(uplifting orchestral music) - [Michael] God gives us a
new identity as His children. We belong with him as he intended. The Bible says we will one day replace the rebellious sons of
God in His Divine Council. He also gives us a mission. We're here to grow God's family. - We're gonna go on a fascinating journey. We'll explore some strange passages. We'll reexamine some familiar ones with meanings hidden in plain sight. We'll look at the Bible
through the supernatural worldview of its writers. By the time we're done, you'll never be able to look at your Bible the same way again. There's a lot to be seen when
it comes to the unseen realm. (etheric music) - The Bible asks us to believe
a lot of strange things about the spiritual world. At first, we might be
tempted to ignore them, but if we say we believe the Bible, we can't avoid these concepts. Much of what we think we know about the spirit world isn't true. It's been filtered down through centuries of church tradition. Angels do not have wings. Demons
don't have horns or tails. And for the biblical writers, the unseen realm was home to
more than angels and demons. There were other bigger players. So do you believe what's in your Bible? (mysterious music) - The rock at Caesarea Philippi might be the most imposing
rock face in Israel. Imagine standing in front
of the 500-foot wide face and hearing Jesus' words, "Upon this rock, I will build my church." This is the place where
Jesus and His disciple stood, the scene of Peter's confession. And when Jesus added,
"And the gates of hell will not be able to withstand the church," he knew what he was talking about. - Gates to hell, really? The authors of scripture believe the gods of the nations were real. Look at Psalm 82 carefully. - When you really look at Psalm
82:1, it's kind of shocking, but there it is plain as day. God presides over an assembly of gods that he calls His sons. We're just not used to
thinking of the heavenly host in those terms, but that's
what the Hebrew text says. Psalm 89 says the same thing about God's council in the heavens. - The Hebrew word translated
Gods in Psalm 82 is Elohim. Now, most of the time
it should be translated as capital G God, but
sometimes it's plural, and Psalm 82:1 has both. The problem for us is that
we think this is a problem for monotheism, but it's not. We're taught to associate
the letters G, O and D with a specific set of unique attributes. That's why putting an S on
the end makes us queasy. But the word Elohim is not about
a set of unique attributes. The Bible itself tells us that. (heavenly orchestral music) - Elohim is simply a word used to describe a supernatural being. It says nothing, nothing about attributes. That's why the biblical
writers used Elohim for other spirit beings besides God. It's used for the gods of the nations. It's used for demons,
it's used for angels, even the disembodied human dead. However, Yahweh is one of those Elohim, and no other Elohim is like him. I repeat, no other Elohim is like him. The Bible describes him in unique ways. There is only one of Him, one of Him existing as three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and he is the creator of all other Elohim. (soothing music) - Psalm 82 places the
heavenly host in a council. That term is appropriate
because these beings participate in God's rule of the world. Now, certainly God
doesn't need their help, but he lets them participate. Consider the strange story
that the prophet Micaiah gave to the wicked Israel like king, Ahab. - Did you catch where the
Bible asked you to believe? God meets with His heavenly host to decide what happens on Earth? These beings, the gods of
the council are spirits, not people or idols. (pensive music) - Remember, Yahweh, the
God of Israel is an Elohim, a spirit being, but no
other Elohim is Him. He is one of a kind. He is
the true God with a capital G. He alone is the perfect Sovereign Creator. He is the Most High God. Now, Psalm 82:6 says God has sons. "Sons of the Most High," is the phrase. - Who are these sons
of God? It sounds odd. What about Jesus? How can there be all
these other sons of God? The answer is found in
verses like John 3:16, where Jesus is described
as the unique Son of God. Now, some translations say only begotten, but the word actually means
unique, one of a kind. How is Jesus unique? The New Testament says He is God, the one uncreated God in the flesh. None of the other sons of
God fit that description. - The sons of God language
made sense to ancient people. God was king, and kings
assigned their sons high-ranking jobs in their government. So it is in the unseen realm. It's important because
the sonship language reminds us that God wants a family. His family extends to both
the unseen world and to Earth, and those two families
come together in Eden. (dramatic orchestral music) - God addressed His
council when He created the first man and woman, the
council was already there. - God told His heavenly family
he wanted to create humanity. Now, people often think God addressed the other members of the Trinity,
but that is not the case. The other members of the Trinity are co-equal and co-omniscient. God wouldn't need to tell them anything. God speaks to his heavenly host here. Job 38 tells us the
sons of God were present at the creation.
