The Promises Of God To Mankind

The Promises of God to Mankind

Man and His Earth

We are, at this very moment on the earth traveling thousands of miles an hour through space as we travels around the sun. This is our home, and we its inhabitants. The planet earth is a wonderful home, with sufficient warmth and light from the sun, and subdued light from the moon by night. It grows food sufficient for all its inhabitants. The stars beautify the nightly heavens, along with the moon. And they, the stars, are themselves suns with perhaps other orbs encircling them like our own earth, and with their own beauties. We have sufficient water and food, and beauties all around us, in the diversity of plants and animals; in the sunshine and the rain; in the snow, the forests, the flowers, the birds, and the rainbows in the heavens, etc.

But what of man? He is living in a body subject to disease and death. His tendencies for evil surpass, the lower animals, as unimagined. Wars, violence, and evil, fill his mind, his hands, and the earth.

He lives for a short time and dies, and his posterity approve, and continue his evil ways; and death reigns. Is this all we can hope for?

We will today, respected audience, consider this earth from God’s perspective, and specifically certain promises that He has made. We will see that God has a plan with this earth, and has committed Himself to ridding Himself, and mankind of all the evils on the earth, and so establishing it and mankind to a state of blessedness.

Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

We will, in this lecture today, consider first, how evil entered the world, and the consequences thereof. Then we will consider the Three Main Promises that God made to mankind, which will restore man and earth to the beautiful state which God intended from the beginning. These Three Promises are sometimes referred to in Scriptures as “Covenants”.

In The Beginning

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. He created the plants and animals upon the earth, and last of all, He created Man in His own image, and the woman from the man. God then looked upon all that He had made, and behold, it was very good (Gen 1:31).

God gave the man a law prohibiting him from eating from a particular tree in the midst of the garden of Eden, on penalty of death. The serpent, more subtle than the other beasts, and constitutionally amoral, discussed this prohibition with the woman. Gen 3:4 records this discussion:

4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

6 ¶ And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

At this point, the “very good” state that had previously existed in the earth was disrupted. The man and the woman had rebelled against their Creator, and sin entered into the world. With this sin, came the death that God had told them of.

When Adam and Eve sinned their nature also changed. Previously they had been non-dying creatures. Now they were mortal and dying. Furthermore we are told in the

Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: 19) by one mans disobedience many were made sinners.

This tells us that through Adam’s sin, the death that entered into his nature at that time passed upon all of his posterity, and so all born to him ever after would have his same mortal, dying nature.

In addition to this, the very TENDENCY TO SIN became part of his very nature. In Romans Chapter 7, the Apostle Paul speaks of this. In verse 17 he says, “sin that dwelleth in me.”.. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not… 24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

The tendency to sin was in the very flesh of Paul, making his body a body of death. All of mankind has this same sinful serpent thinking nature that they inherited from their father and mother, Adam and Eve.

This tendency is within us, as Christ said, and comes out of us, in its sinful expressions. Mark 7:21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,

22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:

23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

Let us now go back to the Garden of Eden. The creation that God had made was no longer “very good”, but rather rebellious, sinful, with their hearts, minds, and very nature tending to the evil that Christ spoke of. The world was at a crisis. And God immediately acted to correct this evil so as to get the earth back to its very good state.

Here, in Genesis 3:15 we have God’s first great promise to mankind. This is often called the Edenic Covenant, since it was made by God in Eden. Here, God, speaking to the serpent said:

1. The Edenic Covenant

Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

God was here promising that a seed, or offspring of the woman would be born, who would bruise, or crush, the head of the serpent, and so eliminate totally the evil that the serpent had brought into the world. That this seed of the woman, would himself, receive a bruise in his heel, but that such a bruise would not be fatal.

In other words, God looked forward to the time when His own son, Jesus Christ, born from a woman, would take away the sin and death, that Adam had brought into the world. And that this special seed, Jesus Christ, would himself be bruised in the heel by the serpent, and so die, but, being perfectly righteous, God could righteously raise him from the dead.

