The Bridge to God

To understand where we as humans stand today,
we must go all the way back to the creation of
mankind.  So, this is the account of the creation
of mankind according to the prophet Moses:

	Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our
	likeness" Gen 1:26

	So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He
	created him... Gen 1:27

	And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and
	breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living
	being. Gen 2:7

	The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the
	man whom He had formed. Gen 2:8

	And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of
	the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of
	good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you
	shall surely die." Gen 2:16-17

	Then the serpent said to the woman, "You shall not surely die.
	For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be
	opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." Gen 3:4

	So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was
	pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took
	of this fruit and ate.  She also gave to her husband with her, and he
	ate. Gen 3:6

	Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they
	were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves
	coverings. Gen 3:7

So they died, but it was not a physical death, but instead a spiritual
death.  This is evidenced by the fact that they were before naked and
unashamed, now they were ashamed, covered themselves, and hid
themselves.

	And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his
	own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. Gen 5:3

It is interesting to note here that Seth was not made in the image of
God, but instead in the image of Adam, who is now spiritually dead.
So this spiritually dead condition was passed down to Seth, and
consequently to all humankind.

We could think of a person who has lost an arm.  When that person
has a child, his missing arm will not be passed down to his children.
But that was not the case with the spiritual condition.  It is passed
down from generation to generation.

	Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world,
	and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men,
	because all sinned. Rom 5:12

So what makes us a sinner?  Because we sin?  If we cease to sin, will
we no longer be a sinner?  As my pastor says, is a duck a duck
because it quacks?  If a horse quacked would that make it a duck?
Saying our sinful actions makes us a sinner is like saying a duck's
quacking makes it a duck.  So, we sin because we are sinners, and it
is just the nature of who we are.  We became sinners at the point of
conception.  Which means, even the most innocent looking child, is
spiritually dead, and is a sinner before God.  This is not meant
to be judgmental; for all have sinned.  All of humanity suffers from
the same condition.

	For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  Rom 3:23

	All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every
	one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity
	of us all. Isa 53:6

	But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our
	righteousnesses are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf,
	and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. Isa 64:6

The problem is that the cost of sin is death.

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

By our own "good efforts" we stand condemned before God (Romans 5:18), and
are His enemy (Romans 5:10).

And there will be a day of judgment:

	So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. Rom 14:12

	And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the
	judgment. Heb 9:27

	Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now
	commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day
	on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He
	has ordained.  He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him
	from the dead. Acts 17:30-31

And then there is the second death to take place after the physical death:

	Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire.
	This is the second death.  And anyone not found written
	in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. Rev 20:14-15

But God doesn't want us to die, but to be reconciled to Him.
Therefore, God made a provision for us that we might be
restored to Him, so we would not have to face that death:

	For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten
	Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
	everlasting life. John 3:16

Jesus said

	Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and
	believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come
	into judgment, but has passed from death into life. John 5:24

Paul said

	For by grace you have been saved through faith,
	and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of
	works, lest anyone should boast.  Eph 2:8-9

It is hard to fathom, but Isaiah says

	Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him...
	When You make His soul an offering for sin. Isa 53:10

It pleased the LORD because it was the satisfactory payment,
or the propitiation for our sin, so that God could be
reconciled to man.

So by believing on Him, we can go from the condition of
being spiritually dead, to spiritually alive.

	Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men,
	resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous
	act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.
	For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by
	one Man's obedience many will be made righteous. Rom 5:18-19

Death is our destiny, should we not investigate the evidence?

	we will surely die and become like water spilled on
	the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. 2 Sam 14:14a

	There is a way which seems right to a man,
	But its end is the way of death. Pro 14:12

but...
	Yet God does not take away a life; but He devises
	means so that His banished ones are not expelled
	from Him.  2 Sam 14:14b

God devised the entire plan from the beginning of
time to send His only begotten Son into the world
to die, so that we might not be eternally banished
from Him.

So in the end, Jesus was either a lunatic, a liar,
or God Himself.  Jesus Christ is my LORD and my God.
I encourage everyone to investigate the evidence for
themselves.  We all must give account of ourselves to God.
Live abundantly; know the Truth.

"No matter what a man may believe, he cannot change
 the reality of what is."  Dr. Francis Schaeffer

--
Acknowledgments:
Thanks to Randy and Richard who both have
shared this message with me.

Note: All verses taken from New King James Version