In the Beginning

In the beginning was God. Genesis records the story of the creation of the world, and all that God saw all that He had created, and said "It is good."

Like God

Genesis also records that God said "Let Us make man in Our own image." He wanted fellowship with His creation.

God = Life

Because He wanted an ongoing fellowship with His creation, He created man to have LIFE forever.

The Fall

Since God wanted fellowship, and not a "robot" companion, He gave man free will. That is, man was free to choose whether or not to fellowship with God. Man had every reason to do so; his Creator loved him and provided a perfect home for him. In fact, the only thing that God required of man was not to eat the fruit from one tree in the garden that God made as man's home. Unfortunately, man was deceived by God's enemy, and chose not to follow God's command. Because God is perfect, He could not allow man to remain in His presence, and thus man was separated from God.

Sin

Choosing not to follow God's will is called SIN.

Death

Since man was separated from God, he no longer had access to God's LIFE, for which he was created, and so DEATH entered the world because of man's SIN.

What we try to do

Remember that God created man expressly for fellowship with Him, and he built inside each man a desire for fellowship with God. Since man is no longer perfect, he tries to fill that desire himself. He tries things he thinks will make him more "spiritual". Many people attend a church because they think it will make them closer to God. Many try to do good works because they think God will be more pleased with them. Many try other religions, and "create" a "god" that they can fellowship with instead of the true God who created them.

God became Man

Again, remember that God created man expressly for fellowship with Himself. He still desires that fellowship. But all man's efforts fall short. No matter how hard he tries, man cannot reach perfection. So God, in His true love for man, came down to Man to restore that fellowship.

The Way Back

The way He came to man was to become a man, Jesus, and live on the earth among man. Jesus told the world about His Father, and how His Father desired fellowship with man. He also told the world about sin, and that the only way to restore a relationship with God was to trust in Himself, Jesus, and to follow Him. But many men refused that message, and (just as God had predicted) killed Jesus on a cross. But, just as God had said, Jesus rose from the dead three days later. He stayed on the earth for another 40 days, continuing to preach and proclaim God's love for man, and then He returned to heaven.

John 3:16

In the book of John, Jesus said "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes on Him should not die, but have everlasting life."

The Choice is Yours

Jesus' words indicate that we must choose to believe Him, and believe on Him, to have that everlasting life. So when man, in his walk through life, approaching death, is presented with Jesus and His life, death, and resurrection, has a choice to make: will he follow God, or follow his own path?

Jesus cancels Sin

God had already told man that the only way SIN could be dealt with was through the shedding of innocent blood. So before Jesus came, God's people shed the blood of innocent lambs to cover their sins. But those sacrifices only covered past SIN. When Jesus, who was perfectly innocent, was killed on the cross, His own blood was shed. He did that freely for all man, so that their sin could be covered.

Give up Death

When we choose to follow God, and HIS way to LIFE, we give up something. It's not a free gift, in a sense, because it costs us our own life. But maybe that's not such a bad thing; after all, we all know that we die someday, and if we die without God's life, that death will be worse than just the end of our life here on this earth.

Life with God

But God gives us something in return for our choice: He gives us LIFE! And not just life here on the earth, but also eternal life! After all, that's what He designed us for LIFE with GOD! So in that choice to follow God, and to trust in His Son Jesus as the covering for our separation from God, we can be completely restored to God for eternity.