Afterword

(My weak attempt to summarize all that you have read.)

God has always existed. The Bible says, “In the beginning…”, referring to the beginning of the history of our world and mankind.

God created mankind and He wants us to have a relationship with Him, but He wants us to CHOOSE to have a relationship with Him. God is perfect and holy and cannot have a relationship with wrong/evil. (See Isaiah 59:2 below)

God put in place a list of rules for people to follow, so we could know what behavior is acceptable and what is not. He knew that we would break His rules.  Breaking His rules (or sinning) comes with a penalty.   He allowed us to have a substitute to take the punishment for our sins. That’s where sacrifices came in. Sacrifices had to be without blemish and had to die. But why does bloodshed have to be involved? Since the penalty for sin is death, either we or our substitute has to die. (See Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, and Leviticus 17:11 below)

We looked at the first example of sin. When Adam and Eve sinned the first time, God killed an animal and used the skin to cover their sin and shame. 1b The First Sin

Having the penalty paid allows us to come into God’s presence. Because man sins over and over again, those sacrifices had to be repeated.

From the start, God knew that man would continue to sin. So, from the start God had in mind a new plan, a new covenant, to have a one-time sacrifice for all time. [Jeremiah 31:33-34] tells us about the new covenant:

  • Under the old covenant, the law was written on stone tablets. Under the new covenant, God’s law is written on our hearts. 
  • Under the old covenant, people chose to follow God’s law out of fear of punishment. Under the new covenant, the Holy Spirit gives prompting and power to follow God’s law. 
  • Under the old covenant, a sacrifice would cover past sins only; sinning again required new sacrifices. Under the new covenant, the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross covers ALL the sins of those who accept His gift of salvation; God says that He will never again remember their sin.

The old covenant was there to teach us that on our own we can’t be good enough to have a relationship with God. The new covenant teaches us to accept His gift of grace and work on building our relationship with Him.

God came to earth as a man, Jesus. Jesus died on the cross as the final sacrifice for the sins of mankind. (See Romans 5:8 below)

God offers us forgiveness of our sins as a free gift.  We only need to accept this gift. (See Ephesians 2:8-9 and Romans 10:9 below)

Finally, to show us that He has power over death and has the power to give us eternal life, He didn’t stay in the grave. He rose from the dead and ascended to Heaven to be with God the Father. (See John 11:25 below)


[Isaiah 59:2] says that our sins have built walls between us and God; and our sins have made Him hides His face from us.

[Romans 3:23] says all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

[Romans 6:23] says that the penalty (or wages or payment) of sin is death.

[Leviticus 17:11] says the life of a creature is in the blood, and it is the lifeblood that makes atonement for sin.

[Romans 5:8] says that God proves His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

[Ephesians 2:8-9] says we are saved by grace, through faith, and not through anything we can do; it is God's gift, so that no one can claim to be good enough.

[Romans 10:9] says if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

[John 11:25] Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in Me, even if he dies, will live."


If this book has been helpful to you, or if you have questions about the Bible, please contact me at larry@englishxxi.net.


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