God created the world and everything in it (Genesis 1). God created humankind in his image to rule over the world and to have a relationship with him. That is where we came from and why we are here—God created us for a relationship with him (Genesis 1:27-28). Since God created everything, God is the giver and taker of life and controls the world and everything in it. God’s original vision for humankind was for us to live in the garden (or the world) under his moral law known as the Ten Commandments. We would commune with God, and he would provide abundantly for us. If this had happened, the world would be a much better place.

Sin is rebellion against God’s authority or disobedience to God’s will. God created us, so he has dominion over us, and he defined the rules for his society in the Moral Law, known as the Ten Commandments. Anything we do that violates the moral law is a sin and rebellion against God.

Disobedience to God’s will is also a sin, meaning that we are sinning when we know God’s will and ignore it. The apostle James says it this way: “If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them” (James 4:17).

Lucifer committed the original sin in heaven. Lucifer, whose name means “bright star,” was an angel in heaven that decided he wanted to be God. Lucifer attempted to overthrow God to become God. As punishment, Lucifer was expelled from heaven by God, and he took his followers, many of the angels (now demons) with him. We now refer to Lucifer as Satan, which means “adversary, or one who resists” in Hebrew.

Satan first appears in the Bible in Genesis 3 as the serpent in the garden of Eden. The serpent deceives Eve and Adam with the same sin he committed: idolatry. He tricked them into believing they could become like God. He told them God only forbade them from eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil to keep them from becoming like God.

So, with an assist from Satan, Adam and Eve decided they wanted to be like God, ate the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, trying to become like God, and ultimately destroyed God’s original plan for humankind. Their rebellion and disobedience resulted in humankind’s fall into a sinful nature. The fall caused dire corporate consequences for all of humanity. The penalty for sin is death, and we all pay that (Genesis 3).

The text says God’s heart was “deeply troubled” by this, and he “regretted” creating humans.  Sin is rebellion against God, and it grieves God deeply.  Sin promises much, but it never delivers. Sin corrupts everything and separates us from our Creator. It separates us from our natural purpose in the world—having a relationship with our God. Sin cannot fill the relationship void in our soul. It cannot give us the self-control or the self-worth we crave.  

The first covenant, or old covenant, was an agreement between God and Israel. The people of Israel would obey God, and in exchange, God would bless and take care of them. They would be his people, and he would be their one and only God. God gave the Israelites the moral law known as the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai to set clear expectations, so there would be no misunderstanding of what constitutes a sin.

The moral law: When God gave the Ten Commandments to the Israelites, he personally spoke them to the Israelites from his presence on Mount Sinai, as Exodus 20:1-20 tells us. So not only did God give these commandments written on stone tablets, he also spoke them directly to the people. Hearing from God directly scared the Israelites, and the text says they “trembled with fear” (Exodus 20:18). The Israelites asked Moses to talk with God for them because they were afraid. The Israelites thought they would die if they ever heard directly from God again.

The ceremonial, or Mosaic, law: So, Moses spoke with God, and God gave him the ceremonial law or what is more commonly known as the Mosaic law, in Exodus 20:22—24, Exodus chapters 21-40, and the book of Leviticus. The ceremonial law dealt with how to atone for sin. It also set forth the instructions for the Levitical priesthood, the sacrificial system and offerings, the feasts and celebrations, and the building the tabernacle and eventually the temple.

Under the ceremonial or Mosaic law, there was a separation of God from the people. The Levitical priests were the intermediaries between God and the people. The people were supposed to live within the guidelines of the moral law. When they sinned, the ceremonial law required that they go to the priests and provide the prescribed sacrifice for their sin, typically an animal sacrifice, depending on the sin. The priests would then sacrifice the animal on the altar on their behalf under the ceremonial Law. But this system did not satisfy God because the Israelites continually failed. The blood of animals only cleansed people on the outside temporarily. The people were unable to follow God’s commandments, and they repeatedly sinned, even to the point of worshiping other Gods and idols. God desired a better covenant. God realized we needed a Savior, a permanent high priest and advocate in heaven, and he decided that would be his Son, Jesus Christ. He knew we also needed an advocate here on earth, and that would be the Holy Spirit. Thus, God created the new covenant.

Sin is rebellion and disobedience against God, and it separates us from God. God is perfectly holy, pure, mighty, and just beyond anything we can comprehend. Remember, he spoke the world and everything in it into existence.

The Bible says the law made nothing perfect (Hebrews 7:19). And God was not satisfied with the people under the Old Covenant (Hebrews 8:8). So, God sent his Son to satisfy the Mosaic law by living a sinless life and sacrificing himself once and for all, fulfilling the ceremonial law and establishing the new covenant. Jesus said, “I have not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it” (Matthew 5:17)—which is what he did.

