The Scroll!

I have so many books set aside to read. So many that I am getting stuck deciding which to pick up when I have a few minutes.  Anyway, there is one a Pastor from a church in Grand Junction gave Austin and I. So I picked it up and looked at the table of contents... there was a chapter titled "The  Sealed Scroll of Revelation 5" Wow!! Just the other day I was wondering what in the world the scroll was and why it was so important and why crazy catastrophies of the tribulation have to happen in relation to breaking the seals. And this book talks about all of it. Cool. So this is what it says. The Pastor that gave it to me is someone I very highly respect, who knows God's Word super well. Its called Maranath Our Lord, Come by Renald Showers who is "widely recognized as one of the most distinguished theologians in America today."

He talks for a long time about significant principles that were involved in God's land redemtpion program for Israel under the Mosaic law. And says "it seems apparent that the sealed scrool Christ took from the right hand of God in heaven (Rev. 5) is the deed of purchase for mankind's tenant possessionn or administration of the earth... He will thereby assert His right to recover mankind's forfeited inheritance. He declared that Christ will do this 'admist demonstrations of judgment, affecting every departmet of nature, as though to shake it from the enemy's grasp."

Conclusions

"The unique, eternal God created the universe for His own benefit and soverign purpose; therefore, only He has the right to rule the entire universe, and that right includes the right to crush any enemy who challenges His rule.

God gave mankind tenant possession of the earth as an inheritance with the intention that mankind function as God's representative, administerring God's rule over the earth in accordance with His will. This was a theocratic arrangement.

Mankind forfeited thier tenant possession fo the earth by following Satan's lead and rebelling against God. As a result, the theocracy was lost. Satan usurped the tenant possession of the earth and has continued to rule the world system ever since mankind's fall.

God purposed to restore the theoracy, which would require the redemption of mankind's forfeited inheritance. To do so, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to become a man so that, as a kinsman, He could redeem mankind's tenant possession of the earth. Christ paid the redemption price for mankind and thier inheritance by shedding His blood on the cross, thereby fulfilling the first responsibility of the Kinsman-Redemmer.

When Christ paid the redemption price, a scroll deed of purchase for mankind's tenant possession of the earth was repared, sealsed with seven seals (to guarantee its security against change, so that it could serve as irrefutable evidence in the future), and placed in a safe location-God's right hand.

Christ did not take tenant possession of the earth immediately after paying the redemption price.... During His absence, Satan and his forces have continued to exercise tenant possession of the earth as usurpers.

Seven years before His comig to the earth, Christ will take the sealed scroll deed of purchase from God's hand in peparatio for the fulfillmet of the second responsibility of the Kinsman-Redeemer-the eviction of Satann and his forces and the taking of the earth's tenant possession.

Satan ad his forces will strongly challenge Christ's right to take tenant possession. In order to give refutable evidence of His right as the Kinsman-Redeemer, Christ will take the scroll, break its seals, open it, and read it. As He breaks the seven seals, Christ will instigate a tremendous seven year bombardment of divine wrath or judgment against the domain of Satan and his forces in preparation for His coming invastion to evict these enemies. This seven-year bombardment is described in Rev. 6-18. Through this bombardment Christ will prove that He has the power and authority to fulfill the second responsibility of the Kinsman-Redeemer.

...After Christ has read the scroll deed, He will evict Satan and his forces from the earth (Rev. 19:20-20:3). Then He will take tenant possession of the earth and , together with redeemed mankind, will rule the earth in accordance with God's will as the last Adam, God's representative, for a thouand years..."

Yeah, no wonder John would weap and the angels would fall down and worship when Jesus took the scroll. He is the only hope for our earth to be restored and redeemed. Woohoo!