(pensive music) (etheric vocalization music) - The image of God concept
helps us to understand how humans and the heavenly
host are both like God. Both of God's families represent Him. The supernatural sons of God represent Him in the unseen realm and
we represent God on Earth. - But how do we represent God? We saw how divine beings
participate in God's rule. God created humans to
participate in His plan to make the earth all He envisioned and to enjoy it with Him. - Imaging God is a
status we have on Earth, not a specific ability. We bear that status from
the moment of conception until death. To be human is to image God, but God also shares
His attributes with us. Beginning with Adam and Eve, we were supposed to take care
of Creation and develop it. God wanted the whole
earth to be like Eden. - The knowledge that all humans
are representatives of God prompts us to see all
human life as sacred. It leaves no room for racism. Injustice has no place, and
the abuse of power at home, at work or in government
cannot be justified. (ominous music) - Obviously, the world isn't like Eden. People don't treat each other
as equal imagers of God, not even close. What happened? The answer lies in God's
decision to share His attributes with both His supernatural
and human children. And one of those attributes
is freedom or free will. It is freedom, not mere intelligence, that allows for meaningful choices. God didn't program His
children like robots. If He did, we wouldn't truly be like Him. Having freedom meant God's
children might choose to rebel. That's what happened. (ominous music) - Remember, we don't have
God's perfect nature, even though both humans and
the heavenly sons of God represent Him in their respective realm. God tells us in Job 15 that He
doesn't trust His holy ones. He knows they can fail. - Eden was the home and
headquarters of God. His supernatural and earthly
families resided there. God wanted them to image
him in their own ways, heaven and earth blended
together into one family. But, one family member
didn't like that idea. (instrument hissing) - We've all heard about
the serpent in Eden, but why a serpent, what's
that supposed to tell us? Ancient people knew how to
take this scene, but we don't. We assume the serpent is merely an animal. His form is important, but the
story is not about zoology. The story is about a
supernatural rebellion. Isaiah alludes to that rebellion. - Isaiah is talking about the
sons of God in the assembly. Just like Job, he refers to them as stars. They were present before Eden. Ezekiel 28 mentions the
rebellion in Eden as well. In Ezekiel's case, a guardian cherub gets kicked out of Eden. - Ancient Mesopotamian tablets talk about cherub throne guardians and describe them as snakes and dragons. The serpent of Eden was
actually a supernatural being whose job was to guard God's throne. An ancient person would've known the scene was about a rebel in the Divine Council. - Like the supernatural
rebel, Adam and Eve rebel too. Eden was lost, the rebel
security guard was cast down. He brought death to earth,
and now everyone would die. He became Lord of the dead. Since everyone would die,
humanity would be his. (orchestral music rises) Now most people know the
basics of that story. Christians believe it's why
the world is the way it is, but that's actually incomplete. What happened in Eden was just
the first of three reasons why there's so much evil
and death in the world. There were actually two more
supernatural rebellions. (ominous music) - Genesis 6 describes the
second supernatural rebellion. Some of the sons of God,
members of the heavenly council, transgressed the boundary
between heaven and earth. (mystical flute music) - Both Peter and Jude references
story in the New Testament. - Jude also tells us about
the judgment of these angels. - Both of these writers
understood that Genesis 6 recorded the second
supernatural rebellion. The fallen sons of God
were sent to Tartarus for their transgression. Tartarus is a Greek word
for the realm of the dead, what we think of as hell. They'd stay there until
the Day of the Lord at the end of days. A term like fallen angels
makes us think of demons, like the ones Jesus cast out, but the rebels of
Genesis 6 are imprisoned, so they can't be the
demons Jesus encountered. So where did they come from? The answer lies in the offspring produced by the forbidden union
between the sons of God and the women in Genesis 6. Those offspring were
known as the Nephilim. They were giants. Their descendants became the giant clans Moses and Joshua battled. - In the books of Numbers and Deuteronomy, we learned about the giants
Moses and Joshua ran into. They not only descended from the Nephilim, but they are called by
other names like Anakim and the Rephaim. That last name stands out. Several Bible passages
described the dead spirits of the Rephaim in the realm of the dead, again, what we would think of as hell. (ominous music) - Extra-biblical Jewish
writers believe the demons, like those described in the gospels, were disembodied spirits of the giants. They base this on the Bible's
mention of dead Rephaim in the underworld. Jewish books like 1 Enoch
and the Book of the Giants from the Dead Sea Scrolls
