THE PLAN OF GOD
God’s initial purpose was to let man live in the Garden of Eden forever, so that the Earth shall be the abode of man where man will live and have personal relationship with God.
Satan was driven out of heaven with his host so there is a vacancy n Heaven then due to the purpose of God on Earth has been thwarted and plans of God for man has been changed and the initial ideas of God has been hijacked by Satan. As the initial plans has been hijacked. It is obvious that man has listened to Satan obeyed his ideas and philosophy which is deceptive so the life of man became deceptive as when God called Adam and he was hiding which is as result of disobedient .
Some passages which characterize God’s plan:
(1) There is a plan: Psalm 33:11; Proverbs 19:21; Isaiah 14:26-27; 46:8-11; Matthew 26:39-40; Luke 1:26-38, 67-69; 2:8-14, 25-35, 46-50; John 4:34; 5:30; 6:38-40; 19:30; Romans 8:28
(2) The plan for creation is God’s plan: Isaiah 46:3-11
(3) God’s plan encompasses all that He has predestined to occur:
God’s purposed will: Psalm 33:11; Proverbs 19:21; Isaiah 14:26-27; 46:3-11; 55:10-11; Romans 8:28-29
God’s preferential will: 1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9
God’s prescriptive will: Exodus 20:1-17
God’s permissive will: Numbers 22-24 (note especially 22:12, 21-22, 34-35); Acts 2:22-24
(4) God’s plan is eternal: Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:11-19; Matthew 25:34; John 17:24; Ephesians 1:3-14; Hebrews 4:3; 1 Peter 1:18-20; Revelation 13:7-8; 17:8
(5) God’s plan is all-encompassing: Genesis 37:14-17, 24, 25-28; Psalm 127; 139; Jeremiah 1:5; 1 Corinthians 15:24-28; Galatians 1:15; Colossians 1:16
(6) The goal of God’s plan is to bring glory to Himself: Numbers 14:21; Psalm 19:1; Isaiah 48:11; John 17:1-5; Romans 5:2; 9:22-24; 11:36; 1 Corinthians 1:26-31; Hebrews 1:3; Jude 25; Revelation 4:11
(7) God’s plan is unchanging and cannot be stopped: Psalm 33:11; Proverbs 19;21; Isaiah 14:26-27; 55:10-11; Romans 11;28-29; Hebrews 6:17-19; 12:25-29. See also Exodus 32 and Jonah 3.
(8) God’s plan is partially and progressively revealed: Genesis 3:15; 12:1-3; 22; 49:8-12; Exodus 12; Deuteronomy 29:29; 2 Samuel 7:12-16; Psalm 16; 22; Isaiah 9:6-7; 29:9-15; 52:13--53:12; Daniel 12:3-4, 8-13; Micah 5:2; Luke 24:27, 44; 1 Corinthians 13:9-1; 1 Peter 1:10-12; Hebrews 1:1-2; Revelation 22:8-13
(9) God’s plan is a mystery: Isaiah 55:6-9; 1 Corinthians 2:6-16; 13:12; Ephesians 3:1-13
(10) God’s plan will work out for the good of every believer: Romans 8:28; 9:22-24
(11) God’s plan employs means which the human mind would reason to be incompatible with His intended goal: 1 Corinthians 1:18-25; Romans 11:11-13, 28-32; 1 Peter 1:3-12; Hebrews 11:13-16; 12:5-11
(12) God’s plan is to demonstrate His glory by establishing His rule over the earth: Genesis 1:26; 9:1-17; Exodus 19:5-6; Psalm 2; 110; Isaiah 9:6-7; 14; Ezekiel 28; Daniel 4:17, 24-26, 34-37; John 19:15; Romans 10:9; 1 Peter 2:5, 9-10 Revelation 19:16; 21-22
Passages which speak of man’s sin and of the impossibility of salvation apart from divine intervening grace: Romans 3:10-18; John 1:12-13; 6:44; Ephesians 2:1-3
Passages which speak of God’s control over the eternal destiny of men: John 1:12-13; 6:37, 44, 65; Acts 13:48; 16;14; Romans 9; Ephesians 1:4; Revelation 13:8; 17:8
Passages which declare our responsibility to proclaim the gospel: Matthew 28:18-20; Romans 10:13-15
Passages which speak of man’s responsibility for their response to the gospel: Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Proverbs 1:20-33; Isaiah 55; John 3:16-21; Romans 10:1-13; Revelation 20:12-15; 22:12-17
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Our first lesson considered God as the Planner, concentrating on some aspects of His nature and attributes. Because God is the Planner, we are assured that the plan is both certain and good. In this lesson we will consider the plan, focusing on the general characteristics of God’s plan as a prelude to our study of the unfolding of the plan in history.
There is a Plan
Scripture makes it abundantly clear that there is a plan. A number of evidences could be used for the existence of God’s plan for creation, but the most compelling evidence is that which is recorded in Scripture:
The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart from generation to generation (Psalm 33:11).
Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but the counsel of the Lord, it will stand (Proverbs 19:21).
“This is the plan devised against the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out against all the nations. For the Lord of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?” (Isaiah 14:26-27).18
The statements of the Second Person of the Trinity, our Lord Jesus Christ, are consistent with the words of Scripture concerning God’s plan. The Old Testament prophets laid out God’s plan for Messiah, which included both His suffering and His glory:
Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, “Sacrifice and offering Thou hast not desired, but a body Thou hast prepared for Me; in whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin Thou hast taken no pleasure. “Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come (in the roll of the book it is written of Me) to do Thy will, O God.’” After saying the above, “Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin Thou hast not desired, nor hast Thou taken pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the Law), then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Thy will.” He takes away the first in order to establish the second. By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all (Hebrews 10:5-10).19
At the time of His birth, some of God’s plan for Christ were described (see Luke 1 :26-38, 67-79; 2:8-14, 25-35). Repeatedly our Lord indicated He was not pursuing His own plan but fulfilling the plan of the Father:
And it came about that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them, and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers. And when they saw Him, they were astonished; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You treated us this way? Behold, Your father and I have been anxiously looking for You.” And He said to them, “Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?” And they did not understand the statement which He had made to them (Luke 2:46-50).
The disciples therefore were saying to one another, “No one brought Him anything to eat, did he?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His work” (John 4:33, 34).
And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt.” And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour? (Matthew 26:39-40).20
A Definition of the Plan
Before emphasizing some of the characteristics of God’s plan for creation, we must have a definition of God’s plan. The most concise and accurate definition of God’s eternal plan is found in the Westminister Confession of Faith, which reads:
“God from all eternity did by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass.”
With this brief definition, let us now seek to expand our definition by identifying some of the plan’s important characteristics.
Characteristics of the Plan
(1) The plan is God’s plan.
“Remember this, and be assured; recall it to mind, you transgressors. Remember the former things long past, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, ‘My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure’; calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of My purpose from a far country. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it” (Isaiah 46:3-11).
Our first lesson focused on God as the Planner. In this lesson, we are studying the plan--God’s plan. The plan reflects the attributes of God, the Planner.
(2) The plan of God encompasses all that He has predestined to occur.
When our Lord spoke of the Father’s plan for all eternity, He spoke of it as the Father’s will. Likewise, when we speak of “God’s plan for creation” or of “God’s plan for the ages” we will sometimes refer to this as God’s will, and rightly so. But this “will” of God must be carefully distinguished from several other “wills.” Broadly speaking, the expression, the “will of God”21 can summarized in this way:
THE PURPOSED WILL OF GOD:
God’s eternal decree
THE PREFERENTIAL WILL OF GOD:
God’s desire
THE PRESCRIPTIVE WILL OF GOD:
God’s standards for men
THE PERMISSIVE WILL OF GOD:
God’s overriding will
The “purposed will of God” refers to God’s eternal decree, the plan which will surely come to pass. It encompasses all of the other “wills.” The “preferential will of God” refers to that which gives God pleasure or displeasure. Our Lord’s prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane reveals that the cross of Calvary was not our Lord’s desire, but it was His purpose. “God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). He “desires all men to be saved” (1 Timothy 2:4). In spite of this desire, God has purposed that some will be eternally saved, while others will be eternally damned (see Romans 9). Just as we may spank a disobedient child when it is not our desire or delight, God’s decree includes some things in which he does not delight, like the punishment of the wicked.
The “prescriptive will of God” is God’s will expressed as a standard for man’s conduct. It is God’s will set down in the Scriptures as commands, standards, or principles which govern what we do or do not do. It is God’s prescriptive will that we do not steal, lie, or worship idols. It is likewise His (prescriptive) will that we love Him and love our neighbor. God’s “permissive will” includes those events or actions of men which are, in and of themselves, sinful. They are contrary to God’s preference and to His prescriptive will. Nevertheless God uses sin to accomplish His will. God used the sinful actions of Joseph’s brothers to bring the entire family of Jacob (Israel) to Egypt, thus fulfilling His will (see Genesis 15:12-16). He used the opposition of the scribes and Pharisees, the treachery of Judas, and the political cowardice of Herod and Pilate to bring about the sacrificial death of our Lord:
“Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know-- this Man, delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. “And God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power” (Acts 2:22-24).
God’s purposed will incorporates all of His subordinate wills. In His Word, God reveals both His preferential and prescriptive will.22 When men trust and obey Him, God employs their obedience to fulfill a portion of His plan. When men rebel and disobey Him, God sovereignly uses their sin to further His plan. In this way God causes all things to work together for good, to those who are the called according to His plan and purpose (see Romans 8:28).
(3) The plan of God is eternal.
God is eternal, and so is His plan. The plan was established in eternity past, long before God created the heavens and the earth. It extends to eternity future when God’s kingdom will be established on the earth, and men will enjoy the eternal blessings of being in His presence, or the agony of eternal separation. The revelation of God’s plan in the Bible does not begin at the beginning of eternity (if we can speak in these terms) but at man’s beginning, since the Bible is about man and for man.
The foundation of the world is a point of reference in the Bible:
“Father, I desire that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am, in order that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me; for Thou didst love Me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24).
“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34).
Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him (Ephesians 1:4).
Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you (1 Peter 1:18-20).
And it was given to him [the beast] to make war with the saints and to overcome them; and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. And all who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain (Revelation 13:7-8).23
For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said, “As I swore in My wrath, They shall not enter My rest,” although His works were finished from the foundation of the world (Hebrews 4:3).
God’s plan was established long before creation. His program for mankind began at creation. Because the Bible is addressed to men, the story of creation is the starting point. Satan’s origin and fall are given little attention in the Bible. In the texts dealing with his fall, reference to him is somewhat veiled, intertwined with an indictment of kings (see Isaiah 14:12-15 and Ezekiel 28:11-19).
(4) The plan of God is all-encompassing.
When human plans fail, it is often because the planner has overlooked some detail. Something unforeseen arises, and suddenly plans collapse. This is because every detail was not taken into account. God’s plan is all-inclusive. It is based on God’s omniscience (knowing all), so that everything past, present, and future is taken into account. God’s omniscience, as we have seen, includes all things which will actually occur, as well as all things which could possibly occur. Every contingency is taken into account in God’s plan. God’s plan is for all creation, things in heaven and on earth, things visible and invisible, thrones, dominions, rulers, and authorities (Colossians 1:16).
God’s plan includes seemingly insignificant details. It excludes “good luck” or coincidences. When Joseph wandered about in a field looking for his brothers, he did not just happen to be found and told where his brothers had gone (Genesis 37:14-17). The fact that the pit into which Joseph was thrown was empty was no coincidence (37:24). The passing caravan, which was headed toward Egypt, was no accident either (37:25-28). The fact that Ruth would “happen” upon the field of Boaz, a near kinsman of Naomi, was not mere chance but a matter of God’s providential control (Ruth 2:3).
God’s plan includes the sovereign election of individuals to salvation and to destruction. As difficult as this may be for some to accept, it is the clear and consistent teaching of Scripture (John 1:12-13; 6:37, 44, 65; Acts 13:48; 16:14; Romans 9; Ephesians 1:4; Revelation 13:8; 17:8). Apart from the sovereign intervention of God, through His Spirit, no man seeks God, and no man will ever find Him (see Romans 3:10-18; John 6:44). Because salvation is God’s work, and not our own, God should receive the glory. This fact also makes our salvation and sanctification secure (Philippian 1:6). This is no way minimizes our responsibility to proclaim the gospel or man’s responsibility to receive or reject it (see Romans 10; Matthew 28:18-20, etc.).
God’s plan also includes the creation of life, the design, and the destiny of men (see Psalm 127; 139). It includes the calling of individuals to specific service (see Jeremiah 1:5; Galatians 1:15). The plan has precise timing as well (Jeremiah 25:11-12; Daniel 9:2, 24-27; 12:11-12; Mark 1:15; 13:32-33; Luke 1:20; John 7:6).
(5) The goal of God’s plan is to bring glory to Himself.
“But indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord” (Numbers 14:21).
The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands (Psalm 19:1).
“For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act; For how can my name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to another” (Isaiah 48:11).
“Worthy art Thou, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for Thou didst create all things, and because of Thy will they existed, and were created” (Revelation 4:11).24
For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen (Romans 11:36).25
The demonstration of God’s glory is offensive to the unbeliever who would rather seek his own glory (see Romans 1:18-25). So it was with Satan as well (see Isaiah 14:12-14; Ezekiel 28:12-15). Charles Hodge aptly points out the error of making man’s happiness the goal of God’s plan:
“If we make the good of the creature the ultimate object of all God’s works, then we subordinate God to the creature, and endless confusion and unavoidable error are the consequences.”26
To the Christian, the glory of God is our hope:
Through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God (Romans 5:2).
(6) God’s plan does not change, and it cannot be thwarted--it is an efficacious (certain) plan.
This characteristic of God’s plan is frequently and dogmatically affirmed in the Scriptures. God’s plan does not change:27
In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, in order that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have strong encouragement, we who have fled for refuge in laying hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil (Hebrews 6:17-19).28
The plan of God is absolutely certain:
The counsel of the Lord stands forever, The plans of His heart from generation to generation (Psalm 33:11) .
Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but the counsel of the Lord, it will stand (Proverbs 19:21).
“This is the plan devised against the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out against all the nations. “For the Lord of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?” (Isaiah 14:26-27).
“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth, And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So shall My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:10-11).
From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable (Romans 11:28-29).
The assuring truth that God’s plan is efficacious (certain) is because it is God’s plan. This is based on the truth that God is all-knowing and all-powerful, that He is faithful to His promises, and that His glory is at stake. It is also based on the fact that God’s plan is eternal and all-inclusive. Nothing is more certain than the plan of God.
Having this clearly in mind, let us also take note of some other characteristics of God’s plan.
(7) God’s plan is partially and progressively being revealed.
