• 180-minute explanation – page 1 •
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WHAT WAS BEFORE THE BEGINNING?
はじめに神は...
Genesis 1:1 –
the first words in the Bible
Before…you brought forth the…world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
Psalm 90:2
WHERE DID EVERYTHING COME FROM?
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:1
Manga Vol. 1, page
By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
Hebrews 11:3
Through him [Christ] all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
John 1:3
In the beginning you [God] laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out… They will be discarded. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.
Psalm 102:25-27
The first heaven and the first earth… [will] pass…away.
Revelation 21:1
So everything that we see came from Creator God and has a beginning and an end. Only God is eternal.
Question: How did that computer get there?
If you see a computer sitting on a table, do you say: “Oh, I wonder how it got there? It must have gotten put together by chance. It must have gotten on the table by chance”?
No! We instinctively think: “Someone designed it and made it. Someone put it on the table on purpose.”
Aren't we humans, and the entire universe, far more intricately and wonderfully designed than any computer?
Is it reasonable to think that this universe, and this earth, and we humans are simply here by some unplanned accident – simply by chance?
It actually takes "faith" to believe that.
Isn't it at least as reasonable to think that God made everything?
WHO IS GOD?
Is he not your Father, your Creator, who made you and formed you?
Deuteronomy 32:6
A. Creator God alone is eternal.
[God says:] I am the...First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
Revelation 22:13
Question:
Where would you draw a line to divide the following list of things into 2 distinct groups?
God
entire universe
humans
animal
trees, plants
mountains, rivers
stars, planets
Answer:
GOD = creator
–––––––––––––––––––
entire universe = created
humans
animals
trees, plants
mountains, rivers
stars, planets
• So, could Creator God just be a force or spirit within nature?
The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you.
II Chronicles 6:18
Creation is not God, but is simply God’s “artwork.”
Creator God is not part of his creation but transcends all that he has made. Creation could never contain God. He is greater than the universe he has created. So he could not be just a spirit or force within nature – or within a great tree, or a beautiful mountain.
• Or do you think that man could invent or make Creator God?
1. [God] the Father has life in himself.
John 6:26
If Creator God is self-existing and depends on nothing else for his life, do you think that man could have invented him or made him?
2. Since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone–an image made by man’s design and skill.
Acts 17:29
Who exists first, a father or his child?
A father cannot be created by his children! If people are Creator God’s children, how could we, his children, possibly make him?
3. God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness.” …So God created man in his own image.
Genesis 1:26-27
Since we are God's offspring, made in his image, do you think that God could be something less than what we are?
We have personality, intelligence and creativity, and are capable of sophisticated communication. If we, as God’s children, are created in his image, do you think that God could be less than what we are? How could he be just an inanimate object made of stone or wood? Or, if we have personality, is it reasonable to think that he could be nothing more than an impersonal, animating force in nature?
4. He [God] is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.
Acts 17:25
The craftsman…nails down the idol so it will not topple.
Isaiah 41:7
If Creator God needs nothing from us, do you think that he would be something that needs to be propped up by us, using tools and hardware so that he will not fall over?
5. Then God said, “…Let them [humans] rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth.”
Genesis 1:26
Why would we want to worship, pray to, or rely on something below us in status?
6. The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.
Acts 17:24
If we cannot even make a building that God can live in, how can we make God?
7. [Creator God says:] I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.”
Isaiah 46:9
[God says:] “Who is my equal? Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these?”
Isaiah 40:25
[Creator God says:] “Be silent before me, you islands.”
Isaiah 41:1
So to make an idol or to pray to anything else but Creator God is extremely disrespectful and is a sin against him.
B. God is a loving Father.
As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.
Psalm 103:13
Pray…: “Our Father in heaven…”
Matthew 6:6, 9
If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”
Matthew 7:11
Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
Matthew 6:8
The Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.
Proverbs 3:11
C. God has deep emotions – so he has a rich personality:
• [God said:] “I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will faithfully plant them in this land with all my heart and with all my soul.” - Jeremiah 32:41 [NAS]
• The Lord comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones. - Isaiah 49:13
• Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. - I Peter 5:7
• God…richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. - I Timothy 6:17
So God is generous.
• You shall not make for yourselves an idol, in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. - Exodus 20:4-5 [Shinkaiyaku]
Illustration:
If someone whom you love and who belongs to you deserts you to be with someone else, how would you feel? If you truly loved them, would you not feel jealous? But if you did not love them deeply, you might not have such strong emotions? Creator God loves his children deeply.
