Let us start from the beginning:
The Creation
Genesis 1 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the
earth. 2The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the
face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the
waters. *When god started creating, notice that He spoke
to that which he created.
3Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was
light. 4And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the
light from the darkness. 5God called the light Day, and the
darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first
day.....
26Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image,
according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,
over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and
over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." 27So God
created man in His own image;
im·age n.
A vivid description or representation.
A reproduction of the form of a person or object.
Physics. An optically formed duplicate, counterpart, or other representative
reproduction of an object.
One that closely or exactly resembles another; a double:
A personification of something specified:
A concrete representation.
v. im·aged, im·ag·ing, im·ag·es
To make or produce a likeness of:
To mirror or reflect:
To symbolize or typify:
To describe, especially so vividly as to evoke a mental picture of.
Computer Science.
To print (a file) using a laser printer, imagesetter, direct-to-plate press, or
similar device.
To transmit (an exact replica of the contents of a storage device) to another
storage device: imaged the hard drive to the server.
in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."... 31Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.
Genesis 3
The Fall of Man
1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, "You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?"....23therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. 24So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
The penalty of sin.
the
curse of the law, Deuteronomy 28:15 poverty, sickness, and death
*Adam found himself and his family outside of the garden
and God was'nt talking to him. Results of the first sin,
committed by the first man. God created everything after its kind, so we inherit
mans sin nature when we are born, but we don't have to continue to live in that sinful
nature, God created us with a free will, Adam made a choice to sin, we also have
a choice to go along with sin or reject sin, to go along with God's plan for
redemption and life, or the devils plan for death. John 1010 The
thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have
life, and have it to the full.
Genesis 4
Cain Murders Abel
1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain,
and said, "I have acquired a man from the LORD." 2Then she
bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain
was a tiller of the ground. 3And in the process of time it came to
pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD.
4Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the
LORD respected Abel and his offering, 5but He did not respect Cain
and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.
6So the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why
has your countenance fallen? 7If you do well, will you not be
accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is
for you, but you should rule over it."
8Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when
they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed
him.
9Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?"
He said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?"
10And He said, "What have you done?
*Notice Adam did not do to well as a father in training his children to distinguish the voice of God from the devil.
Why you might ask could 2 of the 4 people on the whole earth not get along? Go back up to Genesis 4:6-7
The Lord counseled Cain, and Cain was tempted, sin was not in the temptation, it came when Cain failed to rule over it, and made a choice to kill his brother.
Why would the devil put murder in Cains heart?
The answer is: God in His infinite mercy knew He needed to get a redeemer into the earth to atone for the sins of man, and the devil not being very smart, assumed Able being the first to offer an acceptable sacrifice, was that redeemer.
The devil did not know who the redeemer was until,
Matthew 3
17And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
The Lamb of God
John 1:29 The next day John saw
Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away
the sin of the world!
This is the GOOD news for us, from the time man first sinned God tried for 4,000 years to get Jesus the redeemer and savior into the earth, (you can read the history in the old Testament,) to not be killed, but to give His life as a sacrifice, Jesus was the only one who could qualify,
This is the way out that God designed, it is called the 2nd birth, or spiritual birth.
John 3 The New Birth
You Must Be Born Again
1 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the
Jews. 2This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi,
we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that
You do unless God is with him."
3Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you,
unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
4Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old?
Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"
5Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is
born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6That
which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is
spirit. 7Do not marvel that I said to you, "You must be born
again.' 8The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of
it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is
born of the Spirit."
9Nicodemus answered and said to Him, "How can these things
be?"
10Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of
Israel, and do not know these things? 11Most assuredly, I say to you,
We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our
witness. 12If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe,
how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13No one has
ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who
is in heaven 14And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15that whoever believes in
Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16For God so loved the
world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should
not perish but have everlasting life. 17For God did not send His Son
into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be
saved.
I really am a good person, and try to do the right things..........Do I need to be saved?
Romans 3 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ
So how do I get saved?
Glad you asked, it is so easy, but you must know, we don't deserve it, and can't earn it, you can't buy it, you recieve salvation by faith,
Hebrews 116 And without faith it is impossible to please God, (WITH FAITH IT IS POSSIBLE TO PLEASE GOD) because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
It is the gift from God, we have a part, we must be the reciever of the gift.
Romans 10
8 But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your
mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith which we preach):
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your
heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For
with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is
made unto salvation. 11For the Scripture says,
"Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame."] 12
For
there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is
rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For "whoever calls on the
name of the LORD shall be saved."
GREAT now that you believe on the Lord Jesus, you qualify for the benefits!
What benefits?
Glad you asked again, see how much you learn when you ask, you now qualify for the blessings that God designed us to have in the first place, by His word, for His man, before the curse of the law, because He Loves us.
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. --Gal. iii. 13.
re·deem
v. re·deemed, re·deem·ing, re·deems
To recover ownership of by paying a specified sum.
To pay off (a promissory note, for example).
To turn in and receive something in exchange.
To fulfill (a pledge, for example).
To set free; rescue or ransom.
To save from a state of sinfulness and its consequences.
To make up for:
To restore the honor, worth, or reputation of: You botched the last job but have
been redeemed.
To purchase back;
To regain possession of by payment of a stipulated price;
To repurchase.
To regain by performing the obligation or condition stated;
To discharge the obligation mentioned.
To ransom, liberate, or rescue from captivity or bondage, or from any obligation or liability
To suffer or to be forfeited, by paying a price or ransom;
To ransom;
To rescue;
To recover.
To pay the penalty of;
To make amends for;
To serve as an equivalent or offset for;
To atone for;
To compensate;
To redeem an error.
This redemption places us back to Genesis 1:26, The work of Jesus on the cross, places us back in the possition God created us to be in, in the first place. Notice: when God created man, it was in His own image, when He sent Jesus to us it was in our image, on the outside, His body, but it was the image of God on the inside, He came and dwelled in the earth to set the example for man of what he created man for in the first place, If you need healing in you body, financial needs, relationship needs, any and all needs God has made provision for us through Jesus, He is the still the same, doing the same things He has always done.
I encourage you now that you have put your trust in Jesus, put your confidence in Him also, and start reading about Him, and believing He does for you the very same things He has done for everyone else, you are still faced with choices, you can believe, or doubt, the effects are directly related to that which you choose.
How do I know if it is God's will to heal? He said to a leaper 1 time I WILL, He still has the same will for you. When I get a little confused or wonder if it is God or not, I just think, who will be smiling for me to be sick? God or the devil, God is the life giver, all good things come from God, and He is never in agreement with the devil. Jesus defeated the devil, he no longer has any authority in your life,......... unless you give it to him,
Faith activates God - fear activates the devil.
God loves you and has great things in store for you, I encourage you to tell someone about your decision to invite Jesus into your life,
Take a big step toward God and go to a church where you can be loved by the body of Christ, and learn about all the things that God has for you, I am so excited for you, He has another gift for you, the Holy Spirit, remember when God was creating? Genesis 26Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." Ok, Jesus and Holy Spirit were right there with God in the beginning creating, Jesus is the 1st gift, Holy Spirit is the 2nd gift, Jesus saves, Holy Spirit empowers us with the power of God.
I am in Tulsa, Ok and can help you find a Great chuch.
You are welcome to email me, or call with any prayer request, I am more than happy to pray with you and get into agreement with you for everything God has for you in your life.
918-369-3322
Check out These Places
90.5 fm radio Tulsa Oasis Network
http://www.oasisnetwork.org/
www.biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible
www.christweb.com/mustardseed
www.bible.com/jesus/intimate.html
www.users.waitrose.com/~basilv/jesuslaughing.htm