Son of Man” from the sky, for it is only through the church that Christ can be seen and known “… According to the power that worketh in us… “See Eph. 3:8-20.This may be a hard saying, but it is the truth nonetheless. But Jesus rightly said, talking about the coming of the Holy Spirit as him.
“ And when he is come; he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: …. Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more”. Jon.16:8,10
This is the meaning of “… Out of Zion (the church) the perfection of beauty, God has shined” Ps. 50:1-2. So you see, the ministry of the “coming of the Son of Man” is for judgment upon the world of the ungodly just as it was in the days of Noah, and the days of Noah was the ‘world that then was’ it was a people that lived at that time and that condition and lifestyle that they demonstrated. The world mentioned was not the planet earth or any galaxy.
To be continued…
(c) 2015 – Dr. David O. Ogaga