• The Lord...is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. - II Peter 3:9
We know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. - I John 4:16
D. God is amazingly creative.
God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.
- Jeremiah 10:12
[Creator God says:] “I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things. ‘You heavens above, rain down righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness grow with it; I, the Lord, have created it.’”
- Isaiah 45:6-8
The Lord said…, “See, I have chosen Bezalel [to build my tabernacle]…, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts–to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of craftsmanship.” - Exodus 31:1-5
Creator God could not give creativity to us if he did not possess it himself.
E. God is Ruler of all things.
Keep all my decrees and all my laws and follow them. I am the Lord.
- Leviticus 19:37
Question:
If God is Lord and ruler, what must we do?
Answer:
We must obey him.
[In the future] all the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations.
- Psalms 22:17-28
F. God is Judge of all things.
There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one [God] who is able to save and to destroy.
- James 4:12
G. God is Savior.
I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior. - Isaiah 43:11H. God is unique in the heavens and in the universe Is 43:10-11
All three were present at the creation of the world:
初めに、神は天地を創造された。…神の霊が水の面を動いていた。
創世記 1:1-2
Manga Vol. 1, page
主（なる神）はあなたを造った父ではないか。
申命記 32:6（新改訳）
初めに言（キリスト）があった。言は神と共にあった。言は神であった。この言は、初めに神と共にあった。万物は言によって成った。成ったもので、言によらずに成ったものは何一つながった。
ヨハネ 1:1-3
How do we know that in this section "the Word" refers to Christ?
Because ...
言は肉（人間）となって、わたしたちの間に（地上に）宿られた。
ヨハネ 1:14
Jesus was in heaven as God.
Then he came to earth as God plus human being.
So he was 100% God and 100% human being.
キリストのうちにこそ、神の満ち満ちたご性質が（人間の）形をとって宿っています。
コロサイ 2:9 (新改訳)
（イエスの誕生の前）天使は言われた。「マリア、…あなたは身ごもって男の子を産むが、その子をイエスと名付けなさい。その子は偉大な人になり、いと高き方の子と言われる。…聖霊があなたに降り、いと高き方の力があなたを包む。だから、生まれる子は聖なる者、神の子と呼ばれる。」
ルカ 1:30-32, 35
Manga Vol. 4, page
WHAT IS THE BIBLE?
When you received the word of God…you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God.
- I Thessalonians 2:13
All scripture is God-breathed. - II Timothy 3:16
So the Bible is Creator God’s message directly to us. The Bible is not man’s words.
God used men to write God’s message as his Holy Spirit guided their thoughts and words:
Men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. - II Peter 1:21
NOTE:
So the goal of this web site is not to express personal, human opinions, but to present and explain God’s words as clearly as possible. The best way to do this is to let Creator God speak to us himself through his own words. So much of this web site is in God’s own words taken directly from the Bible.
The Bible:
• Contains 66 books;
• Was written by about 40 authors;
• Was written over about 1500 years;
• Has amazing unity from beginning to end. (The purpose of this study guide is to explain its central message.)
• Is divided into 2 main parts.
1. The Old Testament is the story:
• Of who God is.
• Of the creation of the world and the beginning of human history.
• Of Israel until 400 years before Jesus was born.
• Of the promise of and the preparation for the coming of the Messiah.
It is written mostly in Hebrew.
2. The New Testament is the story:
• Of Jesus Christ’s life from his birth through his death, resurrection, and return to heaven.
• Of approximately the next 40 years when his followers told the Mediterranean world about Jesus.
• Of how God saves us from sin and death, and gives us eternal life.
• Of the end of the world and the creation of a new heaven and new earth.
It is written mostly in Greek.
The Old Testament and New Testament contain great variety:
• People’s experiences with God.
• Teaching about God and about having a relationship with him.
• Answers to why the world, people and life are the way they are.
• Prayers to God.
• Complaints to God.
• Questions of God.
• History of God’s actions with people.
• Philosophy about life.
• Practical wisdom about life and relationships.
• Prophecy about future events.
• Promises from God to us.
• Truth about what’s real.
• Poetry.
• Description of eternal life.
WHO IS MANKIND?
God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over … all the earth.” …So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
- Genesis 1:26-27 / Manga Vol. 1, page
1. We are made in Creator God’s image.
2. Both male and female reflect God’s image.
3. God made us responsible to take care of his world.
4. God made us for himself.
[God’s children say:] Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people. - Psalm 100:3
5. God longs to have an eternal relationship with us.
[At the end of the Bible Jesus says:] “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”
- Revelation 3:20
6. We do not have life in and of ourselves: we neither created our own life nor sustain our own life.
The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living being.
