DISPENSATION OF PROMISE: - LESSON -5

DISPENSATION OF PROMISE: -   LESSON -5

References: Gen.12-22 chap, Heb.11:8-27
Memory verse: Heb.11:9-10
Objective

 

Trust on God’s promise fully and get encouraged to face all trials in life with a blessed hope.

Introduction

Life has its own problems and difficulties like sickness, grief, death, etc. As we go through such bitter experiences, how can we face them with courage? If someone comes forward with the promise of help, how relieved we may feel! If so, how relieving and encouraging will be the promise of the Almighty God. In the Bible, we find several men of God who received God’s promises, which enabled them to face all the hardships and bitter experiences. Abraham was a great man of faith who lived in the 19th generation from Noah. God called him out from among the idol – worshippers in the city of Ur in Mesopotamia.

In this lesson, we will study the dispensation of promise. Its duration is 430 years from the call of Abraham to the giving of the Law through Moses.

    THE CALL OF ABRAHAM:

 

In the last lesson, we saw how the descendants of Nova became rebellious and idol-worshippers. As generations passed by, idolatry became all too common. By the time of Abraham, who was in the lineage of Shem, practically the whole world became idolatrous. In that generation, God revealed Himself to Abraham and called him. The main purposes of calling Abraham were.

1. To found a nation believing in the only True God.
2. To present the promised Messiah to the world.
3. To allocate a special land for that people so that they should not intermingle with other nations and lose their national integrity and identity.

Abraham heard the call of God and obeyed. He left his own country and was kindred and reached Haran with his family (Act 7:1-3). While at Haran, Terah, His father died, God again appeared to Abraham and gave him promises (Gen.12:1-4). These promises were unconditional. Notice carefully the promises of God given to Abraham. Abraham believed in God and started out toward the land that God would show him. His wife Sarah and Lot, his brother’s son, also accompanied him. Abraham was seventy-five years old then.
GOD’S PROMISES TO ABRAHAM:
This promise was confirmed to Abraham in different ways several times.

1. I will make you a great nation.
2. I will bless you.
3. I will make your name great.
4. You shall be a blessing.
5. I will bless those who bless you.
6. I will curse him who curses you.
7. In you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

In the seventh blessing, the fact that all the families of the earth would be blessed indicates the salvation of the whole of mankind through Jesus Christ, born in the lineage of
Abraham.

THE PROMISE OF THE SEED :( Genesis.17:19,22)

The promise of the seed implies that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through Jesus Christ, the Son of God born as the seed of Abraham (Gen.12:3, 22:18, Gala. 3:16).

It also implies that all believers are the spiritual sons of Abraham on a much broader scale. They are blessed with the blessing of the faithful Abraham. (Gen.12:3, Gala. 3:7-9 and 29).

PROMISE OF THE LAND :

A)    God gave the land of Canaan to Abraham’s descendants as their inheritance. God has fixed the boundaries of the land. North – Lebanon, south – the River of Egypt, west – Mediterranean Sea, and East – The River Euphrates (Gen.15:18-21, Deut. 11:24). But the children of Israel have never yet been able to possess the land fully. But in the millennium (Christ’s reign of one thousand years), they will possess and occupy the land in full measure as per the original allotment.

B)    Abraham looked forward to the city with foundations whose architect and builder is God. His spiritual sons, the believers, are also looking forward to the heavenly city. They will certainly possess it (Heb.11:9-10, Reve.21:2).

CONDITIONS:

 
The conditions God required of Abraham’s family were that they must believe in God’s promises fully and live in their Promised Land (Gen.26:2, 3). Man’s duty on the dispensation of promise was to dwell in the land and feed on his faithfulness.

FAILURE:

 
Even Abraham, the father of believers, was no exception to the common failure of unbelief several times. When there was a severe famine in the land, Abraham went to Egypt, for which he paid dearly (Gen.12:10-20). Hagar, the servant of Abraham from Egypt, and her son Ishmael became a problem for Abraham’s family (Gen.16:4, Gen.21:9-12).
Just think of the consequence of deviation from God’s path upon the believers themselves and their generations! Let us see Abraham’s descendants and their gradual deterioration in spirituality. Isaac was not as spiritual as Abraham. Of Isaac’s sons,  Esau was ungodly (heb.12:16). Jacob, in spite of God’s vision, was not that godly. He experienced its bitter fruits. Among the sons of Jacob, none had spiritual insight except Joseph. The people of Israel and their descendants tested the Lord by unbelief and grumbles and were subject to various horrible punishments (cori.10:6-10). Thus we find that the blessed promises obtained in the dispensation of promise did not help them find salvation and deliverance.

