CHILDREN’S SALVATION SERIES
PREP SCHOOL
SALVATION - PART 1
Here is a question that we need to be able to answer with confidence. Are you saved? And by saved we mean, saved from sin and death, destined to live FOREVER with God in Heaven? If you answered yes, how do you know for sure? If you do not know for sure, you should study this lesson, read your Bible, and pray about it! There is no gray area in salvation. It is black and white! You either are saved or you are NOT saved.
Hebrews 4:16 “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
2 Corinthians 13:5 “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?”
We all begin life at the same place – we are born! Did you ask to be born? Nope. Not only that, we are all born into a state of sin because of our great, great, great, great, grandparents Adam and Eve. So, we are born physically alive but spiritually dead. As far as God is concerned, all who are born through Adam’s family line (which is all human beings) are born in sin and, therefore, are spiritually dead. How did this happen?
1 Corinthians 15:22a “For as in Adam all die…”
Genesis 2:16-17 “The LORD God commanded the man, saying, ‘From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.’”
This verse shows us the free will of mankind. This means that Adam and Eve could eat of this tree if they wanted to- it was their choice. We know this because we see God test man’s free will with the command: “You shall not eat of it.” In other words, because God gave this command, it immediately established the law. A law clearly defines what you can and cannot do.
Romans 5:13b “…but sin is not imputed when there is no law.”
So you see, there was only ONE way that Adam could sin in the garden, by disobeying this law. If there had been no law, he could not have broken the law, right? God clearly established the rule, or the law, and Adam chose to break it land sin against God. This disobedience resulted in death.
Genesis 2:17b “for in the day that you eat from it, you will surely die.”
In the Hebrew (the language it was originally written) it says, “dying you shall die”. This refers to both spiritual death (separation from God) and physical death. Spiritual death destroys fellowship with God; it separates us from Him. Physical death is a result of spiritual death. Adam did not physically die the second he ate of the fruit, did he? No, he died spiritually which eventually made his physical body die.
So, we are all born spiritually dead, separated from God. This spiritual death is the real issue. So, as you can clearly see, we are all born with a very serious problem. So, now that we have established this very large problem, which is being born spiritually dead, not having the ability to have fellowship with God, what is the solution? In God’s eyes you are helpless and hopeless:
Romans 5:6 “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.”
Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?”
So, we must accept the cards that we have been dealt, that we are hopeless and helpless creatures. Our next question will surely be, “Where does that leave us?” Well, the Bible tells us the result of sin-
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Now what? After hearing the Truth of the Gospel, we must repent (admit we are a sinner and need a savior)- that is our first big step. So, what exactly IS salvation? We learned that we are all born depraved, spiritually dead. How are we saved from this death? How do we stay with God forever? The word “saved” is an action word and implies something or someone is going to take us from total depravity, being down in the dumps, to something or somewhere else.
We must understand that we are helpless and hopeless and do not have the power to accomplish this. We must understand that salvation is actually a divine work of God on man’s behalf. In other words, salvation is the result of the work of God for us, rather than the work of us for God. Salvation is not something that we can accomplish. It is a grace gift from God through the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior on the cross.
The “wages of sin” is spiritual death. The Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, being judged and paying the price for our sin. To accept this payment on our behalf, we must admit we are a sinner (repent) and have faith (to believe and trust) in His saving work.
Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
So, ask yourselves this, as a helpless and hopeless person do you think you can accomplish salvation on your own? Are you a perfect sacrifice for your sins? To be this, you cannot think one bad thought or do one bad thing from birth until death and, then, you must be willing to offer your “perfect” self to be beaten and hung on a cross. Well, we all failed the first part of this test, right?. As we learned earlier, there is NONE righteous, NO NOT ONE!! When you admit that you are a sinner and want God to change you- you “change your mind” (repent) about who you want to be and how you want to live. You decide you want to stop living for self and start living for Jesus Christ. He now becomes your Lord, your true master, instead of that icky, sinful part of you.
Acts 16:30-31 “and after he brought them out, he said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’”
Notice that even the very FAITH necessary for salvation is a “work of God”! Do not miss this! Our problem is that we have difficulty seeing ourselves exactly as God sees us. We must LEARN to understand what it means to see ourselves through the perfectly righteous, divine eyes of God. The ONLY way to do this is to humble ourselves when we hear the Gospel message, for starters and, then to continue in a path of lifelong learning to obtain the “mind of Christ” (I Corinthians 2:16).