Many people believe a loving God would not allow suffering in the world, so they say there is no God.  These people see bad things happening to good people, and they blame God for it. They do not understand that in God’s original plan in the garden of Eden, there was no pain, suffering, or death, and in God’s final plan in heaven, there will be no pain, suffering, or death. John says in Revelation that God, “'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” (Revelation 21:4).  

The same folks who deny God exists also say that if God is all-powerful and loving, why doesn’t he intervene and end the suffering. Individually, I believe he often does so. Some people suffer for a time and then recover, and that is often God answering prayers. Corporately, the Bible says God will eventually end all pain and suffering. Jesus will come back to earth the same way he left (Acts 1:9—11), and when he does, he will raise the believers to be with him and cast the unbelievers into the lake of fire. The believers will live with God in the kingdom for eternity with no pain and suffering, and the unbelievers will perish (Revelation 21:8). As you might imagine, that is not the answer someone who has just said they cannot believe in God wants to hear, but that is precisely what the Bible says will happen. If you are in that boat, get out now—do not let your worldly pride stand in the way of your eternal salvation.

We live in the time between the fall of mankind in Genesis 3 and the rapture or second coming of Jesus Christ. During this period, the world is a fallen, evil place. While we live here, God is seeking to restore a personal relationship with us. The Bible says God created us in his image for a relationship with us. God hoped humankind would choose to stay in a relationship with him, and that man would demonstrate that choice by following the moral law. But sin entered the world through Satan and man’s actions, not God’s. And when sin entered the world, pain, suffering, sickness, and death came with it. As the world has become more and more wicked, it has created more pain and suffering. It is a vicious cycle, but it was created by man and not God. We cannot blame God for the problems our sins have caused.

The Bible says that, for now, the prince of the world (Satan) has control of the world through its culture (1 John 5:19). Satan caused sin, suffering, and death—they are his domain, and he should get all the credit for it. Satan rules the earth and its culture for a short period, but then, the Bible says, Jesus will eventually return as the Lion of Judah, and he will crush Satan. Jesus wins!

What if you had a severe problem that would horribly affect your health, happiness, and future, but someone told you about the issue, and that there was an easy way to fix it. Would you do it? Most of us would say yes, immediately—sign me up. Yet we all have that problem—it is called sin—and many of us are aware of it but take no meaningful action to fix it.

Sin is your MOST serious problem!

Please understand what sin is. Sin is a pure rejection of and rebellion against God, and with sin comes separation from God. God has already passed his sentence on our sin, in Genesis 3, the penalty is death (Romans 6:23). We MUST address the sin in our lives. It is our most serious problem because it is our default setting.

Simply put, if we want to go to hell, we do nothing, and we go there automatically by default due to our sins. Hell is our default destination. If you desire eternal life in heaven, you must address the sin in your life.

Fortunately, there is a cure for our sin problem. God provided us a savior, his Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus lived the perfect, sinless life we were supposed to live, and then he died the bloody painful death on the cross we deserve for our sins, fully experiencing the wrath of God in our place. Please understand we had a sin debt so massive that we could never pay it; no amount of good works is enough to come close to paying our sin debt. So Jesus stepped in and paid our debt in full in advance by laying down his life for us.

So how do we accept this gift? What are we required to do?  

The Bible says, “Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15). The “good news” is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. To receive the gospel gift, we must pray to God, acknowledging that we are sinners with a sin debt we cannot pay, and ask Jesus to forgive our sins. We must believe that Jesus is God and can provide forgiveness for our sins and then believe that he gives forgiveness when we ask for it. We repent, turning away from our sins, and abide in our new saving relationship with Christ.

When we do this, Jesus restores our relationship with the Father. The Bible says we become a new creation, a Child of God, and from that point forward, we have eternal life. Through Jesus, we have a beautiful reconciliation with our Heavenly Father and our purpose in life—a relationship with God. Jesus fills our void.

Sadly, we live in a fallen, sinful world, and we were born into it as sin attics. We did not sin and become sinners—we were born sinners in a fallen world, and therefore we sin. That will continue our entire lives. Our sinful nature, our weak flesh, the culture of the world, and Satan all work together to drag us into sin and disobedience.

So how do we deal with and defeat our sin? Individually we cannot do it.

Can you remember a time in your life when you felt close to God and far from sin? When was that, and why did you feel that way? This feeling happens when we are thrilled with the wonder of the Gospel, and we are overwhelmed at God’s Love for us in Christ. This closeness occurs when we realize the Gospel has genuinely melted our hearts. The only way to beat sin is to focus on Christ and what the Bible says about our Savior, rather than focusing on trying to beat the sin.