PUNISHMENT:

This dispensation, too, like others, failed and ended with punishment. Because of famine, Abraham first went to Egypt and Jacob later. As much a punishment to the Israelites was bondage (Exo.1:8-22) in Egypt.

THE WAY OUT (EXODUS):

By His mercy and forbearance, God raised Moses to deliver the people from bondage and lead them to Canaan. By the blood of the Passover Lamb, God rescued them from the angle of destruction and led them to the Promised Land.
Let us take God at his word and absolutely trust in his promises. It is promised that give and sustain our hope. When we stick closer to promises, we will abound in assurance and hope.
  

DISPENSATION OF HUMAN GOVERNMENT Lesson- 4

References: Gen.8:15-11 ,19

Memory verse: Psalms 127:1

Objective

To understand that human efforts apart from God are doomed to failure.

Introduction

The reason for all frictions in the world today is man's desire to rule others. The man was originally endowed with the power to rule but lost it because of his fall. This explains why the tendency still prevails.
Commonly, we love those who are yielding and hate those who are otherwise. This dispensation was when man vainly thought that he could make the earth plentiful and prosperous by his own government and worked there too. So it is called "The Dispensation of Human Government." It is not true of the present human societies? But the history of the past period proves that man's attempts apart from God are liable to failure. This dispensation spans from the flood to the call of Abraham about 427 years.

WELL BEGUN:

How many had survived the great flood? Who were they? Noah, His wife, three sons, and their wives stepped onto the new earth. What did they do then? Noah built an altar to the Lord and offered sacrifices on it. The Lord was pleased (Gen.8:20, 21) in him and entered into a covenant (agreement) with man. The covenant consisted of the blessings, promises, and commandments God gave to man.
They are summed up in the following conditions (Gen.8:20-9)

1. That God would never again destroy the earth by flood because of man.
2. That all living creatures would never again be destroyed.
3. God blessed man to be fruitful to increase in number and fill the earth.
4. Dominion of man over all living creatures was established.
5. The man was permitted to eat flesh.
6. Flesh must be eaten without blood in it.
7. Warned man against shedding the human blood.

As a token of this covenant, God showed the Rainbow in the sky. Thus, the new dispensation of Human Government began with government entrusted to man and great promises and blessings given to him. It was well started in every way.

HUMAN FAILURE:

1. Noah planted a vineyard that yielded abundant grapes. It happened that he was over drunk with wine, which led to his son's curse. Notice how the wrongs of the parents adversely affect the generation!
2. Noah's descendants disbelieved God. They thought that God might break the covenant that he would never destroy the earth by flood. This led them to decide to build a Heaven-reaching tower to be safe in the event of another flood.
3. God gave the blessing and commandment to increase in number and spread across the earth (Gen.9:1). But instead, they decided to build a big city on the plains of Shinar so that they might not be scattered over the face of the earth (Gen.11:4). That is the beginning of Babel (Babylon). Thus they rebelled against God's covenant.
4. Their pride and self–boasting knew no bounds. Their aim was to make a name for themselves or earn a big reputation instead of glorifying the name of God. That is how the city of Babylon was built.
5. Nimrod, the grandson of Ham, was a Hero of ancient times who gave leadership to the people. It was Nimrod who included the people to reject the true living God and worship idols and other creations. Thus it marked the beginning of what we call Babylonian worship.

PUNISHMENT:

Although man knew about God's judgment through the flood and the covenant made to Noah, they rebelled against God. The man also prepared plans and projects to make life secure and prosperous apart from God. But they failed in their attempt. God confused their language so that their communication was crippled. They began to use many languages. This confusion of language scattered the people all over the earth. The name 'Babel' means confusion. This is how all the diverse languages spoken in the world originated.

All efforts,  projects, vogues, and cultures despise God and are doomed to utter failure and destruction. Let's desire and pray for God's presence and help in all our affairs.

