INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• We have examined a variety of issues in our What Do I Believe Series.
• One of the issues we covered was the fact that God created the heavens and the earth, along with everything in the universe, including mankind.
• Today we are going to focus in on humanity.
• God created everything but the pinnacle of creation was the making of human beings, the only creatures crafted in the image of God.
• The Bible is all about God’s love for humanity, the bible shows us what God has done for humanity.
• We believe that all people are loved by God and need Jesus as their Savior.
• God loves the world and every single person in it.
• Sometimes it when we look at what people do to each other, how God could possibly love us? When we see how some reject God, we have to wonder, how can God still love humanity.
• Every single person who has ever lived, died, or will live in the future is loved by God… so much that he gave his one and only Son – not to condemn people, but to save them from the consequences of their humanity.
• Today we will examine humanity and we will begin with…
• SLIDE #2
SERMON
I. God’s original intent for humanity.
• This is an important thing to understand, and understanding this concept will help one to understand some of the issues one finds in the Old Testament concerning the length of the life spans people experienced.
• When God created man, He created him to be eternal, to be in constant fellowship with God. The reason I can say this is because the bible tells us that death came because of Adam’s sin, in other words there was NO death before Adam’s sin.
• SLIDE #3
• Romans 5:12 (HCSB) Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all men, because all sinned.
• Verse 14 tells us that one man was Adam. When God created him, he and Eve were perfect genetically, there was no such thing as disease, so they were made to live forever.
• SLIDE #4
• Genesis 2:17 (HCSB) but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.”
• When God told Adam he would die if he ate of the tree, the word DIE mean to begin the process of decay, it did not mean he would drop dead on the spot.
• When God created man, look at what the Bible says concerning the creation.
• SLIDE #5
• Genesis 1:26–27 (HCSB) Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; He created him in the image of God; He created them male and female.
• We are created in His image!
• In Genesis 1, we see that God provided Adam and Eve everything they needed to live life.
• God had such a close relationship with them, that He walk on the earth with them! Genesis 3:8.
• Humanity had it all in the beginning, but how did humanity handle the gift they were given?
• SLIDE #6
II. Humanity’s response to God’s original intent.
• WOW, think about it, they had it all, they were taken care of, they were in fellowship with God, when they turned on the news, there was really no bad news, nothing died, life was good!
• Well, for a while. God gave Adam and Eve the tree to stay away from as a test of their love.
• We call it freewill, the freedom to choose one’s path in life, the freedom to live life as one desires.
• So what would happen, would humanity choose God, or self?
• SLIDE #7
• Genesis 3:1–6 (HCSB) — 1 Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. 3 But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’ ” 4 “No! You will not die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 Then the woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
• Verse 7, OOPS, WE ARE NAKED!
• I have talked about this before, we do not know the time frame from creation to the fall; however, this tree looked good, as a matter of fact, Genesis 2:9 tells us that God caused every tree to grow and they were looked good and were good for food.
• It is not like God planted nasty looking trees to eat from and one AWESOME TREE to not touch.
• SLIDE #8
• Genesis 2:9 (HCSB) The Lord God caused to grow out of the ground every tree pleasing in appearance and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden, as well as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
• I mean if God made all the other trees beat trees or hominy trees or some awful food like that and made the forbidden trees coconut meringue pie trees or donut trees, I can see why they stumbled.
• ALL the trees were pleasing appearance and good for food!
• Humanity’s response to God was to reject Him!
• Now what, game over! If you were God what would you do?
• God punished humanity for Adam and Eve’s transgression; however, God had a plan!
• SLIDE #9
• John 3:16 (HCSB) “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.
• SLIDE #10
III. God’s solution for humanity’s condition.
• God had a plan, as we talked about last week, God created the nation of Israel and the church as the mechanisms to display His love for us.
• Back before time began, God had a plan to redeem humanity from the curse of sin!
• Throughout the history of the nation of Israel’s history, they missed the mark when it came to understanding God.
• They centered themselves on performance, truth be told, many man-made religions have some kind of merit system, or some brownie point system by which you can earn favor from its deity.
• The nation of Israel prided itself on being a Jew versus building their worth from having a relationship with God.
• For the most part, they carried themselves like God was blessed to have them versus being blessed because of their position with God.
• Well, God’s solution for humanity’s condition is different and that difference should be displayed by the church today!
• SLIDE #11
A. The solution centers on God’s love.
• “For God loved the world in this way
• Let this soak in, God loved and loves the world!
• The solution to humanity’s problem is not solved by punishment, it is not solved by wiping out humanity, it is not solved by hatred, the solution to humanities lost condition is love.
• Jesus did not come to condemn people to hell, He came to save us from our condition cause by sin!
• SLIDE #12
• John 3:17 (HCSB) For God did not send His Son into the world that He might condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
• The church needs to make sure the world knows Jesus loves them, not that He hates them.
• The church needs to center its message on the love of God. For too many years people know what the church is against, they need to know what we are for!
• HAMMER TIME!
• Here is something else that is AWESOME about God’s solution!
• SLIDE #13
B. The solution is available to all and whoever.
• In the Old Testament, being one of God’s chosen people basically required you to be a part of the nation of Israel, generally speaking, the nation of Israel was God’s chosen ones.
• Jesus opened the door to all people. John 3:16 shows us that EVERYONE who believes!
• so that everyone who believes in Him
• This means all! When Jesus was speaking with the Woman at the Well, He told her, a Samaritan woman…
• SLIDE #14
• John 4:14 (HCSB) But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again—ever! In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up within him for eternal life.”
• There are several passages that tell us that salvation is available to everyone, not just one nation or a select few! You have not been too bad in your life for God to reject you!
• Salvation is open all and whoever!
• Another blessing we receive from God’s solution is…
• SLIDE #15
C. The solution opens one up to see people as God sees them.
• Jesus had the ability to see people in a different light, He did not see them for what they were, but for what they could be in Him.
• When Jesus was dealing with the woman caught in adultery, the leaders wanted to stone her as the Law stated; however, Jesus did not see an adulteress, but rather a sinner who needed to be saved. John 8:11
• Jesus did not condemn her, He wanted to redeem her.
• Too many times we label people, we reject people based on some worldly criteria, we need to see the potential in people and encourage them to reach it in Christ!
• At FCC, we are changing lives by connecting people with Christ!
• At FCC we do not care where you came from or what you have done, we love you and we see greatness in you through Christ!
• We are not here to judge you; we are here to connect you with Jesus! When we do that, your life will change!
CONCLUSION
• God has a solution for our condition brought on by sin, it is not about earning brownie points, it is about having a relationship with Jesus, which is open to all and whoever will come to Him!
