In the beginning, God created man in His own image. God is good, outgoing, concerned for others and willing to sacrifice for their benefit.
This God-given nature was greatly altered when man rebelled against his Maker. He became egocentric, self-centered, and his strongest urge is self-preservation.
Aware of his nakedness - his shortcomings before God - man, by his own effort, made himself a covering of fig leaves, which seemed to suffice for the moment. However, when it was time to appear in the presence of God, it was not sufficient to cover man's shame. Man hid.
God, in His mercy, clothed man with a coat of skins, Genesis 3:21. From where did the skins come? From an animal? What had the animal done? Nothing!
It took the death of an innocent one to cover man's shame so he could stand before the Creator. The Gospel message!
Man was promised that One would come who, although His heel would be bruised, would destroy the instigator of evil and restore all things, Genesis 3:15.
The inclination to evil, to exalt one's self, was passed on to the next generation. Abel brought an animal sacrifice to the Lord, showing that he was trusting that the shedding of innocent blood would make him acceptable to God. Cain brought the works of his hands, a fig leaf garment if you please, to the Lord and was rejected.
Cain killed Abel and when God inquired, Cain's response demonstrates how man had become unlike God, who is concerned for others. "Am I my brother's keeper?" Cain was not concerned for others. He was looking out for number one, himself, Genesis 4.
Although the promise of a deliverer to come was repeated - Enoch, the seventh from Adam preached it, Jude 14 - man's inclination to evil continued until the whole earth was so wicked that God destroyed it save for Noah and his family.
This earthly world was given a fresh start with Noah, who was "a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time", and his three sons. Unfortunately, the inclination to evil continued.
Four hundred twenty-seven years after the flood (Ussher's chronology), Abraham and his father's house had to be called out from among the ordinary people of that day. Abraham was given the promise - the same one given to Adam and Eve in Eden - that through his seed all the families of the earth would be blessed, Genesis 12:3.
Great spiritual truths were revealed to Abraham, which were handed down to his descendants, Isaac, Jacob, and his twelve sons. Yet four hundred thirty years later, the very people to whom the special message from the God of Heaven had been entrusted, were in Egypt, in darkness, in confusion, in slavery, Galatians 3:16,17.
Once again God brings light to humanity, as Moses delivers the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage and leads them to the promised land. So the nation of Israel was established, favored above all other nations on earth with truth from Heaven.
Each tribe had its own territory, and at first they operated kind of semi-autonomously, similar to a confederacy. Soon, God's chosen people, with more light than any other people, asked for a king so they could be like other people.
When wandering in the wilderness, the people had complained about the manna, the diet God had chosen for them, and asked for flesh to eat. Although this displeased God, "... He gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul", Psalm 106:15. Thousands died while eating quail. See Numbers 11.
Once again God yields to a request, which He knows is not good for Israel, and gives them a king. Saul was just the kind of person they would have chosen, head and shoulders above all others. He would have won the popular vote had there been one. Saul's failure was to be an object lesson for all time.
The unlikely David, a man after God's own heart, turned out to be the most successful king. The Messiah was to be a "Son of David", a most endearing title. Yet, Solomon was a son of David. His egocentric obsession with extravagance heavily burdened the people and contributed to the division of the nation. In the end, Solomon was wise enough to see that all was vanity.
Man's inclination to evil continued. Over and over and over again, rulers in Israel would oppress the people and corrupt the truth of God. Every now and then, God would raise up one who would revive the people and restore some degree of purity to the nation but those who followed would soon resort to the ways of previous kings and the inclination to evil would continue.
We Christians today look back and think, "those Jews sure were dumb". But by condemning the Jews we condemn ourselves, for the history of the Jews is the history of human nature.
The last direct light that Israel had from God came through the prophet Malachi in 397 BC (Ussher's chronology). Add to this the 33 years of Christ's life and you have another 430 year period at the end of which God's chosen people, who had been given every earthly advantage and special revelation from Heaven itself, are found to be in darkness and confusion. Man is strongly inclined to evil despite efforts to the contrary from God.
Who crucified Christ? It was God's visible Church on earth! Not only was it His Church, but it was the leaders in the Church who led the people to cry for His crucifixion.
Men are inclined to evil. Church organizations are operated by men. Men make mistakes. To err is human.
Now that Christ's Church has been established, Christians make a big mistake in thinking that the early Church was a perfect Church. An important worker, Apollos, did not know about the Holy Spirit. Peter, one of Christ's closest disciples, was confused about his relations with Gentiles and it was necessary to call a council to come to a decision on circumcision. Even the great Apostle Paul went to Jerusalem to take the old covenant vow of a Nazarite thus initiating events which ended his ministry. The early Church was not perfect. Even they made mistakes.
