– SAVED FROM UNCERTAINTY –
for Post-modern People
(short version)
WHO ARE YOU?
WHERE WERE YOU IN THE BEGINNING? – WHEN THE WORLD BEGAN?
HOW MUCH OF THIS UNIVERSE DID YOU CREATE?
As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.
Ecclesiastes 11:5
HOW MUCH OF THE FUTURE CAN YOU PREDICT?
Are you certain what will happen tomorrow, or next week, or next month, or next year?
HOW MUCH OF REALITY DO YOU CONTROL?
If clouds are full, it rains.
If a tree falls to the north that's where it lies.
God sends the rain on the good and the evil.
How much rain and sunshine have you sent?
How many people's lives do you control?
How are you doing controlling your own life?
God has determined the days of your life.
Can you add 1 inch to your height?
WHAT WAS BEFORE THE BEGINNING?
In the beginning God…
But where were you?
WHO IS CREATOR GOD?
[God], from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
These are Creator God's words from the Bible
Psalm 90:2
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:1
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[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
The living God…is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.
1 Timothy 4:10
In other words, even those who don't believe have only one legitimate option for a savior – the living God.
The Lord said, "...I am holy."
Leviticus 11:1, 45
Is he not your Father, your Creator, who made you and formed you?
Deuteronomy 32:6
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WHO IS MAN?
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:
• He made us to communicate, create, and love in very sophisticated ways – far beyond animals.
And we can relate personally to God:
• We can have a unique spiritual relationship with our Heavenly Father as his loved children – which animals cannot have.
• We can live with God forever.
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THE WORLD WAS PERFECT
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.
Genesis 1:31
The man [Adam] and his wife [Eve] were both naked, and they felt no shame.
Genesis 2:25
Evil and death had not yet entered the world and drastically impacted it.
• So, there was no guilt.
• There was no shame.
• There was no fear.
• There was no suffering.
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GOD GAVE MAN ONLY ONE RESTRICTION
Now the Lord God had planted a garden in…Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. …In the middle of the garden were [1] the Tree of Life and [2] the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Genesis 2:9
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God commanded [Adam] the [first] man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden, but 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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She [Eve] took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband [Adam], who was with her, and he ate it.
Genesis 3:6
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This resulted in a great disaster for the whole world.
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WHAT IS THIS TREMENDOUS PROBLEM?
It is Sin & Death.
Sin is the breaking of [God's] law.
I John 3:4
Holman Christian Standard Bible
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.
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HOW DID ADAM & EVE REACT TO THEIR SIN?
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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Are we any different from Adam & Eve?
There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands.
Romans 3:10-11
There is...no one who seeks God. All have turned away.
Romans 3:11-12
Your iniquities [sins] have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you.
Isaiah 59:2
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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!
So throughout the whole rest of the Bible God is calling us back to himself.
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THEN GOD PRESENTS OPTION #1 FOR OVERCOMING SIN:
First, God gave very general, logical instructions:
The Lord said to Cain [Adam & Eve’s son], “…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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First, God told us to "do what is right."
He told us to "master" sin.
So, God's instructions were general and obvious: Just don't do bad things!
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)
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 doing some good things?
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.
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 – but we couldn't do that either.
So, no matter how hard we try, we cannot achieve eternal life by trying to be good.
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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:
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.
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 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
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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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WHAT DID THE MESSIAH DO FOR US? / WHAT DID GOD'S SON DO TO GIVE US ETERNAL LIFE?
1. He [Christ] suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
Hebrews 2:9
By dying on the cross, Christ died in our place and took the punishment of death that we deserve.
2. He [Christ] himself bore our sins in his body on the tree [the cross].
Peter 2:24
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3. I [God] will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.
Hebrews 8:12
There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Romans 8:1
4. To all who received him [Jesus Christ], to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
John 1:12
When we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son.
Romans 5:10
5. Jesus said… , “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies... Do you believe this?”
John 11:25-26
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Christ rose from the dead, so that we too can receive eternal life.
[The Bible's final prophecy about the future says:] Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. ...And I heard a loud voice from the throne [of God] saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." ...Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."
Revelation 21:1, 3-5
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SO WHAT SHOULD WE DO?
Believe and Repent.
They must turn to God in repentance [for their sins] and have faith in our Lord Jesus.
Acts 20:21
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[A man]…asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved? They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved–you and your household.” …Then immediately he and all his family were baptized. …He was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God–he and his whole family.
Acts 16:29-34
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Does God want us to be sure or unsure of where we will spend eternity?
I write these things to you who believe in [Jesus]…the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
1 John 5:13
We are given only 2 options!
Whoever believes in [Jesus] the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him.
John 3:36
What is God's heart toward you?
The Lord...is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
II Peter 3:9
"As surely as I live," declares the Sovereign Lord, "I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live [eternally]. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die [eternally]?"
Ezekiel 33:11
The Spirit…say[s], “Come!” …Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of [eternal] life. [Option #2!]
Revelation 22:17
This is God’s invitation to you on the last page of the Bible!