- Genesis 2:7
In him [God] we live and move and have our being. - Acts 17:28
[Jesus asks:] “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” - Matthew 6:27
7. God’s desire is to make us like his Son Jesus Christ.
God…predestined [his children] to be conformed to the likeness of his Son. - Romans 8:29
WHAT KIND OF WORLD DID GOD CREATE?
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.
- Genesis 1:31 / Manga Vol. 1, page
• The world was perfect.
• Man was originally created to live forever.
• There was no evil, no sorrow, no death.
Is God generous or stingy?
God…richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.
- I Timothy 6:17
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
God commanded the [first] man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden…
[But God prohibited
only one thing.]
…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 / Manga Vol. 1, page
What are the consequences of disobeying God?
The wages of sin is death.
- Romans 6:23
[God said:] “If…you will not listen to me, I will punish you for your sins.” - Leviticus 26:18
Disobeying Creator God is sin.
(So sin includes far more actions than just committing a crime.)
SIN ====> DEATH
Death is the consequence of sin.
Did Adam obey God’s command not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil?
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 / Manga Vol. 1, page
HOW DID ADAM’S SIN CHANGE THE WORLD?
Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.
- Romans 5:12
WHAT WAS MAN’S RESPONSE TO HIS SIN?
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
- Genesis 3:8 / Manga Vol. 1, page
Adam and Eve’s relationship to Creator God had been broken.
Illustration:
They felt like little children who do wrong: They do not want to look into their parent’s eyes – instead they want to hide from their parents.
WHAT ARE SIN’S PRIMARY CONSEQUENCES?
A.
Your iniquities have separated you from your God. - Isaiah 59:2
Man was separated from God forever.
B.
The wages of sin is death.
- Romans 6:23
Man died (in 2 ways):
1. Physically –
Your body is dead because of sin.
- Romans 8:10
Adam & Eve began to grow old and eventually died.
2. Spiritually –
Adam & Eve immediately died spiritually. Their relationship to God was destroyed.
You were [spiritually] dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of…[Satan] the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
- Ephesians 2:1-2
WHAT WAS GOD’S IMMEDIATE RESPONSE TO ADAM’S SIN?
But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
- Genesis 3:9 / Manga Vol. 1, page
God took the initiative:
God came to call the man back to himself – God did not immediately destroy him but showed him mercy.
God did this on page 4 of the 1,000+ page Bible!
What does this tell us about the message of the rest of the Bible?
Even now, God is calling to us throughout the entire rest of the Bible.
Jesus said … “[I] came to seek and to save what was lost.” - Luke 19:9
Jesus, himself, came from heaven to earth for this purpose. God’s focus is on bringing man back into a father-child relationship with himself.
And this is still God’s invitation on the last page of the Bible:
“Come!” Whoever is thirsty let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life. - Revelation 22:17
Even today, God is looking for those who are lost. How would you answer the question that he asked Adam and Eve:
“Where are you?”
WHAT IS THE FIRST THING GOD TOLD MAN TO DO ABOUT SIN?
What did God tell Cain (Adam and Eve’s son)?
On Cain and his offering he [God] did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry… Then the Lord said to Cain, “…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; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”
- Genesis 4:5-7 / Manga Vol. 1, page
• We must do right to be accepted by Creator God.
• Sin is right there if we don’t do what is right.
• Our responsibility is to overcome sin, because sin wants to control us.
DID MAN DO RIGHT?
DID MAN OVERCOME SIN?
No! About 1600 years later, during the time of Noah, the earth was filled with evil and violence.
The Lord[’s]…heart was filled with pain. … God saw how corrupt the earth had become. …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.”
- Genesis 6:6, 12-13 / Manga Vol. 1, page
So God destroyed all people and saved only Noah and his family.
WHY DID GOD PUNISH ALL MANKIND LIKE THIS?
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come. - Revelation 4:8
DID THIS TERRIBLE PUNISHMENT CHANGE MAN’S HEART?
[After the flood God said:] “Every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood.”
- Genesis 8:21 / Manga Vol. 1, page
Man didn’t change! Even the threat of great punishment doesn’t change our hearts. Man had not mastered sin.
SO WHAT WILL GOD DO ABOUT SIN AND ABOUT DEATH?
God Gives Us 2 Options:
OPTION #1: The Way of Works – becoming righteous by trying hard to obey God's Law and be a good person.
Almost everyone in the world tries this method!