Here are some words that God has used to describe our state prior to salvation: “lost, condemned, under the wrath of God, blind, in the powers of darkness, dead in trespasses and sins. ”So “YES” the human race has a problem and Jesus Christ is our solution!
Hebrews 4:16 “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
2 Corinthians 13:5 “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?”
We all begin life at the same place – we are born! Did you ask to be born? Nope. Not only that, we are all born into a state of sin because of our great, great, great, great, grandparents Adam and Eve. So, we are born physically alive but spiritually dead. As far as God is concerned, all who are born through Adam’s family line (which is all human beings) are born in sin and, therefore, are spiritually dead. How did this happen?
1 Corinthians 15:22a “For as in Adam all die…”
Genesis 2:16-17 “The LORD God commanded the man, saying, ‘From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.’”
This verse shows us the free will of mankind. This means that Adam and Eve could eat of this tree if they wanted to- it was their choice. We know this because we see God test man’s free will with the command: “You shall not eat of it.” In other words, because God gave this command, it immediately established the law. A law clearly defines what you can and cannot do.
Romans 5:13b “…but sin is not imputed when there is no law.”
So you see, there was only ONE way that Adam could sin in the garden, by disobeying this law. If there had been no law, he could not have broken the law, right? God clearly established the rule, or the law, and Adam chose to break it land sin against God. This disobedience resulted in death.
Genesis 2:17b “for in the day that you eat from it, you will surely die.”
In the Hebrew (the language it was originally written) it says, “dying you shall die”. This refers to both spiritual death (separation from God) and physical death. Spiritual death destroys fellowship with God; it separates us from Him. Physical death is a result of spiritual death. Adam did not physically die the second he ate of the fruit, did he? No, he died spiritually which eventually made his physical body die.
So, we are all born spiritually dead, separated from God. This spiritual death is the real issue. So, as you can clearly see, we are all born with a very serious problem. So, now that we have established this very large problem, which is being born spiritually dead, not having the ability to have fellowship with God, what is the solution? In God’s eyes you are helpless and hopeless:
Romans 5:6 “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.”
Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?”
So, we must accept the cards that we have been dealt, that we are hopeless and helpless creatures. Our next question will surely be, “Where does that leave us?” Well, the Bible tells us the result of sin-
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Now what? After hearing the Truth of the Gospel, we must repent (admit we are a sinner and need a savior)- that is our first big step. So, what exactly IS salvation? We learned that we are all born depraved, spiritually dead. How are we saved from this death? How do we stay with God forever? The word “saved” is an action word and implies something or someone is going to take us from total depravity, being down in the dumps, to something or somewhere else.
We must understand that we are helpless and hopeless and do not have the power to accomplish this. We must understand that salvation is actually a divine work of God on man’s behalf. In other words, salvation is the result of the work of God for us, rather than the work of us for God. Salvation is not something that we can accomplish. It is a grace gift from God through the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior on the cross.
The “wages of sin” is spiritual death. The Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, being judged and paying the price for our sin. To accept this payment on our behalf, we must admit we are a sinner (repent) and have faith (to believe and trust) in His saving work.
Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
So, ask yourselves this, as a helpless and hopeless person do you think you can accomplish salvation on your own? Are you a perfect sacrifice for your sins? To be this, you cannot think one bad thought or do one bad thing from birth until death and, then, you must be willing to offer your “perfect” self to be beaten and hung on a cross. Well, we all failed the first part of this test, right?. As we learned earlier, there is NONE righteous, NO NOT ONE!! When you admit that you are a sinner and want God to change you- you “change your mind” (repent) about who you want to be and how you want to live. You decide you want to stop living for self and start living for Jesus Christ. He now becomes your Lord, your true master, instead of that icky, sinful part of you.
Acts 16:30-31 “and after he brought them out, he said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’”
Notice that even the very FAITH necessary for salvation is a “work of God”! Do not miss this! Our problem is that we have difficulty seeing ourselves exactly as God sees us. We must LEARN to understand what it means to see ourselves through the perfectly righteous, divine eyes of God. The ONLY way to do this is to humble ourselves when we hear the Gospel message, for starters and, then to continue in a path of lifelong learning to obtain the “mind of Christ” (I Corinthians 2:16).