The plan of God is complete, fully developed, and as good as done, from God’s point of view: “His works were finished from the foundation of the world” (Hebrews 4:3). From a human point of view, the plan is being unfolded progressively through history and is only partially revealed. The Old Testament Law laid out the broad outline of God’s plan. God’s plan could be seen in its initial outworking through the history of Israel. The Old Testament prophets persisted in calling Israel’s attention to the fundamentals God had laid out in the Law. They also added more detail to the plan which God had outlined in the Law. If the Law foretold of a Savior through the “seed” of Eve (Genesis 3:15), it was later revealed that this seed would be the offspring of David (2 Samuel 7) and also of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14). The suffering of the Messiah is hinted at in Genesis 3;15 and is foreshadowed in the offering up of Isaac (Genesis 22) and in the rejection and suffering of Joseph (Genesis 37-50), as well as in the Passover (Exodus 12). It is further explained in the Psalms (16, 22) and the prophets (Isaiah 53). The coming Messiah, who was at first understood to be a “son of man” is later described as the “Son of God” (see Isaiah 9:6-7; Micah 5:2). And so the Messiah was progressively revealed as the God-man.
When the Lord Jesus came to the earth, suffered, died, and rose again, God’s plan for the Messiah’s first coming was fulfilled. The Gospels, along with the Epistles, thoroughly explain the plan of God for Messiah’s first coming. Our Lord, followed by His apostles, gave further insight into God’s plan for His second coming.
In its outworking, God’s plan is progressive in yet another way. God’s plan is divided into separate, but related, programs which might be called administrations. Some call them dispensations. Even those who reject dispensationalism admit to one degree or another that there are differences in the way in which God has exercised His rule over men. At each point of change, there are some principles and precepts which remain constant, while other aspects change significantly.29
While God has revealed all that we need to know about His plan for creation, there is much He has purposed not to reveal to us. We are instructed not to seek to fill these gaps (see Deuteronomy 29:29; Revelation 22:18-19). Some prophecies are deliberately “veiled” by highly symbolic imagery, and others are “sealed:”
“And those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. “But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase. . . . As for me, I heard but could not understand; so I said, “My lord, what will be the outcome of these events?” And he said, “Go your way, Daniel, for these words are concealed and sealed up until the end time. “Many will be purged, purified and refined; but the wicked will act wickedly, and none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand. “And from the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. “How blessed is he who keeps waiting and attains to the 1,335 days! “But as for you, go your way to the end; then you will enter into rest and rise again for your allotted portion at the end of the age” (Daniel 12:3-4, 8-13).
At times of sin and rebellion against God, the prophetic lamp is extinguished, so to speak. This is because God does not wish to inform nor to comfort sinners. The source of man’s confidence and comfort is God. When men turn from God, they turn also from His comfort and the enjoyment of peace and hope:
Be delayed and wait. Blind yourselves and be blind. They become drunk, but not with wine; They stagger, but not with strong drink. For the Lord has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep, He has shut your eyes, the prophets; And He has covered your heads, the seers. And the entire vision shall be to you like the words of a sealed book, which when they give it to the one who is literate, saying, “ Please read this, “he will say,” I cannot, for it is sealed. “ Then the book will be given to the one who is illiterate, saying, “ Please read this. “And he will say,” I cannot read. “ Then the Lord said, “Because this people draw near with their words and honor Me with their lip service, but they remove their hearts far from Me, and their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote, therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be concealed. “ Woe to those who deeply hide their plans from the Lord, and whose deeds are done in a dark place, and they say, “Who sees us?” or “Who knows us?” (Isaiah 29:9-15).
(8) God’s plan is a mystery.
To the degree that God has not revealed His plan, it is a mystery. But even that which He does reveal is a mystery.
For this reason, I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles--if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you; that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. And by referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow-heirs and fellow-members of the body, and fellow-partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to me according to the working of His power. To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things; in order that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him (Ephesians 3:1-12).
God’s plan is a mystery because it is the product of the divine mind of God and not the finite mind of man:
Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory (1 Corinthians 2:6-8).
Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and He will have compassion on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:6-9).
It is a mystery because of the mysterious way in which God works, using sin to accomplish His good will, suffering to produce glory, death to bring about life. It is a mystery which fallen man cannot fathom apart from the illumination of the Holy Spirit:
But just as it is written, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him.” For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no man. For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:9-16).
(9) The outcome of God’s plan for the Christian is his good.
You and I do not set up insurance programs, savings accounts, or college education funds for every child in the neighborhood. We make provisions for the good of our children. God’s plan is not only for His glory, but for the good of “those who love Him and are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). His plan is not for the “good” of those who rebel against Him and reject His plan. God’s plan has a purpose for both the saved and the lost, but the destiny of each is vastly different:
What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so in order that He might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles (Romans 9:22-24).
(10) God’s plan employs means which the human mind would see as incompatible with the end God has purposed.
While the outcome of God’s plan is certain to be for the good of the Christian, the process which God uses may appear otherwise. God allows sin to be committed for evil purposes when it produces the good He has purposed. It is very difficult in the midst of the process to see the “good” God is producing as the final product. A cake in the making is quite different from the finished product. The process includes beating and heating, but the final product is good eating.
God’s children must therefore live by faith, trusting in God’s promises even when present circumstances seem to contradict them. The writer to the Hebrews reminds us this was the case with all of the Old Testament saints:
All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them (Hebrews 11:13-16).
We must come to see suffering not just as the result of sin but the process for producing saints:
And you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by Him; for those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives. “It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness (Hebrews 12:5-11).
(11) If the goal of God’s plan is to demonstrate the glory of God, the means is the establishment of God’s rule or dominion on the earth.
In short, God’s plan for creation is all about the establishment of the “Kingdom of God.” Every dispensation, or administration, found in the Bible concerns God’s rule on earth. Satan was the most powerful angel, the most powerful of all the creatures God brought into existence. But he did not wish to be subordinate to God’s rule. He wished rather to have the preeminence, to rule himself (see Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28). Adam and Eve were created to rule over God’s creation in God’s image (Genesis 1:26). Satan persuaded Eve and then Adam to rebel against God and against His one rule. God created the nation Israel to serve as a kingdom of priests, the instrument through which the rule of God over the earth could be implemented (see Exodus 19:5-6). They too rebelled against God, His rule, and His rules (His law).
When Jesus came to the earth, He presented Himself as the Messiah, the God-man whom God appointed to rule, seated on the throne of His father David. Israel did not want God’s kind of kingdom, and thus they rejected and crucified their King, insisting that Caesar alone was their king (John 19:15). Now, the church rules, but not by physical force (see John 18:36). We rule in Israel’s place for the time being as a “holy priesthood,” a “chosen race,” and a “holy nation” (1 Peter 2:5, 9-10). The history of the church (see Revelation 2 and 3) will demonstrate that we too will not rule as God would have us do, and thus He Himself must come to the earth to establish the kingdom of God.
God’s plan for creation is to rule over His creation in a way that demonstrates His glory. Until that day, when our hope of glory is realized, we must live in a world that suffers the effects of man’s fall, a world in which there is suffering and groaning. We shall find that we ourselves groan, waiting for His perfect rule (see Romans 8:18-25).
While the heated debate among Christians over the “lordship salvation” controversy seems to have abated for a time, the issue is still very much alive. I find that God’s plan for creation involves both--lordship (God’s rule) and salvation (through Christ’s sacrificial death, burial, and resurrection). Why do we try so hard to remove the issue of our Lord’s rule (lordship) and salvation? The Messiah came to save men from their sins, and He will come again to establish His rule over a fallen world. When we repent and turn to Christ in faith, we should understand that we receive Him as Savior and Lord. To whatever excesses this truth may have been carried, let us not reject the truth. Nebuchadnezzar learned about lordship the hard way, but he indeed learned:
“This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king: that you be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place be with the beasts of the field, and you be given grass to eat like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven; and seven periods of time will pass over you, until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whomever He wishes. . . . “But at the end of that period I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever; For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His Kingdom endures from generation to generation. “And all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to His will in the host of heaven And among the inhabitants of earth; And no one can ward off His hand Or say to Him, ‘What hast Thou done?’” (Daniel 4:24-25, 34-35).30
Throughout human history, men have demonstrated their faith in God by submitting to His rule. They, like saints today, understood that one must trust and obey. If we love Him, our Lord Jesus said, we will keep His commandments (John 14:15). This is why Moses set the law before the people of Israel as a matter of life and death (see Deuteronomy 30:15-20). It is not because law-keeping saves us, but because reverence for God will be reflected by respect for His laws.
Conclusion
There is a plan for creation. It is God’s plan. It is an eternal plan, one which encompasses all of creation, and every detail. It is a plan which is certain to be fulfilled, for the glory of God and for the good of those who love Him. The plan is a mystery, which we would not have known apart from its partial and progressive revelation in the Bible. It is one we cannot understand, apart from the illumination of the Holy Spirit. It is a plan which employs means we would naturally think are inconsistent with its end--its goal. God uses suffering to produce holiness, faith, and His glory. He uses the rebellion of men to establish His eternal rule.
To the degree that God’s plan has been revealed to us, it has been given for a purpose. What is the purpose of knowing God’s plan? Let us conclude our overview of God’s plan by considering some of its practical implications.
GOD’S PURPOSE
http://www.ucg.org/booklet/fundamental-beliefs/gods-purpose-mankind
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The purpose for man’s existence is stated at both ends of Scripture. At the beginning, God reveals that He created man in His own image and likeness (Genesis 1:26-27)—language that refers to offspring or children (Genesis 5:1-3)—to, in submission to Him, share dominion or rule with Him over creation (Genesis 1:28).
And at the end of the Bible God says, “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son” (Revelation 21:7). Again, the wording concerns shared rule with God over all creation in submission to Him as His children.
Thus we see that man’s destiny is to be part of the Kingdom and family of God. And in the latter verse here, as throughout the Bible, we are told that man can only reach this destiny through a process of overcoming.
It is God’s desire that no human beings perish but that all come to repentance so as to become members of His family as sons and daughters in His Kingdom (2 Peter 3:9; 2 Corinthians 6:18). As part of this process, God is now calling some individuals to inherit eternal life at the return of Jesus Christ to the earth (1 Corinthians 1:26-28; Matthew 20:16; John 6:44; John 6:65), with others to be called later.
Those being chosen now must accept Christ as their Savior, surrender their wills to God’s will and strive with God’s help to overcome sin during their present lifetime (Revelation 3:21).
Jesus Christ is referred to as “the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29; see also Romans 8:14-17; Revelation 1:5-6; Colossians 1:15-18). He came as a human being to lead the way for others to be glorified and inherit all things. Christians are actually referred to as “heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17). Yet as Hebrews 1 through 2 explains, mankind has not yet achieved its destiny of inheriting all things, but Jesus has, and God is in the process of “bringing many sons to glory” (Hebrews 2:10).
In this process, people become God’s children through receiving His Holy Spirit, which joins with each individual’s human spirit (Romans 8:16). We are thereby “begotten again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible” (1 Peter 1:23, American Standard Version).
And we become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4)—just as any child takes on the genetic traits of its parents. Through a development process, we become more and more like God in terms of character, while we are aimed toward an ultimate transformation involving our very essence and level of existence.
The apostle Paul explained that “as we have borne the image of the man of dust [the first man Adam], we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man [Jesus Christ]” (1 Corinthians 15:49). And while the first man Adam became a living, physical being, “the last Adam [Christ] became a life-giving spirit” (1 Corinthians 15:45). So we will be spirit beings like Christ. Indeed, “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 15:50).
The apostle John makes an amazing statement about our future resurrection at Christ’s return: “Brethren, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2).
And Paul further explains that “we eagerly await … the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so they will be like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:20-21, NIV). That is, Christ’s divine spirit body is the same kind of body we will have in the resurrection!
Just as human children are the same kind of beings as their parents and older siblings, human beings, so will we be the same kind of beings as God the Father and Jesus Christ— divine beings. By saying that it’s not yet revealed what we shall be, John meant that we cannot now truly grasp what it means to be like the Father and Christ, as it’s beyond the capacity of our limited human minds. He nevertheless understood that we will be what They are.
In fact, God was even more explicit about our destiny in Psalms 82:6, stating His intention for people as, “You are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High.” Jesus actually quoted from this verse (see John 10:30-36). The truth is that our destiny is to bear the name of the God family (Ephesians 3:14-15). Presently, the one God—that is, the one God family—consists of two divine beings: God the Father and Jesus Christ. But ultimately, God intends to expand this divine family into billions.
The Church of God of this age is a forerunner in fulfilling this purpose. At the time of Christ’s return, those who have died in the faith will be resurrected, and those who are alive in the faith will be changed.
Those in both groups will become divine, immortal spirit beings in the family of God. They will then serve with Christ on the earth as kings and priests during His millennial, or 1,000-year, rule that will immediately follow (Revelation 5:10; Revelation 20:4).
King and priest are both offices held by Jesus Christ. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 19:15-16). He is also our High Priest (Hebrews 3:1; Hebrews 4:14-16; Hebrews 5:5-6; Hebrews 6:20; Hebrews 7:24-28; Hebrews 8:1-6; Hebrews 9:11; Hebrews 10:12). Thus, others will, as just noted, share in His responsibilities as both kings and priests serving under Him to carry out the Father’s will.
Those who become priests in the Millennium will be responsible for teaching people to discern between “the unclean and the clean,” a phrase that in its broadest sense includes discerning between good and evil (see Ezekiel 22:26; Ezekiel 44:23-24). As messengers from God, they will teach the law of God, making known its meaning and application (Malachi 2:7-9).
One of the responsibilities of a king in the Old Testament was to write out the words of God’s law and “read it all the days of his life” so he would carefully observe it and not turn aside from it (Deuteronomy 17:18-20). Those made kings and priests in the Kingdom of God will be those who have allowed God to write His laws in their hearts and minds while they are still human beings (see Hebrews 8:10-11; Jeremiah 31:33).
As kings during the Millennium, they will teach God’s way of life to human beings living in that age (Isaiah 30:20-21). They will administer God’s government in those areas in which He gives them responsibilities (see Matthew 19:27-28; Luke 19:11-19). They will even be given authority over angels (1 Corinthians 6:1-3). And in all this, they will be completely subject to Christ’s will, just as He is completely subject to the Father’s will (John 5:30).
God’s great plan encompasses all mankind. The Great White Throne Judgment, described in Revelation 20:11-13, is the period when all human beings who have died without ever understanding that great plan will be resurrected and have their true destiny revealed to them. God’s plan is comprehensive. All humanity will enjoy the opportunity to learn His truth and come to repentance.
This will take place during the time beyond the Millennium when the vast majority of human beings will be raised from the dead to receive their opportunity for salvation. Those who repent and accept Christ as their Savior will receive the gift of everlasting life in the family of God, finally achieving their God-given destiny.
