The full text of this message and supplementary study questions can be found on our website with the remaining parts of this study.

1 Pe 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. 11 Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, 12 having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.

1 Pe 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. 11 Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, 12 having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.

1 Pe 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. 11 Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, 12 having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.

1 Pe 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. 11 Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, 12 having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.

1 Pe 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. 11 Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, 12 having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.

1 Pe 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. 11 Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, 12 having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.

1 Pe 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. 11 Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, 12 having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.

A quick calculation will reveal that we have one of the three, but not all the three.

And if God’s purpose for us is to be ful6illed – which it must – just remember our opening scripture, then there must also be provision for the salvation for our soul and body – and as we don’t have that salvation now, it must remain something out ahead of us.

And it is no surprise that this is what Scripture shows.

This podcast is part of a mini-series by John Herbert of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship Jacksonville. 

This podcast is part of a mini-series by John Herbert of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship Jacksonville.

Hades = the place of departed souls – please note that Hades is never used to refer to the place of eternal damnation. Eternal damnation takes place in the Lake of Fire – nowhere else.

This podcast is part of a mini-series by John Herbert of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship Jacksonville. 

So far in our study of the full scope of salvation we have seen the context into which salvation is placed – a context that reveals God’s plans and purposes for His Son, clearly revealed in - Col 1:16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.

And God’s purpose for Man as a joint heir with God’s Son –
Ge 1:26 ¶ Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion.....

This podcast is part of a mini-series by John Herbert of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship Jacksonville. 

Well let’s go back to our original picture of Adam in the Garden
Do you remember what died that day? – his and the Woman’s spirit. And

in like manner we are all born - Eph 2:1 ¶ ....dead in trespasses and sins,

This podcast is part of a mini-series by John Herbert of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship Jacksonville. 

We see then God acting sovereignly to begin the process of the creation’s restoration – bringing light where there was only darkness and making a division between the two. This is entirely God’s work as the ruined creation is completely unable to help itself. 

The total restoration of the creation takes another five days – followed by a day of rest. Setting the pattern that must be followed. 

This podcast is part of a mini series by John Herbert of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship Jacksonville. You can see the full transcript of this podcast and learn more about this episode on our website.

And we had seen from Scripture in Genesis that not only does God make Man in His image He creates Man for a specifically stated purpose – ‘let them have dominion – literally – ‘let them rule over'. 

And that God used the plural pronoun ‘them’ pointing to the fact that in order to fulfill the purpose for his creation the Man needed a helper comparable to him. 

Ge 2:18 ¶ And the LORD God said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him." 

This podcast is part of a mini-series by John Herbert of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship Jacksonville. 

In these statements however there is much that is scripturally incorrect. 

And the reason for this is very simple – our understanding of ‘salvation’ is much too narrow, and it is too narrow because most often we don’t begin our understanding of it in the right place. 

When Jesus is walking with two of His disciples on the Road to Emmaus on the day of His resurrection, He reprimanded them for not having properly understood scripture - Lu 24:25 Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 "Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?" 27 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. 

This podcast is part of a mini-series by John Herbert of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship Jacksonville. 

Heb 4:3 For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: "So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest,'" although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.

Re 13:8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

So what do we see here? We see the Kingdom of Christ, the rule over the earth that God had purposed for His Son from eternity past, being given as an inheritance to Man – and that this inheritance was planned for Man, ‘from the foundation of the world’ – even before man as a created being existed.

This podcast is part of a mini-series by John Herbert of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship Jacksonville. 

Last time we had looked at the ‘tree of life’ found in the midst of the Garden, and we had seen how this tree is directly related to rulership and not the provision of eternal life. We had seen this tree featured in one of the overcomers’ promises in the Revelation, again in connection with those who will rule in the Millennial Kingdom.

This podcast is part of a mini-series by John Herbert of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship Jacksonville. 

There were two trees in the Garden, whose fruit produced two entirely different outcomes. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil, as we have seen from the experience of Adam and the Woman, produced death. Eating the fruit from that tree brought separation from God’s purpose for them.

This podcast is part of a mini-series by John Herbert of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship Jacksonville. 

The sin that came as a result of Satan’s deception had separated the Man and the Woman from God’s stated purpose for their creation, to have ‘dominion’, to rule. They both ‘died’ in a spiritual sense.

And here is something very important to note. Death in Scripture never has to do with ceasing to exist, it always has to do with separation from God’s purpose.

This podcast is part of a mini-series by John Herbert of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship Jacksonville. 

This podcast is part of a mini-series by John Herbert of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship Jacksonville. 

There are very simple, yet very profound truths, that are contained in this foundational verse that we had begun to look at last time.

Foundational truth that cannot ever change, truth that if not received will cause shipwreck in the understanding of Scripture that won’t be recovered from.

This podcast is part of a mini-series by John Herbert of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship Jacksonville. 

In our last session we had seen that Adam is a type, or a picture, of Him who was to come. A picture of Christ. And because the Scripture makes this very clear for us, we can understand why Adam ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil when his wife gave it to him –

This podcast is part of a mini-series by John Herbert of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship Jacksonville. 

This podcast is part of a mini-series by John Herbert of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship Jacksonville. 

13 So the evening and the morning were the third day……..19 So the evening and the morning were the fourth day……….23 So the evening and the morning were the fifth day……….31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

This podcast is part of a mini-series by John Herbert of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship Jacksonville. 

This podcast is part of a mini-series by John Herbert of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship Jacksonville. 

The verse here from Isaiah, provides God’s own commentary on Genesis 1:1, and it states categorically that God did not create the earth ‘in vain’. The word that is translated ‘vain’ is the same word translated ‘void’ in Genesis 1:2, the Hebrew word, ‘tohu’.

This podcast is part of a mini-series by John Herbert of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship Jacksonville. 

Ge 1:1 In [the] beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

What is it then that God wants us to know from this very simple statement? And what He wants us to know can only be found by comparing Scripture with Scripture, to find God’s own commentary on His opening statement that begins His revelation to us...... 

This podcast is part of a mini-series by John Herbert of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship Jacksonville.