Did not Jesus say that the gates of hell could not prevail against His Church? Yes, He did say they would not prevail, but he did not say that the Devil would not make some inroads in the Church.
Scholars recognize that there is a visible Church, one made up of congregations with a list of members, usually having clergy, forms of organization, and buildings. Then there is the invisible Church made up of those whose names are in the Lamb's Book of Life. They may belong to earthly congregations and then they may not.
Edward Gibbon tells us in his, "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire", that in the first few centuries of the Christian era, there was little or no distinction between members of the Church. It was only later that a professional clergy developed, some assuming positions to rule over God's house.
In these first few hundred years, the Church experienced amazing growth, despite ostracism and persecution from its origin of Judaism and its government, the Roman Empire. Or maybe it grew because of it.
Christ was preached but maybe not in the purity that the creeds of Christendom would later require. Yet Christ was preached. The Apostle Paul declared, "... whether in pretense, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yet and will rejoice", Philippians 1:18.
No matter how imperfect the message, if Christ is preached our Heavenly Father utilizes it for good for the Kingdom of God. One gospel worker claimed that there would be Saints in Heaven who had some strange ideas on earth. They lived up to the light they had although their beliefs may not pass the scrutiny of today's orthodoxy.
In 311 AD, Roman Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Toleration for Christians and in 313 the Edict of Milan, which paved the way for the downfall of paganism in the Roman world and the establishment of Christianity as an official religion. Constantine blended his interest in and built his policies around the Christian Church as an aid to the unity and power of the Roman Empire. He used the word "catholic", meaning all-inclusive or universal, in his imperial edicts.
Around 400 AD, a British monk, Pelagius, came to Rome and exhorted believers to high moral standards, which was good. He taught that our sins did not originate with Adam and that every person had within himself the ability to meet God's highest standards and reach salvation, which was bad.
Augustine, Bishop of Hippo (by this time a church hierarchy had been formed), opposed Pelagius, teaching that only through the grace of God could man receive salvation. Church councils sided with Augustine and Pelagianism was condemned.
Augustine was a good man but even good men make mistakes. And when they do, it is much worse than when evil men make mistakes.
Because Jesus said, "... the gates of hell shall not prevail against..." His Church, Augustine envisioned the Church as a mighty fortress, a shining light, a city set on a hill, a city of God, protected from the evils coming from the city of the earth belonging to the Devil.
Augustine was the father of the Roman Church.
Augustine's concept of the Church contrasts greatly with the description of the Church found in Revelation, Chapter 12.
"And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
"And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: And the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: And her child was caught up unto God, and to His throne", Verses 1-5.
While there are some things in the Book of Revelation that are difficult to understand, it is perfectly clear in these verses that the woman is the Church; apparently, the invisible Church.
Instead of being a strong, walled city, imperious to attack from evil forces, God's Church is represented as a delicate woman who must flee and seek refuge in the wilderness.
"And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and three score days", Verse 6.
"And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent", Verse 14.
Persecution of the woman by the dragon continues in Verses 15-17. Read the whole chapter.
At Mount Sinai, Moses told the children of Israel that if they would obey God and keep His covenant, He would make them "a kingdom of priests (every man a priest) and a holy nation", Exodus 19:5, 6.
They did not obey. They could not obey perfectly because they were born with a sinful heart. Under the new covenant, Jesus does God's will (Hebrews 10:7) for us. So Peter says that believers are a holy priesthood, a royal priesthood, 1 Peter 2:5, 9.
It was not intended that the New Testament Church be of a hierarchical form where priests tell the people what to believe and what to do. Every man is a priest.
"But Jesus called them unto him and said, ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you...", Matthew 20:25; cf Mark 10:42, 43; Luke 22:25, 26.
But the question was asked by many, "Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on Him" John 7:48. Jesus was rejected by them because the leaders of the Church did not believe. And to this day the trend continues; truth is rejected because the leaders reject it.
Harper's Bible Dictionary states that it is possible that the Apostle John lived until the reign of Roman Emperor Trajan, 98-117. Some 430 years after the death of John, Roman Emperor Justinian, residing in Constantinople, issued a decree in 533 making the Bishop of Rome head of all the holy churches.
It has been said that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
The Roman Empire had been a State which controlled religion. Now it began to evolve into a Church which controlled the State, the Holy Roman Empire. While much good was done in that Christianity continued to expand to Northern Europe, the tremendous power held by the Church began to have its influence on those who exercised it.
The Church attained to great wealth and political power, but this period in history is known as the Dark Ages. Progress came to a standstill. Advancement in science, medicine, education, arts, manufacturing, and other trades stopped. Individuals were seeking some great religious experience. It has been said that men were so heavenly minded, they were of no earthly good.
Offices in the church were sought after by the vain and greedy, and were often sold to the highest bidder. In order to increase their wealth and power, and to increase their chances of reaching to the top spot in the Church, many prelates bent the rules.