DISPENSATION OF CONSCIENCE LESSON – 3

DISPENSATION OF CONSCIENCE 
LESSON – 3

References:  Gen.1:3 – 2:25
Memory Verse: Gen 1:26-27

Objective
We may understand that we can neither please God nor become good by knowledge of good and evil or by the guidance of conscience.


Introduction
  Is not the knowledge of good and evil desirable? Yes. But can man live acceptably with that knowledge? What about the evil doers in the whole world? Do all of them do evil because they lack knowledge?
THE DISPENSATION OF CONSCIENCE:
This is the period from the fall of man to the flood, about 1650 years. Man ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, violating God’s commandment. Subsequently, his conscience became active. In other words, the man got the knowledge to distinguish between good and evil. So this was a dispensation in which God gave the law of the conscience and tested man’s choice of God’s will for his life. But the events prove that man failed in that test too.
CAIN AND ABEL (GEN.4:1-16):
Good had given the fallen man a low of sacrifice with the shedding of blood by which he could get right with God. This sacrifice was introduced as a shadow of the atoning death of Jesus Christ. Cain and Abel started out by offering sacrifices to the Lord by the guidance of their conscience. Able offered a lamb as a sacrifice of blood. God was pleased with him his sacrifice.


WHAT DID CAIN DO?


He overlooked the voice of the conscience that God gave and offered a sacrifice of his own will. God was not pleased with Cain and his offering. Then, instead of returning to God’s will by repentance, he was full of jealousy and hatred. Thus Cain killed Abel, his own brother. In this way, at the beginning of his dispensation, such evil as worship against God’s will, jealousy, hatred, and murder entered human life.


  Cain’s descendants wanted to build cities and introduced worldly systems away from God’s communion. They became experts in forging out tools. Raising livestock and making musical instruments (Gen.4:16-20).


Contrary to God’s will, they began to take wives instead of one wife to one man. Lamech first introduced polygamy into the world (Gen.4:19). So were the descendants of Cain, who became ungodly, wicked, and transgressors. Here we find that the man who obeyed was cursed.
God gave Adam another son named Seth. Seth worshipped the Lord (Gen.4:26). The generations passed by; in the 7th generation, another man named Enoch walked with God and pleased Him by faith (Gen.5:24, Heb.11:5). He was taken away by God without seeing death. But other descendants of Adam turned to the way of Cain. As a result. The earth was filled with wickedness. But Noah, who lived in the 10th generation, obeyed God and found God’s favor.


THE DISPENSATION ENDS :( GEN.6:1-6)
Towards the end of the dispensation of conscience, man’s sin and wickedness reached enormous proportions. The human character became so low that they had immoral relations with a group of fallen angels.


Note: The ‘sons of God referred to in Genesis 6:2 are a group of corrupt angels. We see the use of such a term for angels elsewhere in the Old Testament (Job.1:6,2:1,38:7). Moreover, we can understand from the Old Testament that the angels are able to take the human body and eat with a man (Gen.18:1-9). Those who were born of them are called in the original language “Nephilim,” meaning “fallen ones.” The angles who thus corrupted themselves and sinned have been chained and kept for the final judgment (2(Pet. 2:4-9, jude6:7). (There is disagreement among theologians about this view: hence not authoritative).




PUNISHMENT – THE FLOOD (GEN. 6:3-8, 14)
Man had sufficient opportunities and privileges to live in the will of God. They had the knowledge of good and evil as well as the freedom of choice. Nevertheless, the man took God for granted and indulged in the most horrible and shameful sinfulness. God grieved in his heart about the man. It led God to give suitable punishment to that generation. But in the midst of that generation, Noah held communion with God by his conscience. So Noah received grace in the sight of God (Gen.6:8). Noah made a ship of three decks as instructed by God, obeying God. Noah and his family entered it and escaped from the destructive flood. Now, the ark is a type of Jesus Christ. Have you entered into the ark of salvation that is Jesus Christ? There is now no condemnation of those who are in Christ Jesus.


It is not the knowledge of good and evil that enables man to live well and obtain God’s favor. The grace of God alone saves us and empowers us to live God. Let’s trust in His grace!