This was the first Great Promise to Mankind. Although sin and death would reign for a time, God, would provide a seed to remove the evil that the serpent had brought into the world. And through this seed, establish a race of men and women, who, through him, would be righteous, and immortal.

Adam and Eve were created about 4000 BC. We see the first murder shortly after with Cain slaying his brother Abel. Evil continued to increase as the evil that was in their nature, continued to express itself in their thinking and their institutions. After about 1600 years, in about 2400BC we see the condition of the earth in Genesis Chapter 6:

5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually…

11 ¶ The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.

Thus, God washed away the wickedness in the Noahic flood. After the flood, the earth again became populated through Noah’s three sons. . However, within the very flesh of the survivors, the serpent principle of disobedience, and sin remained. So that shortly thereafter as the population increased, mankind again presumed to rebel against God. In the plains of Babylon, at Babel, mankind attempted to establish a center of false worship. Nimrod, a descendent of Ham was apparently a leader in this rebellion. God once again had to intervene in His creation. This time, he did not destroy them, but rather confused their languages, and so scattered the peoples abroad on the earth.

God had not, and has not forgotten His promise in Eden, nor His purpose with the earth. About 300 years after the Flood, in about 2100 BC Abram was born. Through Abram, whose name was later changed by God to Abraham, God made his second Great Promise, or Covenant. This is often called:

2. The Abrahamic Covenant

Gen 12:1 ¶ Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:

2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:

3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Going on to Chapter 17, we see God elaborate to Abraham upon this covenant.

>Gen 17:6 And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.

7 ¶ And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.

8 And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.

9 And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations.

10 This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.

This same promise was reiterated to Abraham’s son, Isaac, and to Isaac’s son Jacob. Remember that Jacob’s name was changed to Israel, and that from him came the twelve tribes of Israel.

There are a number of aspects to this promise. But one essential part of it says, “I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee…for an everlasting covenant.”

This seed promised to Abraham, was the same “seed of the woman” promised in the Edenic Covenant that we looked at earlier. Here God is telling Abraham, that an offspring of his, would be the one whom God would use to correct all of the evils brought into the world through the serpent, and that furthermore, the entire earth would be blessed through Abraham and this seed.

But let us go back to Abraham, at around 2000 BC. His descendants were, Isaac, Jacob, and the twelve sons of Jacob. One of these sons was Joseph, and he was sold as a slave into Egypt. Later all of Israel’s children went down into Egypt and sojourned there 400 years. Then they were brought out of bondage by God through Moses. They, after 40 years of wanderings, entered the land of Canaan under the generalship of Joshua at around 1400 BC. This was the time of the Judges. This lasted about 400 years until about 1020 BC. At this time, Samuel, the last of the judges, anointed Saul to be the first King. After Saul, David became king.

To David was given the Third Great Promise, or Covenant. This is shown in

3. The Davidic Covenant

2 Samuel 7: 12 And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.

13 He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.

14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son…16 And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.

Here, God more fully reveals His purpose to mankind. We see several great and wonderful additions to God’s purpose. We see that David was to die; that one of his seed ,”which shall proceed out of thy bowels” would be established on David’s throne as king; that this seed would build a house for God’s name; that his throne would be established forever before David, or in David’s presence; and finally that God Himself would also be the Father of this seed.

Let us review this to this point.

In Eden God promised a seed of the woman who would undo the evil brought into the world by the serpent, and so eliminate sin, disease and death

To Abraham God revealed that all families would be blessed in this seed, and that Abraham and this seed would inherit “all the land of Canaan for an everlasting posession.”

To David God further reveals that this seed would also be son of God as well as an offspring of the woman through Abraham and David. This special seed would sit as a King over a Kingdom on David’s throne. Note also that the resurrection is taught here. This seed and Kingdom would be established forever before David, or in his presence, after he had already died. In order for this to occur, David would have to be resurrected from the dead.

