Westville - South Africa / www.coptrust.org.za
The objective of this section is to look at why we need God's Master Plan. We will consider the origin of sin and its effect on our nature and destiny.
Firstly we will consider how sin entered the world, and then the effect this had on mankind. Next we will look at the destiny of sinful mankind. Finally we will see how it is possible for us to escape this destiny through God's Master Plan.
What is the origin of sin?
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Genesis 1v1. He also created man in his own image. "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good" Genesis 1v31. God commanded humans to obey Him but humans disobeyed; they went against God's law 1 John 3v4 and so sin entered into the world Genesis 3v6-15, Romans 5v12. This created a division between God and humankind Genesis 3v24 and man who was "very good" was now in a state of sin.
So sin entered the world in the very beginning, because of man's disobedience to God's commandments.
For the living know that they will die; But the dead know nothing, And they have no more reward, For the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Also their love, their hatred, and their envy have now perished; Nevermore will they have a share In anything done under the sun.
What is the effect of sin on us?
There are two huge impacts of sin on us - the first is physical and the second is moral. Physical consequences There are severe physical consequences of sin - we suffer sickness, pain, and ultimately death, after a short approximately 70-year life span. Genesis 3v16-19, Psalm 90v10. We are therefore doomed to die.
Moral consequences
The moral consequences are that we are morally impure. "For from within, out of men's hearts come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery," Mark 7v21-23, Romans 1v28-32, Romans 5v17-21. We now have a sinful mind - a mind that is against God Romans 8v6-7; a mind in which a constant battle rages between doing good, and doing evil Romans 7v18-19. We will now consider our destiny as a result of sin, and how this destiny can be escaped.
What is the destiny of people without God's Master Plan?
"The wages of sin is death....." Romans 6v23. We all sin, and so receive our due wage - death Romans 5v12. Death is therefore a consequence of sin. Our destiny is therefore the grave. Here we know nothing and cannot praise God Psalm 6v5, Ecclesiastes 9v5, Isaiah 38v18- 19. It is a place of silence Psalm 115v17 and darkness Job 10v21-22, in which our thoughts perish Psalm 146v4. Indeed, we have the same destiny as a beast - the silent grave Ecclesiastes 3v18-20. The grave is a place of unconsciousness, and death is often referred to as a "sleep" John 11v11-13, Psalms 13v3, Luke 8v52-53. By sinning, we reverse the process of creation. For in the beginning "the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul." Genesis 2v7 AV. God took dust, and by breathing His breath, or spirit Job 33v4, Job 34v14-15, Isaiah 42v5 into the dust, He made a living soul, or a living being.
Souls can love, hate, hunger, and get tired Songs 1v7, 2 Samuel 5v8, Proverbs 19v15, Psalms 119v28. But souls can also sin! Ezekiel 18v4
The breath of life or Spirit of God returns to God, and so the "living soul" returns to the dust. "The dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it." Ecclesiastes 12v7, Ezekiel 18v4,20. So we receive our reward - death, an unconscious sleep in the grave. Our destiny, without God's Master Plan, is DEATH - an eternal state of unconsciousness, where both our mind and body are destroyed.
... the Lord Jesus Christ ...
will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.
Phil 3:21Is there any escape from this Destiny?
Yes! Because God so loved the world, he gave Jesus, his son, so that whoever believes in Jesus will not perish but have everlasting life John 3:16. God demonstrates his great love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. We are now saved through his sacrifice and reconciled back to God Rom 5:8-11. So it is only through Jesus that we can escape this destiny. Jesus, who never sinned 1 Peter 2v22, so his destiny could not be death Acts 2v24, was raised by God, and now holds the key to our resurrection Revelation 1v18. Only Jesus can release us from our destiny. The Lord Jesus Christ holds out a wonderful hope to us both in our lives now, as he transforms our character 2Cor 3:17-18, and in the future, where he will "transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body" Philippians 3v21. We will no longer have decaying, dying bodies, but immortal bodies like Jesus 1 Corinthians 15v51-58. We will never be able to die again Luke 20v36. So, through the Lord Jesus Christ, God offers us a gift - a gift of eternal life Romans 6v23, and a place in His eternal Kingdom. There is escape from our destiny of death, through a transformed character and the hope of the resurrection by the Lord Jesus Christ.
We need God's Master Plan so we can live a transformed life now and for eternity.
"But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection". Luke 20:35-36