Before the Beginning

I really want us to see the awesomeness of our God in His plan for man. He is most thorough in the application of His will in the institution of time. However, we are practically ignorant of His ways and power.

Ephesians 1:3-5

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

According to the above passage, the Lord chose us, the Church, to be in Him before He ever formed the world. We have learned that this predestination was possible according to the foreknowledge of God. Nevertheless, I think that we need to look more closely into God’s plan for man in order to behold the true and awesome ordination of the grace He poured into our lives. I think that there is much confusion among the bible scholars regarding the doctrine of divine election. I also believe that the lack of understanding and teaching of this awesome act of God is greatly responsible for the lack of reverent fear and appreciation of our God.

If the Body of Christ truly understood the mind of the Father in procuring Himself a people, I do not think we would be as presumptuous regarding the disposition of our souls. It is necessary for us to see the big picture. And indeed, it is a big picture. I was amazed at the reality of divine election once the Lord caused me to understand it from His perspective. I am sure that you also have often wondered about God’s dealings with those who did not seem to have a chance to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ beginning with those Gentiles who lived from Noah to Christ. These people were not privy to the covenants and oracles of God, as the descendants of Abraham were. So in order to avoid any speculations, it is needful that we examine God’s mind and heart concerning this people.

Genesis 10:1-32

1 Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood.

2 The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras.

3 And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah.

4 And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.

5 By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.

6 And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan.

7 And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabtecha: and the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan.

8 And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.

9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.

10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

11 Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah,

12 And Resen between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city.

13 And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim,

14 And Pathrusim, and Casluhim, (out of whom came Philistim,) and Caphtorim.

15 And Canaan begat Sidon his firstborn, and Heth, 16 And the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgasite, 17 And the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite, 18 And the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite: and afterward were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad.

19 And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou goest, unto Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim, even unto Lasha.

20 These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their tongues, in their countries, and in their nations.

21 Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born.

22 The children of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram.

23 And the children of Aram; Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash.

24 And Arphaxad begat Salah; and Salah begat Eber.

25 And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name was Joktan.

26 And Joktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazar-maveth, and Jerah,

27 And Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah,

28 And Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba,

29 And Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab: all these were the sons of Joktan.

30 And their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou goest unto Sephar a mount of the east.

31 These are the sons of Shem, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations. 32 These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood.

Genesis 11:1

1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.

Genesis 11:5-9

5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.

6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.

8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.

9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

Genesis 10-32

10 These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood:

11 And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.

12 And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah:

13 And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.

14 And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber:

15 And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.

16 And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg:

17 And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters.

18 And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu:

19 And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters.

20 And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug:

21 And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters.

22 And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor:

23 And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.

24 And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah:

25 And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters. 26 And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

27 Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot. 28 And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.

29 And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.

30 But Sarai was barren; she had no child.

31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.

32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.

Genesis 12:1-3

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.

The genealogies above show us how man multiplied upon the earth, becoming divided in language and territories. Nevertheless, this was the doing of the Lord. It was He who scattered them upon the face of the earth. It was He who set the boundaries of their habitations. Paul said so in his Mars Hill discourse.

Acts 17:23-26

23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.

24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;

25 Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;

26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

The Lord has caused all nations that exist on the earth to come from one man, Adam. He has also appointed the years (times) and boundaries of their existence on the earth. All this was done “before” the foundation of the earth was set in place. Before the world was, God knew the nations that would be. Here also, we must remember all these generations came from the three sons of Noah, which were Ham, Shem and Japheth. These were builders of the ark and partakers of the grace of God. They knew God and were responsible as Noah was, to pass that knowledge and respect down to their offspring by commandment.

They knew of the promise of the merciful redeemer. Their father taught them the way of the Lord, even as he preached to all men living at that time. It is also necessary to note here that the Lord is not haphazard in His dealings with man. Some will argue that there were probably people who were born in those days that never heard of the promise God made to Adam and Eve in the Garden. Is it just of God then to select only the line of Abraham, a descendant of Shem, to establish His covenant? To answer the above question, we must note two things: The nations of the earth willfully departed from the ways and the knowledge of the Most High God. Mankind had become the children of the god of this world. We must look into both of these facts thoroughly if we are to understand the grace of God. GRACE: charitoo: “to endue with unmerited love and divine favor;” “Highly favored” by God. Now we will explore the true meaning and redemptive connotation of God’s grace. Our first fact causes us to look at it from a mere natural and practical sense.