DISPENSATION OF INNOCENCE LESSON – 2

DISPENSATION OF INNOCENCE
LESSON – 2

References: Gen 1:3 – 2:25

Memory verse: Gen 1:26 – 27

Objective

     God created man most excellently and placed him in Eden. But because of sin, he was separated from God and became subject to curses. This lesson stimulates and inspires us to enter into the eternal sinless dispensation through Jesus Christ.

            Introduction

        What is the cause of all sickness and suffering in the world? How did Adam and Eve enjoy life before the fall? Don’t you love to live in such a blissful state? What were the characteristics of that dispensation?


About creation, we find in the Bible:” God saw all that He had made, and it was very good” (Gen.1:31). Think about the earth and its atmosphere, space, and planets! How marvelously has God arranged and set everything in order? The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork” (Ps.19:1). God restored the earth and filled it with beautiful plants. The animal kingdom was also in a happy state. All animals were friendly and lived on herbs (herbivorous).

THE BLISSFUL STATE OF MAN BEFORE FALL

a)    God created man in his own image and according to His likeness. He gave dominion to man over the creation.
b)    The whole animal kingdom was subject to man and accepted His lordship (Gen 1:30, 2:19).
c)    Man was so wise that he could name all living creatures.
d)    God also gave man free will. The man was able to choose either to live in harmony with the will of God or to act according to his own wish (Gen.2:16-17). God wants us to love and obey Him on our own and not under compulsion.
e)    Man enjoyed constant fellowship with God (Gen.3:8). He lived in the most beautiful and happiest Garden of Eden. There, in the garden, were plants and trees bearing fruits pleasing to the eye and good for food. A river watering the garden flowed from Eden: from there, it divvied into four headwaters (Gen.2:9-14).
f)    Man was given the responsibility of dressing and guarding the garden.
g)    It was in this dispensation of innocence that God established marriage (Gen.2:18-25). Besides, God blessed him to be fruitful and to increase in number.

TEST AND FAILURE

   “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden. But you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it, you will surely die”(Gen.2:16-17). This was a simple test for man’s obedience to God’s commandment. But he failed the test. Man disbelieved the accurate word of God and believed satan’s lying words. The man and the woman ate the forbidden fruit (Gen.3:6). They yielded to the temptation of lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. Thus man stepped out of God’s will. The first man failed his test.

  THE CONSEQUENCES OF DISOBEDIENCE:

When man disobeyed God’s commandment, he was under God’s judgment.

1. Man lost his likeness to God and the divine qualities (attributes), such as glory, justice, holiness, etc. (Gen.3:7, Rom.3:23). His divine image was disfigured, and he bore the image of satan. Thus he became a sinner.
2. Spiritual death: He died spiritually in the sense that he lost fellowship with God (Rom.5:22).
3. The body became subject to death (Gen.3:29)
4. They were expelled from Eden so that they might not eat the fruit of the tree of life and live forever. Re-entrance into paradise was denied (Gen.3:23,24).
5. Man was punished to eat his food with the sweat on his brow, and the woman was punished with increased pains in childbearing (Gen.3:5-19).
6. The beautiful earth was cursed and became subject to Satan. Even since the world has been under the power of Satan(1Jn.5:19).

THE PROMISE OF A DELIVERER:

God made the plan to deliver man by His unlimited grace, and He promised the same beforehand. God promised that the Messiah would be born as the seed of the women and would crush the head of satan(Gen.3:15). God also covered them with a coat of skin. This was a symbol of the type of the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, and of the justification obtained through His precious blood.
How blessed was the state of man in the dispensation of innocence? When man lost those blessings by sin, Jesus Christ suffered death for us so that He might deliver us and get us to a much higher position than that of Adam. Christ is alive for us today. He will make us partakers of His glory and honor when He comes back.

