Back To Basics is founded on the concept that what you believe determines who you are, what you do, how you live and your final destination. Today we take a look at who we are.

Genesis means beginnings or origin, and as the first Book of the Bible, provides the record of the beginning of everything. Genesis is the story of God's purpose and plan for His creation and reveals the person and nature of God - He is Creator, Sustainer, Judge, and Redeemer. In our understanding of Who God Is, it is essential to understand the value and dignity of Who We Are in light of Who He Is.

The Bible teaches that there is only one God in all existence, that God made the entire universe, the Earth and everything in and on it, and that He created Adam and Eve. God created man in His image:

“Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Gen. 1:26,27).

God made man in His image and likeness - a triune being composed of spirit, soul and body. We have the ability to reflect His character in our love, patience, forgiveness, kindness, and faithfulness. We will never be totally like God because He is our supreme Creator.

Knowing that we are made in God's image gives us the basis for self-worth. Human worth is not based on possessions, achievements, physical beauty, or what others think. When we criticize others or ourselves we are criticizing what God has made and the abilities He has given us. Knowing that you are a person of worth helps you love God, know Him personally, and make a valuable contribution to those around you. Because we are made in the image of God – not through some random process of evolution from a single celled organism - every person, saved or unsaved, is worthy of respect and honor.

In Genesis, God created Adam and Eve and put them in the Garden of Eden and gave them the freedom to choose between right and wrong. They willfully chose to sin. Sin is doing that which is contrary or opposite to the nature and will of God. For example, God cannot steal; therefore, stealing is sin. Their sin of disobedience resulted in their fellowship with God being broken, they were expelled from the Garden and evil and death entered the world. As a result of their sin, all of us inherited a sinful nature. For instance, though we often times think that newborn babies are innocent and angel-like, they are not – each person born of man inherits the sin nature. We do not have to teach our children to be selfish. They are born with a sin nature.

The Bible shows that Lucifer and his angels were the first and original sinners. Sin began in heaven and came to Earth in Satan (Gen. 3:14,15; Is. 14:12-14; Ez. 28:11-19; Mth. 16:16-23; 1 John 3:8; John 8:44). Evil began in the heart of Lucifer himself. God did not create evil, but created a free will being who had the power to choose and became evil by choice.

The moment man sinned, the law of conscience, the knowledge of good and evil, entered into man’s mind. Conscience produced guilt and guilt drove him to works in an attempt to make himself acceptable to God (Gen. 3:7). When sin entered man, it corrupted his entire human nature - spirit, soul and body. Man became entirely depraved. He became self-seeking, self-centered, and selfish. He went from being spirit, soul and body, where his spirit controlled his soul and body to where his body and soul controlled his spirit. Sin was passed along to all men (Rom. 3:23; 9-18; 5:12,19; Ps. 53:1-3; 1 Kings 8:46; Gal. 3:22; Is. 53:6). Adam, or first man, sold all of mankind into slavery in Satan’s kingdom and all children of Adam became children of the devil. They all came under the curse of the Law (Gal. 3:10). Original sin came from Adam. Actual sin is what we commit. Mankind is sinful in nature and in act. We do what we do because of what we are. We are not sinners because we sin - we sin because we are sinners. We are also accountable to a Holy God for our sins, though not for the sins of our fathers (Jer. 31:29,30; Ez. 11:21; 18:4,20).

As sin entered the world by one man, so also the penalty of sin. The penalty is death (Rom. 5:12-21; Gen. 2:17; Rom. 6:23). All have sinned and all have died in Adam (1 Cor. 15:21-23; 45-50). Romans 6:23 tells us: “The wages of sin is death...” (James 1:15; Jer. 31:30; Ez. 18:20). This death penalty brought about physical death (Ecc. 12:7; Gen. 2:17; Num. 16:29; 27:3; Ps. 90:7-11), spiritual death (John 5:24; Rom. 8:6; Eph. 2:1,5; 1 Tim. 5:6; Rom. 5:12-21), and eternal death (Mth. 25:41; 10:28; 2 Thess. 1:9; Heb. 10:31; Rev. 14:11; 20:11-15). Death is not annihilation or simply no longer existing – it is a state of permanent, eternal separation (Gen. 2:17; Eph. 2:1-6; Rev. 20:11-15). When a sinner rejects Christ Jesus, he is choosing to be eternally separated from God and will be thrown into the lake of fire - the ultimate destination of Satan, the beast, the false prophet, the demons, death, Hades, and all those whose names are not recorded in the book of life - because they did not place their faith in Jesus Christ. John's vision as recorded in Revelation 20, does not permit any gray areas in God's judgment. If by faith we have not accepted God’s Son as our Savior, confessing Him as Lord, there will be no hope, no second chance, and no other appeal.

God is holy and His holiness demands that man’s sinfulness be judged. Otherwise, if God did not deal with man’s sinfulness, then His Law, righteousness, and justice would be violated. God is love and desires to save the sinner, but He must also execute His judgment upon sin. The moment man sinned, God already had a plan of redemption. Sin would be judged in a sacrificial substitute.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God” (John 3:16-21).

God sent His Son Jesus to pay the penalty for sin, the highest price He could pay. Jesus accepted our punishment, paid the price for our sins, and then offered us the life that He had bought for us.

The Bible teaches that Jesus died on the Cross and rose from the dead physically, that all people are under the righteous judgment of God because all people have sinned against God. It teaches that Jesus is the only way to be saved from the coming judgment of God - His wrath - and that salvation is received by faith in the work of Christ on the Cross and not by anything that we can do to try and please God.

According to God’s Word, a person can only be saved by grace through faith: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God...” (Eph. 2:8). This means that we are not made right before God by our efforts, sincerity, or works. Instead, we are made right before God by faith in what Christ did on the Cross.

The Bible teaches that once a person is born again (saved) that Christ Jesus frees him to live in the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 7:25 – 8:11) Who lives in the person and Who begins the process of sanctification (growing in holiness) from the inside out: "Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come," (2 Cor. 5:17). This means that a person can have a real, true and living relationship with God. We see, then, that Jesus’ ministry takes place under the covenant of God’s grace by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Salvation is only through Jesus Christ (John 14:6; Acts 4:12) and is as close as your own mouth and heart. The Bible tells us: “That 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. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved” (Rom. 10:9,10).

Is your name written in the book of life? If not, today you can receive Christ Jesus as your Savior and Lord.

Next lesson we will look at “Who Is Jesus?”

Grow in grace and truth,

Doug Morrell

CORE Notes From Doug