Heavens Series

HEAVENS

THE FIRST HEAVEN: EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE – Terrestrial

[Deut. 11:17]: "Then the LORD’s anger will burn against you, and he will shut the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce...."[

Deut. 28:12]: "The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands."

[Judges 5:4]: "O LORD, when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the land of Edom, the earth shook, the heavens poured, the clouds poured down water."

[Acts 14:17]: "Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons;

THE SECOND HEAVEN - OUTER SPACE - Celestial

[Ps 19:4, 6]: V. 4) "In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun... It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other;...

[Jer 8:2]:"They will be exposed to the sun and the moon and all the stars of the heavens which they have loved and served...."

[Isaiah 13:10]: "The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light. The Third Heaven: God’s Dwelling Place"

[1 Kings 8:30 (phrase repeated numerous times in following verses)]: "Then hear from heaven, your dwelling place..."

[Ps 2:4]: "The One enthroned in heaven laughs; The LORD scoffs at them."

[Mt 5:16]: "In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."

THE THIRD HEAVEN: Highest Heaven - Telestial

The highest heaven, the third heaven is indicated by the reference to the Throne of God being the highest heaven:

[1 Kings 8:27]:

"But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you."[Dt 10:14]:

"To the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it."

Host of Heavens Are:

Heavenly beings created by God and associated with Him in His rule over the world. The families of earth bears God’s image (Ps. 19:1–6; Rom. 1:19–20), as does the host of heaven (Is. 45:12). At the angel’s announcement to the shepherds of the birth of Jesus, a multitude of the heavenly host praised God (Luke 2:13). They served as a great choir of created heavenly beings who glorified their Creator and participated in the background of the new age of salvation.

The host of heaven consists of angelic beings and celestial bodies whom God has created and whose principal role, like ours, is to serve and glorify Him (1 Kin. 22:19; Ps. 103:19–21; Is. 40:26).

But the host of heaven can become demonic, rebel against God, and come under His judgment (Is. 24:21; 34:4). God’s people must not give undue attention or worship to the host of heaven. Scripture warns of God’s judgment upon those who love and serve created things like the host of heaven (2 Kin. 23:5; Acts 7:42; Gal. 4:3, 9). All things are created by God to demonstrate His glory and should be enjoyed as such. But these must never displace God the Creator.

1. A work was finished–(A) In creation (2:1-2)-(B) In Christ (John 19:30)

2. A rest was entered- (A) In creation (2:2)-(B) In Christ (Hebrews 4:1-10)

3. A blessing was pronounced-(A) In creation (2:3)-(B) In Christ (Revelation 21:6-7)

Sabbath- (Shabbath) A day of rest from Shabbath – to cease to do the practice of observing one day in seven as a time for rest and worship. This practice apparently originated in creation, because God created the universe in six days and rested on the seventh (Genesis 1). By this act, God ordained a pattern for living—that people should work six days each week at subduing and ruling the creation and should rest one day a week

The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” So God rested for our benefit—not His. So that begs a second question. What benefit do we receive from God resting on the Sabbath? Is it primarily for health reasons? It’s true that we need to rest sometimes, but that’s not the primary reason. The primary reason God set aside the Sabbath was two-fold. He set it aside to look back on the marvelous work of His creation. And He set it aside to look forward to the marvelous work of His Son. Tonight, I want each of us here to recognize the finished work of God in creation and His Sabbath rest as a foreshadow of Christ’s finished work on the cross and the rest we have in Him.

Hebrew nephesh means to breathe or refresh one’ self.

This is seen in the Creation of man because when God made man, He made a covering of flesh from the dust of the ground, which was not alive until God blew breathe into man. The life of the man is housed within the covering of flesh. What is housed within the covering of flesh is: The Mind Is his 1) Life 2) Person 3) Appetite 4) Creature all linked to God’s breath. It is now God’s breathe inside the covering of flesh. In other words the very soul of man is connected to the very breathe of God; and soon you become a living soul your spirit and mind are connected to God.