It is necessary to consider the role sin has played in regard to God’s eternal plan. It is impossible to describe the horrible depths of iniquity, transgression and rebellion to which man succumbed after the sin of Adam and Eve. God had given Adam a commandment (or law), which he willingly disobeyed. This diabolical act of rebellion was foreseen by the Almighty One who had committed Himself to the production of a race of free moral agents who would bear the same moral image as Himself.
God's Dealings With Mankind
by Randall Walton

The Scriptures make very plain the fact that God, i.e., His nature, His character, His plan and purpose, never changes nor has changed. God, as well as His word, is unchanging. The Bible speaks of “the immutability of his counsel,” that is, the unchangeability of his purpose or will. (Heb. 6:17) Before the world was, God formulated a glorious plan for mankind to which He committed the resources of His kingdom. It remains the same today as it was when He first conceived it. Although nearly six thousand years have elapsed, God’s eternal, divine purpose is the same and it will be completed. There have been many attempts to thwart or derail God’s bold plan, but none of these has succeeded. The interjection of sin and rebellion has been an impediment somewhat, but God is using even this as a means of achieving His desired end.

“HIS MERCY IS EVERLASTING”

While it seems to appear that God was much harsher in Old Testament times, there are reasons for us to question that assumption. For one thing, there is a vast difference in the time span of these two eras. The O.T. covers a history of at least 4,000 years, while the NT covers less than 100 years. Thus, it is difficult, if not impossible, to make a valid comparison of God’s dealings with mankind in these two eras. Certainly, there were many more episodes, which occurred during the 4,000-year period than there were during the less-than-a-century of the NT; this is only natural. In addition to this, we have the plain words of the Scriptures, which tell us about the kindness and mercy of God which was shown to mankind all throughout the pre-Christian era.

“Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” (Gen. 6:8) The words “grace,” “gracious,” “mercy,” “forgiveness,” “love,” etc. are extant in the OT writings.

“The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.” (Exodus 34:6)

“:for the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him.” (2 Chron. 30:9)

“The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.” (Psalm 103:8)

“For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.” (Psalm 86:5)

“But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.” (Psalm 78:38)

These are not a few isolated cases to which we refer. This is a theme which runs through the Scriptures as a witness to God’s benevolent character. One needs only to consult a comprehensive concordance to find the many dozens of references to God’s enduring mercy toward mankind: “For his mercy endureth forever.” (Psalm 136:1-26) (every verse repeats this phrase) But, why then, did God destroy so many people, and have so many people killed by the ancient kings?

“SIN ENTERED THE WORLD”

(Rom. 5:12)

It is necessary to consider the role sin has played in regard to God’s eternal plan. It is impossible to describe the horrible depths of iniquity, transgression and rebellion to which man succumbed after the sin of Adam and Eve. God had given Adam a commandment (or law), which he willingly disobeyed. This diabolical act of rebellion was foreseen by the Almighty One who had committed Himself to the production of a race of free moral agents who would bear the same moral image as Himself. On the basis of His foreknowledge of both people and events, He provided a means of salvaging His plan from the intended ruin by Satan, through sin. Sin was the only element that could bring about the overthrow and cancellation of His divine plan, a fact that Satan himself knew. This was the reason for his appearance in the garden where he successfully suggested to Eve that she disregard the word of God.

God considered this disobedience as a capital crime! “In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die,” God declared. (Gen. 2:17) Since the punishment for their sin was death, then any expiation of this sin must be by the death of some innocent person who willingly would die vicariously, or would take the punishment of death in the place of the guilty one(s). Thus, the heavenly Father determined that His own Son, an example of perfection and the only One capable of serving as a ransom for lost mankind, should be sacrificed to death so that His wonderful plan would be fulfilled. Since God Himself cannot die, God’s plan included the incarnation of His blessed Son into a human body so that it (the body) could suffer the pain of death, so that mankind could be redeemed from his awful lost condition.