The climax came when indulgences - repentance from sin - were being sold to raise funds for a church. In 1517, Augustinian Monk Martin Luther objected and this began the Protestant Reformation.
Once again we see that those humans who had received special light from the God of Heaven were found to be in darkness - the Dark Ages - and confusion. The medieval times were harsh and cruel times. Dissenters were persecuted and often executed by the Church. Catholic scholars acknowledge that it was a shameful and disgraceful time in the history of Christianity.
Although Protestant Churches split from Rome, they continued to seek and use the power of the State to support their dogma and to oppose those who believed differently. There was in provinces of Germany and in the Scandinavian countries, the Lutheran Church, the Dutch Reformed in Holland the Anglican Church in England, and the Presbyterian Church in Scotland.
It was not until the Constitution of the United States, along with the Bill of Rights, that there was a separation between Church and State. The State is forbidden to interfere in the affairs of the Church, a principle established by Roger Williams, founder of Rhode Island.
Williams' ideas kept him in conflict with civil authorities during his pastoral work in Boston, Plymouth, and Salem, Massachusetts in the 1630's. The magistrates deprived him of his church. Fearing he would be deported to England, he fled Salem in the dead of winter to stay with friendly Indians. He said he would rather live with Christian savages than with savage Christians.
The witchcraft delusion broke out in Salem in 1692. Nineteen people were hanged on Gallows Hill. An advocate of the executions was Cotton Mather, one of the leading clergyman of the day.
Although Christianity was a strong factor in European history, today it appears to be in serious decline. It is in America where Christianity is strong. In America, more literature is published, more missionaries are sent abroad, more radio and TV ministries are broadcasted, and more money is spent on Christian endeavors than any other place in the world. The center of God's work on earth is in the United States, today's super power.
God's work on earth has always had some connection, one way or another, with the great powers of the civilized world. There was Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with Egypt. The next great power was Assyria. Jonah preached in the capital of Nineveh, and King Sargon overcame the ten northern tribes of Israel in about 723 BC. Then there was Babylon and the 70 years of captivity. The Medo-Persians freed the Hebrews and sent them back to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple.
The Greeks
defeated the Persians and ruled the area. A petty Greek King, Antiochus
IV, oppressed the Jews. Then there was Rome, a State that controlled religion,
pagan at first, but became Christian
under Constantine. When the empire crumbled under the weight of barbarian
invasion, Rome evolved into a church which controlled the State by converting
the barbarians to Christianity. Through the Holy Roman Empire, an almost
absolute power was exercised over the nations of Europe during medieval
times.
The Protestant Reformation weakened Rome's influence and the final blow came in 1798 when a French army took the pope prisoner. Although recovered, and with a strong presence in both North and South America, Rome never regained the predominance it once had in Europe, which was the center of western civilization for so long.
Unquestionably, the United States is the center of Christian influence in the world. Will Americans learn from history? Will it be seen that man's inclination to evil, to make mistakes, to confuse the truth from heaven, has been and still remains a property belonging to Church members and Church leaders today?
American Protestantism has been the dominant force here. We live in a more sophisticated age. No longer do religious leaders stone dissenters, as in the case of Stephen, nor are heretics burned at the stake, as in medieval times. But does this mean that man, the Christian man, has overcome his inclination to evil, to confuse and corrupt God's truth?
There are varying practices and beliefs across the Christian spectrum from Eastern Orthodox to Neo-Pentecostalism. The question before the Church is simply this:
If Israel, God's visible Church on earth, was confused at the time of the First Advent, could Christianity, God's visible Church on earth today, be confused at the time of the Second Advent?
Unfortunately, those most heavily involved in the work of the Church are unaware that the question exists. Somehow from Malachi to Christ's day, the Jews had become confused. They were looking for a Messiah who would restore the kingdom to Israel, make their enemies His footstool, rule the nations with an iron rod, and bring peace to His people, all of which were scriptually based.
They were looking for the Second Advent at the time of the First Advent. Those who did accept Jesus had to give up things they had believed all their lives; things they had learned at their parent's knee, things they had learned in the Synagogue from the Rabbi, and things they had learned at the Temple from the priest and other religious leaders. Things they had learned in God's true Church on earth.
Jesus has warned that if possible the very elect would be deceived, Matthew 24:24.
Is it possible that we Christians, before the Second Advent, will need to give up some things that we have believed all our lives; things we learned from our parents, in Sunday School, from priests, preachers, teachers, and seminary professors? Would we be willing to do this?
Who crucified Christ? It was God's visible Church!
Instead of looking without for deceptions, signs, and lying wonders, should not we be looking within within God's visible Church?
Will history be repeated? He came unto His own and His own received Him not. In the person of His elect, will He be rejected again?