With a transformed new heaven and new earth, the heavenly city of God, the New Jerusalem, will at last come down to the earth with God the Father. And those who have repented and faithfully served Him, then transformed into glorified spirit beings like Himself, will dwell with Him and with Christ forever in perfect peace and happiness—with no more suffering or death (Revelation 21:1-4).
As already mentioned, those who are glorified will inherit from God “all things”—joint ownership and rule over not just the earth but the entire universe and spirit realm. This incredible aspect of man’s destiny was foretold early in the Old Testament by Moses when he stated that “the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven … the Lord your God has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage” (Deuteronomy 4:19).
This, then, is the purpose for which humanity was created—to share God’s divine level of existence forever as His loving, happy family and to possess with Him and rule over the entire vast created realm. So transcendent is this destiny that we can barely even fathom it!
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The Bible makes it abundantly clear that God created man and that He created him for His glory (see Isaiah 43:7). Therefore, the ultimate purpose of man, according to the Bible, is simply to glorify God.
A harder question to answer, perhaps, is what does it look like to glorify God? In Psalm 100:2–3, we’re told to worship God with gladness and “know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.” Part of what it looks like to glorify God is to acknowledge who God is (our Creator, for starters) and to praise and worship Him as such.
We fulfill our purpose of glorifying God also by living our lives in relationship and faithful service to Him (see 1 Samuel 12:24 and John 17:4). Since God created man in His image (Genesis 1:27), man’s purpose cannot be fulfilled apart from Him. King Solomon tried living for his own pleasure, yet at the end of his life he concluded that the only worthwhile life is one of honor and obedience to God (see Ecclesiastes 12:13–14).
In our fallen state, sin separates us from God and makes it impossible to glorify Him on our own. But through Jesus Christ’s sacrifice, our relationship with God is reconciled—our sin is forgiven and no longer creates a barrier between God and us (see Romans 3:23–24).
Interestingly, we are able to glorify God because He gave us glory first. David writes in Psalm 8:4–5, “What is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet.” (This is also repeated in Hebrews 2:6–8.) This verse reveals another purpose that God has given man: dominion over the earth (see Genesis 1:28–29). Again, though, this can only be properly fulfilled through a right relationship with God.
The more we get to know our Creator and the more we love Him (Matthew 22:37–38), the better we understand who we are and what our purpose is. We were created to bring Him glory. God has unique plans and purposes for each person (Jeremiah 29:11), but we can know that, whatever those plans look like, they will ultimately result in His glory (see Proverbs 3:6 and 1 Corinthians 10:31).
http://www.gotquestions.org/purpose-of-man.html
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What Is God's Purpose for Mankind?
God created human beings for an awe-inspiring purpose. But few have ever understood that purpose! The Bible reveals man's incredible potential. It shows how God is working out His glorious purpose on earth!
LET'S suppose you have just won an all-expense paid trip. Wouldn't you want to know where you are going, how you'll get there, and as much as possible about the trip itself?
Our present mortal life can be compared to a journey. Yet, how many know--or have ever thought about the possibility--that God has something to say about our journey?
God, in fact, reveals through His inspired Word the incredible destination of our journey! He gives us the itinerary for the trip, and tells us the marvelous things we'll do when we get there. But to successfully complete our journey, we must carefully follow the travel plans He has laid out for us.
Exactly what is the exciting destination, or destiny, of mankind--the tremendous future God has planned for you?
Man to Have Dominion
King David of ancient Israel mused about God's purpose for man. He observed the starry heavens, and was inspired to write: "O LORD...when I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him?" (Ps. 8:1, 3-4).
From several thousand feet up, men look like tiny insignificant ants! Yes, why should God be concerned about puny man?
The connection between man and the stars began to be revealed to David, for he continues: "For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour." How did God do this? "Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas" (verses 5-8).
David here refers to man's "dominion" or rule as that over which God gave mankind authority when Adam was created. This includes the solid earth, the atmosphere, the sea and all the creatures God created (Gen. 1:26-28). These are, in part or in whole, under man's jurisdiction at the present time.
But in the New Testament scriptures, written much later, a far greater destiny and dominion for man is revealed!
The Incredible Human Potential
In the book of Hebrews, we read: "For unto the angels bath he [God] not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak" (Heb. 2:5). The theme of the first half of this chapter is "the world to come"--the Millennium and thereafter!
Then, beginning with verse 6, is a quotation from verses 4-6 of the eighth Psalm. Again, the writer of the book of Hebrews shows that God has now placed the solid earth, the earth's atmosphere, the sea and all living things under man. But the writer is inspired to see something infinitely more profound that is to happen to man in the world to come.
This revealed knowledge of God's purpose for mankind--of man's incredible, awesome potential--staggers the imagination! Science knows nothing of it. Higher education is in utter ignorance of it. And certainly no religion of this world knows it.
Continuing in this passage in Hebrews, beginning as it leaves off quoting the eighth Psalm, the awesome human potential is revealed: "Thou hast put all things in subjection under his [man's] feet. For in that he [God] put all in subjection under him [man], he [God] left nothing that is not put under him" (Heb. 2:8).
NOTHING is excluded here!
The Greek word translated "all things" also appears in chapter 1, verses 2 and 3, and is there translated "the universe" in the Moffatt translation. That is the intended meaning in Hebrews 2:8.
In other words, God is revealing to us that the endless universe, with all its galaxies, its countless stars and planets--everything--will eventually be put under man's dominion! "But now we see not yet all things [the universe] put under him [man]" (verse 8). Remember, this is speaking of the "world to come"--not today's world. Man will be put over "all things" after God's plan for man on earth is complete--after the last human has been born of God.
But what do we see today? "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour..." (verse 9). Man, except for Christ, is not yet crowned with glory and honor. But he will be in a new age--yet in the future.
The living Christ already sustains the entire universe by His limitless divine power (Heb. 1:3). The passage in Hebrews 2 continues to show His superiority over the angels as the begotten and born Son of God.
Angels are individually created spirit beings. Invisible to human eyes, they are servants of God, ministering to those who are now on a lower level than angels, but who are heirs of salvation. The Bible reveals that these heirs shall become the Spirit-born Sons of God's ruling Family as Christ now is! (Heb. 1:4-14).
What a stupendous, magnificent heritage God has in store for His Spirit-begotten children. They are heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ to inherit the universe! (Rom. 8:14-17).
Original Purpose for Angels
What God creates He maintains. What He creates He creates for a purpose. He intends it to be put to use--a right use that preserves and improves. This use, maintenance and improvement is controlled by the government of God.
This earth was originally intended to be the training ground for a third of God's angels. The angels, at the creation of the earth, found it so beautiful they shouted spontaneously for joy! (Job 38:4-7). The earth was to provide a glorious opportunity for them to work it, produce from it, and preserve and increase its beauty.
God's original creation was like the unfinished furniture sold in some stores. This furniture is complete, except for the final sanding, staining and varnishing. Such furniture may be of superb quality--yet lacking the final beautifying touches.
So it is with God's creation. The universe, with its countless galaxies and solar systems containing planets such as our earth, was created perfect, but subject to a beautifying finish, which God intended the angels to accomplish.
The original "unfinished" creation was produced by God. It was perfect and orderly. But God intended the angels to finish this part of His creation by adding the final beautifying touches and utilitarian phases of what was to become the final completed creation! God wanted to share the joy of creative accomplishment with all the angels!
And whether or not it had been revealed to the angels, it was a supreme trial and test to see whether they would continue to obey God's government in accomplishing the task of beautifying and finishing the earth. As they continued to follow God's instructions, they would have been entrusted with the responsibility of finishing the thousands of millions of other planets in the vast, limitless universe!
This was the potential God originally had in mind for His created angelic beings.
Man's Potential Far Greater!
Instead of proceeding with God's plan for them, a third of the angels rebelled against administering the government of God. They finally attempted to replace God and take over the control of the universe. The account of this sin is revealed in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28.
God then fully realized that He and the Word, who later became Jesus Christ, were the only beings who would never sin. Only members of the God Family have that kind of holy, righteous character. So how could the final beautification and completion of the limitless universe be accomplished? Only by the addition of many more members to the God Family who would also have the same holy, righteous character of God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son.
So God created mankind for the purpose of reproducing more members of the God Family. They would help to restore the government of God on earth after their training program in the flesh was complete and they were born into His Family. Then they would go on to finish God's creation, carrying God's government to the uttermost parts of the universe!
Adam had the opportunity to obey God but failed. Had he obeyed, his obedience would have qualified him to replace Satan, who was then and still is ruler of the earth. In failing to replace Satan, Adam also failed to maintain and beautify the Garden of Eden into which God had placed him.
Earth Our Training Ground
God has given this earth to us as a training ground, and this mortal life as the time for our training. As we learned in previous lessons, Adam would have received God's Holy Spirit had he eaten of the fruit of the tree of life. He would have thus begun the process of spiritual character growth, and ultimately would have been born into God's Family. He would have been given the opportunity to finish the creation of the earth and the rest of the universe. But Adam never began his training program.
So Christ, the second Adam (I Cor. 15:45, 47), came to earth about 4,000 years later to qualify to replace Satan and was successful! He qualified to restore God's government on earth, and to be entrusted with the responsibility of being in charge of finishing the creation of the universe.
Christ also became the captain or leader of our salvation (Heb. 2:10). He is now at God's throne in heaven as our High Priest. He is helping Spirit-begotten Christians qualify to become His eternal assistants. With Christ's help through His Spirit, the members of God's Church are growing in godly character through obedience to God's Law during this mortal life, which is their training period.
Our incredible potential is to become holy, sinless, powerful, Spirit-born members in God's divine ruling Family! Our spiritual birth into His Family will make us GOD Beings just like the Father and Jesus Christ!
Yes, God created man with a far greater potential than the angels, for no angel can ever become a born Son of God. God is now in the process of reproducing Himself through mankind. He is now producing Sons of God who can be trusted to never sin--who will never rebel against God's government as Lucifer did, but will always obey their spiritual Father.
Let's begin our study of God's Word with this lesson and learn more of the details of God's glorious purpose for mankind.
LESSON 22
God Is a Family
The Bible reveals that we were born for a tremendous, awe-inspiring purpose. But few really understand what that purpose is. To fully understand God's glorious purpose for mankind, let's begin this study in the first chapter of Genesis.
1. What do the very first words of the Bible tell us about God? Gen. 1:1. Does the Bible clearly indicate that there is more than one God Being? Verse 26. (Notice the plural pronouns "us" and "our" referring to God in Genesis 1:26.)
COMMENT: As we have learned in previous lessons, the original Hebrew word translated "God" in Genesis 1:1 and throughout the account of creation is Elohim. It is a noun, plural in form, meaning more than one--like the words church, family, or kingdom. Just as there is the animal kingdom and the human kingdom or family, Genesis 1 shows that there is also a GOD Kingdom or Family!
There is one God, but God is a Family composed of more than one member. Elohim, which means "Mighty Ones," is the name of the God Family.
2. How many divine Beings presently compose the God Family? John 1:1-2. Was it the "Word" who created all things? Verse 3. What did the Word later become? Verse 14. Who, then, is the Word? Eph. 3:9; Heb. 1:2. And who is the other divine member of the God Family? I Cor. 8:6.
COMMENT: John 1:1 and Genesis 1:1 take us back to the same time in prehistory--to the original creation of the universe. Both verses reveal that the two supreme Beings composing the God Family created all things.
The Greek word translated into English as "Word" in John 1:1 is Logos. It means "spokesman" or "one who speaks." It was actually the Logos--the Spokesman, the Word of the God Family--who "spake, and it [the creation] was done" by the power of the Spirit of God (Ps. 33:6-9; 104:30). And so everything was created and made by the divine Being of the God Family who later became the human Jesus Christ.
3. Is God the Father of Jesus Christ? John 1:14, 18, 34.
COMMENT: Nearly 2,000 years ago, the same divine Personage who created all things was begotten in the virgin Mary's womb by God, who, as a result of this miraculous begettal, became His Father. Yet, at the prehistoric time of John 1:1, the Word was not yet the Son of God. He was "made" God's Son later, through being begotten by God and born of Mary as a human being, then later born of God as a divine God Being.
Thus Jesus became the Son of God. He called the great Supreme Personage who is head of the God Family "Father." Father is a family title--that of the head of the family! A father-and-son relationship is a family relationship.
God to Expand His Family
There are only two members in the God Family or Kingdom at the present time--God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son. But your Bible reveals that God is going to expand His universe-ruling Family. And you can become a member of that eternal spirit-composed Family! See how this marvelous truth unfolds in your Bible.
1. After whose "image" and "likeness" was man created? Gen. 1:26-27; Jas. 3:9, last part.
COMMENT: In God s pattern for all life, kind reproduces like kind. Just as each plant or animal reproduces after its own kind, so humans reproduce humans. But unlike any of the animals, man was created in God's own "image" and "likeness." God made man like Himself--same form and shape. The astounding truth is that God's purpose is to create mankind after the God kind!
Simply stated, God is reproducing Himself. All human beings have the awesome potential of becoming God's literal children--members of God's own divine Family!
2. Does God plainly state that it is His purpose to increase His divine Family by bringing many Sons into it? Heb. 2:9-11; Rev. 21:7.
COMMENT: Most scriptures dealing with the spiritual children of God refer to them in the masculine gender. This is because God is referred to in the Bible in the masculine gender. However, we are all one in Christ (Gal. 3:26-28), and shall be neither male nor female when born of God (Matt. 22:30).
3. Are those who are Spirit-begotten--true Christians--already the children of God and heirs of the God Family? I John 3:1-2; Rom. 8:16-17.
COMMENT: As we learned in our previous studies, converted Christians are now the begotten but not yet born children of God. They will be born into God's Family at the return of Jesus Christ. For this reason, God ordained the family relationship for human beings as a part of their training prior to their spiritual birth into God's Family. No other beings--whether angel or animal--have this relationship.
God instituted the human family to be a physical type of His own divine Family. He wanted humans to learn certain vital lessons that this relationship teaches (read Ephesians 5:21-33).
4. Are Spirit-begotten Christians also the affianced Bride of Christ? Eph. 5:25-27; II Cor. 11:2; Rev. 19:7-9.
COMMENT: The family relationship demands the husband-and-wife relationship. And that demands marriage, mutual love and faithfulness to the matrimonial bond. The Church of God is composed of the begotten children of God. And the Church, as a body, is the affianced Bride of Christ--to marry Christ at His Second Coming, when the first resurrection occurs.
The Church's coming marriage to Christ is additional evidence that the Kingdom of God is a Family--with Father, Son and Wife--and that God is to expand His divine Family! Notice further:
5. Will the humans still alive at Christ's coming be ruled and taught by Christ and the saints then already made immortal--those who will have become the collective wife of Christ? Dan. 7:18, 27; Rev. 2:26-27; 5:10; 20:6.
