A Summary of God’s relationship with Man
1) In the beginning, God created man to have relationship with Him.
This relationship between God and man lead to everlasting life.
Genesis: 1:27 God created man in His image
2) When man sin, man experience spiritual separation from God
Romans 3:23 “… for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Original sin:
Genesis 2:16-17 ‘The LORD God commanded the man (Adam) , “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and eveil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”’
Genesis 3:6 ‘When the woman (Eve) saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband (Adam), who was with her, and he ate it.’
Therefore, Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command.
The consequences:
Genesis 3:17, 19 ‘The LORD God said to Adam, “because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, “you must not eat ot it,’
“Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat of it
all the days of your life.……
By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.”
Genesis 3:23 ‘So the LORD God banished him (Adam) from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.’
What is sin?
Mark 7:20-23
Jesus said, “What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean”. For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean’.
Galatians 5:19-21
The acts of sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery, idolatry and witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy, drunkenness, orgies and the like.
Dictionary’s definition:
Debauchery = behavior that goes beyond socially approved limits of behavior, especially in relation to sex and alcohol
Lewdness = 1) wanting or thinking about sex, especially in a manner that is not socially acceptable
2) impure; rude; dirty
Romans 3:10-18, 20 No one is Righteous
‘As it is written:
“There is no one righteous, not even one;
there is no one who understands,
no one who seeks God.
All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
There is no one who does good,
not even one.”
“Their throats are open graves,
their tongues practice deceit”
“The poison of vipers is on their lips”
“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood,
ruin and misery mark their ways,
And the way of peace they do not know.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes,”
Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law, rather, though the law we become conscious of sin.’
*(Books in the Old Testament – Psalm 14:1-3, 53:1-3, Ecclesiastes 7:20)
3) The spiritual separation of Man from God lead to everlasting death.
Romans 6:23 ‘… for the wages of sin is death.’
4) Therefore, man tried to fill the spiritual vacuum by reaching God through:
a) Good Works
Isaiah 64:6 ‘… all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.’
Ephesians 2:8-9 ‘For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works so that no one can boast.”
b) Religion
Colossians 2:22-23 “These (the basic principles of this world) are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.
c) Philosophy
1 Corinthians 1:25 ‘For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.’
Isaiah 55:8 ‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.’
——————————————————————————————————-
5) God provided a way out from this separation and death for mankind by sending His Son, Jesus Christ.
John 3:16-17
‘For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.’
Hebrews 9:26, 28
But now Christ (Jesus) has appeared once for all for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.
So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
Romans 5:9 Since we have now been justified (made holy) by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him (Christ).
1 Peter 3:18 ‘For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.’
—————————————————————————————————–
6) Jesus became out substitute and paid the price and took the punishment for our sins. He is the only way we can get back into relationship with God (and have LIFE instead of DEATH).
John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Acts 4:16 ‘Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.’
Romans 10:9-11
‘That if you confess with you mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
As the Scripture says, “anyone who trusts in Him will never be put to shame”.’*
* (Isaiah 28:16)
5) We all have a choice to choose LIFE or DEATH.
Revelations 20:13, 15 ‘… each person was judged according to what he had done.’
‘If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.’
Revelations 3:20 ‘Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.’
John 5:24 Jesus said, ‘I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.’
Eternal life & Eternal Death
Revelations 21:1, 3, 4
‘Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.’
‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them.’
“He (God) will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
Revelations 22: 6, 7, 14, 17
The angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.”
Jesus Is Coming
‘Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book.’
“Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.”
“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches.”
‘The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!”. And let him who hears say, “Come!” Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.”
What to do if you choose LIFE?
Pray this out loud:
Sinner’s Prayer
¨ Jesus, I believe that you are the Son of God,
¨ I believe that you came to earth to die for my sins,
¨ I repent and ask you to forgive me of my sins,
¨ I believe you died, and rose again, and you are alive today.
¨ Jesus, I receive your forgiveness and I thank you that I can now call God – “Father.”
¨ I ask you to come and live inside me, and be my Lord and Master.
In Jesus Name I pray. Amen!
Repentance = to feel sorry for and turn away from sins
Matthew 4:17 “From that time on (after the Temptation of Jesus) Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”
Luke 13:3 ‘But unless you repent, you too will all perish.’