Almost everyone thinks that if they are good enough they will go to heaven.
OPTION #2: The Way of Grace & Faith – believing in God’s promise to forgive our sins and make us righteousness because of what Jesus Christ did for us (when he died on the cross and rose from the dead). This promise of eternal life is a free gift from God to us.
• The 2 options run side by side throughout the whole Bible.
• Both options are presented to the world through the man Abraham & the country Israel.
Question to Think About:
• Which option do you think will succeed?
• And which option do you think will fail?
GOD SETS IN MOTION A 2000-YEAR PROCESS TO HELP THE WORLD
Mankind, in general, had failed to master sin. Now, God chose one man Abraham (also called Abram) to become the father of a nation, Israel.
“I will make you [Abraham] into a great nation, and I will bless you…”
“…and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” - Genesis 12:2 / Manga Vol. 1, page
How did God bless all peoples on earth through Abraham?
Jesus Christ [was]… the son [descendant] of Abraham. - Matthew 1:1
This Jesus was born about 2000 years after Abraham in the country of Israel. He was the Messiah who came from heaven to bless the whole world.
The Bible focuses first on Israel. But are my people and my country also blessed by Creator God?
[God said to the Messiah:] I will…make you a light for the Gentiles [non-Israelites], that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth. - Isaiah 49:6
The Lord reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the many islands be glad. - Psalm 97:1 NAS
Israel is not an island nation, so this is clearly talking about other nations.
[In heaven] there…was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne [of God] and in front of [Jesus Christ] the Lamb. - Revelation 7:9
Every group of people on earth will be included in God’s blessings (because of what the Messiah did for them).
But God’s long, detailed plan needed to start in a specific place with specific people before it could spread to the whole world. So it started with Abraham and the people of Israel.
Illustration:
So God’s blessing through Abraham to the world is like an upside down funnel:
Abraham
| |
/ \
/ \
Israel
/ \
/ \
/ \
/ Whole \
/ World \
But Abraham had a big problem:
Abram said, “O Sovereign Lord, …I remain childless… You have given me no children.”
- Genesis 15:2-3 / Manga Vol. 1, page
Abraham was 75 to 85 years old. How could God make him a great nation if he had no children?
God then made a promise – that was humanly impossible to keep.
[God] took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars…So shall your offspring be.”
- Genesis 15:5 / Manga Vol. 1, page
HOW DID ABRAHAM RESPOND?
+
WHAT WONDERFUL THING DID GOD THEN DO IN RETURN?
Abram believed the Lord, and he [God] credited it to him as righteousness.
- Genesis 15:6 / Manga Vol. 1, page
[Abraham was] fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”
- Romans 4:21-22
• Abraham believed God himself.
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V
• God made Abraham righteous.
WHAT DOES THIS TEACH US ABOUT OPTION #1 AND OPTION #2?
OR WHAT DOES THIS TEACH US ABOUT BECOMING RIGHTEOUS (GOOD) IN GOD’S EYES?
What then shall we say that Abraham…discovered in this matter? …When a man works, his wages are not credited as a gift, but as an obligation. However to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.
- Romans 4:1, 4-5
Illustration #1 (for Option #1):
When you work at your company, you get paid because you earned the money – the company owes it to you. They must pay you because you worked for it.
Illustration #2 (for Option #2):
When a friend gives you a gift, you only receive it. You don’t work for it and you don’t earn it. You are only able to receive the gift because they are generous.
• Abraham did nothing to receive righteousness. He didn’t work to earn his righteousness.
• Abraham’s righteousness [goodness] was a gift from God.
• Abraham trusted God himself. Abraham was made good in God’s eyes only because of his faith in God.
What do we learn about God in this situation?
It is impossible for God to lie.
- Hebrews 6:18
• God keeps his promises – even if they seem impossible.
(But Abraham had to wait 15 to 25 more years.)
Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born.
- Genesis 20:1-2, 5 / Manga Vol. 1, page
What does this have to do with me today?
The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness–for us who believe in
him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. - Romans 4:24
• God only saves us by faith in him.
• If we believe, we can 100% trust God to forgive our sins and give us eternal life.
Then what happened to further God’s plan to save us?
Abraham’s descendants went down to Egypt during a very bad famine. They stayed for 400 years and became a great population. Then the Egyptians feared them and turned them into slaves.
[Genesis 37, 39-50 / Manga Vol. 1, page]
Finally, God sent the leader, Moses, and 10 disasters to force Egypt to free the people of Israel. But Pharaoh, king of Egypt, did not listen to God until after the last plague.