Here are some words that God has used to describe our state prior to salvation: “lost, condemned, under the wrath of God, blind, in the powers of darkness, dead in trespasses and sins. ”So “YES” the human race has a problem and Jesus Christ is our solution!
SALVATION - PART 2
In our last lesson we learned that we all face a very serious problem. We are all sinners and need salvation, or a savior, to save us from this sin. There is no gray area in salvation. It is black and white! You either are saved or you are NOT saved. How are we saved and how do you know if you are saved? These are questions that every single human being has to answer. You should not have a single doubt in your soul where you will spend eternity. You live on Earth for 100 years, or less, but when you DIE, it is forever and that is a mighty long time! Let us start answering these questions and by the time you are done, you will know how God saves us!
Romans 6:23b “…for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The solution to the problem was provided in eternity past (before anything was created and God existed) when He elected us, provided salvation for us, and made provisions for us in this life that we cannot even imagine!
1 Corinthians 2:9 “but just as it is written, ‘THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND WHICH HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.’”
That is right, in eternity past, before the human race was created, He provided salvation for us. Did you ever think about the fact that God created us with free will, knowing that we would fall and that He would have to provide salvation for us? He is super, super smaht (omniscient)! Have you ever thought, “If He knew we were going to fall and sin and all of this was going to happen, why did He make us in the first place?” Well, that is something we are just going to have to ask Him in Heaven!
We are like play dough and He is the person molding the clay. Imagine if you were making a play dough person and it started asking you questions? You would probably freak out and then just mush it into a blob of clay again. Thank God that He is not like us and He does not mush us into a blob when we start asking questions. He could, you know, but He loves us. He did not have to do anything for us, but He did. He could stop the world from existing in a split second, but He does not. That should give us a healthy respect for and fear of God. We should remember that He made us for a purpose and we, including our very life, belong to Him. So, instead of thinking, “I will do what I want, this is MY LIFE!”- remember, your life belongs to Him. Jesus is your Lord, and He gave you free will to serve Him and others, not to be selfish and look out for just yourself.
We are all born sinners and we are all capable of doing evil. It is God’s laws of establishment that stop us from self-destruction. If you murder, you go to jail! If you steal, you go to jail. If you break the law, you have to pay a price. Stop signs keep us from running each other off of the road. So, as you see, even in our “free-will” environment God’s love is gently prodding us in the right direction. Also, within each of us is a conscience that lets us know right from wrong. That is from God too!
His grace and love are displayed daily and we can see them if we just open our eyes and look. His ultimate display of grace and love was sending His ONLY PERFECT SON to become a human and die for our sins! So, we see through all of these actions that God wants us to come to know Him. He does not want to mush us into a lump of clay (phew). He wants us to ask and seek and He will show Himself to us. How could we ever understand all of this if He had not given us the ability to do so? Again, His grace and love are involved even in the process of us getting to know HIM!
Without the fall in the Garden of Eden there would have been no need for salvation. In order to have a relationship with a perfect God, God’s imperfect creatures have to live in His perfect righteousness. He can only have fellowship with perfection. How can we do this as sinners? It is impossible! Well, God designed a perfect plan. It is quite amazing and it will take our entire lifetimes to understand any of it through learning the Word of God, the Bible. Let us start with what He has done to SAVE us!
Hebrews 2:9-10 “But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings.”
Do not ever forget that every activity, whether completed by the hand of God or through one of His creatures, was planned before any of us even existed. The entire goal of that plan is that we bring GLORY TO GOD, our Creator. It is no accident that The Lord Jesus Christ is the Redeemer. That sounds goofy, but the point is that God the Father revealed everything about Himself through His Son, Jesus Christ. So you see, even though we are the ones with the problem, as a result of the sin in the Garden, it is His glory that ultimately is on display. We do not get any glory do we? We are like that lump of clay, molded and formed by our great Creator. How can we get any glory from that? He is ALWAYS the one that receives the glory, not us. We are helpless and hopeless and simply need to be grateful and thankful He has provided for us. Let us look at why He gets all the credit:
He is Love: 1 John 4:8b “…God is love”
He shows us what true love will do: 1 John 3:16 “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”
He shows us how to live in true love: 1 John 4:9 “By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.”
