Man and Sin; God and Judgment and Hope.

God created mankind in uprightness and without sin.

• "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 soul." (Genesis 2:7)
• "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good." (Genesis 1:31)

God created mankind, a very special creation, to have a personal relationship based in mutual love.

• "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." (Genesis 1:26-27)
• That likeness does not mean man is a little god, or that man looks physically like God.  God is invisible to the physical eye.  Man is a person--having a mind with which to think (intellect), a will with which to make decisions, and emotions by which he feels.  Man is a being that was made to love God and to receive love from God.  Man is different from any other creature God made.
• "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." (Matthew 4:4)
• Man was created to know and lovingly obey and work under God.  Men are not living, according to God's original intent, until they are living their lives by His Word.

Love requires freedom of choice and choice requires a test.

• Therefore, God tested Adam, the first man.
• "And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." (Genesis 2:16-17)
• Adam would knowingly, rationally, chose to love God and obey His command or turn his back on God (hate God) and go his own way.

The first man, Adam, chose wrong, and threw mankind into sin.  The corruption of sin is passed from father to children at conception.

• "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.  And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.  And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden." (Genesis 3:6-8)
• Adam disobeys, Adam hides from God.  Does this sound familiar?
• Sin and death enter the world, and mankind's existence has been full of sin and death ever since.
• "And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression." (1Timothy 2:14)
• Adam knew exactly what he was doing.  He knew the consequences, but did it anyway.
• "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." (Romans 8:7)
• "But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;" (2Peter 2:12)
• "While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage." (2Peter 2:19)
• Adam's sin corrupted his nature.  His heart and mind was now set against God.
• "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:" (Romans 5:12)
• Adam's sinful nature is passed onto his children at conception.  We are his children.

"Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions." (Ecclesiastes 7:29) [Inventions, not technological, but deviations from God's Word and Way.]

God made man, and the universe, and God Himself is the standard of right and wrong.

That means, that sin is not defined by you or me; but, sin is defined by God.

• "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law." (1John 3:4)
• "All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death." (1John 5:17)
• Anything contrary to the person, character, and Word of God is sin.
• "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." (Revelation 21:8)
• Many may admit that murder is sin, but lying is so very contrary to God's holy spotless nature that He hates it and must condemn it.

Condemnation and Judgment Day

• "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." (John 3:18)
• "Because [God] hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." (Acts 17:31)
• Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was raised from the dead!
• "Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do." (Hebrews 4:13)
• God sees all you are and do.
• God knows all you are and do.
• God is the judge of all you are and do.
• You can reject the truth up until you die, then you will have to deal with God and His reality.

Love and Hope

• God made man and has not given up on men.
• God says, "Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die." (Ezekiel 18:4)
• "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)
• "Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him [Jesus Christ]; he hath put [Jesus] to grief: when thou shalt make [Jesus's] soul an offering for sin..." (Isaiah 53:11)

You must choose.  Keep on your own way, in your sin, until death when the day of salvation is over and the condemnation that is upon you will land you in eternal fiery torment.  Or, you can learn of Christ Jesus and what He has done for you and repent and turn to Christ to save you.

Where will you place your love.  It is your decision!