Various Scriptures
8/10/97
I. THE FALL AND ITS IMPACT
A. Creation: image and likeness of God … Gen 1:26-27 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
B. The fall: Rom 5:12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned--
1. Disobedience = not choosing LIFE (chose the wrong TREE in the garden!)
Prov 16:25 There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.
a. Gen 6:5 The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.
b. Jer 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.
c. Rom 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
2. Spiritual death results: Eph 2:1-3 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.
3. Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
II. SALVATION!!
A. Savior – since we are totally depraved and absolutely helpless …
1. Rom 5:6-10 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
2. Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." [lost in the garden]
3. Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.
B. Atonement: The miracle of miracles! GOD IS A SIN DESTROYER!
1. Old Testament = cover up, cover over … like a blanket (but sin still is resident underneath!) Heb 9:13-14 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. --- How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! 2. New Testament = total removal, taken away!!!
a. Not - overlooked, ignored, tolerated, understood …
b. Destroyed, annihilated, obliterated, demolished, shattered, removed …
3. John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
4. 1 Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
5. 1 Jn 2:1-2 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense-- Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. (anyone who will believe!)
III. FUTURE … How does this effect you???
A. For the impenitent and unbelieving:
1. Ezek 18:4 For every living soul belongs to me, the father as well as the son-- both alike belong to me. The soul who sins is the one who will die.
a. Sheol (Hebrew) = the grave (Isaiah 14.9)
b. Gehenna (Greek) = place of punishment (Mt 10.28)
c. Hades (Greek) = abode of the dead (Lk 16.23)
2. 2 Pet 2.4-10 $ God knows how!
B. Resurrection Life …
1. We have a Savior: Isa 49:15-16 "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.
2. John 11:25-26 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"