BASIC BIBLE STUDIES
# 011
Humanity's History Of Persistent Disobedience To God
(Pt. 4)
Having completed a survey of mankind's history of persistent disobedience to God as revealed in the Old Testament, we now come to the New Testament record of humanity's disobedience to God. Our numbering sequence will continue from the previous lesson.
Before continuing our study, however, perhaps we need to deal with some questions that may be in the minds of some: "Were there no good people on earth? Had everybody 'gone to the dogs'? Would it not be better to talk about the good people rather than only about the bad?" These are legitimate questions. Yes, there were many good people in all ages of human history. No, not everyone had "gone to the dogs." But the overall history of humanity is not a pretty picture, and reality forces us to look honestly at the true picture. This is not an effort to be negative; it is an effort to be painfully honest as to the reality of the human condition. The apostle Paul affirmed: "...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Only by recognizing this reality are we prepared to accept God's solution to our situation.
The New Testament opens with the birth of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1 & 2). Actually, the birth of Christ was preceded by the birth of John the Baptist by some six months, as a study of Luke 1 & 2 shows. John was sent by God to prepare the way for the ministry of Christ.
18. John was very bold and straightforward in his preaching to the citizens of Judea (a variation of the name Judah), a province of New Testament Palestine (the Old Testament land of Canaan). John called for the people to repent (Matthew 3:2), thus showing that there were many changes they needed to make in their lives. He referred to the religious leaders (the Pharisees and Sadducees, two of the several sects of the Jews that had arisen during the period between the two Testaments) as a "brood of vipers," not the best way for a preacher "to win friends and influence people"! (Matthew 3:7). He went on to warn them that "even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees" (Matthew 3:10), a warning of the impending doom that awaited national Israel because of her rejection of Christ as the Messiah, a doom which she experienced at the hand of the Romans in A. D. 70.
19. As Jesus began His ministry His message was the same as John's: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 4:17). Again, we note that Christ preached the need for repentance, the need for people to turn from their pattern of disobedience to God to a life of submission to God and His will. In a scathing rebuke of the Jewish religious leaders, Jesus employed identical language to that of John the Baptist when He said: "Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?" (Matthew 23:33).
20. Over the course of His three-plus years' ministry, Christ accrued a large number of followers (disciples). From among this number, He chose 12 "whom He also named apostles" (Luke 6:13). These would be the men with whom He would closely work, whom He would especially train, and upon whom, following His ascension back to heaven, He would send the Holy Spirit to "guide [them] into all truth" (John 16:13). They would be the first line of offense in taking His message of salvation "into all the world" (Mark 16:15). But look at the actions of some of the men handpicked by Christ Himself. Philip was slow to comprehend who Christ really was (John 14:7-11). Thomas doubted the reality of Christ's resurrection (John 20:24-28). Peter, in a show of bravado, declared that he would lay down his life for Christ, but Jesus told Peter that "the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times" (John 13:37-38). The heart of Judas Iscariot was penetrated by Satan, leading Judas to betray the Lord for 30 pieces of silver (Matthew 26:14-15). Thus, even among Christ's closest associates there was a pattern of doubt, disbelief, disobedience, and outright betrayal.
The above incidents took place during the ministries of John the Baptist and Christ in the first century land of Palestine, the home of the Jews. But what was going on in the rest of the larger world that lay outside the country where Jesus lived and died? Following Christ's death, burial, resurrection, and ascension back to heaven, the church was established and Christianity began to spread beyond the borders of Palestine. This was as the Lord had intended (Luke 24:46-47). As the apostles of Christ--especially the apostle Paul, who was called to the apostleship following Christ's ascension (Acts 26:12-18)--went out into the larger world (the vast Gentile population of the earth) to preach the gospel, what kind of situation did they find with reference to religion and morals? Let us resume our survey.
21. As Paul set out with others to preach the gospel, they came to Cyprus, an island in the Mediterranean Sea. Here they encountered "a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew" who was "perverting the straight (right) ways of the Lord" (Acts 13:4-12).
22. At Lystra, a city in Asia Minor (the modern day country of Turkey), Paul and Barnabas encountered the deep idolatry into which the Gentile nations had sunk over the centuries (Acts 14:8-18).
23. In Athens, Greece Paul witnessed an indescribably sad display of idolatry as he observed the numerous altars the people had erected to their various gods. Seeing one erected "to the unknown god," Paul used this as an opportunity to preach to them about the God that indeed they did not know--the true God of heaven and earth (Acts 17:16-34).
24. At Corinth (also in Greece) Paul encountered the basest kind of sexual immorality and depravity. Nevertheless, by the power of the gospel of Christ, "many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized" (Acts 18:8). Later, Paul wrote a letter to them reminding them of their previous lifestyle and warning them not to revert to it: "Be not deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God" (I Corinthians 6:9-11, New King James Version). What a mighty testimony to the power of the gospel to change lives, but what a telling insight into the depravity into which the whole Greco-Roman world had sunk!
On and on we could go with examples of the disregard for and the disobedience to the one true and holy God that had come to characterize the larger world of humanity. In a sweeping and graphic description of such Paul wrote: "For since the creation of the world His (God's) invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things which are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they (the Gentile nations, hf) are without excuse (for their idolatry and depravity, hf), because, although they [once] knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise they became fools... Therefore, God also gave them up...For this reason God gave them up...And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind..." (Romans 1:20-32).
It was into this kind of world that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was born. It was this world that Christ came to save and to sanctify to the sincere service of the one true God. In our next Study we will reflect on the birth of Christ.
If this essay has blessed your life, feel free to forward it to others who may benefit from it.
Hugh Fulford