COMMENT: The mortals on earth will be taught and ruled by immortals. Those who seek salvation through Christ will then receive God's gift of His Holy Spirit. And, after a life of growing in God's character, as Spirit-begotten children of God must do today, they shall be born into the Family of God.
Thus the marriage of the Church to Christ will result in the begettal and birth of additional divine children--untold millions of Spirit-born members of God's Family--during the thousand-year reign of Christ and the saints!
Man, and man only, of all life forms God has created, can be born into the God Family--the Kingdom of God. Since humans were put on earth for the very purpose of being begotten, and then born into God's Family, the Eternal has endowed this God-plane family relationship for humans--and for humans only.
What a wonderful privilege to be given the marriage and family relationship--that we may be prepared for the spiritual marriage to Christ and divine Family status in the Kingdom of God for eternity!
Christ the Firstborn Son
1. Is Jesus Christ actually the firstborn of MANY Sons of God? Rom. 8:29; Acts 26:23; Col. 1:18. When will the other Sons of God be born into His Family? I Cor. 15:22-23.
COMMENT: Christ is the only Son of God who has already been born again, by a resurrection from the dead. Other Sons are now only Spirit-begotten, not yet born. They will be born again (John 3:3-8)--born of God--in the first resurrection at Christ's coming to rule the earth.
2. Is Christ, as the firstborn Son of God, actually the "captain" or forerunner--the leader--of our salvation through His suffering, death and subsequent resurrection to glory? Heb. 2:9-10. Has He already inherited all power and glory in God's ruling Family? Verse 9.
3. What made it possible for Christ to be resurrected as the firstborn Son of God? Rom. 8:11; Eph. 1:19-20. Will we become Spirit-born members of God's Family if we have God's Spirit dwelling in us at the time of Christ's return or when we die? Same verses. Also read I Corinthians 15:49-53.
COMMENT: Clearly, it was by the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit that God the Father raised Christ from death to glorious immortality, authority and power--just as He will also raise Christ's Spirit-begotten brothers and sisters to the same glorious immortality and power, but of lesser authority.
As we learned in Lesson 20, Spirit-begotten children of God are now "in training" for the time when they will be born into God's Family. They will then be given their positions of rulership on earth under their elder brother, Jesus Christ.
Eventually, God wants thousands of millions of perfect and righteous children to be born into His Family, governed by His government, to complete in beauty, majesty and glory not only the other planets of our solar system, but of our own Milky Way galaxy and the countless other galaxies of the vast, limitless universe! (More about this exciting future later in this lesson.)
God's Begotten Children Now Growing Spiritually
Now is not yet the time for the birth of the children of God. They are now only in the "begotten" state prior to birth. Now is the time of their spiritual growth prior to becoming born-again members of the God Family. And the earth is the place of their spiritual growth--the "training ground" for entering the Kingdom of God.
The universe is not the area of training to become like God--it is the reward given to us only after we have successfully completed our training here on earth!
1. Does the Bible show that God is in the process of forming and molding His begotten sons as a potter works with clay? Isa. 64:8. During his time of training on earth, did Job realize that God was working with him in a special way? Job 14:14-15.
COMMENT: Notice the latter part of verse 15: "Thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands." The "work" was Job. Job knew he was a piece of divine workmanship in the hands of the Master Potter. Job was in the process of developing the very character of God during his mortal lifetime of spiritual training.
2. What did God say before creating Adam that further reveals what He intends to accomplish in man? Gen. 1:26.
COMMENT: Notice again the wording in Genesis 1:26: "Let us make man in our image." The Hebrew word for "image" indicates far more than merely the outward appearance of God. It also refers to mind and character. God intends for man, to whom He gave the gift of a thinking, reasoning mind, to be developing the mind and character of God!
The attributes of human mind and character truly make man God's unique physical creation. God has shared some of His own qualities with human beings and He intends that we develop His character during this mortal life.
3. Did the Apostle Paul know that Spirit-begotten children of God are being fashioned by God for a specific purpose? Eph. 2:10.
COMMENT: Paul is not speaking of Adam's creation nearly 6,000 years ago. He is speaking of true Christians, who are now being created unto good works. We are God's "workmanship"--the Creator is still creating us. He is molding, fashioning, changing and transforming us into His own noble, righteous, holy, spiritual character!
This process begins in the mind. Repentance is the first step. It is a change of mind. The receiving of the Holy Spirit is a renewing of the mind. Gradually, through Bible study, learning to live by "every word of God," being continually corrected by His Word, keeping close to God in daily prayer, and being led and empowered by the Spirit of God, the NEW MAN--with holy, spiritual character--is being created in God's spiritual "image."
If, during this life of spiritual training, our thinking and our ways are changed until we become, in godly character, new creatures in Christ Jesus, conformed to His will, then that clay model, worked over, fashioned and shaped as God would have it, can finally be turned into the finished spiritual creation when born of God.
4. Did Paul refer to the completion of his training? II Tim. 4:7.
COMMENT: Paul successfully finished his spiritual training preparatory to his birth into the Family of God. Today, the first 6,000 years of human history are about over. Soon the time will come when Paul and other human beings who have "finished the course" during their time of training will no longer be earth-bound. They will be born into the eternal, spiritual God Family as very Sons of God!
5. After completing "the course" of our training, what happens next? I Cor. 15:47-53. When will our change into spirit composition occur? Verse 52; I Thess. 4:16-17.
COMMENT: Those who are ready to be born of God at Christ's return will triumphantly and suddenly enter the Family of God. No longer will they be bound to this earth for sustenance, for they will have eternal life inherent as a gift from God!
6. What are those who look forward to becoming Sons of God doing now? I John 3:1-3. Notice especially verse 3.
COMMENT: At the resurrection, God will provide the proper spirit body for the galactic space travel that will be necessary to carry out the responsibilities of the universe-ruling Family of God. Meanwhile, those God is now training are allowing Him to work with them in first perfecting their character.
Prior to becoming the Spirit-born children of God, we are now in the process of "purifying" ourselves by bridling our bodies and controlling our thoughts with the help of God's Holy Spirit.
Now is the time to be striving to become pure in character as God Himself is pure and without flaw (Matt. 5:48). Now is the time of our training preparatory to inheriting the entire universe with Jesus Christ our elder brother!
God's Purpose Proceeding as Planned
In previous lessons we learned that Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden and thereby cut himself off from ongoing contact with the Creator God. As a result, his descendants were also cut off from access to the Spirit of God and eternal life. Adam could have been begotten of God and eventually born as a Son of God in His ruling Family, had he eaten of the fruit of the tree of life.
Did Adam's sin thwart God's plan for mankind, or is it proceeding as originally planned?
Anticipating the probability of Adam's sin, God had designed a fail-safe 7,000-year Master Plan for working out His purpose in man here on earth. During the first 6,000 years, He sentenced man to carry out what Adam had, in effect, demanded for the human race--to go its own way, cut off from God, doing its own thing, relying on the self only. The results of man's way, as influenced by Satan the devil, have been catastrophic!
Let's review a few basic scriptures proving that God's plan for man is on schedule.
1. Has God allowed Satan to cunningly deceive the whole world? Rev. 12:9. Is the devil in reality the god of this world? II Cor. 4:4.
COMMENT: Satan led the first humans into sin (Gen. 3:1-6). So man began the 6,000 years of his sentence with the invisible devil ruling him by deception! From Adam until now, Satan has successfully influenced human beings into forming their own governments, religions, societies and civilization based on his way of "get" instead of God's way of "give."
2. During this time in which man has been cut off from God because of sin, can just anyone come to Christ? John 6:44, 65.
COMMENT: Except when God does intervene by specially calling one to repentance and salvation--to a life of training for His Kingdom--none can come to Christ. Jesus said so! All are still cut off through sin, except for the few God calls out of a life of sin.
After Adam sinned, it was God's purpose to prove by 6,000 years of human experience that Satan's "get" way, which is contrary to the way of God's government, is the cause of untold suffering, pain and death--just the opposite of what man really wants.
About 4,000 years after Adam sinned, God, as previously planned (Rev. 13:8), sent Jesus Christ into the world to rescue God's called from the death penalty, which all have incurred through the breaking of His commandments.
3. Jesus also was a Messenger sent from God. What message of hope and good news did He bring to mankind? Mark 1:14-15; John 3:3-8.
COMMENT: Jesus foretold the time when all mankind will no longer be cut off from God and ruled by Satan. He announced that the government of God would be restored on earth by the Kingdom of God, composed of the Spirit-born members of God's Family.
Jesus proclaimed the good news that those called by God may become God's own children, ultimately to be changed from material to spirit composition, becoming the members of God's ruling Family. Of the many thousands who heard Jesus' message, only about 120 continued as His disciples (Acts 1:15). They were chosen by the Father to be the pioneer members of His New Testament Church. Thousands more were added to the Church by God through the subsequent preaching of the apostles.
But before A.D. 70, the message Christ and His apostles taught was rapidly suppressed by a growing, deceived counterfeit church. The Gospel of the Kingdom of God was not again proclaimed to the world until January, 1934. It was then that God's chosen servant and apostle, the late Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong, began proclaiming the Gospel over a tiny 100-watt radio station in Eugene, Oregon, in the United States of America.
4. Did God long ago prophesy today's knowledge explosion? Dan. 12:4.
COMMENT: After almost 6,000 years of human history, and during the lifetime of God's modern-day apostle, we find awesome material progress in the world. Nearly all modern technology and industry has been developed in the past 200 years, and far more than half of all the world's technological, scientific and industrial development has occurred in this 20th century!
The machine age, the nuclear age and the space age have followed in rapid succession. The automobile, airplane, radio, television and many laborsaving devices have all been invented in very recent times.
Men have also designed and produced incredible computers, and even sent astronauts to the moon and back. And just a few decades ago, men developed the weapons of mass destruction that could erase all human life on this planet, were it not for the great God who has promised to intervene and prevent the annihilation of humanity!
Almost 6,000 years of human history have proved that man's mind, without God's Holy Spirit, is confined to understanding and working with the physical world. Human systems of education have become wholly materialistic, and most of man's motives stem from the attitude of "get." He does not know how to live in harmony and peace with his neighbor, but is capable of going to the moon and back! The appalling evils and problems amidst awesome scientific progress has been the result of the sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden!
http://www.cgca.net/pabco/lesson22.htm
For nearly 6,000 years, God's purpose for man has proceeded just as He had planned from the beginning. Soon, spiritual salvation will be opened to all humanity after Christ comes to remove Satan from the throne of the earth and assumes the rulership over all nations He qualified for nearly 2,000 years ago.
We are now living in the very last generation of the 6,000-year period in which man was to be cut off from God. We are now nearing the time when God's glorious purpose for those He has called prior to Jesus' Second Coming will become reality. They shall then become like God, for they shall be born into His Family as very Gods!
What We'll Be Like When Born of God
Those who are called of God, who receive His Spirit and who grow and overcome spiritually, will be born of God when Christ returns. But what will it be like as a member of God's divine Family? What characteristics and abilities will we possess? Let's have a sneak preview of what it will be like to be a God!
1. What must take place to enter God's Family? John 3:3-8. When born of God, will we be like Him? Rom. 8:29; I John 3:1-2.
COMMENT: To be "conformed to the image" of Christ means to become like Him--to be glorified as He is glorified--to become a member of the glorious FAMILY OF GOD as Christ now is! The Bible reveals that we are to become, through a spiritual birth, just like the two members of the God Family. We will possess the same abilities and characteristics of God the Father and our elder brother Jesus Christ.
2. When will the spiritual birth of Christians take place? I Cor. 15:52. When will the resurrection occur? I Thess. 4:15-17. Will they be changed to spirit at that time? I Cor. 15:42-49; Phil. 3:20-21.
COMMENT: When Jesus Christ returns to earth, the Spirit-begotten children of God who have died through the ages will be resurrected to spirit life by the Spirit of God, and those still alive will be instantly changed into spirit beings. At that moment, they will be "born again," this time as members of God's own Family. And God's own offspring will then have eternal life inherent within themselves like Jesus Christ their elder brother!
3. To what did Jesus compare one who is born of the Spirit? John 3:8.
COMMENT: The effects of the wind are easily discernible, but the wind itself cannot be seen. When you are born of the Spirit of God, you will be invisible to human eyes, unless you choose to manifest yourself.
4. After His resurrection, was Jesus, with His spirit-composed body, able to suddenly appear and disappear? Luke 24:36-37, 31. Was He able to pass through walls? John 20:19, 26. Can one composed of spirit appear as mortal flesh and bone when necessary? Luke 24:38-40. Can he even eat if he so desires? Verses 41-43.
5. Are spirit bodies capable of traveling through space at incredible speed--undoubtedly faster than light? Compare John 20:17, 19-20 with Matthew 28:9.
COMMENT: Earlier on the day after His resurrection from the dead, Christ would not let one of His disciples touch Him because He had not yet ascended to His Father's throne in heaven. But later that same day, Christ allowed His disciples to touch Him. This clearly shows that Christ traveled to heaven and returned to earth on the same day!
"Truth is stranger than fiction," goes the old saying. The marvelous, exciting truth about your awesome potential, as revealed in the Bible, pales into nothingness any science fiction thriller you could ever read or see!
6. Once a person has been changed into spirit, can he ever die? Luke 20:35-36. Is the God Family eternal, or ever living? Ps. 90:2; 102:25-27.
COMMENT: Both members of the God Family have always existed, though our finite human minds cannot understand how this is possible. Nevertheless, God tells us through His inspired Word that we, like God and Christ, will live forever once we are born into the universe-ruling Family of God!
7. Was Jesus "glorified" after His resurrection? John 17:5; Heb. 2:9. How did Christ's glorified spirit body appear when manifested in a vision to the Apostle John? Rev. 1:13-16.
COMMENT: To be "glorified" means to be given great power and brightness. Before Christ became a human being, He had a glorious, resplendent, powerful spirit body like His Father's. After His resurrection, He was restored to the same power and glory. Christ's powerful spirit body radiates light as bright as the sun!
8. Will God also glorify all those who become members of His divine Family by giving them this same great power and glory? Rom. 8:17; Col. 3:4; Matt. 13:43. Did Jesus give three of His disciples a fleeting glimpse in a vision of this future glorified condition? Matt. 17:1-2, 9. What other scripture gives us an idea of the future glorified state of those who shall be born of God at the resurrection? Dan. 12:2-3.
COMMENT: The glory that Spirit-begotten children of God are to receive at the resurrection will be so great it will make them shine as the brilliant stars of the heavens--like the sun in full strength!