He shows what divine love can accomplish: 1 John 4:10 “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
He shows us the selflessness of Love: Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
So, in eternity past, when He looked down the corridors of time with His omniscience (all knowing), He saw we were wandering around like lost sheep, sinful and unholy. What did He do about it? Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice for our sins (propitiation). God’s justice requires a payment for sin. Perfect righteousness requires perfect judgment. You should find these points very personal, meaning you should understand that He would have done all of these things just for you! Even if you were the only person requiring these things from Him, even if you were the last person on earth, He would have done it all just FOR YOU. Why? ”God is love”.
Romans 6:23b “…for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The solution to the problem was provided in eternity past (before anything was created and God existed) when He elected us, provided salvation for us, and made provisions for us in this life that we cannot even imagine!
1 Corinthians 2:9 “but just as it is written, ‘THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND WHICH HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.’”
That is right, in eternity past, before the human race was created, He provided salvation for us. Did you ever think about the fact that God created us with free will, knowing that we would fall and that He would have to provide salvation for us? He is super, super smaht (omniscient)! Have you ever thought, “If He knew we were going to fall and sin and all of this was going to happen, why did He make us in the first place?” Well, that is something we are just going to have to ask Him in Heaven!
We are like play dough and He is the person molding the clay. Imagine if you were making a play dough person and it started asking you questions? You would probably freak out and then just mush it into a blob of clay again. Thank God that He is not like us and He does not mush us into a blob when we start asking questions. He could, you know, but He loves us. He did not have to do anything for us, but He did. He could stop the world from existing in a split second, but He does not. That should give us a healthy respect for and fear of God. We should remember that He made us for a purpose and we, including our very life, belong to Him. So, instead of thinking, “I will do what I want, this is MY LIFE!”- remember, your life belongs to Him. Jesus is your Lord, and He gave you free will to serve Him and others, not to be selfish and look out for just yourself.
We are all born sinners and we are all capable of doing evil. It is God’s laws of establishment that stop us from self-destruction. If you murder, you go to jail! If you steal, you go to jail. If you break the law, you have to pay a price. Stop signs keep us from running each other off of the road. So, as you see, even in our “free-will” environment God’s love is gently prodding us in the right direction. Also, within each of us is a conscience that lets us know right from wrong. That is from God too!
His grace and love are displayed daily and we can see them if we just open our eyes and look. His ultimate display of grace and love was sending His ONLY PERFECT SON to become a human and die for our sins! So, we see through all of these actions that God wants us to come to know Him. He does not want to mush us into a lump of clay (phew). He wants us to ask and seek and He will show Himself to us. How could we ever understand all of this if He had not given us the ability to do so? Again, His grace and love are involved even in the process of us getting to know HIM!
Without the fall in the Garden of Eden there would have been no need for salvation. In order to have a relationship with a perfect God, God’s imperfect creatures have to live in His perfect righteousness. He can only have fellowship with perfection. How can we do this as sinners? It is impossible! Well, God designed a perfect plan. It is quite amazing and it will take our entire lifetimes to understand any of it through learning the Word of God, the Bible. Let us start with what He has done to SAVE us!
Hebrews 2:9-10 “But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings.”
Do not ever forget that every activity, whether completed by the hand of God or through one of His creatures, was planned before any of us even existed. The entire goal of that plan is that we bring GLORY TO GOD, our Creator. It is no accident that The Lord Jesus Christ is the Redeemer. That sounds goofy, but the point is that God the Father revealed everything about Himself through His Son, Jesus Christ. So you see, even though we are the ones with the problem, as a result of the sin in the Garden, it is His glory that ultimately is on display. We do not get any glory do we? We are like that lump of clay, molded and formed by our great Creator. How can we get any glory from that? He is ALWAYS the one that receives the glory, not us. We are helpless and hopeless and simply need to be grateful and thankful He has provided for us. Let us look at why He gets all the credit:
He is Love: 1 John 4:8b “…God is love”
He shows us what true love will do: 1 John 3:16 “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”
He shows us how to live in true love: 1 John 4:9 “By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.”
He shows what divine love can accomplish: 1 John 4:10 “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
He shows us the selflessness of Love: Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
So, in eternity past, when He looked down the corridors of time with His omniscience (all knowing), He saw we were wandering around like lost sheep, sinful and unholy. What did He do about it? Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice for our sins (propitiation). God’s justice requires a payment for sin. Perfect righteousness requires perfect judgment. You should find these points very personal, meaning you should understand that He would have done all of these things just for you! Even if you were the only person requiring these things from Him, even if you were the last person on earth, He would have done it all just FOR YOU. Why? ”God is love”.
