People Need God
In the Beginning…. According
to the Bible, God created the earth and everything in it. He made Man (Adam) as the
final crowning work in the Garden of Eden. God loved Adam and saw that "it was not
good" for Man to be alone, so he hand-crafted woman (Eve) from one of Adam’s
ribs. Adam had perfect communion with God each day. Both were to live in the Garden
and could do as they pleased, as long as they abided by God’s one command: "Do
not eat of fruit of the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil, as you will surely die."
Satan, in the form of a serpent, suggested to Eve that she wouldn’t actually die if
she ate it. The fruit seemed like good food, was pleasing to the eye and offered
knowledge, so Eve ate the fruit and then gave some to Adam. Since they disobeyed
God’s command, sin was born in man. God cast them both out of the Garden because they
had sinned, but also to prevent them from eating of the other important tree in the
Garden, the Tree of Life (Eternal).
But, that’s not fair, they simply made a mistake…
If God is perfect and just, how he could he simply overlook Man’s transgression
of His simple command. The penalty God had pre-assigned was death, since corruption and
perfection cannot coexist. Consequently, when sin occurred, God had to abide by the system
He created.
Spiritual Death - Eternal Separation from God
The Death God was referring to was a Spiritual death. The penalty for Man’s
sin was and is Spiritual death, which means to be separated from God spiritually. Thanks
to Adam and Eve, every human inherits the sin nature and is separated from God. There is something
else that happened in Man as a result of the fall: each of us has a huge hole in our
heart created by the absence of that perfect communion/fellowship with God. Imagine being
able to talk and walk with the creator of the universe, having the privilege of working
the Garden He created - would you worry about anything? Adam and Eve in their rebellion
ripped that communion from all of us.
Endless Pursuit of Happiness
People now try to fill that hole in their hearts with every conceivable thing or
pursuit. Examples include Sex, Career, Money, Popularity, Philosophy, Power, Knowledge,
Evil, Family, Exercise, Good Works, Materialism, etc………. Guess what? None
of those will bring lasting peace and happiness. Why? Because only God can fill a hole
left by God!
God Provided a Way Back!
Because God loves you so much, He opened a way back to
Him. Just as the whole human race was doomed to sin through the actions of one man, Adam,
God provided a way back to Himself through one man, who would pay sin’s death penalty
for all mankind! This man lived a sinless life on the earth, suffered torture then death
and was resurrected from death. Who could do such an incredible feat? It had to be God,
and it was God. In fact, it was God’s only Son, Jesus Christ, who performed
this feat. You’ve probably heard or seen the John 3:16 signs at sporting events. All
fanaticism aside, this verse says it all:
"For God so loved the world, that he
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him would not perish but have
everlasting life."
Replace your holed heart with a whole heart
By believing in the incredible story above, we accept Jesus Christ’s death as the
payment for our sin. He is the only way back to the Garden of Eden – He, is the Tree
of Life. Now, with your sin penalty paid, you can replace your hole in the
heart with a Whole Heart. A "Whole Heart" enjoys all the fruits of
God’s goodness and blessing. God promises these wonderful things as by-products
of our reunion with Him:
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against
such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful
nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step
with the Spirit." Galatians 5:22-25
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Peace
with God
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