AGES AND DISPENSATIONS Lesson -1 Part -2

LESSON – 1
PART -2

References: 2 Peter 3:5-13, Genesis Ch 1-3, Revel. 20:2-21:8
Memory verse: 2 Peter 3: 8-9


Introduction
For a better understanding of God’s program for the redemption of man. We can divide the time span between the creation and final redemption of man into different ages and dispensations.
Ages
This may be explained as a period of time between two major events that cause changes in the outside nature of the earth. There are certain phrases in the Bible like “The end of the world” (Matt.13:49)” This world”, “This present evil world “(2 Cori. 4:4, Gala. 1:3-6), etc. which are used in the sense of ‘ages’. While considering the earth, time can be divided into three ages.
1. ‘The ancient world’ (age) (2 Pet.2:5) which spans from the chaotic state of the earth to the flood in the time of Noah.
2. ‘The present world’ (age). This is referred to as the heavens and the earth which are now in 2 Pet. 3:7-9. This age spans from the flood to the next major event namely the coming of Christ.
3. ‘The future age’ (Heb 2:5, 2 Pet. 3:10-13). This includes Christ’s second coming (rapture and glorious appearance) tribulation, millennium, renovation of the earth by fire, and the ushering in the New Heaven and the New earth and eternal fullness of time.
Dispensation
Before we try to study the dispensations, we must know the fact that the universe is not a random thing and human destiny does not hang on the chance link the tossing of a coin. God is the mastermind behind the whole universe. He has a vivid blueprint for all things. Everything in the universe moves in perfect harmony with the will of God.

WHAT IS THE MYSTERY OF THE WILL OF GOD?

It is “that in the dispensations of the fullness of times. He might gather together in one; all things in Christ both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in Him (Eph.1:10). Though God is the controller of the whole universe the world is at present under the dominion of Satan. That’s why Jesus taught the disciples to pray for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. God’s will is to redeem through Christ, the earth from the cursed condition so that all things in heaven and on earth be united as one realm

WHAT IS GOD’S PURPOSE FOR MAN?

It is that man should be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ or obtain His glory (Rom.829,39, 2 Thes.2:14, 2 Cor. 3:18). The man created in God’s image and according to His likeness was disfigured by sin. But God’s plan for man is that through Jesus Christ he may be conformed to His image. It begins with man’s rebirth (Colos.3:10). Just as a little child bears the image of its father right at the moment of conception but until it reaches full growth, it doesn’t appear to resemble the father. So also, we who are born again have borne the image of the Lord but are yet to grow up to the full stature of Christ or up to all the fullness of God.
Man is the key to the universe while the restoration of Bothe the universe and man is God’s plan. He deals with man to bring about this great redemption. For this eternal purpose. God reveals His will to mankind, gradually and progressively. We find God’s will as revelations in the Bible.
As discussed earlier, God gives His revelations to man bit by bit progressively in proportion to His spiritual growth. ”For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is part shall be done away “(1 Con. 13:9, 10). The gradual and progressive revelation is due to our human limitations.


Considering the nature of God’s dealing with man, time can be divided into different dispensations. A dispensation is a period of time during which God deals with man to terms of some specific revelation of the will of God requiring man’s obedience to God’s commandment, the particular dispensation comes to a close and man received a just punishment for his failure as well.

SEVEN DISPENSATIONS

1. Dispensation of Innocence (sinless age): This is the period of time from the creation of Adam and Eve to their expulsion from Eden.
2. Dispensation of Conscience: From the expulsion of man from Eden to the Flood at the time of Noah.
3. Dispensation of Human Government: From the Flood to the call of Abraham.
4. Dispensation of Promise: From the call of Abraham to the giving of Law.
5. Dispensation of Law: Form the giving of the Law to the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross.
6. Dispensation of Grace: From the cross of Calvary to the Rapture (transport to heaven) of the Church.
7. Future Dispensation
a) Rapture, the marriage of the lamb with the Church to Heaven and tribulation on earth.
b) Millennium.
c) The perfect eternal age.
On these seven dispensations, two belong to the ancient age, the next four to the present age, and the last one belongs to the future.

