The Ages of Man According to Scripture

The Ages of Man The What and Why

The Age of Adam, the Rule of God

In the beginning God only intended for there to be one age of man, an eternal age. He made man in His image, perfect, gave him a perfect land to live in, everything he would ever need was supplied. But he was also given the option of deciding his future. He could remain perfect by being obedient to God or he could disobey God and die. He had eternal life as long as he remained in right relationship with God.

Eventually he would have eaten of the fruit of the tree of LIFE which he was free to eat. As long as he ate of the tree of life before he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil he would have had eternal life. But God had said if he ate of the forbidden tree he “would surely die”. This brings to mind that Jesus gave a similar warning to us in the new testament when He said 'if you endure to the end you will be saved.”. God never changes, Jesus spoke from the Spirit of His father within Him. That same Spirit that we must have within and in control of us in order to inherit the earth and the eternal kingdom of God.

But, Adam having as all men do, a mind of his own, decided to listen to his wife instead of God. Remember, Adam, up until he ate of the fruit of the forbidden tree, did not know death, there was no death on the earth at that time. But when he rebelled against God (did what he wanted, not what God said to do) and ate the forbidden fruit, he then brought death to himself and every other man that would be born because he was the father of all. AS an unexpected consequence he also released the knowledge of good and evil on the earth as the natural consequence of eating the forbidden fruit. Up until then only good had been released on the earth. God declared everything He had created was good. God was prepared either way that Adam would decide, if he never ate of the forbidden fruit things would continue as they were. If he ate of the forbidden fruit he would then know both, good and also evil and would then become accountable for both. God, being the all wise person He is, had created the tempter, the agent of evil, His tool to prove whether we will follow Him or our own desires, in the garden at the creation, but He had hoped He would never be released. Once Adam listened to his wife after she was deceived by the serpent and He ate the forbidden fruit, (all satan had power to do at that time was tempt man) according to His word ,God had to place the curse of death on Adam. If Adam had fulfilled his responsibility and told his, wife no I will not eat of that forbidden fruit, man would not have had to ever die. Also satan would never been loosed on the earth he would have remained a harmless serpent. Yes a HARMLESS serpent, as there was only good on the earth at that time. God did not release evil on the earth, Adam did it as a by product, an unintentional consequence of his disobedience.

Remember, in the garden they all got along, the animals had no fear of man as they were not food at that time, there was no evil, tempting was not a problem, unless you fell for the trick as Adam did, disobeying God was a big problem, the result was death. Unfortunately it meant not just Adam, it meant this new concept would affect all mankind that followed. Now I know some people have a hard time with this concept, so let me explain why this is so. It could be so only for the first living man from whose loins ALL future man would come. In order for Adam, who effectively had eternal life until he rebelled, to die, his body would be reprogrammed by God, to be able to die. By reprogramming the man that would be father to all future man they would inherit this death gene. So because of this all of mankind has had to die since then. Since Adam was kicked out of the garden man now had no opportunity to gain eternal life. Remember God had kicked him out of the garden before he could eat of the tree of life. But God has a plan. He will let man go on, and see what they will do. After a period of time we find that mankind had gotten so depraved that God decided to destroy them ALL. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. So God decided to let man try again.

Time from creation until Noah entered the door of the ark and closed it Represents the end of the First age of man. It is a precursor, a natural look at Christ Who is yet to come. Jesus still has not even been mentioned in scripture . Noah, is in effect a second Adam, a new beginning in the flesh. Or even an example of what Christ would do, giving man anther chance to get it right. God cleansed the earth and gave it to Noah. Once again there was no evil on the earth, but of course the curse of death was still there and the carnal nature was there since the knowledge of good and evil remained.. God has destroyed all the evil man in the flood. He even destroyed all the animals but the breeding pairs to start over on the cleansed earth Only Noah and his family and the breeding pairs of animal remain to repopulate the earth. God also made some other changes after the flood. As well as the promise to never again kill every living creature on the earth BY A FLOOD, and the rainbow to remind man and God of His Promise. God also gave all living creatures except man to be used as food. Nothing that could be used as food was withheld from man. And of course the animals now lived in fear of man which they did not before the flood

Gen 9:1-4 So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. 2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand. 3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs

They have entered the second age of man, the Rule of God

We find there are several ages of man, each different than the previous age. But we are most interested in the creation age, the age of Noah, the Abrahamic age, parts of the age of the Israelites and of course this final age of man, the age of the Lord Jesus Christ, the age we live in today and until it ends at the judgment seat of God, after Jesus returns all power to God and God then and forever is the omega. The one who was and is and is to come, will have arrived to be all in all again and for ever. The first, the last, the only and the forever God.