[Exodus 1-14 / Manga Vol. 1, page]
[Then] the Lord…said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. After that he will let you go.…About midnight I will go throughout Egypt. Every firstborn son in Egypt will die.”
- Exodus 11:1, 4-5 / Manga Vol. 1, page
BUT HOW DID GOD SAVE THE ISRAELITES FROM THIS PLAGUE OF DEATH?
The Lord said, “Each man is to take a lamb for his family.… Slaughter them at twilight. Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where you eat the lambs.” - Exodus 12:1, 3, 6-7 / Manga Vol.
The blood of the lamb saved the people of Israel from the death that came upon all Egypt.
[God said,] “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn … [But] when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.”
- Exodus 12:12-13 / Manga Vol. 1, page
Why is the Passover Lamb one of the greatest symbols in the Old Testament?
The blood of the lamb (in the Old Testament) is a picture of the blood that Jesus Christ shed for us on the cross 1,400 years later (in the New Testament).
John [the Baptist] saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” - John 1:29
So Jesus is called “the Lamb of God” in the New Testament.
But the Messiah did not come for about 1400 more years.
WHAT DID GOD DO UNTIL THE MESSIAH CAME?
The Lord said to Moses, “…I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and commands I have written for their [Israel’s] instruction.”…And he wrote on the tablets the words of the…Ten Commandments.
- Exodus 24:12; 34:1, 28 / Manga Vol. 1, page
God gave the Law to Moses for Israel.
The Law told the people what to do to be good.
Was the Law intended to save people?
[The] commandment…was intended to bring life. - Romans 7:9
[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 / Manga Vol. 1, page
If a Law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the Law.
- Galatians 3:19
Obeying the Law was God’s initial method for man to become righteous. This is Option #1.
But what is God’s standard? How righteous do we have to be?
• Be perfect … as your heavenly Father is perfect. - Matthew 5:48
God’s standard is 100% perfection.
We must be as righteous as God is.
• [God] will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts.
- I Corinthians 10:4
God even judges our motives!
• [Jesus said:] Men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. - Matthew 12:36
God even judges every one of our words!
Is it even possible for us to be good enough?
• Nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh.*** - Romans 7:18
Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
- Psalm 51:5 [6]
We are born as sinners. There is nothing good in our sinful nature.
• A bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
- Matthew 7:18
We are incapable of producing anything that God would consider good.
• All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags. - Isaiah 64:6
So all the good that we do is filthy in God’s eyes.
Don’t we get credit for doing some good things?
• Whoever keeps the whole Law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it? - James 2:10
Illustration:
The Law is like a priceless vase that is on display in the world’s finest museum: If you drop it once, you completely shatter it.
• The Law is not like an exam with a passing score of 60% or 70%.
• The Law is not like a scale that balances the good against the bad.
What if we have never heard or read God’s Law? Are we still guilty?
• We are all born with a conscience – a basic understanding of right and wrong. So we all know that we sin:
When Gentiles [non-Jews], who do not have the Law, do by nature things required by the Law…they show that the requirements of the Law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts…accusing…them. - Romans 2:14-15
• Everyday, we all have the opportunity to know Creator God through the wonderful design of our world.
So we have no excuse for not believing in him.
Since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. - Romans 1:20
What is God’s verdict?
• 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
We wouldn’t even look for Creator God if he didn’t pull us toward himself.
• All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. - Romans 3:23
We completely fail to meet God’s standard.
• Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment. - Hebrews 9:7
Creator God gives us only one life in which to know him. Then we will be judged.
• [Jesus said:] “Throw them into the fiery furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” - Matthew 13: 42
Judgment is followed by eternal punishment.
WHY DID THE LAW FAIL?
The Law was powerless to do [it,] in that it was weakened by the flesh.*** - Romans 8:3
The problem is with me!
The Law is good, but it could not overcome the weakness in me.
1. I was born sinful.
I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. - Psalm 51:5/7
I was not born good. The selfishness, evil and sin that comes out of my heart comes from the self I was born with.
Illustration:
2-year-olds clearly show that we are born as sinners. Parents don’t teach their babies to do wrong. Even though parents teach little children, “Do what is right; don’t do what is bad,” little children purposely do the opposite. They are very cute, but they are purposely rebellious, selfishness, and disobedient. Where does that evil come from? That evil naturally pours out of their hearts, because they were born that way.
Why was I born sinful?
I inherited my sin nature from my first ancestor, Adam.
