The event of Adam’s sin did not come as a surprise to God. The fact is, God was prepared beforehand. From the beginning, even before Adam was created, He planned a sacrifice for sin, the body of Jesus Christ, as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8 KJV; 2 Corinthians 5:19 NASB). If Adam hadn’t sinned, would the world have been a wonderful place forever? Many Christian writers give that impression, but consider the mystery of God’s plan, revealed in Scripture, and written for you.
God’s plan has always been to prepare a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession; a people, who while on this earth, freely choose to obey God’s voice from their heart, proving their faithfulness (1 Peter 2:1-10). His plan necessitates that every man be tested in order to be proven trustworthy (Satan is God’s tester, 2 Corinthians 11:3, 4; Luke 4:1-13); he even tested Jesus Christ. “In the days of His flesh, He [Jesus Christ] offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death [temptation, Hebrews 4:15, 16], and He was heard because of His piety. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect [through obedience], He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation” (Hebrews 5:7-9).
If you belong to Christ, your calling is to imitate His same example: “Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourself also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God” (1 Peter 4:1-2).
Understand then, that during your lifetime, this world is your testing ground (2 Thessalonians 1:3-12; James 1:2-4). God began His testing with Adam, but Adam failed the test. Abel obeyed God, but Cain proved himself unfaithful–even after God explained to Cain the devil’s deceitful plan to possess his soul (Genesis 4:7). Noah obeyed God’s voice while the rest pleased themselves. Abraham heard and walked blamelessly (Genesis 17:1, 2; 26:5), but most of his flesh offspring refused God’s Word.
Now, today, Scripture is warning the church (1 Corinthians 10:1-15): “For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren,” that our fathers had the Gospel (Hebrews 4:1, 2), they submitted to God through Moses, baptized in the cloud and the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and all drank from the same spiritual rock–Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well–pleased for He destroyed them (Jude 5).
Israel’s history was written to instruct the church, upon whom the ends of the ages have now come; written to forewarn you of your own destruction, even after you confess repentance and faith in Christ (Matthew 7:21-23), if you continue loving evil pleasures, immorality, trying the Lord, and grumbling, like Israel did (Heb. 10:26-29).
God does not want you to perish. He’s looking for sons who use their faith to purify themselves (2 Corinthians 7:1; 1 John 3:1-3), who are found spotless at His coming (2 Peter 3:9-18); trustworthy sons, who will reign with Him in the new, righteous earth to come, where nothing unclean is found (Revelation 5:9, 10; 21:27). “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him in love” (Ephesians 1:4).
Therefore, today (2 Corinthians 6:1, 2), God is calling out of this world’s darkness, sons who will give themselves to Him completely, not receiving in vain His grace (the power to overcome temptation, 1 Peter 5:6-12), in order to be conformed to Christ’s image during their lifetime (Romans 8:28, 29).
God promises you that His Word, taught you by His Holy Spirit and believed, will empower you supernaturally to become a son recreated with the nature of Christ (2 Peter 1:3, 4; 1 Thessalonians 2:13); a son, who of your own free will, lays aside the pleasure of sin to faithfully walk in obedience to His Holy Spirit–becoming holy (1 Peter 1:14-17; Luke 9:23, 24); a son whose obedience to God’s voice overcomes the world, your flesh, and the testing of the devil (Revelation 12:11; 21:7 ); a son who is found trustworthy and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ for His church (Ephesians 5:25-32; 1 Timothy 6:11-14).
This is the mystery of God’s plan in creating Adam and his offspring, as revealed in Scripture.