As the age of Noah continues, and ends, then comes the next age

The age of Abraham, The rule of God continues

The first thing you need to see is that in this age of Abraham there is still no middle man, God speaks directly to Abraham. No priests to go through, no man needed, just God and man, each man able to directly approach and follow God..

The Abrahamic age is important as that is where we see the promise God made to Abraham about the future of his kin and all men. There is much more that went on that is specific to this age but the only thing we are interested in here now is the covenant between God and Abraham as it directly relates to this age we now live in.

in Genesis we see God selects Abraham, then known as Abram, to be the head of a great nation.

Gen 12:1-3 Now the Lord had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you

And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

Read this scripture carefully. Notice and remember the final line, ALL the FAMILIES OF THE EARTH will be blessed because of this man Abram, not just his family but ALL the families of the earth. WOW what a blessing this man has received from God. Remember these were a tribal people, they lived among their extended families. But God has a different plan for Abram. He is to leave his family and go to a place THAT GOD WOULD SHOW HIM, in other words he had to leave and God did not tell him where to go, He will show him after be begins his journey. This was unheard of , to leave your kin and to leave and head you do not know where, not a familiar practice. All he had was the word of God and a promise.

Gen 12:4 So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

And Abram did all the Lord required of Him, at 75 yrs of age He left all he knew to follow a word from God. Could you do that? Then as he continues on as he passes through canaan God appears to him and says he will be giving this land to Him and His descendants. So Abram built an alter and worshiped God there. Then he continues on, arriving in Egypt and we see all that happened to him in that land. We see he made some mistakes along the way but he never wavered, he kept following as God led him onward. Then it was time to continue on, and he left Egypt and headed south. He arrived back at the alter He had built to the Lord in caanan and called out to God. By now, he and his people and his nephew Lot and his people had grow into two very large companies. Because there were so many they were having some trouble because the land could not support them all in one place. Abram the tells Lot that they should separate and go in different directions. Here as they separate we get to see the character of this man called by God. Instead of doing as most leaders would do, Abram says you choose the left or the right and I will take the other direction. Abram knew that God would send Lot the opposite way from where he was to go. He trusted God not himself. This is what a true man of God will always do. So they separated and as most men would, Lot chose the better looking land and headed east. An interesting insight here is that the better looking land had evil inhabitants, being greedy always has a price. As Abram begins to possess the Land God has given to him, God continues to lead, bless and protect him. BUT, now Abram was realizing he was getting old and had no descendants to fulfill all God had promised, so he talked to God about it and God assured him that he will have a son to carry on his family. Abram believed God. Then God gave him the detailed area that was to be his. Now we are approaching the time that holds the keys to the future. The most important part of this age of man. In chapter 17 we find God reaffirms his covenant with Abram.

Gen 17:1-8 "I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. 2 And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly." 3 Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: 4 "As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. 7 And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you.

Gen 17:15-16 Then God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 And I will bless her and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her."

God has decided to change their names because the persons name explained who they were. So He gave them new names meaning father and mother of many nations. Notice they are to be father and mother of not just many people but many nations, a much larger role.

For the first time Abraham doubted God, at age 100 he is promised a son with Sarah who is age 90 but God just gently assures him, his son to be called Isaac shall be born to Sarah. A while later God confirms the child Isaac will be born this year. Now if you have read the story you know Abraham made the same mistake that Adam, he listens to his wife instead of God. Abraham did not disobey God but surely doubted Him, He went ahead of God and made a son with his wife's maid. This son was not of God but of Abraham's carnal desire and because of it we have the muslims today. But then in the timing of God Sarah and Abraham have a son, the chosen son, a gift from God, a legitimate son, his rightful heir.

Because Abraham had doubted God, He decided to test him. God called Abraham and told him he must take the son that God had given Him, his only legitimate heir and Kill him as a sacrifice to God.

Gen 22:7-8 Then he said, "Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?"

8 And Abraham said, "My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering." So the two of them went together.

Abraham knew and trusted God, He knew that the son that God had told him would be the one to carry on his name would not die or if he did then God would raise him up because he had to fulfill the word of God. Do you see this is a foreshadow of God and Christ. The promised son would have to live or be resurrected in order to fulfill the Word of God. And we find that in this case because Abraham trusted God, he was sent a lamb for the sacrifice and his on lived on.

Gen 22:15-18 Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, 16 and said: "By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son — 17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."