make that point explicitly. (dramatic orchestral music) - If demons come from dead giants, what happened to the giants? Believe it or not, the answer comes from
a very familiar story. (ominous, bassy music) God told Joshua to
destroy entire populations in the land of Cannon, but if you read the
conquest account closely, you'll also see places
where God told Joshua only drive them out, not kill them. Now this seems inconsistent. However, when you understand
the supernatural rationale for what God wanted Joshua to
do, things become more clear. - It's fascinating to
discover that the conquest actually began with the giants. Moses initially sent
12 spies into the land. They reported about the
places they had visited and where they saw the giant Anakim. 10 of the 12 spies convinced
the rest of the people they could not win against the Anakim. God judged Israel with
40 years of wandering. Notice that the giants were a focal point from the very beginning
of the conquest effort. - At the end of the 40 years, God took Israel up through
the east side of the Jordan. He told them not to bother
the people of Moab and Ammon, since the giant clans in those lands had already been removed
by the people of Esau, relatives of the Israelites. (etheric music) God sent Moses and Joshua
to Bashan, the realm of Og, king of the Amorites. Og was a giant the last of the Rephaim. The prophet Amos described them. - The point is that once all
the giants from the other side of the Jordan were removed, Joshua could take the people into Canaan. Joshua took the Israelites into the land. It's important to notice that the places that were designated for total destruction correspond to the places
where the giants were seen. The giant descendants of the Nephilim were the real targets of the killing. Many people died because
the Anakim lived among them, but the descendants of the
Nephilim were the lethal threat. (uplifting drumming music) - The Nephilim and their descendants were from the divine
rebellion of Genesis 6. They had been raised up
by supernatural rebels to oppose God and destroy his people. Now in this light, the conquest, the spiritual warfare laid out on earth, either God's people Israel
would survive or be annihilated. The story is cast as an epic
battle of good and evil, in both the spiritual and earthly sense. Joshua could drive out people, but the descendants of the
Nephilim had to be eliminated. (triumphant music) This is why when Joshua defined
victory in the conquest, he said there are no
more Anakim in the land. The only ones left went
to the Philistine cities. One of those cities was Gath, the home of Goliath and his brothers. And eventually David would
complete the task of eliminating the descendants of the Nephilim. - The conquest is ultimately about God protecting his own children
against a cosmically empowered threat bent on stopping Yahweh from reestablishing Eden. - God's original program
was for Adam and Eve to spread Eden throughout the Earth. All people were to be God's people. The whole earth was to be God's domain, but that gets ruined and destroyed, but God never gives up
on his original plan, God called a people to
himself, the nation of Israel. Yahweh wanted a land
to restart a new Eden, and the Anakim, descendants of rival gods, would stop at nothing to prevent that. (ominous music) - The first two spiritual
rebellions produced Satan, the giants, and the
demons who came from them. But there was one more ancient
rebellion looming ahead. This one would produce
another set of bad guys and change the entire
landscape of God's relationship with humanity, but
ultimately they would become the catalyst of God's redemption plan. (uplifting music) - Now this is a really familiar story. Less familiar is how the
story is told in Deuteronomy. (pensive digitized music) - When was humanity divided into nations? That was at Babel. Got a lot of the nations to the members of his Divine Council. The Bible says this is
why the ancient nations worshiped other gods. God decided to let the
members of his Divine Council govern the other nations in response to humanity's rebellion at Babel. - But the gods of the nations
failed to rule justly. God chastises them in Psalm 82. - Then God pronounces a judgment on them. - [Announcer] "I have
said you are gods and sons of the Most High, all of you. However, you will die like men and you will fall like
one of the princes." - The gods will be judged,
punished and will die. It's startling to read these things. God is so angry with His
corrupt heavenly sons that He condemns them. Some passages in the prophets
place the fulfillment of this punishment in the end
times at the Day of the Lord. - This situation is at
the heart of what scholars call cosmic geography. It's the idea that the
nations around Israel were under the dominion
of other hostile gods. Those nations and their gods surrounded the holy ground of Israel,
Yahweh's portion of the earth. (pensive digitized music) The Book of Daniel picks up on that idea. It discloses that supernatural beings govern individual nations. In other words, evil
intelligences influence the geopolitics of those nations. - Each of these nations
has a supernatural prince, a term that means 'ruler'. - Michael is the guardian of Israel. The big picture reveals