SALVATION - PART 3
All human beings are born in a state of sin and, therefore, need a Savior! The only exception to this was The Lord Jesus Christ. Though we all sin, this state of sin is based on Adam and Eve, the first people. Adam sinned and therefore all of his offspring are born in sin! The Bible calls this condition as being “under sin.”
Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned”
Galatians 3:22 “But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.”
There are 3 types of sin, let us learn about them…
1) Imputed sin- Adam’s original sin passed on to all people at birth as a result of the fall in the Garden of Eden. (This is because, face it, we all would have disobeyed God if we had been in the Garden.) 2) Inherent sin- The old sin nature/flesh passed down, through the body, from generation to generation, which tempts us to sin. 3) Personal sin- The sin we commit with our own free will when we give into temptation.
Romans 14:23 “whatever is not of faith is sin”
Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned”
Galatians 3:22 “But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.”
There are 3 types of sin, let us learn about them…
1) Imputed sin- Adam’s original sin passed on to all people at birth as a result of the fall in the Garden of Eden. (This is because, face it, we all would have disobeyed God if we had been in the Garden.) 2) Inherent sin- The old sin nature/flesh passed down, through the body, from generation to generation, which tempts us to sin. 3) Personal sin- The sin we commit with our own free will when we give into temptation.
Romans 14:23 “whatever is not of faith is sin”
Adam was initially innocent in the Garden. He was tested, commanded NOT to eat from a specific tree in the garden, and he disobeyed, choosing sin over God. Since man (that includes us) is no longer “good” or innocent, he cannot produce anything good. Let us consider a rotted tree. You cannot expect it to have perfect fruit. Well, can you? No, I think not. So, any “good” deeds or fruit produced from this sinful nature is bad fruit - rotten. Though something may be moral or nice or helpful, it does not necessarily mean it is from God, and anything compared to God’s perfection is pure evil!
Matthew 7:17-18 “So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.”
Sinful people tend to want to be independent from God’s plan, just like Adam in the Garden, and this is what produces personal sin. It is like a really strong magnet inside each of us that is constantly pulling us towards something ungodly (each of us have different weaknesses as a result). So, what is the solution?
Is God a God of righteousness? YES! Is God a God of Truth and Justice? YES! The answer, then, is that a righteous God would never create mankind, whom He loves, and then leave them stranded without a solution to the problem. Do you agree? If not, you need to get to know God! If you think God is a God that is waiting to SMASH you when you do something wrong, then you will not accept His plan of salvation! Without God you would not even be able to read the words on this page. You are reading these words, though, so this mean He has a great plan for you!
The problem that we have uncovered is that God requires perfect righteousness in order to fellowship with Him for all of eternity. Unfortunately, we are born just the opposite of that - totally unrighteous (depraved). Even our goodness without God is just plan ole’ evil!
God’s justice must be satisfied before His other aspects are accessible, such as love, grace, mercy, etc. Knowing that His justice must be satisfied and that His creatures could not do this on their own, He decided to take care of this for us. He cannot compromise His integrity by compromising His righteousness and make exceptions out of love - He cannot say, “Oh they are so sweet, they really do not mean it, I will just let them come and live with me forever even though they are sinners.” His own integrity will not allow it. What He did is mind-boggling...He was able to maintain His righteousness and, at the same time, provide a way for sinful man to be perfectly righteous, to have His Righteousness. He has the power and the resources to bring us to Him. We call this reconciliation, or restoring a friendship with.
We are born spiritually dead and therefore infinitely distant from God. The Cross of our Lord and Savior changed all of that.
John 1:29 “The next day he *saw Jesus coming to him and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
John the Baptist, the one who God chose to announce the coming Savior, stopped what he was doing when he saw Jesus Christ. He shouted, “Behold, the Lamb of God”! The word “Lamb” is used here in reference to the Old Testament Jewish ritual sacrifice done to pay for the people’s sins. The priest would take a perfect lamb and sacrifice it to God as payment for the sins of the people. This required a perfect lamb and faith that if they followed God’s law in doing so, their sins were forgiven. The phrase “the Lamb of God” had tremendous meaning to those Jews that were listening.
Exodus 12:21 “ Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, ‘Go and take for yourselves lambs according to your families, and slay the Passover lamb.’”