But this is only a part of what God has in store for Spirit-born members of His Family. Let's notice other wonderful characteristics they, as God's children, will possess.
9. The most important attribute of God the Father and Christ, the firstborn Son of God and our elder brother, is their character. What are some of the aspects of God's divine character that God's children will possess in full measure when born of God? Gal. 5:22-23; II Tim. 1:7.
COMMENT: As we learned in Lesson 11, God possesses holy, righteous character. And He intends that we possess the same love, joy, patience, mercy, faith, kindness, gentleness, meekness, temperance, self-restraint and right self-direction that He has. Character also involves knowledge, wisdom, purpose and ability.
It is this character that Spirit-begotten children of God will possess in full measure when born into His Family. In the meantime, God wants us to be developing, with the help of His Spirit, these aspects of His character during our mortal lives.
10. How does the Bible define the nature and character of God? I John 4:8. What is the love of God? I John 5:2-3. Is God's love ("charity" in the King James Version) the greatest single aspect of His character? I Cor. 13:1-13. Why? I John 4:16.
COMMENT: God's character can be summed up in one word--LOVE. God's character travels in the direction of His Law--the way of LOVE. It is the way of giving, serving, helping--of outgoing concern for others. God has that character!
God has an outgoing concern for all of humanity. He gave His only begotten Son to reconcile us to Him, and He makes the joys of everlasting life possible for us. He showers on us every good and precious gift, including the Holy Spirit, which we can receive as a begettal from Him after we repent of breaking His Law, turn from the wrong way of this world, begin to resist it, and turn to Him through faith in Jesus Christ as personal Savior!
When born into the Family of God, we'll possess the love of God perfectly. And through that love, we'll administer God's government on earth, and throughout the universe for all eternity.
11. Will those born of God ever sin? I John 3:9. Will they be absolutely perfect as the Father and Christ are now? Matt. 5:48. Will that perfect, holy and righteous character ever change? Mal. 3:6; Heb. 13:8.
COMMENT: The character of both God the Father and Christ the Son is that of spiritual holiness, righteousness and absolute perfection. That character, as we have just seen, can be summed up in the one word "love," defined as an out-flowing, loving concern for others. It is the way of giving, serving, helping, sharing--not the way of "get."
It is the way devoid of coveting, lust and greed, vanity and selfishness, competition, strife, violence and destruction, envy and jealousy, resentment and bitterness--all characteristics of Satan's nature.
God's inherent nature is the way of peace, justice, mercy, happiness and joy radiating outward toward those He has created. He is the embodiment of perfect, holy and righteous character!
Since God possesses perfect character, He has determined that He will not go contrary to the perfect, holy, spiritual Law He set in living, active, inexorable motion to cause and produce all good. God has so set His will that He cannot sin or transgress His Law.
The character of both God the Father and Christ the Son, which one-third of the angels failed to copy and develop, is the way of God's Law. And, as we have already learned, He is now in the process of creating this same godly character in Spirit-begotten Christians as they, by their own choice and with the help of God's Holy Spirit, live His righteous way of life!
When we are finally born of God--when we are given a spirit body, after first growing spiritually and developing God's character during our time of training--we will begin a glorious, never-ending life in the universe-ruling Family of God!
A Glorious, Never-ending Future!
The Kingdom of God is the ruling Family of God. And those who become a part of that Family are destined to rule the earth with Jesus Christ for 1,000 years. They will become kings and priests, ruling and teaching in the World Tomorrow.
Thousands of millions will learn to live God's way and be born into His ruling Family during this period. Then, after the Millennium, the billions who died before Christ's Second Coming without having had an opportunity to know and understand God's way to salvation will be raised in a physical resurrection. They will be given the opportunity to become Sons of God during this period of judgment (Rev. 20:11-12), as we learned in the last lesson.
These additional thousands of millions will be added to God's spirit Family at the conclusion of God's plan for physical mankind.
It has been estimated that 40 billion (40 thousand million) people have lived from the time of Adam until now. It would be difficult to accurately estimate the number of people who will yet be born and enter God's Kingdom during the Millennium and Great White Throne Judgment periods. There no doubt will be multiple billions.
But let's suppose that 200,000,000,000 (200 billion) are ultimately born into God's Family. Since God is busy working, creating and sustaining what He has created (John 5:17), He knows His Sons would not be happy unless they, too, are working and producing. And so what could keep this incredibly huge Family of God Beings busy for all eternity?
1. Just how great is the authority Jesus Christ has already inherited? Heb. 1:1-2; Matt. 28:18; I Cor. 15:27-28. Will those who are born into God's Family share in that inheritance as co-owners and co-rulers with Christ? Rom. 8:16-17; Rev. 21:7. And will God's government continue to expand for all eternity? Isa. 9:6-7; Rev. 22:5.
COMMENT: The Moffatt translation correctly renders "all things" in Hebrews 1:2 as "the universe." Incredible as it may sound, your ultimate potential and the potential of every human being is co-rulership of the universe with Jesus Christ and God the Father!
But is there really enough "out there" for our estimated number of 200 thousand million Spirit-born Sons of God to rule?
The Encyclopaedia Britannica estimates that there are more than 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (10 sextillion) stars in the universe. This figure is virtually impossible to comprehend. If an estimate of 200 billion Sons of God is taken as a possibility, that means each member of God's Family would be responsible for maintaining and developing 50 billion stars, and their attendant planets--enough to form an entire galaxy!
Our awesome potential is to be born into the ruling Family of God, receiving the very power of God! Together, all the born Sons of God will ultimately be given jurisdiction over the entire universe!
2. Is the whole creation characterized as anxiously awaiting the birth of the Sons of God? Rom. 8:19-23. ("Creature" should be translated "creation," as it is in more translations of the Bible.)
COMMENT: Paul here personifies the whole creation of God, including the stars and planets. He shows that the whole universe is waiting with eager longing for the actual birth and appearing of the Sons of God. That is because these billions of perfect and righteous beings, governed by God's divine government, will restore from the condition of decay ("corruption" in Romans 8:21 of the King James Version) that resulted from Lucifer's rebellion, and complete the creation of, in all their beauty, majesty and glory, not only the other planets of our solar system (now in utter waste and decay), but also the rest of our galaxy and countless other galaxies in the universe.
What else are we going to do? God, first of all, is Creator. Those who become the Sons of God will also be creators! The Scriptures indicate we shall impart LIFE to billions of dead planets, as life has been imparted to this earth. We shall create, as the Father directs and instructs. Planets will be turned into beautiful, productive, life-sustaining worlds. We shall continue to create and rule throughout all eternity!
Revelation 21 and 22 show that there will then be no pain, suffering or evil, because all will have learned to choose God's way, which leads to all that is good. It will be an eternal life of accomplishment, constantly looking forward in joyous anticipation to new creative projects, as well as looking back with happiness and joy over what shall have already been accomplished.
We shall never grow tired or weary. We will always be joyously alive-- full of energy, vitality, exuberant life, strength and power! This is the incredible potential of every human being!
Are you in the process of preparing to fulfill this, God's glorious purpose for your life?
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5. The Fall of Man in God's Perfect Plan
Introduction
A few years ago, Delta Flight 191 crashed at Dallas-Fort Worth airport killing scores of people and injuring others. Pieces of wreckage were carefully removed and stored for further analysis. Since that time, the cause of the crash has been the focus of extended research, analysis, and even litigation. Understandably, the cause of such a tragedy is of great concern.
Few could deny that something seems desperately wrong with the world in which we live. This very day Kurdish people endure unimaginable suffering at the hands of the Iraqi army and even of nature itself. Innocent children starve to death. The Nazi regime cruelly slaughtered millions of Jews not so long ago, while the world knew better and chose to look away. Rampant crime, cruelty, corruption, and injustice exist side by side. Pollution, nuclear waste, disintegration of the ozone layer, acid rain, and a host of other maladies are bringing the earth itself to the brink of disaster. Among the informed, little optimism remains.
The desperate plight of our planet has convinced some that there is no God. Those who do believe in a God find God somehow responsible for all that is painful. They think God is either cruel or that He is not in control. But God is in control. His perfect plan does include the suffering and agony we see all about us. In answering “What in the world is going on?”, another question must be asked and then answered: “What in the world went wrong?” That question forms the basis of our lesson.
In this lesson we will trace sin and suffering to its earthly origins and causes. God’s Word clearly and emphatically tells us why the world is in such a pathetic plight: By divine permission Satan tempted Adam and Eve; they sinned, and God has graciously pronounced upon all creation a curse for which He has provided the cure.
We begin our study at the outset of human history as recorded in the first few chapters of Genesis. We will consider the biblical account of creation, the fall, and its consequences for mankind. We will show how the fall fits into God’s plan for man up to the present. Turning to the final chapters of the Bible where God concludes His plan for creation, we will see how the fall of man played a major role in the carrying out of God’s plan.
The Scene is Set: Genesis 1 and 2
The more I study the early chapters of Genesis the more convinced I have become of their purpose. Providing a scientific explanation of creation39 is not the purpose of chapters 1 and 2. Rather, their purpose is to set the scene for the fall of man, a major turning point in the history of creation.
Genesis 1 describes the creation of our world as it relates to God’s purpose for man. Man was created by God to rule over His creation:
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. And God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so. And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day (Genesis 1:26-31).
Man’s purpose was to exercise dominion over all creation, in God’s image. Adam and his wife were to rule over the earth. They were to reproduce, to “be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.” Every plant and tree was provided for their food.
Genesis 1 portrays the big picture, the role Adam and Eve were to play in relation to the entire creation. Genesis 2 narrows the focus to the garden of Eden. Adam was placed in the garden to cultivate or keep it. This was no ordinary orchard; God had planted various trees in the garden to provide for man’s needs. All the trees shared the common characteristics of being “pleasing to the sight and good for food.” The “fruit” of the two trees in the center of the garden would provide either “life” or “the knowledge of good and evil.”
The fruit of all but one tree was provided for Adam and Eve to eat. The “tree of the knowledge of good and evil,” though pleasing to look at and good for food, was not good for man. Eating its fruit would give the partaker a knowledge of good and evil, but it would also certainly produce his or her death.
When God formed every creature from the dust of the ground, He caused each to pass before Adam for him to name. Each had its own mate, its counter-part. These pairs of creatures were able to procreate and fulfill the mandate to multiply and fill the earth. Not so with Adam. He too needed a counterpart--a wife. God wanted Adam to sense this need, and then joyfully receive the one whom He fashioned to meet his need.
After showing Adam his need for a helper, God created one. Rather than create the woman from the ground, God put Adam to sleep and fashioned her from a rib which He took from Adam’s side. Neither Adam nor Eve had parents. Eve was brought into being through Adam’s flesh. Eve had no tie to her parents, but only union with her husband. Because of the nature of this first relationship between Adam and Eve, Moses parenthetically interjects the principle that when a man and woman come together, the husband must subordinate the tie he once had with his parents to the tie he now has with his wife (verse 24).
Before studying the fall of man in Genesis 3, let us pause to reflect on the setting described in the first two chapters. Genesis 1 serves as a commentary on the fall of man in chapter 3. According to this account, all of creation came into existence in response to one thing: the spoken Word of God. God spoke creation into existence. The key words of chapter one are, “God said . . .” The spoken Word of God is precisely what Satan first questioned, and then denied. What basis did Adam have for believing God’s word? God’s Word brought all of creation into existence. The God who said, “. . . from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat” (2:17) is the God who had said, “Let there be . . .” and with these words brought the world into existence.
Genesis 2 likewise is most significant when read in light of chapter 3. In chapter 3, Satan convinced the woman that God was holding back something “good” from her by prohibiting her from eating of the forbidden tree. With Satan’s prompting, Eve becomes convinced of her need to “know good and evil” and feels compelled to eat of the fruit of that forbidden tree. But all of chapter 2 denies what Eve assumed about God. Chapter 2 has a prominent theme: God provides what is lacking and necessary. Chapter 2 describes the creation of the garden, of Adam, and of Eve--all pointing to God’s provision of what was lacking and necessary.
No shrubs or trees were yet on the earth in chapter 2 (verse 4). There was no rain to water the plants or a man present to cultivate the land. God therefore planted a garden with trees providing all that was needed, a river for irrigation, and a man to cultivate the land. There was also a need for a helper for Adam, and so God fashioned the perfect mate. At every point of legitimate need, God created what was needed. How, then, dare Satan suggest (or Eve believe) that God had withheld something from her which she needed?
The Fall of Man: Genesis 3
Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, lest you die.’ “ And the serpent said to the woman, “You surely shall not die! “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.
Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of Thee in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” And the man said, “The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said,” The serpent deceived me, and I ate. “
And the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly shall you go, And dust shall you eat All the days of your life; And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel. “ To the woman He said, “I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you shall bring forth children; Yet your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.” Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you shall eat the plants of the field; By the sweat of your face You shall eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.” By the sweat of your face You shall eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.”
Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. And the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”--therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim, and the flaming sword which turned every direction, to guard the way to the tree of life (Genesis 3:1-24).
This lesson seeks to view the fall of man in the light of the overall plan of God for creation. Therefore, although a more detailed exposition of the text would be most profitable, we must limit ourselves to a few observations and comments. Hopefully, they will serve as a stimulus for your additional study.
(1) The fall seems to take place early, quickly, with no resistance at all. Paul’s description of his struggle with sin in Romans 7 evidences a very real struggle. Genesis 3 appears to have no struggle at all. Neither Eve nor Adam raise so much as one word of protest or argument against Satan. They appear to be easy prey for his cunning attack. One would have expected Eve to at least have said something like, “Well, what do you know, a talking snake. Adam, come over here. You’ve got to see this!” It all happened so fast, so easily. Even in his unfallen state, man was no match for the wiles of Satan.
(2) Satan and Eve are prominent in the account of the fall; Adam is less prominent. Adam’s sin is more passive in nature, while that of the serpent and Eve is more aggressive. The leader followed, and the followers led.
(3) The fall reverses the divinely established order of authority. The “chain-of-command” is God: Adam, Eve, creature (which surely includes the serpent). The order of actions related to the fall are: serpent, Eve, Adam. When God confronts those responsible for the fall, the order is that of His chain-of-command: Adam (verse 9), Eve (verse 13), the serpent (verse 14).40 It is little wonder that the one who rebelled against God’s authority over him (Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:12-15) would seek to overturn God’s order of authority.
(4) Eve was deceived; Adam was not. Eve did not know what she was doing as Adam did. Adam’s sin was the more culpable, both because he was the one who was to lead and because he sinned knowingly rather than ignorantly.41
(5) None of the participants assumes responsibility for their actions, and no one repents of their sin. Rather than assume responsibility for their own actions, Adam and Even passed the responsibility on. From their actions in Genesis 3:7-8 and Job’s statement in Job 31:33, we know Adam tried to conceal rather than confess his sin.
