When Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden they were only given one rule by which to live, “don’t eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” It seems simple enough. There were plenty of other trees to eat off of around the garden, but this one particular tree was not for us. God created this tree as way to show God of our love towards Him through obedience. There can never be a gift that we can give God that He has not already made.
But there was a being, a serpent, that also lived in the garden with Adam and Eve. This creature was cunning and deceitful, attempting to coax the two to go against their Father’s will through lies and mistrust. This being was Satan, the great deceiver. He yearned for the fall of man to set the stage for his rising. He knew that God had created Adam and Eve, and loved them, wanting to use the sin to taint His love for His creation.
When the serpent gave Adam and Eve the fruit to feast upon, he convinced them that the Father was holding them back from being a god within themselves. The fruit looked pleasant to eat and beneficial for their well being (Gen 3:6), so they ate. But in doing so, the action caused them to break the one rule that God had placed within the Garden. They had now brought sin into the world and death followed the human race from that point forward.
The sin that they had committed was not eating the fruit, although eating it did cause an adverse reaction. Their sin came from disobeying God. Unfortunately it was too late for Adam and Eve to discover that the fruit that was eaten would be the very action that would cause them to die spiritually as well as physically after leaving the garden. You may be quick to blame both of them for the fall of man, but we all are on the same boat.
When you think of our goodness, it is easy to compare yourself with someone who is known for their sin. If we look at those people who were jailed for rape, murder, drugs, or any form of breaking the law, we can give ourselves the credit of being a good person in the eyes of this world. The problem is that we are not judged by the laws of the land, but by the perfect law of God revealed to us through God’s word.
When Adam and Eve sinned, they broke the rule God placed before them. Because of this sin they would be removed from the sight of God. God removed them not because he did not love them, but because they were now tainted with sin. God is perfect and holy; this is His nature and cannot be changed. God’s holiness cannot allow Him to accept any sin, no matter how small. It is the duty of Holy and Righteous Judge to punish any and all sin wherever it stands.
In the same way, we have also been removed from being in fellowship with God because of our own sin. To see this we must look within our very own lives to the sin that we have committed against God. Let us take the test. Have you ever told a lie? I mean any lie. In our mind there may be white-lies, righteous-lies, fibs, bending the truth, or just not telling the whole truth, but in God's eyes they are all lies and are treated the same.
What about stealing? I remember stealing chrome valve covers off of cars when I was a kid. Do you think that God will judge me any different than the bank robber or burglar? No, He won't. Whether it was just a quarter from someone's ashtray or a Ferrari, a thief is a thief. What about any of the other 10 commandments that God has given us? Have you ever said the Lord's name in vain? This does not just mean the cursing of God’s name, but mocking His name in any way.
Do we place any object before God? These are called idles. God is so perfect that if we show anger within our heart it is the same as murder (1 John 3:15, Mat 5:21) or if we look at someone (other than our marriage partner) with lust, it is the same as adultery (Matt 5:28). Just count out how many sins that we have committed in our entire life! If you do that there is no way that you can say that we are anything close to good at all. We are all lying, thieving, adulterous murderers.
When Christ returns we will be judged by the standard of God, not because He makes the rules but because He is perfect! These commandments were written as a reflection of God’s character. But God was such a wonderful Creator that He has not only given us His word to define sin, but the Spirit of God to convict us of this sin. As I was stealing, I knew it was wrong even before I was caught. I knew it was wrong to steal just as much as I know it is wrong to cheat, to lie, or even to lust.
We know that we should not do these things, but we do them anyways. When we stand before God on the Day of Judgment, He will judge whether or not you have lived a perfect life. Any sin that we have committed at any point in our lives will make us guilty of breaking His commandments. Just as in what happened to Adam and Eve, this sin will cause an eternal separation from God. It just takes one sin!
With such high standards, how can we ever bridge that gap that sin brings? What if you were to do good works to counter the bad works? That sounds like a good plan! Well, let us take a look at that theory compared to civil law. Let us say you are standing before a judge for serious crimes, such as murder, drug dealing, or even rape. You are standing before him and you are guilty, you know you are guilty and the evidence is overwhelming.
What if you told the judge, "I know that I am guilty, but on my way into the courtroom I washed your car, helped an elderly woman cross the street, and saved a baby from a runaway car? Does that not merit freedom?" What would the judge say? Just because you performed some good does not make you any less guilty of the crimes that you have committed. You would still be guilty and you would still have to be punished.
