• SAVED FROM SHAME •
- for Group-Oriented cultures
(medium version – page 1)
NUMBERS MARK THE SAME TOPIC:
In: Shame & Fear & Guilt & Emptiness
• In: English & Japanese versions.
• In: Short and Long versions.
1, 2, 3, etc. – are along left margin.
These markers are not links.
1
WHO IS CREATOR GOD?
God has a very special relationship to you.
Is he not your Father, your Creator, who made you and formed you?
Deuteronomy 32:6
What was before the beginning?
In the beginning God...
Genesis 1:1 –
the first words in the Bible
[God], from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
Psalm 90:2
What did God do in the beginning?
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:1
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Is there anyone like Creator God?
[Creator God declares:] "Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me.
I, even I, am the Lord...
Apart from me there is no savior."
Isaiah 43:10-11
Father God desires a personal relationship with you!
We love him [God] because he first loved us.
1 John 4:19
Come near to God and he will come near to you.
James 4:8
Why should I trust him?
Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.
Romans 10:11
2
WHO IS MAN?
God wanted mankind to be like him.
God said, “Let us make man in our image.”
Genesis 1:26
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Important Thought:
Think about how special this makes you in God's heart! This was God's intentional choice for you.
God gave us a very honorable status.
God said, “Let us make man in our image.” …So God created man in his own image... male and female he created them.
Genesis 1:26-27
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Of course, we are not God, for we were created by God.
But we are similar to God in important ways:
• We can communicate, create, and love in very sophisticated ways.
• Unlike animals, we carry in ourselves the image of God.
God gave us a very special relationship with himself.
We are his offspring.
Acts 17:28
In him we live and move and have our being.
Acts 17:28
• We can have a unique spiritual relationship with our Heavenly Father as his loved children.
• Animals cannot do this.
• And we have the possibility of living with God forever.
God gave us prestigious responsibilities.
God said, "…Let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
Genesis 1:26
The Lord God took the man [Adam] and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
Genesis 2:15
All the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air…he [God] brought…to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.
Genesis 2:19-20
This was a major achievement in biology! No one has done anything like it since.
So Adam had very fulfilling work to do.
But there was one thing lacking in God's new creation.
For Adam no suitable helper was found [among the animals that he named].
Genesis 2:20
The Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."
Genesis 2:21
So God gave us loving human relationships.
…So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and…he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib…and brought her to the man.
Genesis 2:21-22
The man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh."
Genesis 2:23
Later, Jesus Christ explained how important this was:
"At the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'. So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."
Matthew 19:4-6
So marriage is the first and most important social relationship.
It was created by God, himself – and it continues so to this day.
The first marriage was warmly intimate with nothing to hide or be ashamed of.
The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.
Genesis 2:25
Our human relationships are very important to God.
（神は）孤独な人を家にすませ…る。
詩篇 68:7
(新改訳と新改訳2017は詩篇68:6)
God sets the lonely in families.
Psalm 68:6
(Japanese New Interconfessional Translation is Psalm 68:7)
Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him.
Psalm 127:3
A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
Proverbs 17:17
Two are better than one because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. …A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
Ecclesiastes 4:9, 12
Our human nature tells us something very important about God's nature.
Since we are God's offspring, we should not think that…[God] is like gold or silver or stone––an image made by man's design and skill.
Acts 17:29
Two important questions:
1. How could God, who made us, be less than what we are?
How could Creator God possibly come from people's imaginations?
How could he be nothing more than a product of our own hands?
2. How can Father God be created by his own children?
It is always the reverse: Children always come from the father.
An important point:
Do you want to think of Creator God, your loving Father, as an inferior object?
Do you want to shame and disrespect the one who made you?
3
THE WORLD WAS PERFECT
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.
Genesis 1:31
Sin and evil had not yet entered the world and drastically impacted it.
So, there was no:
Death.
Shame.
Fear.
Suffering.
Guilt.