(6) Satan’s deception greatly distorted Eve’s perspective. The God who generously provided all things for Adam and Eve to “richly enjoy” is quickly perceived as a tight-fisted tyrant because one fruit is forbidden. The forbidden fruit was now seen as desirable even though it was deadly. The tree of life was overshadowed by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Eve saw only this one forbidden tree as “good for food” and as a “delight to the eyes,” when in reality every tree in the garden had these same qualities (see Genesis 2:9).
(7) Satan succeeded in persuading Adam and Eve to trust his words, while doubting and disobeying God’s Word. The Word of God which so recently brought the universe into existence (see 1:14) was first questioned and then denied once it forbade the fruit of the forbidden tree.
(8) Man’s disobedience in the garden is the fruit of unbelief, just as his obedience would have been the fruit of faith. Why was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil forbidden? Our text indicates a fascinating twist in Eve’s thinking. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil enabled one to know good and evil (see 3:22), which Eve deceptively believed was both necessary and beneficial.42 It was neither. Eve only needed to know that God had forbidden the fruit of this tree.
Had Eve trusted God, she would have found His Word sufficient. She needed only to know who had forbidden the fruit, not why the fruit was forbidden. Eve needed only to know what God had said--she did not need to understand why the fruit of that one tree was forbidden.
There is an important principle to be seen here: God desires from us the obedience of faith. Such obedience is not based upon our understanding of why we are to act as God requires, but simply because it is God who requires it.
The obedience of faith is based on our faith in God, not on our understanding of why God calls one thing good and another evil. Parents teach their children to obey on the same basis. You cannot explain to a young child why an electrical outlet is dangerous. You can only forbid them to touch it, because you said so, and because they trust your word.
How quickly we shake our heads and point our finger at Eve. “How foolish not to have trusted God and obeyed His clear command,” we say. Eve’s temptation is still with us, and her sin is routinely repeated without our even knowing it because of our warped perception. We say we desire to obey God, but we want to understand why we should obey Him before we do. We want to understand why God has commanded some things and prohibited others. When we fail to understand the reason, as quickly and easily as Eve, we reject God’s commandment.
One example relates directly to our text. Because of Eve’s part in the fall, women are now prohibited from places of preeminence and power in the church. Found in more than one text, Paul’s teaching is clear:
Let the women keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but let them subject themselves, just as the Law also says. And if they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is improper for a woman to speak in church. Was it from you that the word of God first went forth? Or has it come to you only? (1 Corinthians 14:34-36).
Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension. Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments; but rather by means of good works, as befits women making a claim to godliness. Let a woman quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being quite deceived, fell into transgression. But women shall be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint (1 Timothy 2:8-15).
Does anyone doubt the response Paul expected from his instruction here? Then why do churches all over the world place women in leadership positions in spite of the clear prohibition of Scripture? Because they find God’s reasons difficult to understand and even harder to accept. When God’s Word does not make sense to us, we disregard His teaching no matter how clear it may be. Just as Eve became convinced that God was holding back something good and desirable from her in the forbidden fruit, women wince at Paul’s words, believing he has restricted them from something which is both desirable and needed.
Following Eve’s footsteps is not limited to women. Like Adam, men find it easier to sit back and let the women take over rather than assume the leadership role God has given them.
In the Old Testament Law, distinctions between clean and unclean foods were made by God and imposed on the Israelites. After the coming of the Lord Jesus, these distinctions were set aside (see Mark 7:18-19; Acts 10-11). From a human point of view, I believe these distinctions were arbitrary. Some try to offer explanations for them, but I believe there are no explanations. God simply wanted His people to obey Him by observing these distinctions, even though they did not understand them. Understanding why God wants us to obey in a particular way requires leaning on our own understanding rather than simply trusting in Him. This is God’s way, as it has always been:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and turn away from evil (Proverbs 3:5-7).43
The fall of man occurred with unbelievable speed and ease. God’s response was prompt, pointed, and painful. In addition to the general curse of death, individual curses were pronounced on the serpent, Eve, and Adam. Each curse was particularly suited to the nature of the offense.
Satan’s curse was three-fold. First, all the days of his life, the serpent would eat dust and crawl on his belly. a humbling fate for one so proud and haughty. This one who desired to reign from on high was cut down to the earth (see Isaiah 14:12-14). Far from walking tall on the earth, the serpent must henceforth crawl in the dust.
Second, God put enmity between the woman and the serpent. Had Eve been more than willing to engage in conversation with the serpent? Never again, for she would now flee from him on sight. And third comes the most encouraging curse of all: Satan’s curse finally ends with his destruction. Did the serpent cause the woman to stumble and trip? One of her offspring will crush the serpent’s head with a fatal striking blow. In the process, Christ will suffer a bruised heel, an injury our Lord chooses to inflict upon Himself.44
Eve’s curse is two-fold. Her sin involved doubting and disobeying God, and also acting independently of her husband. Eve led when she should have been following. Her deliverance would be through her “seed,” who would crush the serpent’s head. The process through which her deliverance came would be painful to her seed (the bruised heel) and also to her. Child-bearing, the means of her deliverance, would be a painful event. Labor pains were a part of Eve’s curse, and for all women who follow in childbirth.
Eve’s second curse was to be ruled over by her husband. Had she taken charge in the fall? She would now be ruled by her husband. God created Eve to be her husband’s helper, not his leader. We must remember that Adam’s headship, even before the fall, was based on his prior existence and the fact that Eve was created from his flesh (see 1 Corinthians 11:3-12, especially verses 8-12). Even before the fall, Eve should have played a subordinate role to Adam, similar to the subordination of the Son to the Father. God’s words to Eve are: “Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you” (Genesis 3:16b).
At first glance it seems as though God is saying the woman will be attracted to her husband, and that he will rule over her. I believe the curse should be understood differently. The same expression which occurs in Genesis 3:16 is also found in Genesis 4 where God warns Cain, “Sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it” (Genesis 4:7b).
In this context, the sin crouching at Cain’s door desires to master him. God admonishes Cain that he must not let this happen. Cain must not let sin master him; instead, he must master sin. God’s words to Eve should therefore be understood in this way: “Your desire will be to dominate your husband, but your curse will be that he will rule over you.”
The woman’s curse brings for her the opposite of what she desires.45
Adam is cursed with labor pains of a different order. God identifies one of Adam’s sins as “listening to his wife.” “Listen” is synonymous with the term “obey.” Rather than lead, Adam followed, disobeying God. Rather than following God and her husband, Eve led. Because of this reversal of obedience, God pronounced two curses on Adam.
First, the ground was cursed and would rebel against Adam even as he had rebelled against God. Adam was to exercise dominion over the creation. His task was to cultivate the land. Before his disobedience, the land provided Adam with all he needed. Now, the land would be in rebellion against him, and he would have to fight for everything which the land only begrudgingly yielded to him. Thorns and thistles would now grow as willingly as food-producing plants once did. From this point on, nothing would come easy. Existence became a matter of survival by the sweat of his face.
Second, while Adam would spend his life fighting the ground for food for himself and his family, ultimately he would succumb to the ground. As he had come from the dust, in death he would return to the dust. The ground seems to win the life-long struggle which man’s curse destines him to wage with it.
The Curse Continues
The curses of Genesis 3:14-19 included not only Adam, Eve, and the serpent but also their offspring. It did not take long to see the consequences of these curses in the life of this man and his wife, as well as in their offspring.
Adam and Eve gained a knowledge of good and evil, one they would regret. Gone was the innocence they had once enjoyed. Their nakedness, which once caused them no shame (Genesis 2:25), now made them ashamed to stand before God. Hastily made loin coverings with fig leaves still made them feel naked and ashamed. The daily encounter with God to which they once looked forward they now sought to avoid. They were banned from the garden and from access to the tree of life (3:22-24). Their son Cain killed his brother Abel (4:1-11). Later, Lamech boasted to his wives about killing a young lad who had struck him (4:23-24). Genesis 5, a virtual graveyard, lists the life span and deaths of Adam and Eve’s offspring. When we reach the sixth chapter of Genesis, the whole earth has become corrupt, requiring the judgment of the flood.
When the world started afresh with Noah and the seven other members of his family, one might expect things to improve. They did not. Noah became drunk, resulting in the curse he pronounced on Canaan, his grandson (see Genesis 9:25-27). By Genesis 11, men join together to disobey the divine command to Noah and his descendants to disperse and populate the earth (9:1). When men banded together to build the city and the tower of Babel, God stopped them in their tracks by confusing their languages (11:1-9). Things went from bad to worse. Clearly, the fall of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden was the fall of man.
The Curse and Its Consequences
Monumental consequences resulted from the fall of man in the garden of Eden. Those consequences were the result of the curses associated with the fall. God’s curses fell not only upon Adam and Eve but upon all of their offspring. Paul speaks in Romans and in 1 Corinthians of the on-going effects of Adam’s sin:
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned--for until the Law sin was in the world; but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification. For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous. And the Law came in that the transgression might increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 5:12-21).
But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive (1 Corinthians 15:20-22).
The history of man, and especially of God’s people, bears constant witness to the sinfulness of man. Their sins were the result of the sins of their forefathers and of their own waywardness as well:
“Your first forefather sinned, and your spokesmen have transgressed against Me” (Isaiah 43:27).
“Now it will come about when you tell this people all these words that they will say to you, ‘For what reason has the Lord declared all this great calamity against us? And what is our iniquity, or what is our sin which we have committed against the Lord our God?’ “Then you are to say to them, ‘It is because your forefathers have forsaken Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘and have followed other gods and served them and bowed down to them; but Me they have forsaken and have not kept My law. ‘You too have done evil, even more than your forefathers; for behold, you are each one walking according to the stubbornness of his own evil heart, without listening to Me” (Jeremiah 16:10-12).
The biblical account of the fall of man recorded in Genesis 3 explains the mess we see within us and in the world without. Adam’s sin explains the sin nature within each of us. We sin because we are like Adam, our father. The sufferings of man and all of creation are the consequences of the fall of man:
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one also hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it (Romans 8:18-25).
Good News for a Fallen World
Are you perplexed by the evil, suffering, and injustice of our world? You need look no further for the explanation. Man and creation are suffering and groaning due to the consequences of sin. Something is wrong with the world: Satan, sin, and sinners. This is the bad news. The good news is that God included sin and suffering in His plan for creation. How can this be? The explanation is found in the Bible, which speaks of God’s plan for man and creation. Let us consider several reasons why a good God has incorporated man’s fall and its consequences into His plan for creation.
(1) God’s response to the fall of man demonstrates His glory. God’s dealings with sinful men most effectively manifest His glory:
Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations” (Exodus 34:6-7).
God’s purpose is to demonstrate His glory. Since the way He deals with sin reveals His glory, the fall of man is included in God’s plan for creation. The fall of man is the context in which God’s glory is revealed.
(2) God’s plan, established before the foundation of the world, anticipated sin and the suffering it would bring. More than this, God’s plan made provision for sin by means of the suffering of the Son of God. Do we think God is harsh in allowing sin to enter the world to produce pain and suffering? No one has suffered more because of sin than the suffering Savior:
He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him (Isaiah 53:3-6).
“This Man, delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. And God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power” (Acts 2:23-24).
Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God (1 Peter 1:18-21).
(3) In God’s plan the curse is a part of the cure. This is evident in the curses found in Genesis 3. The woman’s curse is pain in her childbearing, but her deliverance is in childbearing, for it is her seed who will crush the serpent’s head. Satan’s curse included his crushed head. That curse, when fully executed, spells deliverance from a sin ravaged world. Adam’s curse also points to our deliverance. The cursed soil means that Adam, though he labors hard, must look to God for his crops. And the curse of death pronounced on Adam is God’s means for our cure. It is the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, on our behalf, which saves us from our sins and provides us with the assurance of eternal life.
Everywhere--within us and without--the curse is evident. The suffering, chaos, and tragedy of our world shouts for our attention, telling us something is desperately wrong. God is gracious to give us this indication of trouble. Those most affected by the curse are, in Jesus’ words, the most blessed. God may well use men’s affliction to turn them to Himself:
And turning His gaze on His disciples, He began to say, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. “Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. “Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and cast insults at you, and spurn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man. “Be glad in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets. “But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full. “Woe to you who are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for in the same way their fathers used to treat the false prophets” (Luke 6:20-26).
Suffering, the painful consequence of sin, is also the means by which God has chosen to produce our blessings. Suffering is not opposed to glory; it is the road to glory. So it was for our Lord, and so it is for us. The curse is a part of the process by which the cure is produced.
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing (James 1:2-4).
For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls (1 Peter 1:20-25).
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing; so that also at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you (1 Peter 4:12-14).
(4) In God’s plan, sin and the curse made possible a cure with blessings better than those lost by Adam’s sin and the curse. Sin and condemnation are not the end of man’s hope, but the starting point. In His grace, God condemns men so that He might manifest His grace upon them: “For God has shut up all in disobedience that He might show mercy to all” (Romans 11:32).
Sin does not slam the door on God’s blessings; it opens the door for His grace. Jesus did not come to provide salvation for saints, but for sinners. He came to seek and to save those who are lost. Until sin and the fall, there was no occasion for God to deal with men graciously. After sin and the fall, He could only bless men by dealing graciously with them. “But where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Romans 5:20b).
Job’s experiences serve as an illustration. As described in chapter 1 of the Book of Job, Job is an ideal servant of God. God Himself says, “There is no one like him on earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil” (Job 1:8b). Job was not sinless, but he was an excellent example of a servant of God. In this state, Job was something like Adam and Eve before the fall.
Then Satan was allowed to afflict Job. Eventually, Job’s suffering got to him. While Job did not curse God, he surely acted in an unseemly way. He sinned. By the end of the book, we see a new Job, humbled by his suffering and by God’s rebuke but with a much deeper love and devotion for His God. He is now a man who more fully grasps the wisdom of God and who has experienced His grace. Job is not just more prosperous for the experience; He is nearer to God than he has ever been before. While Satan attempted to alienate Job from God, Job’s sin was the occasion for grace, bringing repentance, reconciliation, and a more intimate union with God. Job’s experience is the experience of all who receive God’s grace as a result of sin.
It is all too easy to think of God’s “cure” in Jesus Christ as a restoration, merely restoring everything to the condition in which it was found before the fall. This is simply not the case. The last state, as it were, is vastly better than the first, for all those who are the called according to His purpose.
If the first three chapters of the Bible explain the condition of mankind and the world due to the fall of man and the curse, the last two chapters of the Bible explain the depths of the cure made possible by God through the person and work of His Son, Jesus Christ. Here, as one radio commentator would say, is “the rest of the story:”
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them, and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true” (Revelation 21:1-5).
