Thank you for the question on the redemption of mankind, “Why did it take God thousands of years to redeem humanity after Adam and Eve fell into sin?”
God began the redemption process after the sin of Adam and Eve. God has been constantly redeeming mankind by sending forth his servants in calling people to repent of their evil ways and to turn to God.
A. Before the Flood:
Jude 1 says this, “ Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 15 to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him” (A searchable online Bible in over 150 versions and 50 languages). Bible citations are from the New International Version.
II Peter 2 says this, “For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell,[a] putting them in chains of darkness[b] to be held for judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others;” (NIV).
B. After the Flood:
II Peter says this, “6 if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless 8 (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— 9 if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment” (NIV).
Exodus 19 says this, “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’” (NIV).
God selected certain individuals as well as the nation of Israel to be priest and prophet before the nations. They were to declare his praises and his salvation to the earth as Jonah reluctantly did to the Ninevites or Daniel to King Nebuchadnezzar. Thus God has always been proclaiming his salvation to mankind.
If the question relates to why did God send his only Begotten Son in the first century, no one knows the exact reason. The Scripture only states that the appointed time or the time set by God that God sent his Son to redeemed his people. Galatians 4 says this, “ 4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship” (NIV).
Here are some possible relate reasons to God’s timing of sending his Son:
- God established the time to fulfill the prophecies of the Old Testament as in Daniel’s interpretation of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (Dan. 2, 7–12, Isaiah 53, Malachi 4, Gen. 3:15).
- God prepared the Greek-Roman world as well as the Jewish nation to received God’s only Begotten Son (Luke 2:1–3, John 1).
- God propelled the Spread of the Gospel throughout the Greek-Roman cultural and beyond in bringing salvation to all mankind (Acts 1:8, Matt.28:18–20).
- God reconciled Jews and non-Jews to become one people in preparation for the coming of the Messiah (Galatians 3:14, 26–29).
Could God have brought about the redemption of mankind earlier? Probably yes but that was not his plan. It is God’s foreordained time to send his only Begotten Son into the world to redeem mankind. God works everything according to his sovereign plan and will.
SUMMARY: The Scriptures does not state the specific reason but in part it is to fulfill the prophecies given by God to his people and to the world.
For more perspectives: