Untitled Sermon (41)

In the beginning God created Adam and Eve - both physically and spiritually alive in Him…

John 14:6 - “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

John 1:4 “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.”

There are only two options concerning you: You will either have eternal life in Christ or the everlasting death of sin.

When God created Adam and Eve…he did so in perfection. They were physically alive…They were spiritually alive.

But when they chose to disobey God - they rejected this life…and because there are only two options: they received death.

Because of this Romans 5:12 tells us: “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—”

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

At this point…Adam and Eve were Physically Alive and Spiritually dead…Their physically bodies inflicted with the consequences of their decision… as they began to age, and hurt, and suffer, and labor. Their spiritual existence in jeopardy as they anticipated an eternity separated from the only giver of life.

Thousands of years passed. Animal sacrifices were offered as a temporary covering of sin, but were not sufficient to pay the balance of the debt - However… God made a way to fulfill his purpose of giving life to humanity and having eternal relationship with those he loves most.

God is the only example in history…where the offended, pursues his offender, at all cost.

Why? Because life is on the line!

We often think that the OT path to salvation was different than the path of salvation today… but it has always been the same…

Romans 4:3 “For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”

Humanity has always been saved by grace through faith in God’s plan of life… which is manifested in the lives they live, because the things you believe you apply to your life… that’s how we know that the “mark of a true believer is obedience”…because those who depend on God for life…whether Old or New Testament…obey God in life!

the only difference is the people of the OT were reaching forward to Christ [who John 14:6 says is the life] instead of back.

Jesus fulfilled the promise of the Law…He is the life that the Law always promised!!!

Matthew 5:17–18 ““Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”

Share the gospel [ABCs]

…all other payments fell short…the interest was too high…but Christ paid in full once and for all!!! In the same way you don’t have to continue to pay a debt that has already been paid … the Bible says that:

Romans 8:1–3 “There is therefore now no condemnation [punishment] for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,” “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Hebrews 9:27–28 “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”

We have eternal security in our faith with Christ:

Romans 8:38–39 “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

John 10:28–30 “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.””

If you could lose your salvation, you would….You cant lose something that you are not the keeper of…

1 Peter 1:3–5 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

Its the HS work in your life that makes the change…not you.