And he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. And on either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His bond-servants shall serve Him; and they shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. And there shall no longer be any night; and they shall not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God shall illumine them; and they shall reign forever and ever (Revelation 22:1-5).
As one compares the description of the new heavens and earth in the final chapters of the Book of Revelation with the paradise of Eden, a very clear message emerges.
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THE CONSEQUENCES IN THE FALL OF MAN
Man, as created, was good. God created man in His own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness. Well, then, if God created man good, how comes it that all men now are bad? How did sin pass into all mankind? What caused this stupendous change from good to bad?
Sin came into the world through the sin of Adam. Adam's descendants do not begin life sinless as he began it. They begin it tainted in some way or other with the sin that Adam committed. If Adam transgressed, he was to die. Death was to be the punishment of disobedience. Well, he did transgress. What then happened? Was Adam the only one who died? Did his descendants begin where he began? Did they have placed before them all over again that same alternative between death and life that was placed before Adam? The Book of Genesis indicates the contrary very clearly. No, the descendants of Adam already, before they individually made any choices at all, had that penalty of death resting upon them.
What, then, does that mean? Adam was the divinely appointed representative of the race. If he obeyed the commandments of God, the whole race of his descendants would have life; if he disobeyed, the whole race would have death. I do not see how the narrative in the Book of Genesis, when you take it as a whole, can mean anything else.
That view of the matter becomes more explicit in certain important passages of the New Testament. In the latter part of the fifth chapter of Romans, in particular, the Apostle Paul makes it plain. "Through one trespass," he there says, "the judgment came unto all men to condemnation" (Romans 5:18). "Through the one man's disobedience," he says in the next verse, "the many were made sinners." In these words and all through this passage we have the great doctrine that when Adam sinned he sinned as the representative of the race, so that it is quite correct to say that all mankind sinned in him and fell with him in his first transgression. There is a profound connection between Adam and the whole race of his descendants.
God said to Adam that if he disobeyed he would die. What is the meaning of that death? Well, it includes physical death; there is no question about that. But, alas, it also includes far more than physical death. It includes spiritual death; it includes the death of the soul unto things that are good; it includes the death of the soul unto God. The dreadful penalty of that sin of Adam was that Adam and his descendants became dead in trespasses and sins. As a just penalty of Adam's sin, God withdrew his favor, and the souls of all mankind became spiritually dead. The soul that is spiritually dead, the soul that is corrupt, is guilty not only because of Adam's guilt but also because of its own sin. It deserves eternal punishment.
The doctrine of the wrath of God is not a popular doctrine, but there is no doctrine that is more utterly pervasive in the Bible. Paul devotes to it a large part of three chapters out of the eight chapters in his great Epistle to the Romans which he devotes to the exposition of his message of salvation, and he is at particular pains to show that the wrath of God rests upon all men except those who have been saved by God's grace. But there is nothing peculiar in that great passage in the first three chapters of Romans. That passage only puts in a comprehensive way what is presupposed from Genesis to Revelation and becomes explicit in passages almost beyond number.
Does the teaching of Jesus form any exception to the otherwise pervasive presentation of the wrath of God in the Bible? Well, you might think so if you listened only to what modern sentimentality says about Jesus of Nazareth. The men of the world, who have never been born again, who have never come under the conviction of sin, have reconstructed a Jesus to suit themselves, a feeble sentimentalist who preached only the love of God and had nothing to say about God's wrath. But very different was the real Jesus, the Jesus who is presented to us in our sources of historical information. The real Jesus certainly proclaimed a God who, as the Old Testament which he revered as God's Word says, is a "consuming fire" (Deuteronomy 4:24; compare Hebrews 12:29). Very terrible was Jesus' own anger as the Gospels describe it, a profound burning indignation against sin; and very terrible is the anger of the God whom He proclaimed as the Ruler of heaven and earth. No, you certainly cannot escape from the teaching of the Bible about the wrath of God by appealing to Jesus of Nazareth. The most terrible even among the Biblical presentations of God's wrath are those that are found in our blessed Savior's words.
Where do you find the most terrible descriptions of hell in the whole of the Bible? It is Jesus who speaks of the sin that shall not be forgiven either in this world or that which is to come; it is Jesus who speaks of the worm that dieth not and the fire that is not quenched (Mark 9:48); it is Jesus who has given us the story of the rich man and Lazarus and of the great gulf between them (Luke 16:19-31); it is Jesus who says that it is profitable for a man to enter into life having one eye rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire (Matthew 18:9). It appears in the Sermon on the Mount; it appears of course in the great judgment chapter, the twenty-fifth of Matthew; it appears in passages too numerous to mention. It is not somewhere on the circumference of his teaching, but is at the very heart and core of it.
I do not believe we always understand quite clearly enough how great is the divergence at this point between the teaching of Jesus and current preaching. Men are interested today in this world. They have lost the consciousness of sin, and having lost the consciousness of sin they have lost the fear of hell. They have tried to make Christianity a religion of this world. They have come to regard Christianity just as a program for setting up the conditions of the kingdom of God upon this earth, and they are tremendously impatient when anyone looks upon it as a means of entering into heaven and escaping hell.
I have mentioned the Biblical teaching about hell simply because it is necessary in order that you may understand the Biblical teaching about sin. The awfulness of the punishment of sin shows as nothing else could well do how heinous a thing sin really is in the sight of God.
I have tried to present to you in outline something like the whole picture -- man guilty with the imputed guilt of Adam's first sin, man suffering therefore the death that is the penalty of that sin, not only physical death but also that spiritual death that consists in the corruption of man's whole nature and in his total inability to please God, man bringing forth out of his corrupt heart individual acts of transgression without number, man facing eternal punishment in hell. That is the picture that runs all through the Bible. Mankind, according to the Bible, is a race lost in sin; and sin is not just a misfortune, but is something that calls forth the white heat of the divine indignation. Before the awful justice of God no unclean thing can stand; and man is unclean, transgressor against God's holy law, subject justly to its awful penalty.
As I try to present that picture to you, I think you as well as I are impressed with the fact that the men of the present day for the most part will have none of it. They will not admit at all that mankind is lost in sin. I remember a service that I attended some years ago in a little church in a pretty village. The preacher was distinctly above the average in culture and in moral fervor. I do not remember his sermon (except that it was a glorification of man); but I do remember something that he said in his prayer. He quoted that verse from Jeremiah to the effect that the heart of man is "deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked" (Jeremiah 17:9), and then he said in his prayer, as nearly as I can remember his words: "O Lord, thou knowest that we no longer accept this interpretation, but now think that man does what is right if only he knows the way." Well, that was at least being frank about the matter. We have a good opinion of ourselves these days, and if so, why should we not let the Lord in on our secret? Why should we go on quoting with a sanctimonious air confessions of sin from the Bible if we really do not believe a word of them? I think the prayer of that village preacher was bad -- very bad -- but I also think that perhaps it was not so bad perhaps as the prayers of those preachers who have really rejected the central message of the Bible just as completely as he had and yet conceal the fact by the use of traditional language. At least that prayer raised the issue clearly between the Biblical view of sin and the paganism of the modern creed, "I believe in man."
At the very foundation of all that the Bible says is this sad truth -- that mankind is lost in sin. The Bible teaches, we have observed, that every man comes into the world a sinner. It is against that doctrine that the chief attack has been made; and I want to say a few words to you about the attack in order that the Bible doctrine which is attacked may become the more clear. The attack has come to be connected with the name of a British monk who lived in the latter part of the fourth and the early part of the fifth century after Christ. His name was Pelagius. In contravention of the Biblical doctrine, Pelagius said that every man, far from being born with a corrupt nature, begins life practically where Adam began it, being perfectly able to choose either good or evil.
The Bible plainly teaches that sinful actions come from a corrupt nature of the man who commits them, that individual wrong choices come from the underlying state of the person who engages in them. A man is morally responsible for wrong choices springing out of his evil nature, and he is responsible for the evil nature out of which those wrong choices spring. Sin is not just a matter of individual actions. Both the bad actions and also the bad state from which the bad actions come are sin.
I am going to quote one passage from the teaching of Jesus as recorded in the Gospels and then I am going to ask you whether that one passage does not sum up the teaching of the whole Bible on this point. "Either make the tree good, and his fruit good: or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things." (Matthew 12:33-35) In the light of these words of Jesus, so simple and so profound, how utterly shallow the whole Pelagian view of sin is seen to be! According to Jesus, evil actions come from an evil heart, and both the actions and the heart from which they come are sinful.
That view is the view of the whole Bible. There is in the Bible from beginning to end no shadow of comfort for the shallow notion that sin is a matter only of individual choices and that a bad man can, without being changed within, suddenly bring forth good actions. No, the Bible everywhere finds the root of evil in the heart, and by the heart it does not mean just the feelings but the whole inner life of man. The heart of man, it tells us, is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, and because of that, man is a sinner in the sight of God. An evil man inevitably performs evil actions; the thing is as certain as that a corrupt tree will bring forth corrupt fruit: but the evil man performs those evil actions because he wants to perform them; they are his own free personal acts and he is responsible for them in the sight of God.
The Bible from beginning to end plainly teaches that individual sins come from a sinful nature, and that the nature of all men is sinful from their birth. "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me" -- these words of the Fifty-first Psalm summarize, in the cry of a penitent sinner, a doctrine of sin that runs through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Upon that Biblical view of sin depends also the Biblical view of salvation. Does the Bible teach that all Christ did for us is to set us a good example which we are perfectly able to follow without a change of our hearts? The man who thinks so is a man who has not come even to the threshold of the great central truth which the Scriptures contain. "Ye must be born again," said Jesus Christ (John 3:7). There is no hope whatever for us until we are born again by an act that is not our own; there is no hope that we shall really choose the right until we are made alive by the Spirit of the living God.
Nothing that fallen and unregenerate men can do is really well-pleasing to God. Many things that they do are able to please us, with our imperfect standards, but nothing that they do is able to please God; nothing that they do can stand in the white light of His judgment throne. Some of their actions may be relatively good, but none of them are really good. All of them are affected by the deep depravity of the fallen human nature from which they come.
That brings us to another aspect of the great Biblical doctrine of depravity. It is found in the complete inability of fallen man to lift himself out of his fallen condition. Fallen man, according to the Bible, is unable to contribute the smallest part of the great change by which he is made to be alive from the dead. Men who are dead in trespasses and sins are utterly unable to have saving faith, just as completely unable as a dead man lying in a tomb is unable to contribute the slightest bit to his resurrection. When a man is born again, the Holy Spirit works faith in him, and the man contributes nothing whatever to that blessed result. After he has been born again, he does cooperate with the Spirit of God in the daily battle against sin; after he has been made alive by God, he proceeds to show that he is alive by bringing forth good works: but until he is made alive he can do nothing that is really good; and the act of the Spirit of God by which he is made alive is a resistless and sovereign act.
Man, according to the Bible, is not merely sick in trespasses and sins; he is not merely in a weakened condition so that he needs divine help: but he is dead in trespasses and sins. He can do absolutely nothing to save himself, and God saves him by the gracious, sovereign act of the new birth. The Bible is a tremendously uncompromising book in this matter of the sin of man and the grace of God.
The Biblical doctrine of the grace of God does not mean, as caricatures of it sometimes represent it as meaning, that a man is saved against his will. No, it means that a man's will itself is renewed. His act of faith is his own act. He performs that act gladly, and is sure that he never was so free as when he performs it. Yet he is enabled to perform it simply by the gracious, sovereign act of the Spirit of God.
Ah, my friends, how precious is that doctrine of the grace of God! It is not in accordance with human pride. It is not a doctrine that we should ever have evolved. But when it is revealed in God's Word, the hearts of the redeemed cry, Amen. Sinners saved by grace love to ascribe not some but all of the praise to God.
THE CONSEQUENCES PART 2
http://hermeneutics.kulikovskyonline.net/hermeneutics/deprav.pdf
I. INTRODUCTION
The sin of Adam and Eve in the garden (Gen 3) had immense consequences not only for
the human race, but also for the whole of creation. As Francis A. Schaeffer pointed out,
not only was the communion between Man and God broken, but also the communion
between Man and his fellow Man, and Man and the creation. Furthermore, Man has also
been separated from himself.1
The purpose of this paper is to examine in detail the Apostle Paul’s teaching in the book
of Romans regarding the consequences of the Fall of Man, and the depths of depravity
to which he has descended.
II. CONSEQUENCES OF THE FALL
1. The Utter Sinfulness of All Humanity (3:9-12; 5:12)
In Romans 5:12, Paul teaches that due to Adam’s sin death entered the world2
and
spread to all Men. Douglas Moo argues that death (Gk. qa&natoj) here refers to “total
death” – spiritual and physical – especially since it is contrasted with eternal life (Gk.
zwh_n aiw&ni0on) in v. 21.3
The entire human race4
was, and is, faced with the reality,
finality and inescapability of death.
The Consequences of the Fall and the Depravity of Man Page 2
A sin
B death
B’ death
A’ sin
This arrangement causes the reader to focus on the central items B and B’, i.e. death.
Note also, A and A’ highlight that it is sin that leads to this death.
In 3:9-12, Paul quotes Psalms 14:1-3; 53:1-3 and Ecclesiastes 7:20, in order to show
that sin has a hold of every person – both Jews and Greeks – with no exception. No-one
is righteous in God’s eyes and no-one naturally seeks after Him; all have turned and
gone their own way. These quotations also appear to be arranged chiastically:
A “There is no one righteous, not even one;
B there is no one who understands,
C no one who seeks God.
C’ All have turned away,
B’ they have together become worthless;
A’ there is no one who does good, not even one.”
S. L. Johnson Jr. perceptively notes that
This sense of universal guilt is one of the profoundest facts in human history and experience. It
seems to be so much a part of human nature that we cannot be said to be human unless we have
it. It is found in the most primitive societies, those least exposed to the experiences of
civilization. The universal prevalence of the practice of sacrifice illustrates it, as Davies points
out. “Whatever the differences between ancient religions—and they are very many,” he says,
“they were united in their recognition that man had offended his gods and that their anger must
be placated.”6
2. Objects of Wrath and Judgement (1:18; 2:5-11)
God, who judges based on truth (2:2), has found all humanity guilty of sin, and we now
face His inescapable righteous wrath and judgement. However, the use of the present
tense in 1:18 (“is being revealed,” Gk. a)pokalu&ptetai), indicates that God is
continuously revealing His wrath. This raises two questions: (1) What is meant by
“reveal”? (2) In what way is God continuously revealing His wrath from Heaven? This
verse also appears to contradict 2:5 which states that we are storing up wrath against
ourselves for the future judgement.