that there is an unseen spiritual conflict behind
the empires of the Earth. - 2 Kings 5 illustrates the
idea of holy ground well. In that story, Naaman, a
military commander from Syria, visits Israel in search
of the prophet Elisha. To a surprise and joy,
Elisha heals him of leprosy. But afterward, he makes a really interesting request of Elisha. - Naaman asked Elisha
for dirt from Israel. Why? Because now he worshiped Yahweh. He wanted holy ground to worship on. (pensive orchestral music) Cosmic geography is something
we see a lot of in the Bible. It's about holy ground, a
place for Yahweh to dwell with his people, just like Eden. Do we realize how dramatic the
judgment at Babel really was? When it was over, God had no
relationship with humanity, but God still wanted a family, and He already had a
plan to fix that problem. He'd begin with one man named Abraham. - The Bible recounts many stories of God speaking from heaven, but God did something more dramatic when it came to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He appeared as a man. Both Genesis and Acts will
tell us God came to Abraham in a vision. Visions are things you see. The Old Testament often
describes God in visible terms: standing, sitting, walking. Invisible voices don't
stand, sit and walk, do they? God appears as a man in the Old Testament, most often as the angel of the Lord. Jacob first encountered Yahweh at Bethel, a man who was more than
what He appeared to be wrestled Him there. That man was described
by the prophet Hosea as an angel and an Elohim. That's why the angel
of the Lord could say, "I am the God of Bethel." That's amazing. An angel
refers to Himself as God. But even more startling
is the quote in Genesis 48 where Jacob blesses Joseph's
children before he dies. - Jacob's prayer has three lines. "May the God before
who my father's walked, may the God who shepherded me," and in the third line where we expect him to mention God again, he swaps in "May the angel who redeemed me from harm." And then he asks, "May He bless the boys." Not may they bless the boys,
but may He bless the boys. That's what the Hebrew text says. Jacob identified the angel with God. Genesis intentionally draws a parallel between the identity of the
angel of the Lord and Yahweh, but it goes even deeper. Two other concepts are
associated with the angel. They're the word and the name. - When God tells Moses
His name is in the angel, He's telling Moses that
He is in the angel. The angel here possesses
the power to forgive sin, something only God can do. When Yahweh says He put
his name in the angel, He's referring to His own presence. It sounds odd, but sometimes the name is actually described as a person. (uplifting music) - The Bible does that because
the name can be a person. Even today, observant Jews
who don't want to pronounce God's name will refer to
God himself as Hashem. That's Hebrew for 'the Name'. This reminds us of the burning bush where God reveals His name. Exodus 3 says both God and
the angel were in that bush. (uplifting music) - Yahweh reveals His name to
Moses at the burning bush. Jesus revealed it as well. - Of course, the Jews
already knew God's name. It was in their Bible. Jesus was saying He had
manifested God to them. If they had seen Him, they had seen God. God's appearance as a
man in the Old Testament prepared people to receive
God as man in Jesus. - On their way to the promised land, God gave Israel the law,
but obedience to the law wasn't how Israelites obtained salvation. It was how they showed loyalty to Yahweh. It would help them to
live in harmony with God and each other. Salvation in the Bible is
the same in either testament. Israelites had to believe
God was the God of all Gods. He made them to be with Him as His family because He loved them. They needed to refuse to
worship any other God. - Salvation today and in the New Testament makes the same demand in a different way. We must believe that the God of all Gods came to earth as a man in Jesus Christ. We must believe that He loved
us enough to die on the cross so that we could be in
God's family forever. And we must put our faith in
Christ alone and no other God. (pensive music) - The law taught people
how to approach God. God is holy and the space
He occupies is sacred. Sacred space is physical space, set apart and dedicated to
the use and service of God. - [Announcer] The Mosaic
Law comprises 613 laws. Many of them sound quite strange. You couldn't eat shellfish or combine different kinds
of material and clothing. There was an entire litany of clean and unclean animals and behaviors. - These laws were about ritual purity. They taught people the space
occupied by God's presence was different than their living space. - [Announcer] Cosmic geography
encompasses sacred space. The most holy part of the land
was where God's presence was. Certain laws alerted an
Israelite to the idea that Yahweh's living space was special. Sacrifices reminded the Israelites of this and also purified sacred space and objects so God's people could worship Him. - Sacred space encompasses
more than the purification of physical things. It distinguishes between
the 'holy' and the 'normal'. It even marked the unholy territory outside of Yahweh's land.