4
FATHER GOD GENEROUSLY PROVIDED FOR HIS CHILDREN
The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground––that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. …The Lord God …[said] to the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden."
Genesis 2:9, 16
God extravagantly made things beautiful!
God gives his children freedom to enjoy what he has made.
God…richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.
1 Timothy 6:17
BUT GOD GAVE JUST ONE RESTRICTION
God commanded the man, “You must not eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”
Genesis 2:16
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THEN SATAN CAME TO DRIVE A WEDGE BETWEEN MAN & GOD
[In the form of a snake] he said to [Eve] the woman, …"You will not surely die." …"For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
Genesis 3:1, 4-5
What did Satan do?
Satan contradicted God's words.
Satan lied about God's integrity and motives.
Satan appealed to Eve's selfish interests.
[Later, Jesus said about Satan,] "The devil…was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies."
John 8:44
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.
Genesis 3:6
Satan had offered Eve what seemed beneficial.
She turned to another source beside her heavenly Father for what she desired.
She was willing to get from Satan what she should have gotten only from God her Father.
But she did not know that Satan's assistance always comes at a great price – because . . .
The devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
1 Peter 5:8
Eve followed her self-centered desires.
She followed Satan's advice.
And she violated her relationship with God her Father.
What about Adam?
Which relationship would he honor?
Which would he betray?
She also gave some to her husband [Adam], who was with her, and he ate it.
Genesis 3:6
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Adam followed Eve.
He chose a human relationship and betrayed his relationship with God his Father.
Question:
Is this not one of our greatest weaknesses?
Unfortunately . . .
[people] love…praise from men more than praise from God.
John 12:43
Adam's choice resulted in great disaster for all human relationships.
5
WHAT IS THIS GREAT DISASTER?
It is Sin & Death.
Sin entered the world through one man [Adam], and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.
Romans 5:12
The wages of sin is death.
Romans 6:23
Sin and death are our greatest problems.
They destroy everything.
6
HOW WERE ADAM & EVE AFFECTED BY THEIR SIN?
Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
Genesis 3:7
Sin resulted in great personal shame.
Sin destroyed their sense of themselves - their self worth.
• They sensed that there was something fundamentally wrong with themselves – with what they had become.
It wasn't only that their actions were unacceptable.
They, themselves, were now unacceptable.
• For the first time, they had something about themselves that they needed to hide.
They could no longer be open about themselves with God and with others.
Our first ancestor horribly failed God, and himself, and us.
Death reigned from the time of Adam. …The many [people] died by the trespass [sin] of the one man [Adam]. …By the trespass of the one man, death reigned.
Romans 5:14, 15, 17
Think how far he fell!
[In the beginning] God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."
Genesis 1:28
But now, because of Adam, death reigned on earth.
And Adam's shame has come down to all of us today.
[In the beginning] God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. …"You are free to eat from any tree in the garden."
Genesis 2:15-16
[But now,] to Adam…[God] said, "...Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistle for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."
Genesis 3:17-19
What a shameful end.
Adam's blessing was turned into a curse.
His work became a burden.
And he would end as dust.
So Adam & Eve experienced spiritual death.
As Adam & Eve's children, this is also our experience.
You were [spiritually] dead in your transgressions and sins.
Ephesians 2:1
Your iniquities [sins] have separated you from your God.
Isaiah 59:2
Eventually, they also experienced physical aging and death.
Adam lived…and then he died.
Genesis 5:5
Sin destroyed the Father-child relationship that Adam & Eve enjoyed with God.
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden…, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
Genesis 3:8
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They sensed their unfitness to be in their Father's (their Creator's) presence.
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BUT WHAT WAS GOD'S FIRST REACTION TO THEIR SIN?
But the Lord God called to the man (Adam), “Where are you?”
Genesis 3:9
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Think how significant this is!
God did this on about page 3 of the 1,000+ page Bible!
Throughout the whole rest of the Bible, God is calling us back to himself.
So, God's clear purpose is to restore our broken relationship with him.
