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BRINGING GOD AND MAN TOGETHER
Where did men and women begin? Are they the product of random chance or is there purpose and meaning in their existence? The Bible says men and women were created by the direct work of God (Gen 1-2). They were created in the image of God as thinking, feeling, willing, moral beings capable of having a relationship with God (Gen 1:27) (Gen. 2).
God--------------------Man
However, in the Garden of Eden Adam sinned and broke that harmony between God and man. From that time to this time there has been sin in the world. This sin has had devastating consequences and brought much grief, sorrow, and death to this world (Gen. 3). But the most tragic thing that sin has done is that it has separated between God and man.
God Sin Man
This sin barrier is so great that man cannot break down this barrier or remove his guilt. He stands before a holy God as a guilty condemned sinner deserving of God’s punishment. If he should die in that condition he would be forever separated from God in a Lake of Fire which burns forever (Rev. 20:11-15).
“But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you…” (Isa. 59:2)(see also Eph. 2:1-4).
If sin separates God and man, how many people have sinned? The Bible says “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). “There is none that doeth good, no not one” (Rom 3:12).
If all have sinned, how then can sinful man be accepted by God who is absolutely pure? Man cannot do enough good works to remove his guilt or make himself acceptable with God (Rom. 3:19-20) (Gal 2:16). The Bible says in God’s eyes “All our righteousness are as filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6).
But God in His grace has provided a way for man to be reconciled unto Him. He did this by sending his own Son to become one of us and to die on the cross for our sins. The punishment that was due to fall on us was placed on Him. The Bible says: “There is one mediator between God and men the man Christ Jesus who gave himself a ransom for all” (I Tim. 2:5-6).
A mediator is one who brings two parties together. The problem is with man, not God. God has no sin and always does that which is right. Man is a sinner and needs a covering for his sin. He needs a righteousness which he does not have.
The Bible says Christ “made peace through the blood of his cross” (Col. 1:20). The writer of Hebrews says Christ “appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself” (9:27). Jesus Christ was the perfect man. As the Son of man He had no sin, He did no sin. He always did the will of His Father. He had the righteousness that we needed. The Father accepted Him as our representative. As God, Christ was able to bear the penalty that should have been ours. In grace God put our sin on Christ that He might cloth us in Christ’s perfect righteousness and make us accepted in Him. (2 Cor. 5:21)(Eph 1:7) (1 Peter 1:24; 3:18) (Isaiah 53:5)
Jesus God ……….Christ……… Man
Jesus Christ is God’s way of bringing sinful man and a holy God together. The Scripture says: “Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1).
In Christ man is declared righteous and has full acceptance with God. His sins are blotted out”, “forgiven”, and “separated from him as far as the east is from the west”. The believer is seen clothed only in the perfect righteousness of Christ. (Isa. 44:22; Eph. 1:7: PS. 103:12)
This truly is good news, the most wonderful of stories. The Scriptures declare: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
Have you been reconciled to God? You can be by believing the gospel of “how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3-4).
“But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justified the ungodly, his faith is counted unto him for righteousness” (Rom. 4:5).
Trust Christ today! Receive a full salvation, a rich inheritance with Christ, a new nature, a new righteousness, a new relationship, and a new meaning and purpose for living!
Larry Windham
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