Illustration:
Where do our hair color, eye color, and facial features come from? From our ancestors. In this same way, our sin nature is also passed down to us from our ancestors. Unfortunately, it is our natural condition.
2. I am a slave to sin.
I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do… I have the desire to do what is good but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do–this I keep on doing.
- Romans 7:14-15, 18-19
I am a slave to what I obey – so I am a slave to sin.
3. The Law actually arouses sinful desires within me.
When we were controlled by the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the Law were at work in our bodies.
- Romans 7:5
Illustration:
A parent tells a little child, “Don’t touch that!” Then, just because they were told not to do so, the child will look directly into the parent’s eyes and defiantly touch it. The parent’s command stirred up the rebellion and stubbornness that already existed in the child’s heart.
4. Sin, as a force, actually lives within me.
The evil I do not want to do–this I keep on doing. …It is Sin living in me that does it.
- Romans 7:19-20
DO WE HAVE ANY HOPE?
Can we do anything about our sin? And about death?
…What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me? - Romans 7:24
I have no hope!
Help!
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy… ! - Ephesians 2:4
God loves us – so he already had a plan: Option #2!
BUT ISN’T THE LAW OF SOME HELP TO ME?
Yes, it is.
The Law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.
- Galatians 3:24
1. The Law makes it very clear that Option #1 (trying hard to obey God’s Law) ends in complete failure.
The Law dooms me to eternal judgment.
2. But the Law also leads me directly to Option #2 (having faith in God’s mercy toward me).
The Law shows me that I have no hope in myself, but that my only hope is to believe in what the Messiah has done for me through his death and resurrection.
What is our only hope?
The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 6:23
• Our only hope is that Creator God gives us a gift – and this gift is eternal life.
• This gift comes to us only through Jesus Christ.
Why would God help us?
God is love. - I John 4:8
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
- John 3:16
God demonstrates his love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. - Romans 5:8
[God] called us by his own glory and goodness. - II Peter 1:3
When did God decide to help us?
God, through the prophet Isaiah prophesied about the Messiah in about 700 BC – long before Jesus was born:
[The Messiah] was led like a lamb to the slaughter. - Isaiah 53:7
He [the Messiah] was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. …Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows. …He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. - Isaiah 53:3-5, 7
But God actually planned to send the Messiah long before that – from the very beginning:
Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect…was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for our sake. - I Peter 1:20
How can Christ’s death and resurrection over 2000 years ago affect us today?
We have 2 representatives: Adam and Christ. What happened to them directly affects us.
1. Sin entered the world through one man [Adam], and death through sin. - Romans 3:12
Our ancestor Adam’s sin affected all mankind – because of him all people were born sinners.
2. Christ’s death and resurrection also affect all (who put their faith in him).
For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. - I Corinthians 15:21-22
Illustration #1:
In Japan a mukoyōshi (婿養子), or adopted son-in-law, takes on his wife’s family name. His decision affects the identity of every one of his descendants after him, even though they were not around when the original decision was made. In the same way, what Adam and Christ did affect the identity and destiny of those who come after.
Illustration #2:
In America almost everyone’s ancestors left another country to come to the United States and become Americans. The ancestors’ decision to leave the old country changed the national identity of their descendants for many generations after them.
But this is the 21st century – and that was 2000 years ago!?
• Once is enough:
Christ died for sins once for all. - I Peter 3:18
Nor did he [Jesus]…offer himself again and again, the way the high priest [in the Old Testament] enters the Most Holy Place [in the temple] every year with blood that is not his own. Then Christ would have had to suffer
many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all…to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. - Hebrews 9:25-26
• God’s timeframe is eternal – our’s isn’t. Two thousand years is a short time for God!
Do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like a day. - II Peter 3:8
This is symbolic language. Some days, like the day Adam sinned, have impacted thousands of years. The day that Christ died on the cross, the day that he rose from the dead, the day that he will return to this earth, the day that he will judge the world are each days that impact us for all eternity. So 2000 years is nothing to God!
WHAT does Christ’s death on the cross DO FOR me?
1. God forgives all our sins:
• On the cross, Jesus Christ took all our sins upon himself.
He [Christ] himself bore our sins in his body on the tree [cross]. - I Peter 2:24
• Our sins are completely gone.
As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. - Psalm 103:12
• God does not remember our sins.
I [God] will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more. - Hebrews 8:12
2. We deserve the death penalty, but Christ died in our place.
He [Christ] suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. - Hebrews 2:9
So we receive eternal life in 2 ways:
a. Our spirits are immediately made alive for all eternity, when we believe in Christ.
b. Our bodies will be resurrected in the end.
