Biblical Truth #3: Original Sin
The Bible documents the first sin which took place in the Garden of Eden. Adam & Eve were persuaded by Satan to take a bite of the forbidden fruit and disobey God. That choice, that taste of rebellion, was the original sin and in effect was a spiritual takeover. Man chose to govern the world without God, setting himself up as king. In his disobedience to the creator, man stripped himself of God. He now could die physically, the animals now rush to kill him, and the world’s elements broke down causing earthquakes and storms and other pains. More sobering, all human offspring would now be born with a sin nature, which results in us being born spiritually dead and separated from God. Below are some examples of the evidence of man’s and the world’s brokenness.
Anger and Murder
Have you ever felt pure rage? If you have, you know it can be an intoxicating experience. The face turns blood red, the mind focuses on a single point, and you do things that you might normally consider harmful. In the Bible, the second story of brokenness is a sin of rage. Two brothers seek favor from their creator after their parents allowed sin and death in the world. One brother succeeds in pleasing God with an offering from the abundance of his heart. The other brother, fails, and in his failure turns jealous of his brother’s success. He compares himself to his brother and in so doing, decides to end his brother’s life so that he will be the only one that God can find favor. After he does so, God exiles him for his sin, and the parents are left to weep for both sons, one lost to murder, one lost to sin.
This story still happens today. Humans compare and contrast ourselves and our businesses to each other. We are not content in our own accomplishments unless we are better than another’s. If we aren’t, we get angry. We seek recompense. We kill men in our hearts, and sometimes that anger manifests enough to kill them outright. It is a sad story of how far humanity has fallen.
Slavery
My friend and I were talking a few nights ago about the concept of slavery. “How is it that a whole race of humanity can be enslaved, treated as property, and no one seemed to view that as wrong? That goes against everything in me.” In reply he said, “because they wanted to ignore it.” In the Bible, we see a group of people that did the same thing. The Egyptians enslaved the people of Israel for the purposes of building their empire. They cared more for the city of Egypt than the inhabitants of the city. Pharaoh had children murdered, work toil increased, men beaten, all to keep a race underneath another race. It was a belief in superiority, that all men are not created equal. Some deserve more than others. This angered God so much that he sent ten devastating plagues on Egypt which destroyed their economy.
Sin and Brokenness
At the core of both of these sins is a willingness of the self. It is humanity saying he knows better than the system of morality God had originally set up in the world. When things do not go as humanity wishes, he takes a life, he enslaves a soul, he sets himself up as the new God. As a result the world has evil, it has pain, it has brokenness. When we look at the world, we see two things, beauty and ugliness. We can be both an optimist of the beauty of life and God, and a pessimist about the failings of humanity.
Will you go to Heaven when you die? Here’s a quick test:
Q. Have you ever told a lie?
Q. Have you ever stolen anything?
Q. Have you ever used God’s name in vain?
Q. Have you ever lusted over someone?
Q. Have you ever hated someone?
If you have done these things, God sees you as a liar, a thief, a blasphemer, an adulterer-at-heart, and a murderer-at-heart. And this is only 5 of God’s Ten Commandments (a/k/a “God’s Law”). And the Bible warns that on the Day of Judgment, God will punish you in a terrible place called Hell. But, there is “good news”! God is not willing that any should perish. Sinners broke God’s Law, but Jesus paid their fine by shedding His sinless blood on a cross ~2,000 years ago. This means that God can legally dismiss their case (and yours!): “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.” (John 3:16) Then Jesus rose from the dead, defeating death. Today, repent (turn away from your sins), put your complete trust in Jesus, and confess Jesus as your Lord & Savior… and God will give you eternal life as a free gift.
Contrary to popular belief, being a “good person”, doing “good deeds”, or being “religious” will not get you a ticket to heaven! Many people are hoping God will dismiss their sins because their good deeds outweigh their bad deeds. They further hope that because God is “good” he will let them go unpunished and enter heaven. However, because God is “good” he must by nature punish sinners (i.e., God would not be a good judge if he let criminals go free). The Bible states: “There is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins.” (Ecclesiastes 7:20) The Bible also states: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) And finally, think about this, if your goodness could save you, Jesus would have died in vain (i.e., for no good reason). The Bible states: “I (Jesus) am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father (God) except through me. (John
14:6) Friends, please don’t “roll-the-dice” and gamble your eternal life on the life-threatening lie that being a “good person” will get you to heaven.
Here is a prayer you can use to receive Jesus Christ as your personal Lord & Savior. It is a suggested prayer – the key is that you are speaking from your heart.
“Father, I know that I have broken your laws and my sins have separated me from you. I am truly sorry, and now I want to turn away from my past sinful life toward you. Please forgive me, and help me turn away from sin going forward. I believe that your Son, Jesus Christ, died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus into my heart and I confess him as my personal Lord and Savior. Thank You for sending your Holy Spirit to help me obey you, and to do your will for the rest of my life. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.”
Congratulations! And welcome to God’s family!
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