Humanity's Sinfulness
The Word Of God - Lesson III A
Humanity's Sinfulness
The Condition
We have learned that the first man and woman disobeyed God. This caused a separation between them and God. However, their disobedience has affected all of humanity born after them because everyone born after them has been born with a sinful nature as we can read in:
Romans 5:12
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way sin came to all men, because all sinned.
Scripture confirms in many places that all of humanity is sinful, regardless of colour of skin, status in life and gender and is therefore separated from God. God’s Word makes it very clear as well that humanity is not able to save itself. We can read this in:
Romans 3:23
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Romans 5:18a
Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men…
Romans 5:19a
For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners…
Romans 6:23a
For the wages of sin is death….
Romans 8:6a
The mind of sinful man is death…
Romans 8:7-8
The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
The Result
Because of disobedience human beings have come under a curse of death and consequently are separated from God. Moreover they are not only separated from God in this life, they are separated from God after they die. This means that at that time their bodies will be buried but their souls will go to a place called hell waiting for a time of final judgement as we can read in:
II Thessalonians 1:8-9
He (Jesus) will punish those who do not know God and who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of His power.
Revelation 20:11-15
Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from His presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which was the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
God's Remedy
Since humanity is not able to save itself, God, in His mercy, has provided a way back to Him through His Son Jesus Christ, the Second Adam. This means that God has made it possible for human beings to enter into a relationship with Him in this life.
John 3:16
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Furthermore when they die, even though their bodies will be buried, their souls and spirits will enter God’s dwelling place as we can read in:
II Corinthians 5:6-8
“Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith and not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”
Philippians 3:20
But our citizenship is in heaven and we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The First Sacrifice
God’s plan of salvation was already put in place when the first man and woman sinned as we can read in:
I Peter 1:18-20
For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.
After the first man and woman had sinned God sacrificed an animal to cover over their sins as we can read in:
Genesis 3:21
The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
This verse implies that an animal was sacrificed because blood needed to be shed in order for their sins to be covered over and the skin of the animal was used to cover their bodies.
Furthermore, God will have taught the first man and woman the need for ongoing sacrifices so that their sins would continue to be covered over.
The first man and woman in turn will have taught their children the importance of ongoing sacrifices as we can read in:
Genesis 4:3-5a
In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the first born of his flock. The Lord looked with favour on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering He did not look with favour…
Both Cain and Abel would have learned from their parents that an acceptable offering to the Lord would require the shedding of blood in order for their sins to be covered over.
However, Cain’s offering was an offering of the fruits of the soil. Therefore no shedding of blood had taken place. Consequently his offering was not acceptable to the Lord since his sins had not been covered over. These sins remained between him and God and kept him separate from God.
On the other hand, Abel’s offering had required the killing of an animal. This meant that blood was shed. Consequently his offering was acceptable to the Lord since his sins had been covered over. This made it possible for him to continue to be in relationship with God.
What God taught the first man and woman was the beginning of a sacrificial system which He eventually put in place under Moses as we can read in:
Exodus 24:3-4a
When Moses went and told the people all the Lord’s words and laws, they responded with one voice, “Everything the Lord has said we will do.” Moses then wrote down everything the Lord had said.
However, this sacrificial system was not able to make men perfect as we can read in:
Hebrews 10:1-4
The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming –not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshippers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
The sacrificial system under Moses only covered over the sins of the people. These sacrifices were not able to remove their sins. Therefore this system was only a temporary measure until the time for the final Sacrifice in the form of God’s Son Jesus Christ. Even though God had planned for Him to be that final Sacrifice at the foundation of the world this did not happen until the time was right for it to take place as we can read in:
I Peter 1:18-20
For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.
We will look at God’s Plan of Redemption in greater detail in our next study.