The Salvific Plan of God for Mankind

Generally, people have some concept of God. This is evidenced by the different names they give Him because of who He is and what He does in the world. When people miss the target of worshipping God, they resort to idolatry. James 2:19 says, "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that - and shudder." In the general revelation of God to mankind, through the created things and human conscience, people have come to know Him. Even the atheists who say there is no God have an idea that there is a God about whom they have heard from the theists. Things that don't exist have no names, hence they are unknown. Things that do exist have names people have given to them.

Because of human lack of understanding of God, there is a need to teach about God, for we were created by Him, for Him. He decided to make persons in His image who have a creative mind (homo sapiens), unlike other animals. Knowing God is to be wise, as is stated in the Bible (Proverbs 1:7), because, as our Sovereign Ruler, we should know what He wants us to do, why we were created and where we are heading. People have a brighter future in eternity with their Creator if they obey Him and have faith in Him. For Christians, eternity with God is reached through faith in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son and the perfect revelation of God the Father to mankind (John 3:16; 14:6-10).

God loves all people although He hates the bad things they do, for He is holy. He guides His people in righteousness and protects them. He provides His people with air, water, food, light, soil, minerals and vegetation for their existence and welfare. Truly, there is no one like Him. God is invisible, immortal, omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent. Because of what He is, mankind ought to worship Him in the Spirit and in truth for their salvation from sin and eternal death.

God has a salvation plan for mankind through Jesus, His Son, since we all fall short of His glory. He is involved in the salvation history of mankind, from birth to death. The destinies of people are shaped by what they do. Upright attitudes and deeds, through faith in Jesus, lead to eternal life, whereas evil attitudes and behaviour lead to eternal death, according to the salvific plan of God for mankind. In John 3:19-21, John writes about God's verdict on human beings at the end of known time, on Judgement Day:

This is the verdict: light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

The salvific plan of God for mankind is canonised in the Holy Bible for people to read and understand for their salvation. God's plan starts at the fall of Adam and Eve, or the first human beings, and its climax is in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who died as an expiation for our sins (John3:16).