GOD'S PLAN FOR MANKIND

God loves His creation. In the beginning He had fellowship with mankind. There was no sin in the world. The first humans, Adam, and his mate, Eve, were innocent and without sin. But one day Satan came to them in the Garden of Eden and and tempted them to disobey God's commandment by deceiving Eve. She believed Satan's lies and broke God's commandment not to eat of, or even touch the fruit of the "Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, or they would die. Therefore, as a result of their disobedience, death came to all men. 1 Cor. 15:21.

 God is a perfect God and cannot sin. Therefore, He must punish sin. All men inherited the sinful nature of Adam and Eve. God cursed sin and the earth. As a result, death came to all creation, and all fellowship with mankind was broken.  Man remains separated from the fellowship with God until that fellowship is restored.

God gave man the Ten Commandments through His servant, Moses (Exodus 20-22). However, man proved he could not keep the Law of God because of his sinful nature . Therefore, God had to make a way for his creation, man, whom he loves, to be delivered from the curse of sin.

God's plan was that He would become incarnate (become physically human). So, He chose the Virgin Mary to conceive and bear His Son Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit. God became man and lived among men for about 32 years as Jesus the Christ. In the person of Jesus Christ, God showed us what He is really like. Jesus lived a sinless life here on earth.

God required the blood of a perfect sacrifice for the penalty of man's sin. "Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin"  (Hebrews 9:22). Man could never satisfy that requirement because of his inherited sinful nature.  God's judgment for sin is death (Romans 6:23).  So someone had to die to pay the penalty for sin, and that person had to be perfect and sinless. God is the only perfect Being. So He had to become physically human and shed His blood for all mankind. Jesus Christ became the substitutionary atonement (shed His own blood as penalty for sin) for sin.  God accepted Jesus' death as a final sacrifice for sin and He showed that He accepted it by raising Jesus from the dead.  Death was conquered by Jesus' resurrection from the dead. Those who accept Him will not suffer death (eternal separation from God). Jesus' death on the cross is our gift of salvation and eternal life in heaven. It is a gift. We cannot buy it.  We cannot earn it by doing good works. It is a gift.

Good works can never make us perfect enough to measure up to God's perfection. (Romans 3:23). Even the most perfect person in the world who has ever lived could not make it to heaven by his own good works, no matter how perfect.

The work that Christ did on the cross is the only payment for our sins that God will accept. Nothing that we can do will satisfy the debt for our sins. We must believe in Jesus Christ, confess our sins, ask forgiveness,  and repent of our sin, which means to turn away from our sinful ways, and be baptized (Mark 16:16).

This is God's plan. And when we believe in Jesus and ask forgiveness, a spiritual re-birth begins to take place, and God sends his Holy Spirit to indwell us, which litterally means, He comes to live with us in our spirit. He leads us and guides us in our Christian walk.

HOW TO BECOME PART OF GOD'S PLAN OF SALVATION

Step One:  Realize that you are a sinner that is separated from God and that you will be condemned to hell if you do not repent. (1 John 1:9).

Step Two: Believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that he was born of the Virgin Mary. Believe that He died on the cross and was buried, and on the third day He rose again from the dead. Believe that He ascended back to heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father and will return physically to earth to judge the living and the dead.

Step Three: Confess to Him that you are a sinner and that you are sorry for all your sins, and ask Jesus to forgive you for your sins.

Step Four: Invite Jesus to be the Lord and Savior of your life (Revelation 3:20-21).

Step Five: Find a Bible-based church, one that teaches the truth of God's Word and be baptized (Mark 16:16).

It is our prayer that if you do not know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, you will make that dicision now, today! And that you will follow Him and learn the truths found in God's Word in a Bible-based church.

                                                               In His love, Drs. Bill and Sharon Finney