To appreciate what God has done to save you, you must understand why He had to do it. Why does God need to save you? What does He need to save you from? Let’s go back to the creation of the human race to answer these questions.
In the Beginning
The Bible tells us that everything God created was good, including the first man and woman. The first man God created was Adam, and his name means mankind. That’s an important detail to keep in mind. The first woman was Eve.
God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and gave them dominion over all that He created. He told them to be fruitful and to multiply.
God also established a system for all living creatures to reproduce after their kind. This applied to Adam and Eve as well. That’s another important detail to note.
Then God instructed Adam and Eve not to do something. If they disobeyed, there would be consequences.
This instruction is recorded in Genesis 2:16-17 (NLT). It says, “But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden— except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”
Then The Separation Happened
Sadly, the devil tempted Eve, and she ate the fruit that God told them not to eat. She gave some to her husband, Adam, and he ate the fruit as well.
Because they disobeyed God’s instruction, they suffered the consequences as God had warned them. They ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; therefore, they would die.
Through this disobedience, the first man and woman corrupted the sinless nature that God originally gave mankind, and by reproducing after their kind, all human beings inherited the nature of sin and death.
But God Stepped In
Thankfully, God did not leave us to that fate. Remember, Adam means mankind. So to save us from the nature of sin and death, God made a second and last Adam.
The Last Adam is not another created being like the first. God Himself took on flesh and became a man. His name is Jesus Christ. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin. Jesus is truly God and truly man.
Colossians 1:15 (NLT) says, “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,”
Colossians 1:19-20 (NLT) explains this further, “For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.”
One more Scripture to corroborate this truth about Jesus.
Philippians 2:6-8 (NLT) says, “Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.”
Through Jesus Christ, God established a new mankind with a new nature of righteousness and eternal life.
Reconciliation Is Now Possible
Biologically, we all inherited the nature of sin and the penalty of death through the first Adam. But now by faith, we can be born again and inherit the new nature of righteousness and eternal life through Jesus Christ, the second and last Adam.
This is why we need salvation. Jesus came to save us from sin and the judgment of death that we inherited through the first Adam. Sin separated us from God, but Jesus came to reconcile us to God.
Jesus saves those who believe that He died for our sins, was buried and rose from the dead to put us right with God.
These Scriptures tell the story.
Romans 5:12 (NLT) says, “When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.”
Then Romans 5:18-19 (NLT) says, “Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.”
By faith in Jesus, we become beneficiaries of God’s gift of righteousness and eternal life. This is the Good News.
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