In fact, this would mean that you are trying to bribe the judge, trying to buy your way out of our due punishment, the punishment that we deserve! What about going to church? Praying a prayer? Well, that would be bribery as well, wouldn't it? Any action that you do would constitute a works based approach for the acceptance of God. It is a natural reaction, trying to cover your sin before God. But this will never work!
What if you were to tell the judge that you were very sorry for breaking the law and you would never do that again? Would that make you any less guilty? No, in fact you probably would be lying again. None of us can live a life without sin; it is impossible due to the sin nature that is within us. You would eventually break the law again after you leave and be right back where you started from.
Is there anything you can do to make yourself "not guilty"?
No!
You see, because of the goodness of God, He must punish sin wherever it stands. Trying to cover your sin does not remove it from God’s eyes. You will still have to receive punishment for your sin. What is that punishment? Death! Not just a physical death that we all must go through, but an everlasting death, spiritual death, a death where we must pay for our sin. You must go to a place that God created where sin is punished, and this place is called "Hell".
This place was reserved for Satan and his angels (Matthew 25:41), but this is also the place where justice will be done against the unrighteous (Rom 1:18, 2 Thess 2:10). God does not want this for any of His people. God had to have a way to bring us back to Him, to cleanse us and restore the fellowship that was broken. This way would cost Him more than you know. It cost Him the life of God’s only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.
To better understand how this is possible, let us go back to the courtroom. When you stand before the holy and righteous Judge, all of your sin will be before you and God will sentence you to be guilty or innocent. Because we are all guilty, you must be punished for your crime. But what if, after the sentencing has finished, someone you don't even know approached the bench to speak on your behalf.
What if this person said, “I know this person has broken your law and I know he deserves to be punished, but because I love this person so much I am willing to take this person’s punishment upon myself.” This is what Christ did for us. Christ came upon this earth, fully God and fully man and lived a perfect sinless life. When His time came He willingly gave up His life and sacrificed Himself physically on the cross for our sin.
Although Christ did not sin Himself, He took the punishment for it upon Him on the cross and rose on the third day, defeating death. This was His purpose on this earth, and this He did this freely for all of mankind. But then if He died for all of mankind, does that mean that everyone will go to heaven? No, because the gift must first be accepted to be received. In order to receive this gift we must repent and acknowledge His sacrifice for our sin.
Repentance is not a term that means to stop sinning; otherwise it would not only be futile but would indicate a works related salvation. To repent means to see your sin for what it is and to turn from it, or to release it. Just imagine holding a venomous snake in your hand. This snake, which we will represent as sin, is something that we are all holding onto, even if we choose to not acknowledge it. It is this serpent that brings death and pain.
To repent we must first acknowledge that we are holding this serpent (or sin) and then do what comes natural, let it go. What else would you do if you realized you were carrying something that will kill you? This step is important because it shows God that you understand what it is that is keeping you from Him. This is why the word “Repentance” is used so often in scripture. (61 times, see Matt 4:17, Mark 6:12, Luke 13:3, Acts 3:19…)
Then after you repent, you must accept Christ’s sacrifice upon the cross. You can do this by asking God personally to forgive you (repent) and proclaim to Him that you accept His payment on the cross for your sin, that you are trusting in Christ alone for your salvation. This prayer is not associated with salvation, but just a means to tell God about your decision. After you make this decision He will no longer be your judge, but rather your Savior.
I am not telling you to do this now, but I pray you do. I want you to understand what it is that you are doing first before you ask God for forgiveness because it is a decision that will change your life. Before I accepted Christ, I did not care about God. I did not want to know anything about the bible or about following God through sanctification (keeping sin out of my life). I did not want to listen to the truth because I was blinded what I wanted for my life.
But After Christ saved and transformed me, I became a new creation. Now I love going to Church and studying my bible. I want to seek His will for my life, to find a way to make my life count eternally. I want these things not because I have to, but because of what God has done for me! He is living inside of me, and I am thankful for that. And when you accept Him, He will be living inside you as well until the day He calls you home. Nothing can separate you from Him!
How is this possible? Because God was gracious enough to not only send His Son to die for our sin, but also sent a helper to guide us in our lives, to keep us, and sanctify us. This does not mean we will no longer sin, but we now have the Spirit of God within us that will lead us back to Him when we begin to go astray and guide us through the trials that will come into our lives. This is the “Gospel”, or the “good news” that brings us to be proud to be called a “Christian”.
After you make that decision for Christ, find a strong biblically-based church to attend that will help you grow in grace. Read your bible, and obey! There are many resources you can use to help you on your walk and people who will gladly help you and guide you. Just ask God, keep your heart on Him, and continue to grow in the grace and love of the Savior.