The prophet Isaiah wrote this prophecy about Jesus’ suffering on the cross.
Isaiah 53:7 “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth.”
So, when John the Baptist uttered the words, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”, he was referring to the Old Testament scriptures that prophesied it. The solution to our problem was a sacrifice...but not just any old sacrifice...oh no, God has standards...perfect ones! So our sacrifice had to be perfect. He had to be spotless:
1 Peter 1:19 “but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”
God demands perfection. He IS perfection. When God’s perfect justice is satisfied, we call that propitiation. He removed the root “cause” of us being God’s enemy - SIN. The Old Testament reconciliation, or payment for the sins of the people, only cleaned up the results of this sin problem. It paid for the sins that they currently committed. But, if they sinned again the next year, and they DID, another payment was needed, then the next year, and the next, and the next…
Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, though, the penalty has been paid and we are now called to trust in Him and His perfect sacrifice for our salvation from sin.
Matthew 7:17-18 “So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.”
Sinful people tend to want to be independent from God’s plan, just like Adam in the Garden, and this is what produces personal sin. It is like a really strong magnet inside each of us that is constantly pulling us towards something ungodly (each of us have different weaknesses as a result). So, what is the solution?
Is God a God of righteousness? YES! Is God a God of Truth and Justice? YES! The answer, then, is that a righteous God would never create mankind, whom He loves, and then leave them stranded without a solution to the problem. Do you agree? If not, you need to get to know God! If you think God is a God that is waiting to SMASH you when you do something wrong, then you will not accept His plan of salvation! Without God you would not even be able to read the words on this page. You are reading these words, though, so this mean He has a great plan for you!
The problem that we have uncovered is that God requires perfect righteousness in order to fellowship with Him for all of eternity. Unfortunately, we are born just the opposite of that - totally unrighteous (depraved). Even our goodness without God is just plan ole’ evil!
God’s justice must be satisfied before His other aspects are accessible, such as love, grace, mercy, etc. Knowing that His justice must be satisfied and that His creatures could not do this on their own, He decided to take care of this for us. He cannot compromise His integrity by compromising His righteousness and make exceptions out of love - He cannot say, “Oh they are so sweet, they really do not mean it, I will just let them come and live with me forever even though they are sinners.” His own integrity will not allow it. What He did is mind-boggling...He was able to maintain His righteousness and, at the same time, provide a way for sinful man to be perfectly righteous, to have His Righteousness. He has the power and the resources to bring us to Him. We call this reconciliation, or restoring a friendship with.
We are born spiritually dead and therefore infinitely distant from God. The Cross of our Lord and Savior changed all of that.
John 1:29 “The next day he *saw Jesus coming to him and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
John the Baptist, the one who God chose to announce the coming Savior, stopped what he was doing when he saw Jesus Christ. He shouted, “Behold, the Lamb of God”! The word “Lamb” is used here in reference to the Old Testament Jewish ritual sacrifice done to pay for the people’s sins. The priest would take a perfect lamb and sacrifice it to God as payment for the sins of the people. This required a perfect lamb and faith that if they followed God’s law in doing so, their sins were forgiven. The phrase “the Lamb of God” had tremendous meaning to those Jews that were listening.
Exodus 12:21 “ Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, ‘Go and take for yourselves lambs according to your families, and slay the Passover lamb.’”
The prophet Isaiah wrote this prophecy about Jesus’ suffering on the cross.
Isaiah 53:7 “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth.”
So, when John the Baptist uttered the words, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”, he was referring to the Old Testament scriptures that prophesied it. The solution to our problem was a sacrifice...but not just any old sacrifice...oh no, God has standards...perfect ones! So our sacrifice had to be perfect. He had to be spotless:
1 Peter 1:19 “but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”
God demands perfection. He IS perfection. When God’s perfect justice is satisfied, we call that propitiation. He removed the root “cause” of us being God’s enemy - SIN. The Old Testament reconciliation, or payment for the sins of the people, only cleaned up the results of this sin problem. It paid for the sins that they currently committed. But, if they sinned again the next year, and they DID, another payment was needed, then the next year, and the next, and the next…
Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, though, the penalty has been paid and we are now called to trust in Him and His perfect sacrifice for our salvation from sin.
