Our Origin
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and everything in them. On the sixth day he created the human race in his own holy, spiritual image. He made male and female with a body and a soul. He created the body of the first man, Adam, from the dust of the ground, and the first woman, Eve, from his rib. He then joined them in marriage and blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it.” (Genesis 1:28). When God’s creation was completed, it was perfect and holy.
Sin Entered The World
God gave Adam and Eve one command to obey to show their love and respect for him. They must not eat from the one tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If they did, they would die. Satan, originally a holy angel who had turned against God to do evil, deceived Eve. She then disobeyed God’s command. She ate the forbidden fruit and gave it to Adam, who also ate it. Their disobedience separated them from God and enslaved them to Satan and sin.
For their sin they suffered the punishment of death. They died spiritually. Their human nature became corrupt and inclined only to evil. They passed their sinful nature on to their children and to the following generations. In time Adam and Eve died. Their bodies returned to the dust of the ground. Through their sin they also became subject to eternal death, an everlasting damnation in hell.
From Adam we have inherited our sinful nature. It causes us to do the sinful things we do. Because of sin, we also will die. The threat of eternal punishment in hell now hangs over us all. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
God Promised A Savior
While the wages of sin is death, “the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23). God in his mercy has provided us a Savior from Satan, sin, death, and hell--Jesus Christ.
Immediately after Adam’s and Eve’s fall into sin, God promised this Savior. God said the Savior would be their descendant. He told Satan in their hearing, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he will crush your head, and you will crush his heel.” (Genesis 3:15).
The Bible, which is God’s Word, is about the fulfillment of this promise of the Savior of mankind. The Old Testament made more promises about the coming of this Savior and foretold what he would do to save us all. The New Testament reveals he has come and what he did to save us.
Our Savior’s Saving Work
The Bible reveals God is one God in three distinct persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Savior, Jesus Christ, is the Son of God. He became human. He is both God and man in one person. He is truly divine, being God in every respect. He is also truly human, being the descendant of Adam and Eve, and like us in every way except without sin.
The angel Gabriel announced his coming birth to Mary: “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and will give birth to a son, and you will call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David....The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; for this reason also the holy One that is born will be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1:31,32,35).
An angel announced the good news of his birth to lowly shepherds: “Do not be afraid, for behold I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people, that today a Savior was born for you in the city of David, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10,11).
The Savior, Jesus Christ, was born to redeem us all from the guilt of our sins and to free us from the punishment of hell. “Now when the fullness of time came, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under law, that he should redeem those under law, so we should receive the adoption of sons.” (Galatians 4:4,5).
Jesus was born under God’s law to fulfill it perfectly for us as our substitute. This he did. Throughout his life he remained without sin. God credits his perfect righteousness to all who believe in him. “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, namely a righteousness from God through faith in Jesus Christ, for all who believe” (Romans 3:21,22).
God charged our many sins against the sinless Jesus. “All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all....God made him who knew no sin to be sin for our sake, so we should become the righteousness of God in him. (Isaiah 53:6; 2 Corinthians 5:21). Bearing our sins, on Good Friday the sinless Jesus suffered the punishment for our sins while he was on the cross. “He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment for our peace was upon him; and by his stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5).
Jesus gave his innocent life as the one perfect sacrifice to pay for our sins. His suffering and death for our sins brought us the forgiveness of our sins, reconciled us to God, saved us from everlasting punishment in hell, and gave us eternal life in heaven. “Jesus Christ is the reconciling sacrifice for our sins, and not only for our sins but also for the sins of the whole world...In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace...God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their transgressions against them...God demonstrates his own love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. Therefore, having now been justified in his blood, by much more shall we be saved through him from his wrath! (1 John 2:2; Ephesians 1:7; 2 Corinthians 5:19; Romans 5:8,9)
On the third day God raised Jesus from the dead. His resurrection assures us our sins are forgiven. We have been saved from hell and will rise to live forever in heaven. “He was delivered for our transgressions and was raised for our justification.” (Romans 4:25).
God offers this forgiveness, salvation, and everlasting life to all people. Only those who believe in Jesus, however, receive these blessings and are saved. Jesus is the only Savior. Faith alone in him saves. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.” God’s Word states, “And there is salvation in no other, for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved...The one who believed and was baptized will be saved; but the one who did not believe will be condemned...For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that all who believe in him should not perish but have eternal life...He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who disobeys the Son will not see life, rather the wrath of God remains upon him...Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 4:12; Mark 16:16; John 3:16 &36; Acts 16:31).
Our Response Of Faith
When this good news of God’s gift of eternal life through faith alone in Jesus awakens faith in us, we will love him and desire to serve him daily by obeying his commandments. “We love, because he first loved us...If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (1 John 4:19; John 14:15).
God’s gift of life and salvation through Jesus our Savior will also lead us to worship him regularly. The spirit of us Christians is:, “I rejoiced with those who said to me, 'Let us go to the house of the Lord'...How lovely are your dwelling places, O Lord of hosts. My soul longs, yes, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh shout for joy to the living God” (Psalm 122:1; Psalm 84:1,2).
With joy and desire we worship our Savior God with our fellow believers in church where we can hear his gracious Word. His Word renews our spirit for the week ahead. It teaches us how we can live for him who saved us until he returns at the last day.
By faith we watch for our Savior’s second coming in glory. He will bring us who believe in him into everlasting life in heaven. He will condemn all who rejected him and will destroy this evil world. He tells us, “Yes, I am coming quickly” (Revelation 22:20). “The end of all things is near. Therefore, be reasonable and self-controlled for prayers” (1 Peter 4:7).
Believe in the Savior Jesus Christ for your eternal salvation. Join fellow believers for worship and prayer in a Christian church that is faithful to Christ and the Bible. There you can hear more of this good news of God’s love for us all in Jesus and the hope which is now ours.