But there was a being, a serpent, that also lived in the garden with Adam and Eve. This creature was cunning and deceitful, attempting to coax the two to go against their Father’s will through lies and mistrust. This being was Satan, the great deceiver. He yearned for the fall of man to set the stage for his rising. He knew that God had created Adam and Eve, and loved them, wanting to use the sin to taint His love for His creation.
When the serpent gave Adam and Eve the fruit to feast upon, he convinced them that the Father was holding them back from being a god within themselves. The fruit looked pleasant to eat and beneficial for their well being (Gen 3:6), so they ate. But in doing so, the action caused them to break the one rule that God had placed within the Garden. They had now brought sin into the world and death followed the human race from that point forward.
The sin that they had committed was not eating the fruit, although eating it did cause an adverse reaction. Their sin came from disobeying God. Unfortunately it was too late for Adam and Eve to discover that the fruit that was eaten would be the very action that would cause them to die spiritually as well as physically after leaving the garden. You may be quick to blame both of them for the fall of man, but we all are on the same boat.
When you think of our goodness, it is easy to compare yourself with someone who is known for their sin. If we look at those people who were jailed for rape, murder, drugs, or any form of breaking the law, we can give ourselves the credit of being a good person in the eyes of this world. The problem is that we are not judged by the laws of the land, but by the perfect law of God revealed to us through God’s word.
When Adam and Eve sinned, they broke the rule God placed before them. Because of this sin they would be removed from the sight of God. God removed them not because he did not love them, but because they were now tainted with sin. God is perfect and holy; this is His nature and cannot be changed. God’s holiness cannot allow Him to accept any sin, no matter how small. It is the duty of Holy and Righteous Judge to punish any and all sin wherever it stands.
In the same way, we have also been removed from being in fellowship with God because of our own sin. To see this we must look within our very own lives to the sin that we have committed against God. Let us take the test. Have you ever told a lie? I mean any lie. In our mind there may be white-lies, righteous-lies, fibs, bending the truth, or just not telling the whole truth, but in God's eyes they are all lies and are treated the same.
What about stealing? I remember stealing chrome valve covers off of cars when I was a kid. Do you think that God will judge me any different than the bank robber or burglar? No, He won't. Whether it was just a quarter from someone's ashtray or a Ferrari, a thief is a thief. What about any of the other 10 commandments that God has given us? Have you ever said the Lord's name in vain? This does not just mean the cursing of God’s name, but mocking His name in any way.
Do we place any object before God? These are called idles. God is so perfect that if we show anger within our heart it is the same as murder (1 John 3:15, Mat 5:21) or if we look at someone (other than our marriage partner) with lust, it is the same as adultery (Matt 5:28). Just count out how many sins that we have committed in our entire life! If you do that there is no way that you can say that we are anything close to good at all. We are all lying, thieving, adulterous murderers.
When Christ returns we will be judged by the standard of God, not because He makes the rules but because He is perfect! These commandments were written as a reflection of God’s character. But God was such a wonderful Creator that He has not only given us His word to define sin, but the Spirit of God to convict us of this sin. As I was stealing, I knew it was wrong even before I was caught. I knew it was wrong to steal just as much as I know it is wrong to cheat, to lie, or even to lust.
We know that we should not do these things, but we do them anyways. When we stand before God on the Day of Judgment, He will judge whether or not you have lived a perfect life. Any sin that we have committed at any point in our lives will make us guilty of breaking His commandments. Just as in what happened to Adam and Eve, this sin will cause an eternal separation from God. It just takes one sin!
With such high standards, how can we ever bridge that gap that sin brings? What if you were to do good works to counter the bad works? That sounds like a good plan! Well, let us take a look at that theory compared to civil law. Let us say you are standing before a judge for serious crimes, such as murder, drug dealing, or even rape. You are standing before him and you are guilty, you know you are guilty and the evidence is overwhelming.
What if you told the judge, "I know that I am guilty, but on my way into the courtroom I washed your car, helped an elderly woman cross the street, and saved a baby from a runaway car? Does that not merit freedom?" What would the judge say? Just because you performed some good does not make you any less guilty of the crimes that you have committed. You would still be guilty and you would still have to be punished.
In fact, this would mean that you are trying to bribe the judge, trying to buy your way out of our due punishment, the punishment that we deserve! What about going to church? Praying a prayer? Well, that would be bribery as well, wouldn't it? Any action that you do would constitute a works based approach for the acceptance of God. It is a natural reaction, trying to cover your sin before God. But this will never work!
