Why You Need Salvation

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People don't realize when their life is over the spirit must transition to either Heaven or Hell. We are a spirit in a human body. The body we inhabit now is just a containment suit for the spirit. 1 Corinthians 15:50-57 states, "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption." According to this scripture, the body is corrupt. The Oxford definition of corruption is dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery. Genesis 1:26-27 states,"26 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. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." In the beginning, God created humankind and gave them power and authority. Both Adam and Eve were created perfect with no flaws or corruption. In this state, they had divine access to the presence of God and were visited by God in the garden according to Genesis 3:8.

Before their fall, Adam and Eve were perfect and had no sin. What is sin? The Hebrew word for sin is "khata", meaning “to fail” or “to miss the goal.” What did Adam and Eve fail to do? Genesis 2:17 states, "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." God instructed them not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge. By Oxford's definition of corruption, Adam and Eve holding power became dishonest by taking Satan's bribe to eat the fruit according to Genesis 3:1-7. Adam and Eve fell for the serpent's deception of being like God knowing good and evil, this was the bribe. Adam and Eve didn't realize they were already like God being created perfectly with no sin, having dominion and power over given territories. Like corrupt politicians, greed for more began to take over and they became forgetful of how God blessed them. Like corrupt politicians, their greed caused them to sacrifice their integrity for more gain.

Adam and Eve went from a divine state to a fallen state because of khata(sin). In this state, Adam and Eve were stripped of power, authority, and position in the Garden of Eden. When a politician gets exposed for being corrupt, the same thing happens to them. The corrupt politicians get relieved of their job duties and often go to prison depending on the offense. Genesis 3:23 discusses God banishing them from the garden, but this also represents man being banished from the presence of God. Psalm 5:4 states, "For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee." The dilemma of Adam and Eve's punishment poses a problem for the rest of humanity. Psalm 51:5 states, "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me." Everyone born after Adam and Eve would be born in a state of corruption due to their disobedience. You may ask yourself why must we pay for the mistake they made? We come from the same genetical lineage of Adam and Eve. Since they were the first humans to sin, this makes them our mother and father. We're all children of the original human father and mother of earth, so we share in the same corruption as them. We all come from the original parents who were sinfully corrupt. Our blood can be traced back to Adam and Eve's corrupted blood. It's like you're a player on a basketball team, you didn't get to play in the first game, but the team still lost the game. Just because you didn't play in that game doesn't mean the loss doesn't go on your record. You're still a part of the team. If they get knocked out of the playoffs, so do you.

For Humankind to be reconciled back to the Father, these things must take place:

1. Our sins must be atoned for with worthy blood.

2. We must die to our old selves and be born again.

3. We must confess our sins to God and be forgiven.

4. We must accept the Holy Spirit.

5. We must continue to obey God's word daily.

Genesis 3:21 has been debated for years as to what happened when God made coats of skin for Adam and Eve. This could represent divine provision from God. We know when Adam and Eve ate the fruit, they instantly knew they were naked. They tried to cover themselves up with leaves symbolizing man trying to fix their sins. Man cannot sufficiently atone for their sin, without God's help, we aren't conscious of what is considered an acceptable sacrifice from God. Adam and Eve's nakedness symbolizes mankind being stripped of glorification and being contaminated by sin. God providing skins to cover their nakedness represents God's provision to cover humankind's mistakes. This was still considered a temporary solution but was all humankind had to go off of for the moment. Many argue that it was an animal sacrifice performed by God himself in the midst of Adam and Eve. It has been argued that God was showing them what needs to be done to atone for sins going forward. As you read later on in Genesis, you will see how Adam and Eve's two sons performed offerings to God. Able performed the correct sacrifice while Cain performed an incorrect sacrifice. Although Adam and Eve were clothed again by God, this sacrifice wasn't enough to keep them in the presence of God. Therefore Adam And Eve were driven out of the garden.

According to Leviticus 16: 3 -11, Moses' brother Aaron had 2 sons who rushed into God's presence without proper sacrifice. They completely neglected the fact that no one could come into God's presence without sacrificial blood covering their sins. As a result, the two sons fell dead immediately. Before the sins of the ancient Israelites could be forgiven, a series of animal offerings must be presented for the remission of sin. Since the wages of sin are death, animal blood is the only thing that could cover mankind's sin at the time. The priest Aaron served as a mediator between God and his people. The ancient Israelites couldn't enter the Tabernacle on their own accord. Why Aaron and no one else? God chose these priests to live consecrated lives, so they may serve as mediators for people who have no access to God. This was God's divine provision countering the issue of humankind losing access to God's presence originally in the garden of Eden. This provision was ultimately temporary and was symbolic of a future permanent solution for all humankind.

Philippians 2:8 states, "And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." From this scripture we see Jesus Christ being faithful unto his call to be the divine sacrificial lamb. God the Father knew humankind would ultimately need a permanent fix from the curse of sin. Father God didn't want his creation to suffer the consequences of its actions even though he knew it would be just. No matter what humanity did to make amends, it would never be enough. This debt could only be paid by divinely perfect means and since humanity isn't divinely perfect, according to John 3:16, Jesus Christ was chosen by Father God to fill this role. Hebrews 9:12 states, "Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." From this scripture, we can conclude that God's son would serve as humanity's sacrificial lamb and scapegoat for sin and its consequences.

In summary, we can conclude that Jesus Christ is our meal ticket to regain access to the presence of Father God. If you were to die at this very moment without access to God's presence, hell would be the only place you could go. Hell is not the home of God, but the destination for all those who lack eternal redemption. Hell is the holding place for all those who are cut off from God. Matthew 27:51 states, "And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;". When Jesus died, the great divide that was forged between God and humanity in the Garden of Eden was amended. No longer do we have to perform animal sacrifices or go through a human mediator. We can confess our sins directly to the Father and ask for forgiveness due to becoming kings and priests under Jesus Christ's holy sacrifice according to Revelation 1:6. According to John 3:3-7, we are no longer born unto iniquity, but born again unto the spirit of God. You can only take advantage of this free gift of salvation while alive. Life isn't about just having fun, but using our time wisely to find our way back to God and staying in his will. The choice is yours.