3. Our Old Self was crucified on the cross with Christ – so we can please God.
Before we believed in Jesus Christ:
I am…a slave to sin. - Romans 7:14
But after we believe:
We know that our Old Self was crucified with him [Christ], so…that we should no longer be slaves to sin–because everyone who has died has been freed from sin. - Romans 6:6
Illustration:
After a slave dies, he no longer hears his
masters commands – he is no longer ruled by his master. The slaves death sets him free from being under his masters control.
We were “sinful at birth,” but our Old Self died, so we no longer have to be slaves of sin.
Before, it was impossible for us to please God. But now, though it doesn’t happen automatically, we are capable of pleasing God.
[So] Sin shall not be your master. - Romans 6:14
4. The Law was nailed to the cross and canceled.
• He [God] forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. - Colossians 2:13-14
[Christ] abolish[ed]…in his flesh the Law with its commandments and regulations. - Ephesians 2:15
The long list of commands that we broke and that condemned us is gone.
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
- Romans 8:1
• [Now] you are not under Law, but under [God’s] grace. - Romans 6:14
So the system that we live under has completely changed!
• Now, we live under the umbrella of God’s grace!
• We are no longer under the umbrella of the Law which condemns us before God.
Does that mean we can just do whatever we want?
No! We must still meet God’s righteous requirements – his high standards. But now it is different:
[Now] the righteous requirements of the Law might be fully met in us, who…live…according to the [Holy] Spirit. - Romans 8:3-4
So…we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code. - Romans 7:6
Now, God’s Holy Spirit gives us the power to do right – we don’t do right automatically, but now God gives us the ability so that we can actually please him!
Now, we aren’t just trying hard on our own to obey a list of rules like we used to do. After receiving God’s Spirit, meeting the Law’s high standards is different from our former efforts to be good enough for God by keeping a long list of the Law’s rules. “Righteous requirements” are different from the old “written code” with its long list of “regulations.”
What are the Law’s “righteous requirements?”
1. The requirement is perfection:
Be perfect…as your heavenly Father is perfect. - Matthew 5:48
2. The requirement is to be like Jesus Christ – that’s our end goal:
God…predestined [us] to be conformed to the likeness of his Son. - Romans 8:29
3. The requirement is to love:
Jesus replied: “'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind [and with all your strength].' And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law...hang[s] on these two commandments." - Matthew 22:37-40 / [Mark12:30]
God’s “righteous requirements” can be summarized in:
• Love God with everything you are.
• Love others.
4. The requirement is to obey God:
[Jesus said:] If you love me you will obey what I command. - John 14:15
How do we meet the Law’s “righteous requirements”?
1. God starts it by giving us Christ’s righteousness:
Christ Jesus…has become for us…our righteousness, [and] holiness. - I Corinthians 1:30
God will credit righteousness–for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. - Romans 4:24
2. God empowers us – we live by the power of the Holy Spirit:
The righteous requirements of the Law might be fully met in us, who…live…according to the [Holy] Spirit. - Romans 8:3-4
3. God works – he works in us (until we see Jesus face to face):
I thank my God every time I remember you…being confident of this, that he [God] who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus [Christ’s return]. - II Peter 1:5
4. It is a process – so it takes time:
[God] will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ. - II Peter 1:5
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. - Philippians 3:12
5. We work:
As you have always obeyed…continue to work out your salvation. - Philippians 2:12
Make every effort to add to your faith. - II Peter 1:5
Train yourself to be godly.
- I Timothy 4:7
One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 3:13-14
6. God finishes it – when we see Christ:
We know that when he [Jesus] appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure. - I John 3:2-3
[God] is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy. - Jude 24
what does Christ’s resurrection do for me?
1. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. - Romans 8:11
The Lord himself will come down from heaven, …and the dead in Christ will rise. - I Thessalonians 4:16
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
He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. - I John 5:12
Jesus Christ, himself, is the resurrection and the life. Life and resurrection exist only in him. There is no life nor resurrection apart from Christ.
Life = Jesus Christ
Resurrection = Jesus Christ
Eternal Life = Jesus Christ
If I have Christ I have eternal life!
2. Christ’s resurrection means I can live a new life:
We were…buried with him [Christ] through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead…, we too may live a new life. - Romans 6:4
[For details see above:
#3. Our Old Self was crucified on the cross with Christ;
#4. The Law was nailed to the cross and canceled.]
HOW CAN I RECEIVE CHRIST? BECOME A CHILD OF GOD? BE SAVED FROM MY SINS?