BUT HOW DOES ADAM ANSWER GOD'S KIND QUESTION?
[Adam] answered [God], "I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked."
Genesis 3:10
The person that Adam had become made him afraid to be in God's presence.
Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Hebrews 4:13
Illustration:
When a small child does something bad, then hears his father or mother coming . . .
• How does he feel about himself?
• Does he want to be with his parents?
• So, what does he do?
From Adam and Eve's side, their relationship with God was fatally damaged.
It was now stained by shame and betrayal – and by fear and guilt.
WOULD GOD THEIR FATHER STILL SHOW THEM KINDNESS?
The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
Genesis 3:21
Think how significant this is!
What did they deserve?
[God had said:] "When you eat of it you will surely die.”
Genesis 2:16
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They deserved instant death.
But what did God the Father do for them?
He covered their shame.
What does this tell us about God's intentions throughout the whole rest of the Bible?
God is love.
1 John 4:8
Love covers over a multitude of sins.
1 Peter 4:8
YET, THERE WERE OTHER MAJOR CONSEQUENCES FOR THEIR SIN
Sin destroyed their human relationships.
[Creator God asked Adam:] "Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" The man said, "The woman you put here with me––she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."
Genesis 3:11-12
Adam blamed his wife.
He did not accept responsibility for his own sin.
Their relationship took a tragic turn –
Until they sinned, they had enjoyed complete unity.
They lost their honorable position.
The Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground.
Genesis 3:23
They had enjoyed the honorable position and beautiful home that God had made for them.
Now, they were cast out to work the ground that God had cursed.
They were cut off from eternal life.
ARE WE ANY DIFFERENT FROM ADAM & EVE?
There is...no one who seeks God. All have turned away.
Romans 3:11-12
So we are completely unworthy to be in the presence of God our Father – our Creator.
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Romans 3:23
All that we do is inadequate – so we fall short in God's eyes.
Compared to God, himself, we can only hang our heads in shame.
Your iniquities [sins] have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you.
Isaiah 59:2
In fact, we inherit the shameful, unworthy nature of our first ancestor, Adam.
I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Psalm 51:5
(Psalm 51:7 in New Interconfessional Translation – 新共同訳 & 聖書協会共同役)
So, like Adam & Eve we feel shame and fear –
and we blame others.
We have much to hide – we do not want to be fully seen.
So we cover and hide our true selves in many ways.
As a result, we violate our relationship with God our Father and with one another in many ways.
Like Adam & Eve, we have not honored Creator God's instructions:
Each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor. …"In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. …Have something to share with those in need. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. …Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other.
Ephesians 4:25
Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love.
Ephesians 5:1-2
We have not done this – even with people within our own circle of relationships.
Then, how about those outside our circle?
Jesus said an astounding thing:
"Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."
Matthew 5:44
What? Why should we do that?
"That you may be sons of your Father in heaven."
Matthew 5:45
That is because children should be like their father:
"Your Father in heaven…causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous."
Matthew 5:45
Do you want to be like those who aren't God's true children?
"If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the [sinners]…doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans [sinners] do that?"
Matthew 5:46-47
But we should be like our heavenly Father.
"Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
Matthew 5:48
But, no matter how hard we try we cannot be like our heavenly Father.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Romans 3:23
Instead of experiencing God's glory, we experience shame.
THEN GOD PRESENTS OPTION #1 FOR BEING ACCEPTED BY HIM:
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Adam & Eve had 2 sons.
Eve...became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. …Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.
Genesis 4:1-2
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Later, Cain tried to approach God.
Now…Cain worked the soil [which God had cursed]. …Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. …But on [1] Cain and [2] his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.
Genesis 4:4
1. Cain experienced the shame of personal rejection – he himself was judged as unworthy.
2. What Cain had worked hard to produce and offer to God, God also rejected.
Why did Cain experience the shame of rejection?
Much later the Bible explains the reason:
Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the Evil One [Satan]. …[Cain's] actions were evil.
