Why The Bible Says We Need Salvation
The inspired Word of God starts: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth…making man and beasts on the sixth day then resting on the seventh. In fact Exodus 20:11 – in God’s Ten Commandments –reads: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day.
In John 1 we learn all things were made by the Word of God. So the Word is our Creator. In Genesis 1 we learn at the end of the sixth day His creation activity was finished and God proclaimed His creation “very good.” However, God’s chief Cherubim, Lucifer, became envious and approached Eve in the Garden of Eden. In Genesis 3 we learn Lucifer, referred to as the serpent, beguiled Eve through his subtlety. He planted doubt in her mind by asking, “Hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” Eve responded, “Of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it lest ye die.” Next Satan denied God’s Word, telling Eve, “Ye shall not surely die.” Then, the serpent told her if she would go against God’s Word her “eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as god.” Adam and Eve then ate the forbidden fruit, committing what’s known as Man’s Original Sin.
This sin caused two events to occur. First, it led to spiritual death as it separated us from our loving Creator requiring that we be redeemed with Him. In fact, the first promise that God would send a redeeming Savior is provided in Genesis 3:15 where we’re told the seed of the woman will bruise the head of the serpent. This is an odd statement on the surface as the seed comes from the man. However, we’re being told our redeeming Savior would be born of a virgin. So by Genesis 3:15 we’re given the foundation for why Jesus’ death on the cross was necessary as we learn God’s perfect creation was corrupted by Adam’s Original sin which separated us from our Creator, requiring our redemption with Him…then we’re given the first promise of a coming Redeemer who would be born of a virgin!
Amazing!
Man’s Original sin also allowed physical death to enter God’s perfect world. This is the biblical answer to, “How could a loving God create a world full of death and suffering?” The answer is God didn’t! The original creation was perfect until Man’s Original Sin corrupted it, allowing death and suffering to enter. Well, following their rebellion, which is what sin is, Adam and Eve attempted to provide a covering of fig leaves for their sin. This wasn’t acceptable to God. Being righteous and having declared in Genesis 2 that sin would be punishable by death, God caused the first death. As reported in Genesis 3, God killed an animal and made coats of skins for Adam and Eve as a temporary covering for their sin. God also put a curse on His creation and kicked Adam, Eve and Lucifer from the Garden, blocking the path to the tree of life with two Cherubim.
Lucifer then declared he would be like God and in the ensuing heavenly battle Satan and a third of the angels were banned to earth where Satan is now the god of this fallen world. In Genesis 6, before the seed of the woman appeared, God saw that the wickedness of man was great so the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created and, from 2 Peter 2, God spared not the old world but saved Noah, the eight person, bringing in a flood upon the world of the ungodly as the fountains of the deep erupted and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered by water (Genesis 7). The world that was, being overflowed with water perished, as reported in 2 Peter 3. Fortunately following their departure from the ark God made the rainbow covenant with man, found in Genesis 9, promising never again to judge our sin with a similar flood.
Still, following the global deluge, man continued to rebel so God sent the seed of the woman to bruise the head of the serpent. Hebrews 1 reports that God has spoken to us by his Son by whom He also made the world and in John 1 we learn that the Word of God, our Creator, was made flesh and dwelt among us.
Talk about the ultimate love story! Though we’re sinners and deserve to be separated from God for eternity, Jesus (our Creator) came to earth as both God and man to live a sinless life and die on a cross (in our place) as His shed blood provided the permanent atonement for the sins of all mankind, redeeming Believers with Him for eternity. Wow!
Also, throughout Scripture we’re told Jesus will return to reclaim His creation, destroying death and providing Believers with another perfect earth to dwell on.
Christ gives us some clues to watch for that will signal His second coming. In Matthew 24 Jesus tells us before the flood people were eating, drinking and marrying until the day that Noah entered into the ark and knew not until the flood came and took them all away; Jesus warns it will be like this when He returns again.
When the disciples asked Jesus what would be the signs of His return, He mentioned false Christs and false prophets would arise, drawing followers away from the true Christ. Well, we certainly see our share of false Christs today! It sounds to me as though the Lord Jesus could return at any time.
The time to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior is now.
How God’s Word Says We Receive The Free Gift Of Eternal Salvation:
Through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone as your Lord and Savior.
John 3:16 tells us, “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.”
The biblical message of salvation is simple. We’ve all committed sin against God (Romans 3:23). Because of our sin we’ve earned judgment from God (Romans 6:23), both spiritual death and physical death. There’s nothing we can do on our own to make ourselves right with God so, out of great love, our Creator became a human in the Person of Jesus Christ. However, man rejected Jesus and crucified Him. Jesus allowed this to occur so He could take the punishment we deserve (2 Corinthians 5:21), then resurrect on the third day (1 Corinthians 15) overcoming both sin and death. Through His grace, God offers us salvation as a free gift by accepting Jesus’ payment for our sins (1 John 2:2).
Salvation is gained by faith (Ephesians 2:8) in Jesus alone (John 14:6; Acts 4:12), believing in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior (John 1:12).
If you truly believe the Biblical message, please accept your free gift of eternal salvation. Simply ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins and become the Lord of your life. Your faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior saves you through God’s grace and mercy.
We pray that Jesus Christ will come into your life and change you just as He has changed us. Please accept His wonderful gift today! May God bless you.
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