The New Testament Confirms These Promises

These are the 3 Great Promises that God made to mankind. Let us now go to the New Testament and see how they are confirmed in Jesus Christ. We will begin by looking at the birth of Jesus Christ.

The Edenic Promise

Let us go to the very first book and the very first verse verse in the New Testament. It reads:

Matt 1:1 ¶ The book of the generation of Jesus Christ. This brings our attention immediately to Jesus Christ. His name signifies ‘The Anointed Savior’. He was anointed by God to be the savior of mankind, and so God is bringing our attention to His promise to man in the garden of Eden. Here was the “seed” promised who would save mankind from the evil brought into the world by the serpent. This is shown more fully in verse Matt 1:21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

The fulfillment of the promise in Eden is shown at Christ’s baptism by John the baptist, about 30 years after his birth. John 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

This takes us back to the Promise that God made in the Garden of Eden. In order for this seed of the woman, Jesus Christ, to remove the evil brought into the world by the serpent lie, sin would have to be removed from the world. Romans 6:23 tells us, “the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

By removing sin from the earth, death, the wages of sin, is also removed, as promised by God in Eden.

The Abrahamic Promise

Romans 15:8 Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers:

Remember that Abraham was told to circumcise all the males in his household as a token of the covenant between him and God. “Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers.”

Secondly we will consider selections from Galatians Chapter 3.

Gal 3:8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed…

16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ…26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus…

27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Notice that this Second Great Covenant that God made with Abraham is referred to in the New Testament as The Gospel. This is the Gospel, or Good News, that Jesus Christ is that promised seed who would take away the sin of the world (John 1:29). That is he was the seed of the woman promised in the Garden of Eden, and through him all the earth would be blessed. Notice again Gal 3:29 “if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” We all have the opportunity to inherit this promise made to Abraham and Christ.

The Davidic Covenant

Luke 1: 30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.

32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

This message to Mary by the angel shows that this son to be born to her, would be an offspring of a woman, and that God Himself would be his Father. That this son would be given the throne of his father David and reign thereon forever. Furthermore, this statement by the angel is almost an exact paraphrase of the promise given to David which we quoted earlier in 2 Samuel, Chapter 7.

We saw how God, emphasized the importance of His previous Promises in the very first verse of the very first book of the New Testament. We will look at this quote again and see that as we continue it it also includes Abraham.

Matthew 1:1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

How wonderful for God to show us that He remembers His Promises, in the very first words of the New Testament!

But again, looking at the Promise He made to David, we see in,

Matthew 9:27 And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us.

Mat 21:14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them.15 And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased

These blind men knew God’s Promise to David, and they recognized that Jesus Christ was that special offspring promised to him. Here in Jesus Christ was the sone of David, the son of God. The one who would sit upon the throne of his father David for ever, of whose kingdom there would be no end. Jesus Christ is called the son of David a total of 15 times in the New Testament.

Conclusion

Sin, evil and death were brought into the world by our Father and Mother Adam and Eve, by listening to the serpent lie, and being disobedient to God, their Father and their Creator. Inasmuch as we follow this serpent tendency, we become the ‘seed of the serpent.’ God, through these Three Great Promises, informs us that He will not permit this evil to continue.

When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we are asking God to fulfill these Three Great Promises that He has made to us. Jesus Christ said in

Matt 6:9 ¶ After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Then the Promise in Eden, to Abraham and to David will be fulfilled. Jesus Christ, the son of Abraham, the son of David, will sit upon the throne of David in the land of Canaan for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. Then God’s will will be done on earth, as it is now done in heaven. The curse will be totally removed from the earth together with all sin and death, and God’s full blessing will rest upon mankind. And then the words of Revelations 21:3 will be fulfilled.

Rev 21: 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

CY