When God created the earth and all life that is on it, He created it perfect. When He created the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, He created them to be in a relationship with Him . . . and God created both of them perfect. In looking out for what was best for them, God gave them guidelines to follow. But, Adam and Eve chose to disobey God. The result of their disobedience to God was that sin and death entered the world. From that point forward, every baby that has been born has inherited that sin nature.
The result of man’s sinfulness and God’s holiness is alienation, because God is perfect in all His ways, He will not tolerate sin nor will He enter into sin’s presence. No man is worthy of a relationship with a holy God because of Adam’s sin (Romans 5:18, 1 Corinthians 15:22). No one can earn or work their way into a relationship with God. All men and women fall short of God’s standards, because all have sinned (Romans 3:23). God’s judgement of sin is eternal death. But God had a plan!
When the time was right, God sent his Son, born of a woman, to live a life here on earth. For approximately 33 years, Jesus lived a perfect life. But, His purpose was greater than showing us what a holy life looks like. He came to pay the price for our sins with His death on the cross.
God provided a means to be at one with men and women while maintaining His integrity. His reconciling love was demonstrated on the cross through the death of His sinless Son. The crucifixion of Jesus was God’s predetermined plan (Acts 2:23) in which every detail of Christ’s sacrificial death was precisely planned. God made Jesus sin on our behalf (2 Corinthians 5:21) and then victoriously raised Jesus from the dead in the resurrection. God no longer held man’s sins against him (2 Corinthians 5:19).
But just as God initially gave Adam and Eve the choice to obey or disobey, He gives us the choice of accepting Christ’s death on the cross as payment for our sins. God doesn’t force us into a relationship with Him. Instead, He freely offers it as a gift for us to accept or reject. The choice is ours. We can accept Christ’s death on the cross as the payment for our sins and in return enter into a relationship with God that begins here in this life and continues on into eternity with Him living in Heaven.
By faith we can acknowledge and accept Christ’s death as payment for our sins. Although it is by faith alone that we enter into a relationship with God, the results of true faith in God are seen in a deepening relationship with Him, an increased desire to follow His commands for our lives, and an increasing likeness to the life that Christ lived.