I John 3:12
Man had experienced the glory of being made in God's image.
But Cain had fallen into the disgraceful position of belonging to Satan.
The Lord said to Cain [Adam & Eve’s son], “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door; …but you must master it.”
Genesis 4:7
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This is Option #1 for being accepted by God.
What is Option #1?
• "Do what is right."
• "Master" sin.
• Then you will be accepted by God.
So, God gives us a broad, common-sense responsibility: Just don't do bad things!
Then we will be accepted by God.
Abel also approached God.
Now Abel kept flocks. ...Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on [1] Abel and [2] his offering.
Genesis 4:2, 4
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Why did God accept Abel?
What was the difference between Abel and Cain?
We will find out this important difference later.
So what did Cain do?
Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field?" And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
Genesis 4:8
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Cain did an unspeakably shameful deed.
Why did Cain do it?
And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous [good].
He did not like the comparison between himself and his brother.
Of course, everyone does not act as Cain did.
But don't people often feel as Cain felt when they are seen as inadequate or inferior in comparison to someone else?
It is the condition of our heart that matters.
Man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart.
1 Samuel 16:7
We should love one another. …Anyone who does not love remains in [spiritual] death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.
1 John 3:11, 14-15
Hate and murder come from the same heart.
Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the Evil One [Satan].
1 John 3:12
What was the consequence of Cain's sin?
The Lord said to Cain, "…Now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood. …When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you…"
Genesis 4:9, 11 New American Standard
Genesis 4:12 New International Version
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"…You will be a restless wanderer on the earth."
Genesis 4:12
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• Cain was now under the shame of a curse.
• He was driven from his source of employment.
• Cain could find no peace within himself.
Cain became an outcast:
Estranged from God the Father.
And estranged from people.
Cain said to the Lord, "…I will be hidden from your presence …"
Genesis 4:13, 14
"…I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me."
Genesis 4:14
He certainly deserved to die – immediately.
Did God give Cain what he deserved?
But the Lord said to him, "Not so; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over." Then God put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him."
Genesis 4:15
God was very merciful and gracious to Cain and did not give him what he immediately deserved.
Question:
Do we want to immediately get from Creator God what we deserve for how we treat him?
Or do we want to receive God's mercy?
DID THE PEOPLE WHO CAME AFTER CAIN FOLLOW OPTION #1?
Did they "do what is right?"
Did they "master" sin?
Some centuries after Cain, Option #1 had already become a failure.
The Lord saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become.
Genesis 6:5
God the Father's loving heart was grieved?
The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.
Genesis 6:6
Question:
How do you feel when people you love betray you?
If you have deep feelings, don't you think that the Heavenly Father has far deeper feelings?
God had waited for centuries.
The Lord…is patient…, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
2 Peter 3:9
But what did God finally decide to do?
God decided to start over with Noah.
Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. …Noah was a righteous [good] man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.
Genesis 6:8-9
So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people [with a flood], for the earth is filled with violence. ...So make yourself an ark. ...You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you.”
Genesis 6:13-14, 19
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The Lord then said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and your whole family.”
Genesis 7:1
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They had with them every wild animal according to its kind, all livestock according to their kinds, every creature that moves along the ground according to its kind and every bird according to its kind. ...Pairs of all creatures...came to Noah and entered the ark...as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord shut him in. For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth...and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered. ...Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out.
Genesis 7:14-17, 19
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Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.
Genesis 7:23
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How many ways were there to be saved from the Great Flood?
Only one.
Only God's way.
Did human effort help anyone who was not on the ark?
No.
No matter how hard they tried, no one could save themselves by their own efforts.
Yet even today, most people are still attempting to save themselves –
so they use Option #1 to try to be good in God's eyes.
What made Noah different from everyone else?
Only one thing:
Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that [1] he exists and [2] that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. By faith Noah…in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
Hebrews 11:6-7
So Noah earned nothing by his own efforts, but received a great gift from God because of his faith:
Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
Genesis 6:8 (New King James Version)
Man did not do right/ master sin. So God set up a sacrificial system to purify us and allow us to come into his presence.