If you follow through and read the rest of the account you find that Jesus is a descendant of Abraham. Abraham trusted God and is the father of faith. And the fulfillment of God's covenant with Abraham is in the man Jesus Christ who died and was resurrected to restore to us the opportunity to regain the eternal life that Adam cast aside in the Garden by his disobedience. This man Jesus we will meet when he is born on the earth at the beginning of the age we live in now, the final age of man. But before we meet Him we must continue through the next age of man. The age of Abraham ends and The age of Moses and the Law given to the Israelites by God through Moses begins. This law is temporary as was the age it governed, it was to keep man until this Messiah should be born to do His work,

Remember we are only looking at the material that pertains to the Ages of man so we are not covering all details of each age.

Moses and the Law, the age of Israel, rule of Man, (Kings and Priests & Prophets)

We will only highlight this age with information you must understand to understand the rest of this article. You should stop here and if you have not already read all the scripture up to this point do so.

God is prepared to bring His people, Israel, out of the Egyptian bondage, the man He has chosen to lead them has grown from an infant in a reed basket left beside the river into a man. Now it is time to start him on his journey leading God's current chosen people from bondage into a land chosen by God to be theirs, a land full of milk and honey and huge grapes, but also some dangerous kings that they must conquer with the help of God as they continue to possess the land given to Abraham by God.. God appears to Moses in a burning bush, something never before heard of and He spoke to Moses. He tells Moses that he has been chosen to lead his people for God. Here we see Moses becoming the spokesman for God, the people did not want to have to interact with God, so God spoke to them through Moses. The people rebelled against Moses but he talked God out of destroying them and as they went on and possessed their God given land, God continued to protect and lead them in spite of their disobedience and rebellion against Him and His man Moses . Moses showed them the might and power and love of God but they continued to be rebellious. Finally God declared that no one that came out of Egypt would enter the promised land when they arrived there except Joshua and Caleb.

When Moses died God put Joshua in his place. Now you need to stop and read all about the exodus from Egypt, the time in the wilderness and the rest of the times of this age up to the end of the old testament before you go on the the final section, the age of the Rule of Christ, the current age in which we are living today.

But before we go there we need to finish this age of the Law of Moses.

The Israelites decided they did not need or want God to be their father or ruler or God so He decided to give them what they desired, men to be their kings and priests and prophets, to access God for them. In this age we will see how that worked out for them. He gave them detailed instruction for this age, which he said was to be temporary, for Israel only and only until a man could fulfill all the requirements of the laws to govern this age. When a man was able to fulfill ALL of it then the age would end and a new final age of man would begin.

When they arrived in the promised land each tribe was given a portion of land for their own, The Levites were selected by God to be the priests and would not receive a land of their own, God was their possession. Where all the other tribe would rely on the land for their sustenance the priests were to rely on God. So God set up a system of tithes from their brethren that would provide for the Levites during the time the law was to be in effect. As part of the temporary law this would end at the end of that age with the end of the law.. In this set of laws every aspect of their lives was controlled and there were harsh penalties for breaking them, many punished by death. There was no mercy or forgiveness in the laws. This is where the dietary laws were given, they were given ONLY to the Israelites and Only til Christ would come as confirmed to Peter in Acts 10:11.

This is the first time God has delegated His authority to man, up until this time man has had direct access to God. They found, that, as God had warned them, these men became tyrants and more and more evil. They made their own rules and did things God would not have done.

Then finally in Gods time, the man that scripture told about, this man, the Son of God that God had promised would come and end the age of these oppressive men, the man that would make the way for men to regain the eternal life that Adam lost by his disobedience. A man of mercy and forgiveness that would deliver man from bondage forever. Was declared to be on his way, a young woman was with a child fathered by the Holy Spirit and would soon give birth to this Son of God. Then we read about the birth and coming of age of this young man Of how He was baptized by John and how they saw the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove anoint this Son of God. How he healed the sick and lame, turned water into wine and confounded the religious leaders. Then we see that He FULFILLED ALL OF THE LAWS OF MOSES as scripture had foretold. And then as scripture also foretold He was brutally killed by the religious leaders.

The Age of the Rule of Christ, the final age of man

But to their amazement He rose from the grave in three days as He had said He would.(they never expected this). He had defeated death, a man such as we are, according to scripture, resurrected from the dead, death could not hold him in the grave, He now holds the key to life, the escape from death that was passed to us by Adams disobedience. And He is here to give us the key to defeat death, to return to us that will do as He requires of us, Eternal life with God. We now can inherit the earth, and the new earth and live forever with God, and this His Son on the earth forever—eternity. When He died on the cross (or stake, who cares which, it was a horrible and unjust death either way) the veil of the Holy of Holies was supernaturally torn in two and God moved out of the box. No longer do we have to go anywhere to meet with Him We can meet Him wherever we are whenever because He lives in us His people now.