(ominous music) - In Israel's world, sacred space reminded Israelites of Eden. It was the place where God lived and where He desired humans to live. (pensive windpipe music) The design of the golden
lampstand and the holy place of the tabernacle was a
reminder of the Tree of Life, God's throne room, the holy of holies, where the Ark of the Covenant
was marked off by a veil. The Ark's lid functioned
as a throne for God. This echoes God's presence in Eden. - Over the Ark, sat two cherubim, just as cherubim guarded
the entrance to Eden. Lush decorations of vegetation,
flowers, palm trees, lions and pomegranates
filled the tabernacle. They reminded the Israelites
of God's first abode on Earth, the Garden of Eden.
(etheric music) - You might wonder how cosmic geography worked before Israel got into the land. The Israelite camp was holy ground. Outside the camp was the domain of the lesser gods from Babel. (slow, dramatic music) - Think about it, while
Israel was traveling to the promised land, they were not yet in Yahweh's
portion of the Earth. Laws about sacred space taught Israelites that Yahweh's people were
sacred, their home was sacred and that other nations
were estranged from God. - If the Israelite camp in the wilderness was considered holy, outside
the camp was unholy ground. The annual Day of Atonement
ceremony illustrated this point. - Two goats were involved in the ceremony. One goat was sacrificed but one was not. The one sacrificed was for the Lord. The one left alive was for Azazel. - The crucifixion of Jesus paralleled the Day of Atonement ceremony. His cross was placed outside the city, away from the temple area
which was holy ground. Jesus bore the sins of the
world outside holy ground. (dramatic music rises) - Why didn't the powers of darkness understand what would happen at the cross? Well, Paul gives us some
insight into the way God shrouded His plan for
redemption in mystery. - Do you realize what Paul is saying here? If the forces of spiritual
darkness had understood Jesus was coming to give His
life as a sacrifice for sin, they never would've had Him killed. - Even the disciples didn't
understand why Jesus had come. Consider how they responded
to Jesus when He told them He was going to Jerusalem to die. They were shocked. Peter
even rebuked Jesus. - Jesus would have none of it. Jesus was on a divine secret mission. - The Old Testament leaves clues scattered throughout dozens of
places about God's plan, but it doesn't spell it
all out in one place. God didn't want the powers
of darkness to know the plan. The intelligent,
supernatural, evil beings knew that the prophesied son
of David had arrived. Matthew records an encounter. - They recognize Jesus, but
their words never indicate that they understood what Jesus was up to. (heavenly vocalizing music) The forces of darkness
were duped into conspiring to kill Jesus. It was a divinely-designed misdirection. - Intelligent evil, Satan, demons, the lesser gods do not know everything. Only God is all knowing,
and He is on our side. - Why did Jesus have to die? Why would God plan such a thing? So that His children
would have eternal life. That's what Eden was supposed to be. The first supernatural rebellion in Eden brought death into God's world. Everyone was destined to end
up in the realm of the dead where the serpent was cast down. - Death had to be overcome.