What if you were to tell the judge that you were very sorry for breaking the law and you would never do that again? Would that make you any less guilty? No, in fact you probably would be lying again. None of us can live a life without sin; it is impossible due to the sin nature that is within us. You would eventually break the law again after you leave and be right back where you started from.
Is there anything you can do to make yourself "not guilty"?
No!
You see, because of the goodness of God, He must punish sin wherever it stands. Trying to cover your sin does not remove it from God’s eyes. You will still have to receive punishment for your sin. What is that punishment? Death! Not just a physical death that we all must go through, but an everlasting death, spiritual death, a death where we must pay for our sin. You must go to a place that God created where sin is punished, and this place is called "Hell".
This place was reserved for Satan and his angels (Matthew 25:41), but this is also the place where justice will be done against the unrighteous (Rom 1:18, 2 Thess 2:10). God does not want this for any of His people. God had to have a way to bring us back to Him, to cleanse us and restore the fellowship that was broken. This way would cost Him more than you know. It cost Him the life of God’s only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.
To better understand how this is possible, let us go back to the courtroom. When you stand before the holy and righteous Judge, all of your sin will be before you and God will sentence you to be guilty or innocent. Because we are all guilty, you must be punished for your crime. But what if, after the sentencing has finished, someone you don't even know approached the bench to speak on your behalf.
What if this person said, “I know this person has broken your law and I know he deserves to be punished, but because I love this person so much I am willing to take this person’s punishment upon myself.” This is what Christ did for us. Christ came upon this earth, fully God and fully man and lived a perfect sinless life. When His time came He willingly gave up His life and sacrificed Himself physically on the cross for our sin.
Although Christ did not sin Himself, He took the punishment for it upon Him on the cross and rose on the third day, defeating death. This was His purpose on this earth, and this He did this freely for all of mankind. But then if He died for all of mankind, does that mean that everyone will go to heaven? No, because the gift must first be accepted to be received. In order to receive this gift we must repent and acknowledge His sacrifice for our sin.
Repentance is not a term that means to stop sinning; otherwise it would not only be futile but would indicate a works related salvation. To repent means to see your sin for what it is and to turn from it, or to release it. Just imagine holding a venomous snake in your hand. This snake, which we will represent as sin, is something that we are all holding onto, even if we choose to not acknowledge it. It is this serpent that brings death and pain.
To repent we must first acknowledge that we are holding this serpent (or sin) and then do what comes natural, let it go. What else would you do if you realized you were carrying something that will kill you? This step is important because it shows God that you understand what it is that is keeping you from Him. This is why the word “Repentance” is used so often in scripture. (61 times, see Matt 4:17, Mark 6:12, Luke 13:3, Acts 3:19…)
Then after you repent, you must accept Christ’s sacrifice upon the cross. You can do this by asking God personally to forgive you (repent) and proclaim to Him that you accept His payment on the cross for your sin, that you are trusting in Christ alone for your salvation. This prayer is not associated with salvation, but just a means to tell God about your decision. After you make this decision He will no longer be your judge, but rather your Savior.
I am not telling you to do this now, but I pray you do. I want you to understand what it is that you are doing first before you ask God for forgiveness because it is a decision that will change your life. Before I accepted Christ, I did not care about God. I did not want to know anything about the bible or about following God through sanctification (keeping sin out of my life). I did not want to listen to the truth because I was blinded what I wanted for my life.
But After Christ saved and transformed me, I became a new creation. Now I love going to Church and studying my bible. I want to seek His will for my life, to find a way to make my life count eternally. I want these things not because I have to, but because of what God has done for me! He is living inside of me, and I am thankful for that. And when you accept Him, He will be living inside you as well until the day He calls you home. Nothing can separate you from Him!
How is this possible? Because God was gracious enough to not only send His Son to die for our sin, but also sent a helper to guide us in our lives, to keep us, and sanctify us. This does not mean we will no longer sin, but we now have the Spirit of God within us that will lead us back to Him when we begin to go astray and guide us through the trials that will come into our lives. This is the “Gospel”, or the “good news” that brings us to be proud to be called a “Christian”.
After you make that decision for Christ, find a strong biblically-based church to attend that will help you grow in grace. Read your bible, and obey! There are many resources you can use to help you on your walk and people who will gladly help you and guide you. Just ask God, keep your heart on Him, and continue to grow in the grace and love of the Savior.
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