BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

The angel continues his query, “For thou has made him a little lower than [Elohim]...” (verse 5). The "King James Version" translates the Hebrew word Elohim as angels. But the word Elohim is the word for God; in fact it is a plural word. It literally shows God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. What is so remarkable to the angel is that the order in creation has changed. For all eternity past, the angels had only known this order: The Triune Godhead, then the archangels, and then the angels. Now there is a new order. Man has been ranked just under the Godhead. The angels didn't even know the position was open. But the wonder of all wonders is verbalized in the angelic questioning: “[Thou] hast crowned him..." (verse 5). God crowned man! God didn't ask Gabriel or Michael to do it. Amid majesty and pageantry far surpassing any crowning of any earthly monarch, God Himself arose and crowned His man. Kings wear crowns. In this crowning, God fixed forever the place of man in God's heart and in God's plans. What was the crown made of? Of diamonds? Of gold? No! God paves streets with gold. The crown was made of the most valuable substance in all creation. The angel tells us what it was: “[Thou] hast crowned him with glory..." (verse 5). The crown was made of glory! God's glory! The glory which may seem so abstract to some is the highest heavenly reality. For the glory of God is God's Presence manifested. That glory of God is God Himself. God's glory sat upon man as his crown and encircled his being as his covering. The Mystery of the Ages Once the crown had been set, however, and God's Word had gone forth declaring that man would have dominion over the works of God's hands...fallen Lucifer came to challenge that Word. For he knew that if he could ever stop God's Word from coming to pass, he could defeat God. Satan's tactics were simple. He tempted the will of man. Man yielded and turned his will crosswise to the will of God. When he did, he fell. And oh! The heights from which he fell! Man fell from the glory of God. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Man clothed in God's glory, fitted for fellowship with the Creator, had walked in God's presence every day. With the glorious covering gone, Adam was naked and afraid and hid himself from the presence of God (Genesis 3:10). Satan thought he'd won. He knew sin could not endure the glory of God's Presence. He knew God's glory would consume the sin Adam had become. He thought he had separated God and His man forever. I saw this scene in the spirit. I saw the predicament. I was made to know that the reaction of a natural father to a fallen son would be to grab him and clasp him to his bosom. Then I was made to know, 'If I had clasped Adam to My bosom, I would have consumed him. And with him mankind. Satan would have stopped My plan for man and defeated Me.' I seemed to hear Satan's whining voice taunt God, over and over, “What-are-ya-gonna-do-now? What-are-ya-gonna-do-now?" I was made to know that God did not answer Satan's question. But I knew that God had a plan. A plan which began in heaven before the foundation of the world. A plan which would complete the circle and bring man back into the glory in which he began. The Bible calls God's plans mysteries. The Greek word means “divine secrets.” This plan, the mystery of the Church, God did not soon reveal. The Bible says “it was hidden in God." The Old Testament prophets prophesied about it, yet they wondered of what and of whom they were speaking. Even the Gospel writers did not grasp the meaning of the mystery. It was not until a man named Paul came along that God revealed the mystery of the Church. 12 : BVOV

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