That means resurrection. But you can't have a
resurrection without a death. - Now, Jesus knew what had to be done. He volunteered for that role. He would die in our place,
rise again and overcome death. God wants us to believe in His plan. He never gave up on including
humans in His family. That's why Jesus came. There was no plan B. (pensive music) - It's easy to get the
impression that Jesus's ministry leading up to the cross
was somewhat random, but there's an important
subtext to what Jesus was doing. He was outwitting the evil one. Jesus drew the battle
lines when He declared. - Satan is the ruler of this world. He's also very clever. Satan knew that Jesus
wanted as many people as possible to be part of
God's family and kingdom, so he offered Jesus all
the kingdoms of the world. There was just one catch. - There's no clearer
example of cosmic conflict. Satan's offer to Jesus was real. The thought of Jesus, Yahweh in the flesh, prostrate, worshiping at
his feet is his dream. He's the ultimate megalomaniac. Jesus told Satan to get lost. He knew something Satan didn't, that He was going to die and
then rise again to liberate anyone who believes in Him from death. God and His son already had a plan to bring people into God's family, one that didn't involve worshiping Satan. - When Jesus had His
confrontation with Satan, He didn't reveal God's plan. That plan was to reclaim
the nations of the world allotted to lesser gods at Babel. Jesus didn't even tell His disciples until a very specific incident. You remember that huge
rock we saw earlier? It's time to talk about
what happened there. (heavenly vocalizing music) - Jesus brought us disciples to a place called Caesarea Philippi, named after Caesar and Herod Philip. That was the Roman name. It's in an area known in
the Old Testament as Bashan. Canaanites believe
Bashan contained gateways to the underworld, the gates of hell. But in New Testament times, it had been the city of Pan, Panias, one of the Decapolis cities. And Pan's Cave was also known as a gateway to the underworld, but why
did Jesus bring them there? Because the implicit message
when Peter confessed Jesus to be the Messiah, the son of God was, Jesus is the real Messiah, the son of God, and these statues and that emperor are so not the sons of God. - Caesarea Philippi was also located at the base of Mount Hermon. In some of the Dead Sea
Scrolls from Jesus' day, Mount Hermon was the place
where the fallen sons of God descended to earth before the flood. Bashan and Hermon were ground zero for the cosmic evil powers. Jesus was standing at Satan's front door when He announced the gates of hell would not withstand the church. - In this place, Jesus asked Peter, "Who do you say I am?" And Peter answered. - Jesus commended Peter and declared. - The identification of this rock has been debated for a very long time. The area's geography is the key to understanding this passage.
(ominous music) - Eventually this place
became known as Pan's Grotto. The god Pan was represented
with horns, a goat's beard, a crooked nose, pointed
ears, a tail and goats feet. That's why the early
church described the devil in those ways. In a few days, Jesus would
take three disciples with him up into Mount Hermon and put
the entire spiritual world on notice with the Transfiguration. - Right after Jesus did these
things at the gates of hell in Mount Hermon, He began
to teach His disciples that He needed to go to Jerusalem to die. The thought panicked them.
They didn't understand. But Jesus knew it was time
to fulfill God's plan. (slow, heavenly music) - A week later, Jesus arrived in Jerusalem for His triumphal entry. Jesus's provocations of
the supernatural powers led to the devil striking back. Satan entered Judas whose
betrayal in the garden led to Jesus' trial. He stood accused before
the high priest, Caiaphas, who demanded that He defend himself. - Jesus' answer sounds
evasive to us, even cryptic. He replied. - Caiaphas burst into a rage. He tore his robe saying,
"He has blasphemed." But why did Caiaphas think
the reply was blasphemy? Jesus had quoted an Old Testament passage that Caiaphas knew very well. - Why was it so shocking
to hear Jesus claim that He was the one coming on the clouds? Because everywhere else
in the Old Testament, that expression was used
only of God himself. For instance in Psalm 104,
Yahweh, the God of Israel, makes the clouds His chariot. (pensive music continues) But Daniel 7 is an exception. God was already in the scene. He's the Ancient of Days
seated on His throne. That means the one coming on the clouds was a different person. The scene has God in human form twice. He is the seated Ancient of Days, and you would also
expect God to be the one coming on the clouds because
that is a title for Him. Because of this scene,
ancient Jewish theology had a doctrine called
the Two Powers in Heaven. They actually identified two
Yahweh figures in this scene. Jesus claimed to be one of them, the son of man riding on the clouds. - Jesus claimed to be God