SALVATION - PART 4
2 Corinthians 5:14 “For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died;”
When we learn about the love of Christ and how He offered us the free gift of salvation, we want to tell others about it. This all starts with a mental attitude of gratitude for what The Lord Jesus Christ has done for us! In other words, the love of Christ motivates us in our minds. There must be the same attitude of grace towards both unbelievers and believers!
2 Corinthians 5:15 “..and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.”
Jesus was judged for our sins and died as a substitute for us so that we never have to face spiritual death, separation from God. We will never know what being separated from God is like. Even unbelievers are able to bask in the blessings of God. Oxygen, light, gravity, trees, etc. etc, are all blessings from God and though we live in the devil’s world, we still get to live in the presence of God, as its Creator. To be totally apart from God is what is described as hell. Hell will be the opposite of all the qualities of God. Since God is light, hell is darkness. Since God is eternal life, hell is constant dying. In God’s presence there will be no more sorrows and no more pain. So, in hell there will be constant sorrow and regret and pain. Sounds horrible, huh?
2 Thessalonians 1:9 “They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,”
Once believers truly understand God’s grace plan, they start thinking differently towards others and start living more like Jesus, in an unselfish manner. He was the ultimate demonstration of this lifestyle and He is our Lord. He is the one that lived this spiritual life, as a human, to show us that it REALLY works. We are to follow His example by learning the Word of God. So, we are to no longer live for ourselves but truly live for others, just like Jesus did!
2 Corinthians 5:16 “Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.”
We are told to live for others but we are not to “know them” by our sinful standards or their sinful behavior. We are to know them as being the object of God’s love! We cannot do this in OUR sin nature; we have to do this through God’s power inside of us and through our new nature. So, in learning to live for others with an attitude of love, we stop focusing on others’ sinfulness. Just as Christ, Himself did. Though He was quite aware of our sinfulness, He loved us to the point of death on the cross. [READ THAT ONE AGAIN, PLEASE :)]
1 Corinthians 2:14 “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.”
Even before the Gospel makes its way into the believer’s soul and the gift of salvation is accepted, people are unable to understand something as incredible as God’s grace. It is beyond our human understanding. But, that changes once we are saved because then we are changed, drastically!!! God, the Holy Spirit, steps in and makes the Gospel understandable and then we can choose to believe it!
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
The term “in Christ” in the Bible is a reference to the amazing relationship believers have with Christ. We are in UNION with Him; we have an eternal relationship with Him. We are actually indwelt by God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. This means that they are present inside of us and we have become the physical temple for them to dwell in. The Old Testament believers had to go to a physical temple to fellowship and communicate with God, but the Holy Spirit makes us ONE with Jesus. WOW!
John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”
When you believe in The Lord Jesus Christ, you become a new creature, “in Christ”, this you know but you do not really feel it. Living the spiritual life is a result of proper thinking, not emotions.
2 Corinthians 5:18 “Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”
The word reconcile here refers to the barrier between God and man. This barrier is made up of sin, where the penalty of sin (spiritual death) is on one side and God’s absolute righteousness is on the other side. This barrier cannot be passed through, gone around, or jumped over. However, the work of Jesus Christ on the cross is able to remove this barrier once and for all. When sin is removed, we receive redemption. He paid the price and now we are His. When the cross removed the barrier, man was reconciled to God.
2 Corinthians 5:19-20 “…that God was in reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”
This verse shows us that we become an ambassador the moment we believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. We became a personal representative of the Lord Jesus on the Earth. We are part of a family, the family of God. Jesus is no longer here on Earth physically, so it is up to His Bride to be the light of the world and the communicators of the Gospel. Just remember it is our job to present the Gospel as clearly as possible, but not to pressure people. It is the Holy Spirit’s job to convict the unbeliever and make the Gospel understandable. We were given free will to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, so we must remember to respect the free will of others.
2 Corinthians 5:21” He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
This verse explains how salvation is accomplished. Jesus Christ was without an old sin nature, without personal sin, without Adam’s sin. He was born PERFECT and stayed PERFECT. Because He was without all of these things, He could go to the cross and be made sin for us, a perfect sacrifice.
The result is that we see the greatest act of transformation (change) in all of history. We go from being totally disqualified to fully qualified, as a result of the work completed on the cross by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. When we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have His perfect righteousness deposited to our account. we can do nothing to earn or deserve it but, because of His love, He was willing to do whatever it took to save us from a life of sin and an eternity without Him.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
When we learn about the love of Christ and how He offered us the free gift of salvation, we want to tell others about it. This all starts with a mental attitude of gratitude for what The Lord Jesus Christ has done for us! In other words, the love of Christ motivates us in our minds. There must be the same attitude of grace towards both unbelievers and believers!