SIN IS CONTAGIOUS

One monumental problem that faced the Living God in the fulfilling of His plan was the rapid spread of lawlessness among His creatures. In a short time, murder showed its ugly head. Not long after that, many other vile sins appeared among men. As mankind multiplied in numbers, so also did iniquity increase. In order to preserve a line of progenitors who would be accounted worthy to provide a body for God’s promised Redeemer, it was necessary to make a positive declaration against sin and the incorrigible sinner. God, by foreknowledge, knew the people who would serve Him and do His will. He also knew that the entire human race, except for Noah and his family, were irreconcilable. Because the inhabitants of the earth were so grossly vile and filled with contempt, God was justified to destroy them all, lest they would pollute any of those eight whom He had determined to save.

The same principle applies to the heathen in other places and at different times. God, who knows all men’s hearts, knew that certain people would never respond to God’s beck and call. “Though one rise from the dead, yet will they not believe.” (Luke 16:31) This is why the Amalekites were expendable in the days of King Saul. (1 Samuel 15:1-3) They were totally opposed to God and Israel and there was no possibility that they might ever be brought into the way of the Lord. In order to preserve the purity of the line through which the Messiah was to come, it was necessary to cleanse the earth of the corrupting influence.

This, of course, was not an ethnic cleansing. Non-Israelites were permitted to become a part of Israel provided they adhered to the laws and ordinances God gave to Israel (This shows more of the mercy of God). In truth, David’s grandmother was not an Israelite after the flesh: she was a Moabitess whose faith in the living God was unshakeable, and she was accounted worthy to be a direct ancestor of the promised Messiah. The cleansing was made because of moral and spiritual matters, not along racial lines. The heathen were given to idolatry and immorality, the majority of whom would never repent irrespective of God’s dealings with them. An outstanding exception to this is Nineveh. The Lord knew that under the proper circumstances, those people would repent and turn from their wickedness, even though they were not Israelites. This is also a classic example of God’s mercy and compassion. In the day of judgment, the people of Nineveh will condemn the generation of Israelites who rejected Jesus: they, the Ninevites, repented when Jonah preached his message, but the Israelites crucified Jesus. (Matt. 12:41) The important point to remember in this is the foreknowledge of God, of both people, events, and times. He knows in advance who will respond to the gospel and who will not. God does not predetermine their fate, but it is certainly known by Him.

GOD IS JUST

Because God is totally just, we are compelled to believe that every person makes his/her own individual choice for or against God. God does not decide on the basis of His sovereignty which persons are to be saved and which are to be lost. The Day of Judgment will be a glorious vindication of the right(eous) judgment of the Almighty God. It will be shown that He was fair, impartial, merciful, long-suffering, and just. Mankind has been given the awesome power of free choice, i.e., to choose for himself which one of two roads he will travel. God has placed within each of us a monitor (conscience) which tells us about right and wrong so that we are all without excuse. (Rom. 1:20) He doesn’t make our choice for us.

THE LAW OF RECIPROCITY

“for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” (Gal. 6:7) “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required.” (Luke 12:48b) This divine law of justice is in effect at the present time. Many people have the mistaken idea that God was terribly harsh in the days before Jesus came, but now He looks the other way when we grow careless about sin and unrighteousness. This is not so. In the early church, a man and his wife were struck dead when they lied to the Holy Spirit. (Acts 5:1-10) Paul turned some men over to Satan. He also told the Athenians that “the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained;” (Acts 17:30,31)

Few people seem to realize that Jesus magnified, or amplified, the law of the Lord. (Isa. 42:21) He said on the mount that the law once dealt with actions alone. (Matt. 5:27-42) Now it works in the heart! Indeed, under the terms of the New Covenant, God’s laws are no longer on tablets of stone but are in our minds and our hearts. (Heb. 8:10; 10:15,16) All of which means that the requirements for those of us on this side of the Cross are more binding, more demanding: the Savior came and sent the Holy Spirit to aid us and help us to obey God in a way that was not possible before the Cross. Much more has been given to us. Much more is required of us and in the Day of Judgment, every person will be judged according to his works. (Matt.16:27; Rev. 20:12,13; Rev. 2:23) It is important that we realize that God is just and fair, and that His expectations for His creatures are ever the same.

(Reprinted from Number 366, May 1994 issue of “The Testimony of Truth” with permission from “People of the Living God”)

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