was enough for the priest to declare that He should
die, and die He did. Psalm 22 gives us a glimpse of the suffering Messiah on the cross. (eerie vocalizing music) - The creepy part is the description of the mighty bulls of Bashan. Remember that Bashan
was known as ground zero to demonic gods and the realm of the dead. The area was a leading center
for the worship of Baal, symbolized by bulls and cows. Mighty bulls of bichon refers to demons and the powers of darkness. - C.S. Lewis captured
the force of the psalm in "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." No one can forget when
Aslan surrenders his life to the hordes of the White Witch and dies on the stone table. But just as Aslan
outsmarted the White Witch, so too Jesus turned this apparent defeat into the greatest triumph of all time. - Jesus triumphed over death. He was granted authority over all things. Satan has no claim over God's people. Jesus conquered death
through His resurrection. (triumphant music) (slow, pensive music) - In the Book of Acts, the Holy Spirit explodes under the scene with His arrival at Pentecost. It's a familiar story to Christians. There's more there than you first realize. (uplifting orchestral music) - The Old Testament
associates the rival of God with fire in a violent wind. Ezekiel 1 is a good example. - The spirit of God enabled
the Jewish followers of Jesus to speak in the languages
of the surrounding nations enslaved by enemy gods. (etheric vocalizing music) - God was reversing the judgment at Babel. Part of that judgment had been
the confusion of languages to divide nations. The Spirit was supernaturally
overcoming that obstacle, but there's more going on. Pentecost was a slap in the
face to the gods of the nations. Their authority had been nullified. God was going to take the nations back. God gave the risen Jesus all the authority he had once given to them. This is why the Great Commission
begins the way it does. - The nation's listed in Acts
2 cover all of the geography associated with the
disinherited nations from Babel. Pentecost sent the message that God was reclaiming those nations. They could once again be
included in His family. (ominous, bassy music) - The Apostle Paul often talked about the evil entities
whose domains he violated in the wake of Pentecost. He understood the Old
Testament's cosmic geography. - Paul lists rulers and principalities, authorities, powers,
dominions, lords and thrones. All of these terms indicate
geographical rulership. They reflect how the Old
Testament depicts the relationship of the unseen and the seen worlds. Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles. He knew that he was up against
the old gods of the nations allotted to people, excluded from God's family back at Babel. - Paul says something
in the book of Romans that helps us see that
what happened at Babel influenced the way he
thought about His mission. - Why did Paul care
about getting to Spain? On the one hand, some think it's the only disinherited nation not
mentioned in the Book of Acts, the land of Tarshish. Clement, the early church
father from the end of the 1st century AD says
that Paul went to the limits of the West in order to reach
the full scope of Gentiles in the Roman empire. - In other words, Jonah went to Tarshish to get away from proclaiming
to Gentiles in Nineveh. Paul went to Spain to reach the Gentiles at the end of the earth
called the Roman Empire. (slow, pensive music) - God knew that the Great
Commission was bigger than just Paul could imagine. It falls to us to bring the gospel to the uttermost parts of the Earth. - Paul had a supernatural
view of his own life. He viewed himself as set apart as an instrument for God's use. We have the same task of
invading the demonic strongholds of this world with the message
of the love of Jesus Christ. (pensive music) - Remember our discussion
of holy and unholy ground. You might wonder where
God's presence is today. And sure, the Bible teaches
us God is everywhere, but it actually marks His
presence more specifically. - Paul writes that God
is specifically present within each believer. In other words, every
believer is sacred space. (heavenly vocalizing music) - God was present in the temple today. The same is true wherever
believers gather as a group. The Bible says the people of God are collectively God's temple. - Together, we are God's temple, the special place where
God's spirit resides. Wherever believers gather,
the spiritual ground we occupy is sanctified amid the powers of darkness. - Believe it or not, baptism is a declaration
of spiritual warfare. Peter explains that idea
in a perplexing passage. It's odd to us, but people in Peter's day would've known just what to do with it. - At first glance,
Noah, a good conscience. Spirits in prison, baptism,
angels, authorities, and powers seem to have
little to do with each other, and baptism can't save us. Believing in Jesus saves us. What's going on here?
