JESUS CALLS MAN TO TRUST IN GOD

Thanks to men like John Darby, Lewis Sperry Chafer, C. I. Scofield, John Walvoord,  J. Dwight Pentecost, etc., students of the Bible are aware of what the Apostle Paul meant by "rightly dividing the Word of truth" (2 Tim. 2:15).  God has, from the beginning of time until the end of time, laid out seven scenarios in which mankind is given the opportunity to live in fellowship with Him.  The seven are known as dispensations.  A dispensation is nothing more than a period of stewardship, whereby man is held accountable for maintaining that fellowship. 

For instance, Adam was to avoid eating fruit from a forbidden tree; of course, he failed to trust God, and he ate of it (Gen. 3).  From Adam's fall until Noah's day, man was to live according to their consciences, but instead, having their consciences seared by sin (Rom. 2:14-15; 1 Tim. 4:2), became so wicked, they not only failed to trust God, they acted as though He did not exist, and so, God destroyed all but eight souls (Gen. 6:5-8:22). 

Upon leaving the Ark, Noah was told to multiply and replenish the earth (God meant the whole earth - Gen. 9:1).  You would think, by now, man would trust God, and obey Him; but no, man decided to do exactly the opposite of what God commanded (Gen. 11:1-4)!  And so, God divided the human race into family groups, and chose one family to carry out His bidding (Gen. 11:5-12:5).

God chose Abraham to be the patriarch of a family that would become a nation; two generations later, his family became known as Israel (Gen. 12:1; 32:28-32).  God promised Abraham that He would provide for them in a land known as Canaan, but like men before and since Abraham, he failed to trust God.  He chose to trust in Egypt (Gen. 12:1-10).  Later, Abraham did trust God, and demonstrated his faith by obeying God's order to offer Isaac (Gen. 22:1-13).  Because of his trust in God, Abraham was viewed as righteous in God's eyes (Rom. 4:3; Gal. 3:6; Jam. 2:23).

The nation of Israel was given promises from God:  He promised they would always be His people (Gen. 12:1-3), and He promised them that if they kept His Law, He would bless them (Ex. 19:5-20:24).  Of course, they failed, so God sent His Son to be their teacher, their King, their Messiah, their Christ.  And did they trust God?  NO!  They killed Him!  And as a result, their risen Lord has postponed the establishment of His Kingdom until Israel finally trusts God (Rom. 11:25-27; Mt. 24:15; Rev. 12-20)!

Salvation has always come to those who trust in God.