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GOD’S
ETERNAL PLAN TO REDEEM MAN [Part Four] “According
to the eternal purpose”
(Ephesians 3:11) By
Bob Myhan Review
and Enlargement of Part Three Man
is the only physical creature that is responsible for his actions. This
responsibility is tri-directional: upward, outward and inward. His
primary moral responsibility is upward to God. To be sure, if there
were no God, man would not be morally responsible, at all, for moral
responsibility rests on the fact that man was created in the image of God. When
Amnon, the son of David was about to force his
half-sister, Tamar, to lie with him, she told him, “no
such thing should be done
in Likewise,
Adam and Eve were forbidden to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil (Gen. 2:17; 3:1-3). Therefore, they were morally obligated to
refrain from eating it. No such thing should have been done in Man’s
second moral responsibility is outward to others (Matt. 22:39; Phil.
2:3). I am to love my neighbor as myself, and esteem others better than
myself. After
reminding Amnon of his upward responsibility,
Tamar asked, “And I, where could I
take my shame?” (2 Sam. 13:13) He had a moral responsibility not only
toward God, but also toward his sister. Likewise,
Eve had a moral responsibility to Adam. After all, she was created as “a
helper comparable” to him. She was to help him in his responsibilities to
God. It was equally wrong for both of them to eat of the forbidden fruit. She
sinned by eating, and she sinned further by encouraging Adam to eat. And Adam,
as the woman’s head, should have reprimanded her instead of joining her in
the sin. Man’s
third moral responsibility is inward to himself. Because of the penalty
for sin (Rom. 6:23), man owes it to himself to refrain from sinning. That is,
he is to “live soberly,” or
“exercise…that self-restraint that governs all passions and desires,
enabling [him] to be conformed to the mind of Christ” (Vine). Thus,
if Amnon persisted in forcing Tamar to lie with
him, he would not only be sinning against God and Tamar, but against himself,
as well. Thus, she said, “And as for
you, you would be like one of the fools in Likewise,
Adam and Eve owed it to themselves and to one another, both as individuals and
as a collective social unit, to refrain from eating the forbidden fruit; they
knew that doing so would mean certain death for God had revealed this unto
them. The
fall of man involved at least three distinct changes. There
was (1) a change of affection, (2) a change of volition and (3) a change of
relation. After the fall, God began
to reveal His eternal plan to redeem man (Gen. 3:14-15). There was no
need to do so previous to the fall. Man’s
Downward Spiral After
the sin and expulsion of Adam and Eve, the human race continued its downward
moral spiral. Their oldest son, Cain, murdered his brother, Abel. “And
why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother's
righteous.”
(Gen. 4:1-8; Heb. 11:4; 1 John 3:11-12)
In
less than two millennia, the wickedness of man was so great that God decided
to destroy the human race, except for eight persons (Gen. 6:1-8; 2 Peter
2:4-9). The details of the descent of man are given in the epistle of Paul to
the saints in For
the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because
what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it
to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes
are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even
His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because,
although they knew God, they did not glorify Him
as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their
foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and
changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible
man--and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also
gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their
bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and
worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed
forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even
their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise
also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for
one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves
the penalty of their error which was due. And even as they did not like to
retain God in their
knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are
not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality,
wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit,
evil-mindedness; they
are
whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of
evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving,
unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that
those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same
but also approve of those who practice them.
( The
salvation of Noah and family was on the condition of faithful obedience. By
faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly
fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned
the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
(Gen. 6:9-22; Heb. 11:7) Noah
and family “were saved by water”
(1 Peter 3:18-20, KJV), which prefigured water baptism in the New Testament
age And
baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you--not as a removal of dirt from
the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ
(1 Peter 3:21, NRSV). [To
be continued] |