AGES AND DISPENSATIONS Lesson -1

Lesson -1

References: 2 Peter 3:5- 13, Genesis Ch 1 -3
Memory verse: 2 Peter 3:8-9

Objective: The eternal God has a definite program regarding man and the universe. It is very important for us to understand God’s eternal plan so that we may ensure our future.
Introduction:
Too many people think that death is the end of everything to a man. There are some who think that there is life beyond death but are not sure of it. They believe in the cycle of rebirths after which salvation (Mukti) can be finally attained. But only the Bible the word of God gives us a clear and correct idea about our salvation and life after death.
Bible contains both scientific and historical facts, though it is not to be regarded as a scientific or historical book. As a matter of fact, history is an account of past things. But the case biblical history, it deals with past, present, and future events. No other book in the world is as authentic and informative and all-inclusive as the Bible. It contains predictions about various modern inventions such as supersonic aircraft, missiles, television, the computer, etc. Many people keep it aside as a myth, whereas some find it hard to understand. Still, others think it to be too holy to be read by the common folks. But actually, the Bible stands as a testimony to God’s power and grace revealed to man. For understanding this revelation, however, an in-depth study under the guidance of the Holy Spirit is needed.
Though the Bible contains messages for everyone, it does not appear to be graspable to a casual reader. The reason is that the facts in the Bible come within our grasp only gradually in proportion to our spiritual growth. Say, for instance, a newborn child may not recognize even its parents in the beginning. But gradually, the child recognizes them and its knowledge develops into a wider range of knowing others as well.
CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE
Do you know anything clearly about the origin of this universe? You will not find the answer anywhere else. The Bible asserts “In the beginning, God created the heavens and earth (Gen. 1:1)
The whole universe containing the sun, the moon, the stars, and the galaxies was created by God millions of years ago. However, the earth was destroyed by water (2 Pet. 3:5-7). This explains the chaotic state of the earth in the Genesis account (Gen. 1:2a). The original earth was created for habitation. It was full of vegetation, Animals, etc.
Do you know who the inhabitants of that earth were? Why was the earth destroyed? From the Bible, we gather the fact that a group of angels under Lucifer was living on the first earth. Because of their pride, God cast them out and destroyed the earth by eater (Isa. 14 12-14, Ezekiel 28 11-16)
RENOVATION OF THE EARTH
Though the earth was thus plunged into a chaotic condition, God did not allow it to be so forever (Jere. 4:27). The spirit of God moved upon the face of the water (Gen. 1:2b) just as a mother bird broods over her eggs. Let us see how God restored the earth to its former state “ By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God” ( Heb.11:3)

1. God said, “Let there be light”(Gen. 1:3)
The former chaotic state of the earth was due to the darkness caused by the absence of sunlight. We know that the Polar Regions are covered with snow because of the darkness prevailing their half of the year. The earth was in a similar or more chaotic state. Then God commanded the light to come upon the earth. Here was may understand that the sun had already existed but its light, was obscured by the clouds.
2. God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters” (Gen. 1:6). God made the firmament and divided the waters above and the waters beneath.
3. God said, “Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place and let the dry land appear” (Gen. 1:9). Thus the land and the sea were separated. Again God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass according to its kind” (Gen.1:11).
4. God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night” (Gen.1:14). Thus the Sun, Moon, and Stars became visible”.
5. God said, “Let the waters about with abundance of living creatures and let birds fly above the earth”.
6. God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind”.

CREATION OF MAN 

God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness” (Gen. 1:26). “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being (Gen. 2:7)

See the difference between the creation of man and everything else! God created everything by His word whereas he made man in his own image and according to his likeness. God is a Spirit (John 4:24). Therefore man’s likeness to God was not physical. But rather it was a spiritual and moral likeness that can be explained in terms of God’s eternal attributes such as glory, righteousness, holiness, etc. For example, let us take any seed of a tree. That very seed contains the shape of the tree, leaves, the quality and the variety of the fruit, etc. Yet, the seed needs development through long years to conform to the mother tree, Similarly, though we are created in God’s image and likeness, we need spiritual growth to grow to the fullness of God, to link Him.

FALL OF MAN
Man was the crown of all creation. He was endowed with wisdom and entrusted with dominion over all creation. He was placed in the garden of Eden with complete freedom of choice.
We have already seen the original earth given to Lucifer and his group but later they were cast out. When man was created and placed on the renovated earth as its guardian. Lucifer the Satan grew jealous and devised schemes to grab the dominion from man. So Satan deceived man and achieved his end. Thus man lost dominion over the earth. Now God’s program is to restore the lost domination to man. The theme that sounds throughout the Bible is the redemption of mankind from the lost estate.
For our convenience to study we can divide the period from the creation to the restoration of man into ages and dispensations