(pensive music) - To understand what
Peter wants to say here, we have to understand
that, like Paul used Adam as an analogy for Jesus
in some of His teaching, Peter uses Enoch. - We don't learn much about
Enoch in the Old Testament, just three verses. He walked with God after living 365 years, and God took him to heaven. That makes it hard to
see much of an analogy, but we have to remember
that New Testament writers read other books besides
the Old Testament, and one of those books is called 1 Enoch. 1 Enoch isn't inspired,
but biblical writers quote from some uninspired books they knew their readers
were familiar with. Those familiar books helped
them make their points. That's what Peter is doing in 1 Peter 3. - The book of 1 Enoch says
the fallen sons of God were imprisoned after they rebelled. Peter's Second Epistle
mentions those rebels being held in chains of gloomy darkness. In 1 Enoch, the fallen
sons of God asked Enoch to see if God would forgive them. Since Enoch had God's favor, they thought it was worth a try. In 1 Enoch, God rejects the
plea of the fallen angels after Enoch reports to him. He sends Enoch down into the abyss. He descends to the spirits in
prison to announce their doom. That's the point of analogy for Peter. Just as Enoch descended
to the fallen spirits, so Jesus descended into the same realm to proclaim something to them. What did he proclaim? They thought that since Jesus
was in the realm of the dead, they had won. Jesus told them they were wrong, and he rose on the third day to prove it. They were still doomed. - But how does this connect to baptism and a good conscience? - An appeal to God for a
good conscience in 1 Peter 3 means a sincere pledge. In essence, baptism was a loyalty oath and repeated the message
Enoch and then Jesus gave to the demonic
powers and anyone present of just whose side of the
spiritual war you were on. (water whooshes dramatically)
(triumphant, heavenly music) - That's why baptism is an
instrument of spiritual warfare. Whether we realize it or not, we're being watched by both
sides of this supernatural war. (etheric, pensive music) - Being partakers of the divine nature means we will be like God. We will have a body like Jesus
did after the resurrection. We will have eternal life, and with the loyal members
of the heavenly host, we will be in God's family
and worship Him forever. God will succeed in uniting His divine and human family for eternity. But the most amazing part
of being in God's family is how Jesus, the unique
son of God, sees us. When Jesus became a man, He
was made, for a short time a little lower than the angels. Listen to the writer to the Hebrews. - Because God became man in Jesus, His mortal followers will become like Him and members of God's family. We are Jesus' siblings and
the fruit of His ministry. - It's stunning that Jesus is not ashamed to call mere mortals His
brothers and sisters. In fact, in the presence
of the Divine Council, He revels in introducing
God to us and us to God. - [Michael] Consider the
reason that Paul gives for our glorification. - The exultation of Jesus is the reason for our glorification. He is the firstborn or the head, the One who receives the
inheritance among many brothers. John puts this even more succinctly. - That's our future, but what about now? Sometimes when we hear
that we'll be like Jesus, we process it only in
terms of being less bad, but our eternal destiny
doesn't hinge on merit. That turns grace into duty.
That's just bad theology. The Bible teaches salvation
is not of works but of grace. God loves us and wants to
give us everlasting life, if we will only believe in it. - Until that day, God wants
us to tell the epic story of His war against supernatural rebellion to help Him release
those still held captive by unseen powers of darkness. (uplifting orchestral music) - Well, it's pretty obvious
we're not living in Eden today. The world is full of darkness, but supernatural evil has no claim on us. Jesus is ruling at the right hand of God. We are sacred space, since
God's spirit dwells in us, but we await the Lord's
return to transform the Earth. As theologians like to say, "The kingdom is here
already, but not yet." - The 'already-but-not-yet' paradox is an important biblical idea. On the 'already' side of things, God gives us a new
identity as His children. We belong with Him as He intended. He also gives us a mission. We're here to grow God's family. The 'not yet' part of our
mission is what we often miss. The Bible says we will one day replace the rebellious sons of
God in His Divine Council. Consider what Paul says. - The book of Revelation
promises believers a future where we will rule
with Christ over the nations. - Think about it. Believers will be granted
authority over the nations. Who rules the nations now?
The fallen sons of God. We're going to replace them
and rule with our father in a new world. But what do we make of the
gift of the morning star? In the ancient, world
stars were associated with divine beings. The morning star is symbolic
of the reign of the Messiah. - Jesus is the Morning Star. That's a title for the ruling Messiah. - Incredibly, we share the Morning Star. We share the Messiah's
rule in the New Earth. Elsewhere in the book of Revelation, Jesus shares His throne with us. (triumphant music) - God and man will be
reunited in fellowship. The dominion of the world will return to its proper sovereign. Heaven will return to Earth. Eden will be restored. God created us to be in His family and to enjoy His world with Him. Despite all the darkness
in the world, we still can. We need only to turn to
Him and believe His plan. (triumphant orchestral music) (heavenly vocalizing music)
