What Is God Doing? - Continue with The Damaging Effects of Sin

1 After inspecting a damaged house, the owner must decide whether to restore it or to demolish it.

After the rebellion in Eden, Jehovah God announced his purpose to restore mankind. He said to the unseen spirit who behind the rebellion: "I shall put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He will bruise you in the head and you will bruise him in the heel." - GENESIS 3:15.

 With those words, Jehovah promised to destroy the instigator of the rebellion in Eden. (Romans 16:20; Revelation 12:9)  Furthermore,  Jehovah foretold that a future "seed" would redeem mankind from sin. (1 John 3:8)  Those promises put on record a vital truth: God was going to repair, not demolish, his creation. But the restoration of mankind would require time.

2 An architect prepares blueprints that clearly set forth what the restoration work will accomplish.

Jehovah  God gave the Israelites a code of laws and designed a temple at which they were to worship him.  The Bible says: "Those things are a shadow of the things to come."  ( Colossians 2:17) Like blueprints. they represented something greater. 

For example, the Israelites offered animal sacrifices to obtain forgiveness of sins.  (Leviticus 17:11)  That practice foreshadowed a greater sacrifice  that would be offered later-a sacrifice that would provide mankind with true redemption.  The very layout of the tabernacle and temple at which the Israelites worshipped prefigured the steps that the Messiah would take, from his sacrificial death to his ascension to heaven. 

Next time: What Is God Doing? - Continue with The Damaging Effects of Sin

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