He…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 16:31-34
Why is it Jesus Christ whom I must believe in?
Who else has done for us what he did? He, alone, has done everything that we need to receive eternal life. There is no other way.
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
What specifically do we have to believe or do?
1. Generally, believe in all that Jesus Christ is and all that he did and will do:
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. - John 3:16
2. Believe that Jesus is the Son of God – he is 100% God:
If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God.
- I John 4:15
[Jesus said:] I and the Father are one.
- John 10:30
3. Believe God the Father:
[Jesus said:] Whoever hears my word and believes him [God the Father] who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.
- John 5:24
4. Believe that Jesus died on the cross for our sins:
The Son of Man [Jesus Christ] must be lifted up [on the cross], that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. - John 3:14-15
5. We must repent of our sins:
Now he [God] commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man [Jesus Christ] he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead. - Acts 17:30-31
6. We declare that Jesus is Lord:
• Of heaven and earth–of all things.
• Of our life.
So we submit to Christ’s rule in our lives.
If you [#6] confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and [#7] believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
- Romans 10:9-10
7. We believe that Christ’s resurrection from the dead truly happened – it is a historical fact, not just a made-up religious story.
Why do we have to believe this?
If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. - I Corinthians 15:17
If Christ did not literally rise from the dead, how would you ever receive eternal life?
Can you get eternal life from a dead person? Can you get eternal life from a god that did not conquer death? Can you get eternal life from an ancestor who has passed away?
Why is faith (or belief) so necessary?
It is by [God’s] grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by [your] works. - Ephesians 2:8-9
We are saved only by believing what Jesus did for us (Option #2), not by what we try to do ourselves (Option #1).
When we put our faith in Jesus Christ, it shows that we are completely depending on him for our salvation – we aren’t depending on anything that we have done.
WHEN WE BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST WHAT DO WE GET? AND WHAT HAPPENS TO US?
1. We receive Jesus Christ, himself:
[God] has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. - Ephesians 1:3
[Jesus said,] “I am in you and you are in me.” - John 1:12
[Paul writes:] I pray that out of his [God’s] glorious riches he may strengthen you with power in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. - Ephesians 3:16
This sums up everything!
It is all through Christ. There is no blessing apart from Jesus Christ.
2. We now live under God’s grace – no longer under his wrath.
We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. - Romans 5:1-2
3. We become a new creation!
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come. - II Corinthians 5:17
[Then] like newborn babies…grow up in your salvation. - I Peter 2:2
4. We become a child of God.
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
[Before] we were God’s enemies. - Romans 5:10
5. All our sins are forgiven.
In him [Christ] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. - Ephesians 1:7
After we believe, we continue to confess to God the sins that we commit.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. - I John 1:9
6. We receive eternal life.
• We have eternal life as soon as we believe in Jesus.
[Jesus said:] “I tell you the truth, whoever…believes him [God the Father] who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” - John 5:24
• Our spirits are immediately made alive in Christ, but our physical bodies will still die.
If Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.
- Romans 8:10
• But when our physical bodies die, we (our souls) will instantly be in heaven with Christ.
We know that if the earthly tent [body] we live in is destroyed [dies], we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. …[We will] be away from the body and at home with the Lord. - II Corinthians 5:1, 8
• In the end we will receive resurrected bodies in which we will exist on the New Earth.
If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. - Romans 8:11
Already, but not yet!
We have it – but we have to wait!
So we will not experience everything eternal life has to offer us until God creates a New Heaven and a New Earth.
7. We receive Christ’s righteousness.
You are in Christ Jesus, who has become…our righteousness [and] holiness. - I Corinthians 1:30
We cannot create righteousness on our own.
What a great deal!
Jesus took our sins and gave us his righteousness.
8. We receive the mind of Christ.
We have the mind of Christ. - I Corinthians 2:16
The way we think about everything can be transformed, because we can think as Christ does.
Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is. - Romans 12:2
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus…
Be…like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
- Philippians 2:5, 2-4 [新改訳]
9. What happened to Christ happens to us (because he is our representative):
All of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death. …If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. - Romans 6:3,5
Jesus died > We died with him.
Jesus rose > We rise with him.
10. So our Old Self was crucified.
We know that our Old Self was crucified with him [Christ], so…that we should no longer be slaves to sin. - Romans 6:6
Our Old Self was enslaved to Sin. But now it has died with Christ.
So we don’t have to be slaves to sin any longer.
For the first time in our lives, victory over sin is possible.