God had been telling about this son that would arrive on the earth in God's timing to give men an opportunity to regain the eternal life that Adam had lost for man by His disobedience in the Garden of God. When He ate of the fruit of the forbidden tree, God as He had promised, put the curse of death in man, therefore breaking the bond that he had before His disobedience (death is actually the loss of relationship with God) and releasing the KNOWLEDGE of Good and Evil on the earth as a natural result of eating the forbidden fruit.

Then a little over 2000 years ago, this Son of God arrived on the earth, He arrived on the earth the only way any man could arrive on the earth after God had finished His work of Creation and declared that it was all good and that He was finished creating, through the womb of a female man. We read about this in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Then we also read that this Son, named Jesus Christ, was given all the authority of God for this the final age of man on the earth, thus ending the age of the Israelites and the law and beginning the reign of Christ the King when he was resurrected from the grave.

Fulfilling ALL of the Laws of The Israelites that were given to them from God by His servant Moses, this qualified Him and showed him to be the man that was to come, the Messiah, the savior of all that would follow Him on His terms. You can see all the information about Him in the words of God we call the old testament.

Luke 16:16-17 "The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it.

He has defeated DEATH and now the end of the Laws of Moses has arrived as they were only for a season. The season stated in the law, was from Moses delivery of them until this man came and fulfilled them all, thereby ending the previous age and opening this current and last age that ends with the great white throne judgment.

By fulfilling ALL of the Law He became the new Law giver and as God has delegated ALL of His authority to His Son Jesus until the judgment, at which time Jesus will returns ALL authority back to God and sits down in submission to His Father for eternity. Of course this is further proof for those that need it that Jesus is the Son of God, He is not God, how could He submit to Himself.

1 Cor 15:20-28 But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. 23 But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming. 24 Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. 25 For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. 27 For "He has put all things under His feet." But when He says "all things are put under Him," it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted. 28 Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.

We are currently in the age of Christ's rule. Most of those that teach about the end time do so in their carnal flesh and do not understand scripture because they are carnal, they do not possess the Holy Spirit of God, therefore they cannot see the truths that are ONLY available in the Spirit. We are living in what they are still waiting for, the final age of man, the 1000 year reign is not a set number of years as they expect, but a symbolic time period. Scripture shows us that a 1000 years is as a moment to God as there is NO time in His Spiritual world, He lives in eternity.

Those carnal teachers say Revelation is about the end time and because they are carnal not Spiritual they look at it as designed to tell about timing but that is NOT what scripture says. Scripture is clear, as the first line in the Book of Revelation describes what its purpose actually is.

Rev 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants — things which must shortly take place.

The book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, is an explanation of Who THIS man JESUS REALLY IS, IT IS NOT ABOUT THE END OF TIME, IT IS ABOUT HIS PLACE AND FUNCTION IN THIS final AGE OF MAN, which is of course the end of time as we know it..

We are living in the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ and have been for over 2000 years. Are YOU ready for the coming judgment that will either grant you entry into the eternal Kingdom of God as you inherit the earth to live eternally on the new earth with God who is moving from heaven to earth to live with His sons forever? Or will you be one of those that hear these words just before you are cast into the lake of fire for destruction. It is your choice.

Matt 7:21-23 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' 23 And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'

Choose from these truths from the Word of God that lead you through the narrow gate that is hard to find and down that narrow and difficult path that leads to eternity in the kingdom of God where you will live eternally with God.

or the false doctrines of men deceiving you into joining their divisions from the true sons of God and through the wide gate and along the wide comfortable path that leads to destruction

Jesus is the Lord of THIS age. This is the final age of man, at the end of this age, at the judgment throne of God, the sons of God, true disciples of the man Jesus Christ will inherit the earth. They will then be instantly converted into spiritual beings and at the same time the old earth will pass away and the new earth replaces it as God is moving His throne from heaven onto the new earth where He will live for ever with His sons.

And at that same throne, those that have not become sons of God through Jesus Christ will be cast into the lake of fire to their destruction, as will all other things that are unrighteous, satan etc. This being cast into the lake of fire is the cleansing of the earth by fire, there is no scripture that says the earth will be destroyed by fire, it says this earth has passed away,

God bless you as you follow HIS TRUTHS;

Charles LaFoe

copyright 10/28/2017