The Bible Story...

In the beginning God created all things, including man, and pronounced them all good. God created Man (i.e. man and women) in His own image and gave them authority to govern Creation, showing forth His glory, and subduing all things to His authority. There is some question about what the “image of God” means. Whatever it means, of this we are certain: Adam and Eve by virtue of being created in God’s image, bore in their persons the moral likeness and glory of God. Being created in God’s image did not mean that Adam and Eve were themselves gods or even reproductions of God. Adam and Eve were the pinnacle of God’s Creation; created by Him to enjoy intimate friendship and love with one another and with Him, and to exercise dominion over all the rest of Creation.

God did not create sin, and Adam and Eve were created sinless. Apart from Jesus Christ, Adam and Eve were the only people who at one time were without sin. All other people at all other times in all other places were and are born sinners. Since God did not create sin, how is it that we all are sinners? Good question! The Bible says that God placed Adam and Eve in a perfect setting, the Garden of Eden, and gave them a very short list of do’s and don’ts. The Don’t List had only one thing on it, but Adam and Eve ended up having a problem with it. The one thing on the List was: “Don’t eat of the tree in the middle of the garden”. God further said that IF they ate from the tree THEN they would die. Why was this such a problem? Because Adam and Eve decided to doubt God’s word – they would not really die would they? – they decided to listen to someone other than God. At first they listened to the Devil, but in the end they listened to themselves. Ultimately, they decided that their word carried more weight than His. This was a fatal decision. This is the essence of sin – wanting to do things My Way instead of God’s Way. I call this The Frank Sinatra Syndrome. The Bible says that The Frank Sinatra Syndrome leads to death.

Because Adam and Eve sinned, their once “good” nature became marred and the image of God in them became defaced. Because of their sin, all humans are born with a flawed nature – a tendency to want to avoid listening to God – a desire to do whatever WE say is right. You want to be your own man, right? You don’t want God to tell YOU what to do! Well, that just shows that you have a sinful nature and therefore ARE a sinner.

Now, God said if they sinned they would die. Adam lived several hundred years more, so what did God mean? Well, there are two kinds of death: physical and spiritual. Physical death occurs when the spirit is separated from the body; spiritual death occurs when the person is separated from God. Sin separates a person from God. Adam and Eve died spiritually the day they sinned. Because of that, we are all born separated from God.

God hates sin. He can’t just look the other way and act as if it’s not there. God is holy, and that means, among other things, that He must condemn sin. Sin and God are like water and vinegar – they can’t be in the same place. Sinners then cannot come into God’s presence.

This was a problem that no man could take care of. A man cannot make himself stop being a sinner. He might stop performing some particular sin, but he cannot change his nature. Only God can do that. But God can’t just accept man, He must deal with sin first.

In the Old Testament God gave pictures of how He would deal with sin. One of the clearest pictures was the sacrificial system. In the sacrificial system, an animal was sacrificed – and here’s the important part – the animal was sacrificed in the place of the person bringing the animal. The person would select an animal from his own stock, bring it to the place of sacrifice, and in front of a priest would lay his hands on the animal showing that he was identifying himself with the animal – that he was in his heart saying, “What is done to this animal should be done to me. I should die. Gracious God, thank you for providing this animal in my place.” The animal was then taken by the priest and slaughtered; its blood poured out; its life completely drained. Identification. Blood. Death. Substitution. That’s the picture, and at the heart Substitution.

There were many other pictures, but they all pointed to Jesus. Jesus came. He was not born a sinner like all others. God made sure He was born in such a way that He was not tainted by sin. Jesus lived His life in complete obedience to God the Father. He did not sin, but lived perfectly. When Jesus was 30 He began to preach and heal and to talk about the Kingdom of God. He also talked about how He would suffer and die and rise again, and that somehow this would usher in the Kingdom. He said that the reason He came to earth was to give His life in our place and to forgive our sin.

Now, no man would say those things, and no man could forgive sins against God. Only God could do that. The Bible teaches that Jesus is both God and man, and therefore He is the only one who can mediate between a Holy and Just God and men who, without Him, are sinners condemned to die.

When Jesus was 33 He was arrested, and in a mockery of justice, was falsely accused and condemned to die. Jesus died in a horrific way. Whipped, beat, nails driven through His wrists and feet, a spear thrust in His side, a crown of thorns on His head, strung up between two thieves, naked. Blood everywhere. They call it crucifixion. It was horrible and it was what our sins deserved. Death. My sin, and your sin. Death.

Jesus claimed that He would die for the sins of the people of the world. He said He would rise from the dead to prove that His claim was more than just talk. After He died, they took His body and they placed it in a tomb, a cave cut out of a large rock. They sealed the tomb, and His enemies placed a guard at the door just in case His frightened and cowardly followers tried to steal the body away.

Three days later, Jesus rose from the dead. He came out of the tomb. He met with the disciples, and gave instructions to tell the world that their sin had been taken care of. That He had borne in His own body the sins of the world. That He was the Substitute for any who would believe. That God accepted His sacrifice in our place.

And He rose from the dead to prove it.

There is more to the story. About how Jesus restores the “image of God” in us; about the birth of the Church, the spread of the Gospel, God’s plans for history, the End of the World, eternity. There is more, but what is important right now is that Jesus asks you to give your life over to Him. Place your heart in His hands and say, “What was done to this Man should have been done to me. I should die for my sin. Gracious God, thank you for providing Jesus to die in my place. I believe that He is my Savior, and I want to live for Him.”

God bless you!

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