Apologetics with Alecs

In order to know the true gospel, we have to go back to the beginning. God created everything, and everything He created was good. On the sixth day, He created man in His own image, male and female (only two sexes/genders). He then placed the first man and woman in the garden of Eden. He commanded them to be fruitful and multiple, to have dominion over all creation. He told them that they could eat of any of the trees in this garden, including the Tree of Life. However, they were instructed not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. That was their one command. Sounds pretty easy.

But there was a serpent. The Bible says that the serpent was craftier than any other animal. This serpent came to Eve, and asked her a question, “Did God really say?” The serpent, through some questioning, convinced Eve God was holding out on her. She ate the fruit, gave some to her husband, who was with her btw, and he ate it. At that moment everything changed. Sin entered the world.

From that moment, man was separated from God. Man was tainted by sin. Contrary to what the world wants us to believe, we are evil from the start. It is our nature to be rebellious. We are not good. As we read through the Old Testament, we see this play out over and over. God says, from the beginning, only blood covers sin. Animals were sacrificed to pay for sin. We see that there were judges, but they couldn’t beat sin. There were prophets, priests, kings, all sinful.

Fortunately, God had a plan already in place. At the end of Genesis 3, we see the first promise of a coming Messiah. Through the prophets, God continued to give signs to look for, so that His people would know the Messiah. He would be born of a virgin. He would be born in Bethlehem, the city of David. He would be a descendent of King David and would rule on his throne forever. He would save His people from their sin.

At the perfect point in history, God sent His Son, Jesus. Jesus fulfilled all the prophecies of the coming of the Messiah. He came as a baby, grew in the ways of the Lord. Preached the coming of the Kingdom of God. Preached repentance. Preformed miracles, proving that He is the Son of God. He is the God-man. He was truly God, and truly man.

After telling His disciples many times, He was arrested and crucified. The Bible says that though He never sinned, He took our sins upon Himself. He bore them to the cross, because blood is the only payment for sin. His sacrifice was once, for all. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son, that whoever would believe in him would not perish, but have everlasting life (Jn 3:16).”

If we believe say with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead (proving again who HE is), we will be saved. Our sins have been paid for, if we believe. We have a choice. We can choose to trust in Christ’s sacrifice, or we can go our own way. Christ is the only way to eternal life. But this is only part of the redemption story.

There is coming a day when Jesus is coming back. He will come as the conquering King. He will set everything to right. He will judge the living and the dead. There will be a new heaven and a new earth. Everything will be sinless, deathless, perfect. May we look to that day with anticipation and reach out to others with this good news!!