In regard to (1), does a)pokalu&ptetai mean “reveal [a truth] to mind” or “manifest [an
action] in history?” Given that v. 17 and v. 18 are apparently parallel, and that
a)pokalu&ptetai has an historical sense in v. 17, it is reasonable to understand it in the
same way in v. 18.7
Regarding (2), Douglas Moo argues that “there is an anticipatory working of God’s
wrath in the events if history”8
and that “[t]he present, continuous exercise of God’s
wrath will be culminated in a climatic outpouring of wrath at the end of history”9
i.e. on
the day of judgement. God’s wrath is currently visible in that He has released humanity
to pursue its chosen way of sin, and the resulting consequences.10 Schiller comments:
“The history of the world is the judgement of the world.”11 Indeed, the present
experience of wrath is only a foretaste of the wrath to come at the final judgement.12
Note that the target of God’s wrath is actually the godlessness and unrighteousness of
humanity rather than humanity in general. Cranfield suggests that a)se&beia
(“godlessness”) and a)diki/a (“unrighteousness”) are combined to give “a more rounded
description” of man’s sinful acts. The first term highlights the fact that sin is an attack
on the majesty of God, and the second shows that it is a violation of God’s justice and
righteousness.13
Moo also points out that vv. 6-11 form a chiasmus:
A God “will give to each person according to what he has done.”
B To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honour and immortality,
he will give eternal life.
C But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil,
there will be wrath and anger.
C’ There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first
for the Jew, then for the Gentile;
B’ but glory, honour and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then
for the Gentile.
A’ For God does not show favouritism.
This arrangement draws the reader’s attention firstly to the fact of God’s fairness and
impartiality, and then to the rewards for those who do good. The culmination, however,
is on the terrific wrath that will be poured out at the final judgement on all those who
have rejected the truth and followed evil.
3. Helplessness (7:15-24)
In Romans 7:15-24, Paul expresses his frustration and anxiety over his own sinfulness
and his apparent helplessness. He does not understand why it is that he does not do what
he desires to do (i.e. practice God’s righteous law), but instead, does those things which
he hates (i.e. sin). Paul explains that it is not him doing this, but sin living in him. Note
however, that this is not an excuse for sinning, but rather an acknowledgment of the
total control which sin has over his flesh.14 V. 24 is an indication of the total despair
which Paul has in regard to this problem: “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue
me from this body of death?”
4. A Spoiled World (8:19-22)
In Romans 8:19-21, Paul teaches that God has subjected the “creation” to frustration by
enslaving it to decay. Cranfield argues that, in this context, kti/sij refers to all
subhuman creation, both animate and inanimate.15 However, the use of language such as
“waiting in eager expectation,” the experience of “frustration,” the lack of “choice,” the
experience of “decay” and the notion of “groaning” all suggest that only the animate
creation (i.e. the animal kingdom) is in view. The animal kingdom has been subjected to
the frustration of not being able to completely fulfil the purpose for its existence.16
The “decay” (Gk. th~j fqora~j) of v. 21 is probably an objective genitive – creation is
in bondage to the decay that rules the world after the Fall.17 The consequences of the
Fall had a devastating effect not just on humanity, but also on other living creatures, and
the earth itself. As E. C. Beisner states:
“The corruption of people’s knowledge, holiness, and creativity affected not only their own
inward nature but also their dominion, cultivation, and guarding of the garden and, ultimately,
the whole earth.”18
Schaeffer also points this out:
The fourth separation is a separation of man from nature and nature from nature. Man has lost
his full dominion, and now nature itself is often a means of judgment ...The separation of man
from nature and nature from nature seems also to have reached a climax in our day.19
III. THE DEPRAVITY OF MAN
1. Suppression of Truth (1:18-20)
Traditionally, it has been assumed that Paul is talking here about Gentiles, but this
conclusion is now being questioned.20 It seems more likely to be a universal indictment,
especially since the scope of vv. 19-32 includes all people, both Jews and Gentiles, and
examines their responsibility to God apart from special revelation.
The use of present tense to describe the suppression of truth (Gk. katexo&ntwn)
suggests that this is a continuous and general human trait.22 Because of the use of the
aorist indicative to describe God’s clear presentation of truth (Gk. efane&rwsen), and
the reference to creation in vv. 19-20, some commentators have suggested these verses
refer to a specific event such as the Fall in Genesis 3. However, efane&rwsen (“to make
obvious”) is most probably a constative aorist, denoting the fact that God has made
general knowledge about Himself plain to all men, rather than communicating the
timing of this act.23 This view also does not fully explain the character of the text, and in
any case, v. 18 and v. 32 make it clear that rejection of God is repeated in every
generation by every individual.24
Note also that according to v. 18, the suppression of truth is “in unrighteousness” (Gk.
e)n a)diki/a|). However, as Moo points out, e)n a)diki/a| is an instrumental dative, denoting
the means by which the suppression occurs i.e. through unrighteous acts.25
One of the purposes of natural revelation is to render all people responsible for their
condemnation. It is clear that this revelation is generally rejected. Therefore, natural
revelation does not lead people to salvation, but rather, ensures that God’s
condemnation is just.26
Schaeffer insightfully summarises the consequences of humanity’s tendency to suppress
the truth as follows:
Man's basic psychosis is his separation from God carried into his own personality as a separation
from himself. Thus we have self-deception. All men are liars, but, most importantly, each man
lies to himself. The greatest falsehood is not lying to other men, but to ourselves. A related
aspect is the loss of ability to acquire true knowledge. All his knowledge is now out of shape
because the perspective is wrong, the framework is wrong. That is, man does not lose all his
knowledge, but he loses “true knowledge,” especially as he makes extensions from the bits and
pieces of knowledge he does have.27
2. Foolish and Futile Thinking (1:21-22, 25, 28)
With no knowledge of God there is no basis for truth, morals or ethics, so it is only
expected that things which should not be done, will be done. People no longer give
glory to God by recognising Him as God and as their Creator and Lord, neither do they
acknowledge their debt to God for His goodness and generosity, and as the source of all
good things.28 As a result, their thinking became completely futile. Again, the aorist
indicative (Gk. e)mataiw&qhsan) is most likely a constative aorist, denoting the fact of
futility, rather than its timing. The idea expressed by e)mataiw&qhsan is that of
worthlessness,29 and dialogismoj (thoughts/thinking) denotes the ability “to think or
reason with thoroughness and completeness.”30 Furthermore, Cranfield points out that
in the clause “their foolish hearts were darkened”, kardia is qualified by asunetoj,
which suggests that the intellectual element of their inner lives is in view.31 When
knowledge of God is suppressed, man’s ability to think and reason clearly and deeply is
significantly inhibited.
Cranfield suggests that Paul is referring to the “futility which is the inevitable result of
loss of touch with reality.”32 Thus it appears that the corruption of the intellect is one of
the direct consequences of the Fall.33 Indeed, every aspect of the image of God in
humans was corrupted by the Fall. As Beisner notes: “What had been a sound mind full
of the light of truth, full of the God who is the Truth, became unsound and darkened by
falsehood.”34
In v. 22, Paul emphasises the difference between humanity’s own opinion and actual
fact.35 Despite our mighty claims of knowledge and wisdom, and our technological
achievements, we have shown ourselves to be utterly foolish. The devastation humanity
has caused to the environment, the overfishing, the extinction of species, the overmining,
and the production of nuclear waste all bear testimony to this, as do the many
wars, the oppressive political regimes and the immense poverty in many nations.
In v. 25, Paul states that humanity has “exchanged the truth of God for a lie” which
suggests that we had the truth but wilfully and intentionally decided to reject it in favour
of a lie. As S. L. Johnson Jr. perceptively points out:
The Pauline picture of the religious history of mankind is one of retrogression, not progression,
of devolution, not evolution, downward, not upward. In unbelief man has passed from light to
futility to folly. Thus, the divine wrath has found its justification in human rejection of “the truth
of God” (1:18,25).36
According to v. 28, humanity has refused to seriously acknowledge their need for the
knowledge of God, and thus failed to retain it. Therefore, God released them to pursue
their folly. The term “depraved” (Gk. adokimoj) means “not being in accordance with
what is right, appropriate, or fitting,”37 or “unfit for any good deed.”38 Thus, a)do&kimon
nou~n (“depraved mind”) is a mind so deliberated and corrupted it is completely
untrustworthy for making moral decisions.39
3. Idolatry (1:23, 25)
In v. 23 and v. 25, Paul describes humanity’s strong tendency to reject the little
knowledge of God they do have, by making idols of their own.40 In the modern western
world, such idols take the form of self, sex, sport, sports people, celebrities, the
environment, work, pleasure, and possessions, rather than icons of men and animals.
The “truth of God” in v. 25, refers to God Himself and His self-revelation. The “lie,” on
the other hand, refers to the whole futility of idolatry41 – which is so well expounded by
Isaiah the prophet (Isa 44:9-20). Again, the use of “exchanged” suggests that the move
to idolatry was both wilful and deliberate.
4. Sexual Perversion (1:24, 26-27)
Not only has humanity turned to idolatry, but also to sexual infidelity and perversion.
The clause “gave them over” (Gk. pare&dwken) does not mean that God compelled
people to sin. Although this clause has caused considerable debate, the most common
interpretation, which has prevailed since the time of Origen and Chrysostom, views
pare&dwken in a permissive sense. This means that God passively permitted men to fall
into the retributive consequences of their infidelity and apostasy. However, S. L.
Johnson Jr. objects:
The active force of paredoken is surely contrary to this view. It is not that God permitted
rebellious men to fall into uncleanness and bodily dishonour; He actively, although justly in
view of their sin, consigned them to the consequences of their acts. It is His divine arrangement
that men by their apostasy should fall into moral impurity, sin being punished by further sin, and
He himself maintains the moral connection between apostasy and impurity by carrying out the
judgment Himself.42
Yet, in the final analysis, it seems that Johnson’s view is not that much different. He
emphasises the “active force,” but surely God can actively release Man to do as he
pleases (i.e. rebel and disobey God), and in doing so, passively permit him to do all
kinds of evil?
Note also that this term was used to describe God’s dealing with Israel in handing them
over to other nations as punishment for their disobedience.43 It is not as if God actively
caused the Israelites to be defeated or that he forced enemy armies to attack and destroy
them. Rather, in response to Israel’s rebellion and rejection of Him as their God, God
obliged by actively withdrawing His protection, and therefore, passively allowing
Israel’s enemies to destroy and plunder them.
C. H. Dodd writes:
the disastrous progress of evil in society is presented as a natural process of cause and effect, and
not as the direct act of God... The act of God is no more than an abstention from interference
with their free choice and its consequences.
Again, it appears that God apparently removes His active restraining influence and
allows people to do exactly as they please. This is a form of punishment in the sense
that being left to please one’s self in choosing evil brings its own penalty (v. 27). For
example, infidelity leads to mistrust and marriage break-down, promiscuity often results
in unwanted pregnancy, or the contraction of venereal diseases, or even AIDS. Indeed,
Harvard sociologist, Pitirim Sorokin, in his book The Crisis of Our Age, warned that
increases in crime, suicides, mental breakdowns, revolutions, and war are the symptoms
of a dying civilisation. In another article on homosexuals in Time magazine he wrote,
“At their fullest flowering, the Persian, Greek, Roman and Moslem civilizations
permitted a measure of homosexuality; as they decayed, it became more prevalent.” In
another book, The American Sex Revolution, he pointed out that sex anarchy has lead to
mental breakdowns, rather than the other way around, as the Freudian psychologists
have taught. He also pointed out that increasing sexual license leads to decreasing
creativity and productivity in the intellectual, artistic, and economic spheres of life.45
Schaeffer adds:
...man has separated his sexual life from its original high purpose as a vehicle of communication
of person to person. Sexuality loses its personal dimension; men and women treat each other as
things to be exploited.46
5. Practitioners of Every Kind of Evil (1:29-31; 3:10-18)
In 1:29-31, Paul lists some specific characteristics of sinful humanity. Note however,
that the list is by no means exhaustive, but rather, a small sample. Moo suggests that
Paul is focussing on social ills.47 The kind of behaviour described highlights the broken
relationship between man and his fellow man which has come about as a direct result of
the Fall. As Schaeffer points out:
The third of the great separations is man from man. This is the sociological separation. We have
seen already how Adam was separated from Eve. Both of them immediately tried to pass off the
blame for the Fall. This signals the loss of the possibility of their walking truly side by side in
true democracy. Not only was man separated from his wife, but soon brother became separated
from brother, Cain killing Abel.48
Furthermore, in 3:10-18 Paul quotes a number of Old Testament passages (or parts
thereof)49 in order to substantiate his claim about the universal nature of sin in v. 9, and
in doing so, also highlights the extent to which man has gone in practicing evil.
6. Approvers of Evil and Evil-doers (1:32)
The human conscience has a built-in sense of right and wrong (morality), and all people
are aware of the implicit penalty of doing evil. Not even the hardest criminal would
seriously question whether it is right to murder someone, or whether it is right to steal,
since such a person would no doubt object to someone stealing from them, and they
would surely resist someone attempting the murder them. People know full well that
when they sin they are doing what is wrong, and 1:32 describes the blatant and wilful
rebellion of man against God, despite the promptings of their conscience. Again, the use
of the present tense for “continue to do” (Gk. poiou~sin) and “approve” (Gk.
suneudokou~sin) indicates that this is a timeless truth.50 Not only do people continue to
do evil, they also encourage others to do the same. The homosexual lobby groups are
highly “evangelistic” in their recruiting, by conning young males with low self-esteem
who doubt their masculinity, into thinking they are latent homosexuals. Even many nonhomosexuals
actively endorse homosexual television programs, and parades and
festivals glorifying homosexual perversity are celebrated and given massive media
coverage. Yet, anyone who speaks out against this kind of activity is considered to be
narrow-minded, intolerant and bigoted.
Note also that the reference to “death” denotes the penalty of sin in general. It is not a
reference to the penalty of any of the particular sins mentioned.51
IV. CONCLUSION
The description of the status of humanity and the extent of our depravity as outlined by
the Apostle Paul in the letter to the Romans is not at all pretty. Truth is suppressed, our
thinking has become warped, we have rejected God in favour of our own idols, and we
are spiralling out of control. Without God, humanity is destined for eternal judgment,
and we are completely unable to help ourselves.
Only God can work to save humanity. Indeed, this is exactly what he did through His
Son, Jesus Christ. Thank God for His patience and graciousness and taking the initiative
by sending His own Son to die for all humanity, so that we may be restored to what God
intended us to be. As Paul states in Romans 5:8: “But God demonstrates his own love
for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
OUR PRESENT LIVES REVEALED OUR NATURE AND WHERE WE BELONGED
It is obvious the goat can bear goat and goat cannot bear dog because they are animals. For goat and dog been animal did not really make them to share their differences together but all separated themselves from one to another and they exists as one entity relating to their species.
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