2 Corinthians 5:15 “..and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.”
Jesus was judged for our sins and died as a substitute for us so that we never have to face spiritual death, separation from God. We will never know what being separated from God is like. Even unbelievers are able to bask in the blessings of God. Oxygen, light, gravity, trees, etc. etc, are all blessings from God and though we live in the devil’s world, we still get to live in the presence of God, as its Creator. To be totally apart from God is what is described as hell. Hell will be the opposite of all the qualities of God. Since God is light, hell is darkness. Since God is eternal life, hell is constant dying. In God’s presence there will be no more sorrows and no more pain. So, in hell there will be constant sorrow and regret and pain. Sounds horrible, huh?
2 Thessalonians 1:9 “They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,”
Once believers truly understand God’s grace plan, they start thinking differently towards others and start living more like Jesus, in an unselfish manner. He was the ultimate demonstration of this lifestyle and He is our Lord. He is the one that lived this spiritual life, as a human, to show us that it REALLY works. We are to follow His example by learning the Word of God. So, we are to no longer live for ourselves but truly live for others, just like Jesus did!
2 Corinthians 5:16 “Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.”
We are told to live for others but we are not to “know them” by our sinful standards or their sinful behavior. We are to know them as being the object of God’s love! We cannot do this in OUR sin nature; we have to do this through God’s power inside of us and through our new nature. So, in learning to live for others with an attitude of love, we stop focusing on others’ sinfulness. Just as Christ, Himself did. Though He was quite aware of our sinfulness, He loved us to the point of death on the cross. [READ THAT ONE AGAIN, PLEASE :)]
1 Corinthians 2:14 “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.”
Even before the Gospel makes its way into the believer’s soul and the gift of salvation is accepted, people are unable to understand something as incredible as God’s grace. It is beyond our human understanding. But, that changes once we are saved because then we are changed, drastically!!! God, the Holy Spirit, steps in and makes the Gospel understandable and then we can choose to believe it!
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
The term “in Christ” in the Bible is a reference to the amazing relationship believers have with Christ. We are in UNION with Him; we have an eternal relationship with Him. We are actually indwelt by God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. This means that they are present inside of us and we have become the physical temple for them to dwell in. The Old Testament believers had to go to a physical temple to fellowship and communicate with God, but the Holy Spirit makes us ONE with Jesus. WOW!
John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”
When you believe in The Lord Jesus Christ, you become a new creature, “in Christ”, this you know but you do not really feel it. Living the spiritual life is a result of proper thinking, not emotions.
2 Corinthians 5:18 “Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”
The word reconcile here refers to the barrier between God and man. This barrier is made up of sin, where the penalty of sin (spiritual death) is on one side and God’s absolute righteousness is on the other side. This barrier cannot be passed through, gone around, or jumped over. However, the work of Jesus Christ on the cross is able to remove this barrier once and for all. When sin is removed, we receive redemption. He paid the price and now we are His. When the cross removed the barrier, man was reconciled to God.
2 Corinthians 5:19-20 “…that God was in reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”
This verse shows us that we become an ambassador the moment we believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. We became a personal representative of the Lord Jesus on the Earth. We are part of a family, the family of God. Jesus is no longer here on Earth physically, so it is up to His Bride to be the light of the world and the communicators of the Gospel. Just remember it is our job to present the Gospel as clearly as possible, but not to pressure people. It is the Holy Spirit’s job to convict the unbeliever and make the Gospel understandable. We were given free will to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, so we must remember to respect the free will of others.
2 Corinthians 5:21” He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
This verse explains how salvation is accomplished. Jesus Christ was without an old sin nature, without personal sin, without Adam’s sin. He was born PERFECT and stayed PERFECT. Because He was without all of these things, He could go to the cross and be made sin for us, a perfect sacrifice.
The result is that we see the greatest act of transformation (change) in all of history. We go from being totally disqualified to fully qualified, as a result of the work completed on the cross by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. When we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have His perfect righteousness deposited to our account. we can do nothing to earn or deserve it but, because of His love, He was willing to do whatever it took to save us from a life of sin and an eternity without Him.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
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