But much later, God gave very specific instructions:
God told us to obey his specific Laws.
[Creator God said,] “Keep my decrees and laws, for the man who obeys them will live by them. I am the Lord.”
Leviticus 18:5
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The...commandment...was intended to bring life.
Romans 7:10
Keeping God's Law perfectly results in eternal life.
So this is Option #1 for gaining eternal life:
Trying with all our power we must never do wrong and always do right.
We must obey everything God tells us to do.
We must be a perfect person.
Is this good news for us?
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CAN WE OVERCOME SIN?
I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Psalm 51:5
(Psalm 51:7 in Japanese, New Interconfessional Translation)
I am like my ancestor, Adam.
There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away.
Romans 3:10-12
But don't we get credit for loving some people?
"If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the [sinners]…doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans [sinners] do that?"
Matthew 5:46-47
I try to be an honorable person. Don't I get credit for keeping some of God's Law?
Whoever keeps the whole Law [of God] and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.
James 2:10
Illustration:
God’s Law is like a priceless vase: If you drop it once, you completely shatter it.
The Law is not like an exam with a passing score of 51%.
The Law is not like a scale that balances the good that we do against the bad.
Even more unfortunately, it is the most important part of God's Law that we break.
Which is the greatest commandment in the Law? Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law…hang[s] on on these two commandments."
Matthew 22:36-40
We don't even keep the second commandment well.
Do we even think seriously about the first commandment?
We honor our teachers and bosses, but do we honor and respect our heavenly Father?
"A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?" say the Lord Almighty.
Malachi 1:6
So, what's the outcome of trying to implement Option #1?
Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.
Hebrews 9:7
The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in...[God's] books.
Revelation 20:12
[Jesus said:] "This is how it will be at the end of the age. ...Throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Matthew 13:49-50
First, God gave the general instruction to "master" sin – but we couldn't do it.
Then, God told us to obey his specific Law – the law of love – but we couldn't do that either.
So, no matter how hard we try, we cannot achieve eternal life by trying to be a good person.
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SO OPTION #1 FAILED.
If there had been nothing wrong with the first covenant [Option #1], no place would have been sought for another [Option #2].
Hebrews 8:7
Whose fault is it that Option #1 failed?
God found fault with the people and said: "... they did not remain faithful to my covenant [Option #1]."
Hebrews 8:8-9
Because of us, Option #1 failed:
We are not faithful to God our Father.
The possibility of gaining eternal life by doing good failed.
The possibility of gaining eternal life by keeping God's Law failed.
We cannot do it.
So we are eternally doomed – and it is totally our own fault.
We have no way to erase the shame of our sin.
Oh my God, I am too ashamed and disgraced to lift up my face to you, my God, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens.
Ezra 9:6
But...
God is love.
I John 4:8
The wages of sin is death [Option #1], but the gift of God is eternal life [Option #2] through Jesus Christ.
Romans 6:23 (KJV)
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SO GOD PRESENTS OPTION #2 FOR OVERCOMING SIN:
While Option #1 was still in operation, God set in motion a long process that could actually save the whole world.
This was a very specific plan, starting about 2000 BC.
Starting in one specific place on earth, God chose one man Abraham, to become the father of one nation Israel, from which (2000 years later) would come one savior Jesus Christ.
God gave Abraham great blessing and great honor.
[God said:] “I will make you [Abraham] into a great nation and I will bless you; …and you will be a blessing. …And all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
Genesis 12:2-3
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How would God bless all people through Abraham?
Jesus Christ [was]… the son [descendant] of Abraham.
Matthew 1:1
About AD 1, God would send the Messiah, Jesus Christ, to this earth to be born in the country of Israel.
God would bless the whole world through Jesus Christ.