Sadly, it is still possible for a Christian who has received Christ and the Holy Spirit to sin. As Christians, our sin should bother us. It should disturb and trouble us, and continuing it should be unthinkable to us. One on one, our willpower can’t defeat our sin nature, so our choice cannot just be between sinning or not sinning. The choice needs to be between desiring a God who satisfies completely or desiring a sin that only satisfies briefly. The choice is to walk toward Christ rather than away from sin.

The Old Testament predicted a Messiah would come. Since sin entered the world through one person, it could be atoned for by only one person—Jesus Christ. So Jesus left heaven and came to earth fully man and lived a sinless life, satisfying the moral law. The ceremonial law required sacrifices for sins to be perfect, blemish-free animals, the best of the flock or herd. Since Jesus lived a sinless life, he was blemish-free and thus became the perfect sacrifice for all our sins, past, present, and future. Jesus was the sacrificial Lamb of God and is the predicted Messiah.

Symbolically, blood represents life. Because a person’s or animal’s life depends on the blood that flows through its veins, it cannot live without it. God required blood sacrifices to atone for sin as part of the ceremonial law. God said when speaking to Moses, “For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life” (Leviticus 17:11).

Visually, Jesus’ death could not have been bloodier—he was the blood sacrifice for our sins. The Romans flogged Jesus before his crucifixion. When someone was flogged, they were beaten with a scourge, a multi-corded whip with shards of glass, metal, or bone embedded into the cords. The scourge tears the flesh to pieces. Jesus would have been covered in blood after enduring a flogging. Then he was nailed to the cross to die.

We know that, after his death, Jesus was buried in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb, where his body stayed until Sunday morning when he rose from the grave. After the resurrection, Jesus made many appearances. Then after 40 days, Jesus ascended into heaven, where he is exalted to the right hand of God as permanent High Priest of his church. Jesus is the predicted Messiah.

This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven. (Acts 1:11)

Under the Ceremonial or Mosaic Law, there was a separation of God from the Israelites. The priests were the intermediaries between God and the people. The Priests were all Levites and descendants of Moses’ brother, Aaron. They were also human, so they had to make sacrifices for themselves before they could sacrifice for the people. When people sinned, they brought the prescribed sacrifices for atonement to the Priests to offer at the temple alter on their behalf.

Here is what Hebrews 7:11-28 says about Jesus Becoming Our Permanent High Priest (with commentary):

“If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood—and indeed the law given to the people established that priesthood—why was there still need for another priest to come, one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also. (verses 11-12)

Perfection could not be obtained under Mosiac law and the Old Covenant. We needed a New Covenant and a New Priest.

“He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. For it is declared: ‘You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.’” (verses 13-17)

Jesus descended from the tribe of Judah and lived a perfect sinless life. God declared Jesus a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek due to his indestructible life.

“The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God. And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, but he 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.’”  22 Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant.” (verses 18-22)

The “former regulation” mentioned was the Mosaic law. God wanted a better covenant with man, so he introduced a better hope: our Savior, Jesus, and the new covenant. God swore an oath and will not change his mind—Jesus is High Priest forever. Jesus is the guarantor of a new and better covenant.

“Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood.” (verses 23-24)

Since 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 truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.” (verses 25-26)

Jesus meets our needs and can save completely those who come to God through him.

“Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.” (verse 27)

Jesus sacrificed for our sins once and for all when he died in our place on the cross. Jesus lived a perfect, sinless, indestructible life and earned righteousness, thus become the perfect sacrifice for all sin. Jesus’ death atoned for all sin past, present, and future. God accepted Jesus’ sacrifice and proved it by raising Him from the dead. God exalted Jesus to his right hand as our permanent priest.

“For the law appoints as high priests’ men in all their weakness; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.” (verse 28)

The Mosiac law appointed men as priests. God’s oath came after the law and appointed Jesus as High Priest of his Church forever.

So, to summarize, Jesus left heaven and came to Earth fully human to walk in our shoes and to be tempted in every way. He did this to offer us salvation by breaking Satan’s hold on death, freeing those of us who are held in slavery to the question of, “What happens when we die?” The Bible tells us what happens when we die; we all face judgment.

Hebrews says, “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) and “Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27)

Paul says, “So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.”  (Romans 14:12)

Jesus says, “But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words, you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:37)

John says, “Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son” (John 5:22)

At our judgment, there are only two possible outcomes:

• Jesus will either say, “Yes, I knew (insert your name), and I loved him, and he loved me.  His life and works clearly showed an enduring faith to the end.  I claim (your name) as mine, and I take his sins. Father, he is found righteous in my name and by my grace. Well done, good and faithful servant. (see Matthew 25:23)
• Or Jesus will say, “I am sorry, I loved (insert your name), but he never loved me, so I never knew (your name). Depart from me, you evildoer!” (see Matthew 7:23)

When we place our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, he frees us from the slavery of wondering, “What happens when we die?” We have a known eternal outcome and are free to live abundantly on the Earth, knowing our salvation is secure.