I. THE DISPOSITION OF THE NATIONS

Romans 1:16-32

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.

20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:

25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:

27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.

28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,

30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:

32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

Romans 2:11-12

11 For there is no respect of persons with God.

12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;

Paul’s epistle to the Church at Rome is one of the most explicit expositions on the grace of God. It reveals the progressive sinful state of man as he covered the earth. It also reveals God’s response to the sins of these generations. He gave them over to all that was in their heart to do. Nevertheless, God declares that they were without excuse. Why? Because when they knew God, they did not wish to retain Him in their knowledge. They willingly departed from Him and His ways. In addition, they knew that the things they did were sinful and worthy of death.

It is unrealistic to believe that men did not know of the promise of God. God has declared Himself to be faithful to every generation of man. He has meticulously shown forth His goodness, longsuffering, mercy and wrath to all those who dwell upon the earth. Consider the following:

2 Peter 2:4-6

4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;

5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;

6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;

2 Peter 2:9

9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

1 Peter 4:3-6

3 For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:

4 Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you: 5 Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.

6 For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

II. THE SPIRITUAL DISPOSITION OF THE NATIONS

Now we must look into the spirit world to see the other side of this truth concerning the disposition of the nations of the earth that were separated from God.

Genesis 2:17

17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. This was the law God gave to Adam and Eve in the Garden.

Their disobedience would cause them to die. But here we need to further define the death factor.

Romans 5:19-20

19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:

1 Corinthians 15:21-22

21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Romans 5:12-14

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:

13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.

14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

Paul confirms here that when Adam sinned, the law of sin and death was passed on or made all mankind subject to it. Therefore, death passed from Adam to all men, in that all mankind was in Adam. An example of this principle is in the fact that Levi was accounted a tithe-payer by the tithes His great-grandfather, Abraham, paid many years before he was born.

Hebrews 7:9-10

9 And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, paid tithes in Abraham.

10 For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him.

Furthermore, Paul goes on to say that sin did not begin with the Law of Moses. Sin was in the world before the Law was ever given to Moses. Thus proving that the Law of Moses is not the only rule of life. However, in the days from Adam to Moses there was a God-given rule or law and that law was transgressed before the Law of Moses came into existence. Cain’s murder of Abel, the ungodliness of the old world and the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah are evidence of sin. Therefore, there had to be a law given to those generations for sin is not imputed where there is no law.

This is proven in the fact that death reigned from Adam to Moses. It is a fact that death could not have reigned if there had not been some transgression of a law of God. Death even reigned over those who had not sinned in the same manner as Adam, or those who had not transgressed the law of God. For the sin of Adam was imputed upon his entire lineage. In him, all were made sinners and all died. This could also include infants who had not sinned an actual sin, but did die because Adam’s sin was imputed to them. The reign of death can also be seen in the judgments of God in those days.

The flood and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah both included infants. Furthermore, the fact that little children, who never committed any actual transgressions, are susceptible to horrible diseases and death is evidence that Adam’s sin was passed to them as well. It is the original sin of Adam that mankind has inherited.

The race of Adam is a dead race. It is the walking dead and except God had provided a remedy, the race would all end up in hell. Now let us look at this situation from God’s point of view. He has a race of beings who have transgressed His law. How does He respond to the sin that was covering the earth like a plague?

Acts 17:30

30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

God winked at the sins and abominations of man. Meaning that he overlooked them, not doing anything to stop or punish them. In other words, He allowed man to continue in His ways. Paul says God gave them over to their sins. Thus, it is concluded all are sinners. There is none who are righteous before God. As a result of this unrighteousness, all are damned and fitted for destruction. Even today, sin is in the world and such sin that is abominable to God. However, He allows man to continue. He has not ended the world, nor has He disabled man. Why? Because He has a time appointed when He will bring judgments upon the earth. He is not slack in this promise either.