In the Beginning
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and He made all creatures great and small to dwell in it. He also made mankind in His image, to reflect Him and to rule over all the creations that He had made. Everything was good, very good. Gen 1:27 ESV “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
But one day, mankind was deceived by the serpent and decided to disobey God. Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which God commanded them not to eat.
The righteous and holy God had to judge man for their disobedience.
As a result...
Sin is not just committing bad stuff such as stealing, killing or lying, but God also describes sin as knowing the right thing to do and yet failing to do it (James 4:17). All of us are incapable of reaching the standard that meet God’s requirements.
We are all dead in our sins
As a result of sin, we face death. Not just physical death, but also spiritual death--man is unable to respond to God and to know God personally because he is spiritually dead in sin.
We will all be judged one day
Because God is a holy and righteous God, we will all face His judgment one day when we die.
Man is hopeless
In our fallen state, man is hopelessly condemned. But many seek to reach heaven through means such as good works, religion, philosophy, etc. But the Bible says that it is impossible for man to save himself. the only way out is grace--simply trusting in Jesus christ for what He has done for us.
God’s Solution
In fact, God so loved the world that He sent His one and only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to save us (John 3:16). The Bible says that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin (Heb 9:22). This is because the wages of sin are so grave that it demands the death penalty. So Jesus Christ, our Creator and God, came to earth to be born as a man, so that he could represent mankind and take our place to die on the cross. In 1 Tim 2:5, it says that there is only 1 mediator between God and men, who is the man Christ Jesus.
The man Jesus Christ
Jesus died on the cross to pay for the penalty for our sins.
He was buried.
But on the 3rd day He rose again from the grave.
The Work of Jesus Christ
In His resurrection, Jesus conquered both sin and death. Mankind had been held in bondage to both sin and death every since the day we were born. Becaues of Adam’s disobedience, we were all born in sin, held captive by it. Not only do we die physically, but we too were born spiritually dead, unable to know the true and living God who is our Creator. But now, sin and death no longer hold us captive for those who believe in Jesus. For those who believe in Jesus Christ, they are a born-again new creation! (2 Cor 5:17)
The Promise
In John 5:24, Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”
The promise holds true to those who would believe in Jesus Christ.
They will have Eternal Life
Eternal life is not about living forever physically.
Eternal life is described as knowing God the Father and Jesus Christ whom He has sent (John 7:3).
This new relationship wtih God will last for eternity.
They will not come into judgment
Believers will not be condemned and judged by God because their faith in Jesus has already made them righteous. all their sins have been paid with Jesus’ blood on the cross.
They have passed from death to life
Once dead in sin, but now alive in Christ Jesus.
This is God’s great redemption plan for mankind! Once we were hopelessly condemned in sin, but now we are graciously forgiven and restored because of what Jesus has done for us.
This is the reason why chrsitians celebrate christmas--because our Saviour died for our sins on the cross.
This is the reason why Christians celebrate Resurrection Sunday--because our Saviour Jesus Christ rose from the dead!