The Break-Up

In week one, we gave solid scientific and philosophical grounds for why there must be a God and in week 2, we provided historical evidence to support that the identity of God is revealed through the life and person of Jesus Christ. 1 Cor. 1:15 tells us that Jesus is the image of the invisible God, so if we want to know God we are supposed to look to Jesus. So, looking at Jesus, what do we see? For many people, Jesus represents love, peace, kindness and acceptance. 1 John 4:8 says that “God is love.” On the flip side of that, we can’t help but notice that the Bible also has a lot to say about sin, judgement, condemnation and Hell. So, which is it? Is God loving and accepting or judgmental and condemning or is the truth somewhere in-between? In order for us to have a relationship with Him, we need to know where we stand. Today, we’re going to find out what came between us and God and how this relationship could be reconciled.

In order to understand where we are now, we have to know what we were made for. Genesis, the first book in the Bible, describes how God created the world and everything on it, including people. Humans were a unique being within God’s creation as we were distinctly made in the image of God, according to chapter 1, verse 26. Adam, the first man, was given dominion and authority over all the rest of creation, to look after it and steward it. In chapter 2, verse 18, God points out that it is not good for man to be alone, so out of Adam, God created Eve. These people were made to be in relationship with one another and in relationship with God, characteristics that we continue to carry to this day. Chapter 3 describes the fall, when Eve is deceived by the serpent, Adam chooses to disobey God as well and they are cast out of the Garden of Eden. The beautiful and harmonious relationships that Adam and Eve were able to enjoy with each other and with God, were broken. When Adam and Eve disobeyed, they sinned. Sin simply means “missing the mark” but it is much deeper than that. Sin is the willful transgression of God’s divine law. Sin is choosing to rebel against our creator and Romans 6:23 tells us that the wages, or the earned payment of sin is death. When Adam and Eve sinned, the relationship between God and humanity was broken through their act of rebellion. Their choice expelled them from the Kingdom of God and birthed the kingdom of the world which, being the long-descended sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, we have inherited. Thanks, Grandpa and Grandma!

While it might seem unfair that we have to bear the burden of Adam and Eve’s sin, when we’re honest with ourselves, do we really believe that we deserve eternal life any more than they did? Again, sin is missing the mark, breaking God’s law; have we broken God’s law? We’re going to borrow a page from a very popular street evangelist named Ray Comfort, and we’re sure he’d be OK with it because he borrowed it from the Bible. Here’s a simple test to see if you are any more deserving of Heaven, eternal life, and relationship with God than Adam and Eve were. In the Old Testament, God’s law was given in the form of the 10 commandments. You’ve probably heard of them and you might even be able to name a few but let's just look at a handful and see if you might have missed the mark. Found in Exodus chapter 20, here are just a few of the 10 Commandments, let’s see how you do:

Have you ever told a lie? If you said yes, congratulations, you’re a liar. If you said no, congratulations, you lied about being a liar! Have you ever stolen something, taken something that doesn’t belong to you, regardless of its value? What does that make you? A thief? No, a lying thief! Have you ever looked at another person lustfully with inappropriate sexual thoughts towards them? (Heads up, having sexual thoughts about anyone other than your spouse is inappropriate.) Jesus said that if you even look at another person lustfully, you are guilty of adultery.

What about hate? Have you ever hated someone or wished that they were dead? Then, again, according to Jesus you are guilty of murder in your heart. Finally, have you ever used the words God or Jesus as cuss word or an exclamation? That’s using the Lord’s name in vain. So, for a lot of you out there, you have just admitted to the fact that you are a lying, thieving, adulterous, idolatrous, murderer at heart. We’ve only hit on 5 of the 10 commandments and already we have condemned ourselves multiple times over. This shouldn’t be surprising. The Bible tells us in Psalm 14 and again in Romans 3 that there is none righteous. None of us are perfect. None of us is hitting the mark. Each of us has sinned, committed our own willful and personal acts against God, and the wages of sin is death. Our relationship with God, as human beings and as individuals, is broken because of our own sin. Thankfully, God had a plan.

The Bible says that the wages of sin is death, but what if someone else paid that debt for us? Now, it couldn’t be just anyone, but someone with the actual means to pay for it. That means, they would have to not have a debt of their own; they would need to be perfect. Not only could they not have willfully sinned in their life, but they also couldn’t be the heirs of the rebellious kingdom left to us by Adam and Eve, they would have to be the heir of God’s Kingdom. Is any of this ringing a bell? This is where Jesus comes in. He is the perfect substitutionary atonement because He is truly of the Kingdom of God because He is God, but He can also truly represent the fallen kingdom of man because He became a man. He literally died in our place so that we could take on His eternal life, paying the debt that we owed and giving us redeemed status as sons and daughters of God.

This also wasn’t a reactive step that God thought up after the fall. No, Revelation 13:8 declares that Jesus is the “Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world.” This was God’s plan all along. He knew that Adam and Eve would sin and he knew that we would continue on this broken family tradition. He knew that we would rebel and reject Him in all of our toxic and broken humanity and yet, He didn’t wait for us to come groveling back in the vain hope that we could make it up to Him, but instead, to paraphrase Romans 5:8, while we were still in active rebellion towards Him, Christ died for us. This is what the Bible means when it says that “God is love.” I mean, how many people would you die for? Romans 5: 7 tells us, “For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Jesus said it like this, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” - John 15:13

So, our debt has been paid! The bridge between sinful humanity and our Creator, between you and God, has been built by the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ. But, how do we receive this awesome gift of eternal life? John 3:16 says, For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Let’s consider His words a phrase at a time... “For God loved the world...” God loves everyone in the world, including you and me. He wants to spend eternity with us. But there’s a problem we all have – sin, which is what we talked about today. The next line is... “...that He gave His one and only Son...” When Jesus died on the cross, His death paid for all the wrong you and I have ever done or will ever do in our lives. Next Jesus tells us what we have to do: “… that whoever believes in Him...” People oftentimes mistakenly believe that if we are: good enough, do the right things, or do more good than bad, that this will earn us the right to get to heaven. But Jesus does not tell us to do good works, or anything else to get to heaven. He only tells us to “believe in Him” for eternal life. Ephesians 2: 8 – 9 says, for it is by grace, (which means you can’t earn it) you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. The next line of John 3:16 is “...shall not perish...” Jesus promises that if we believe in Him, we will “not perish” – which is another way of saying we will not be condemned and go to hell. After that is, “...but have eternal life.” If we believe, we will not perish because we have eternal life. This everlasting life begins the moment we believe in Jesus for it.

So, do you believe the words of Jesus found in John 3:16? If so, then you will not perish – you have Everlasting Life!!

Man, that is some really awesomely, encouragingly, excitingly, good news and that’s actually what Gospel means, Good News! The fact that we can actually have a real, life-changing relationship with God is the best news we could ever hear, but that’s not all! Not only did Christ restore our relationship with God, but remember, we are also created for relationship with each other. Join us again next week as we begin to unpack what our relationship with God means for our relationships with everyone else!