But Abraham, who was about 80 years old, had a big problem:
Abra[ha]m said, "O Sovereign Lord, ...You have given me no children." ...Then the word of the Lord came to him: "...A son coming from your own body will be your heir." He took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars. ...So shall your offspring be."
Genesis 15:2-5
Manga Vol. 1, page
Then comes one of the most important statements in the Old Testament!
Abra[ha]m believed the Lord, and he [God] credited it to him as righteousness.
Genesis 15:6
This is Option #2:
Abraham believed God, and God gave him a gift.
This gift was righteousness.
This gift only came to him because he believed God.
He did not earn it by working hard to be good or by trying hard to obey God's Law (Option #1).
So Abraham was saved by Option #2 – not by Option #1.
This righteousness from God allowed him to receive eternal life.
What is "righteousness"?
Righteousness = Being clean, pure and good in God's eyes – as though we are without sin!
[The Bible] speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness [Option #2] apart from works [Option #1]: "Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him."
Romans 4:6-8
Is the gift of righteousness only for Abraham?
The words "it was credited to him [Abraham]" were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness––for us who believe in him [God] who raised Jesus...from the dead.
Romans 4:23-24
So we too are made righteous by believing God [Option #2], not by trying hard to be a good person [Option #1].
And this gift of righteousness only comes to us through the Messiah:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son [Jesus the Messiah], that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16
The Son of God became a human being (100% God & 100% human) in order to bring us back to God.
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Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. …My salvation and my honor depend on God.
Psalm 62:5, 7
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Think about how difficult it is to give someone eternal life!
Can God's Law give us eternal life?
If a Law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the Law.
Galatians 3:21
Obeying God's Law is obviously the easy method.
If we simply obey God's Law (Option #1), there is no problem – we will live forever.
But it didn't work.
For the Law made nothing perfect.
Hebrews 7:19
The Law couldn't change us – it couldn't erase the evil in our hearts.
So God provided a very powerful solution.
What the Law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by [our]…Flesh, God did by sending his own Son [Jesus Christ]…to be a sin offering.
Romans 8:3
Can a human priest give us eternal life?
[In the Old Testament] the Law appoints as high priests men who are weak. …[Those] high priests…need[ed] to offer sacrifices day after day, first for [their]…own sins, and then for the sins of the people. …Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office.
Hebrews 7:28, 27, 23
Those high priests couldn't even give themselves eternal life!
Instead, they had to worry about their own sins on a daily basis.
They were no different than we are – except that God had given them an important position.
They were simply part of the Law – part of Option #1.
And they all died, so the result of their work was only temporary.
The gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings––external regulations applying until the time of the new order [Option #2].
So how could any human priest possibly give us eternal life?
Instead, God provided a very powerful solution.
A better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.
Hebrews 7:19
God was so committed to this solution that he swore to it!
[The men above] became priests without any oath, but he [Jesus] became a priest with an oath when God said to him: "The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: 'You are a priest forever."
Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant [Option #2]. …Because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest meets our need––one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.
Hebrews 7:22, 24-26
Can an angel give us eternal life?
Are they powerful enough?
The Son [Jesus]…became as much superior to the angels as the name he has…is superior to theirs. For to which of the angels did God ever say, "You are my Son"? …And…God…says, "Let all God's angels worship him [Jesus]." In speaking of the angels he says, "He makes his angels winds…" But about the Son he says, "Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever."
Hebrews 1:3-8
Are not all angels ministering [helping] spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation [through Jesus Christ]?
Hebrews 1:14
Angels do not have the status or power to give us eternal life –
Angels only help those who receive eternal life through Jesus Christ.
Jesus answered, "…I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand."
John 10:28
Can a dead person give us eternal life?
Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?
Isaiah 8:19
Only the living Son of God can give us eternal life.
[Christ Jesus] was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead.
Romans 1:4
Jesus said…, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?
John 11:25-26
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him.
John 3:36
God raised [Jesus Christ] from the dead. …Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.
Acts 4:12