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Q. In what way did Jesus die for our sins and what did his death change. People were quite sinful before He came and they have certainly been sinful since His death.
A. Thank you for this question. The concept of payment for sins requires a basic understanding of spiritual matters from God’s angle. In sum, Jesus saves us from God’s stated, eternal penalty of sin, namely, eternal separation from Him, forever experiencing the same penalty/punishment satan and his demons will receive. In doing so, and as we mature in our walk with Him, He effectively saves/keeps us from many of the present consequences of sin.
Mankind was created on the heels of a rebellion in Heaven during which Lucifer (a very high level and powerful angel who coveted God’s Throne), and 1/3 of the holy angels exercised their choice to disobey. The rebels lost the fight, were cast out of Heaven, and fell to Earth. Lucifer became satan, and his cohorts became devils and demons. They, as well as all the holy angels, are immortal beings.
Go, through Jesus The Lord, subsequently created humans so They could to enjoy close spiritual relationships with us, and for men to exercise delegated lordship over Earth, less satan and his crew would take control. Prior to sin, Adam and Eve enjoyed a close relationship with The Lord in The Garden of Eden, a perfect place for perfect humans. The plan was for us to procreate, fill the planet, and enjoy eternal life in fellowship with The Lord. (Some teachers believe this idea was to be expanded across the universe.)
When Adam sinned, everything changed. He had disobeyed. in doing so, just like satan and other angels, he had rebelled against God, Who had warned Adam, "On the day you sin, you shall die." Adam sinned, but did not die physically on that exact day. He did die spiritually that day, and his body began the protracted physical death process. Physically, Adam died at 930 years old, in the 'day' he sinned if 'day' is regarded as a millennium. * Thus, Adam’s sin ushered into Earth God’s penalties of sin, namely:
(a) immediate spiritual death (i.e., eternal separation from God Who is holy and perfect);
(b) eventual physical death through the processes of atrophy, disease and even various forms of God’s direct judgments; and
(c ) final judgment and sentence to eternal death in a real, physical, immortal body in the lake of fire.
Another major consequence of Adam’s choice to disobey (i.e., to sin) was that it effectively transferred to satan full lordship over our planet. He became the god in and of our world, according to The Bible. All of Adam and Eve’s seed (all humans) would thus have what God calls a sinful nature upon conception and birth. Adam’s entire blood line would be sin-stained, and therefore, we would remain out of fellowship with God forever, unless......
God exercised His plan, through Jesus, The Lord God, to redeem/save mankind, and to eternally punish the rebellious angels. In Genesis 3:15, Jesus (pre-incarnate) promised to send a Redeemer (Himself!) to accomplish both of these objectives. Jesus Christ is our ‘Kinsman Redeemer’ -- God represented in human form, Who came to pay, on our behalf, God’s high price for sin, i.e., physical death (shedding of blood, loss of life), and eternal spiritual death (separation from God forever). He Who is perfect, righteous, innocent, and never did anything to deserve any form of death, experienced (tasted) both spiritual and physical death on our behalf. Because of this, God imputes (accounts) Jesus’ sufferings, to true Christ-believers who embrace Him as their substitute sacrifice, and who live to learn and follow His commandments and Kingdom principles during our lives.
Jesus’ death also began the process of destroying satan’s kingdom on Earth. When God raised Jesus from the dead, Jesus both physically and spiritually ’conquered death’. In His resurrection, He forever took from satan what The Bible calls ‘the power of the second (eternal, spiritual) death’, namely the ability, through instigating us to sin, to cause humans to receive the same, eternal judgment that is upon him and angels who joined in his rebellion in Heaven.
Meanwhile, devils’ evil actually serves a purpose for Heaven. Their continuing presence on Earth effectively gives humans a real CHOICE, whether to serve satan’s wicked impulses, or to serve God’s righteous impulses. God gave to all angels and to us a free will. Without a free will, we would be like robots, only doing what He programmed us to do. Without the presence of real choice, there is no free will. Strangely, evil also serves other important purposes: When we resist and reject evil in favor of ways that are righteous, (1) we are strengthened in our faith, (2) God is glorified, and (3) we will be rewarded! (See: ‘Why Evil?’)
God determined and promises all humans who serve satan will similarly share in his eternal punishment - cast into the anguish of hell, in a resurrected physical, immortal body. He similarly determined and promises only we humans who embrace and serve God by faith in His Word (i.e., without physically seeing Him, Who is Spirit) will He allow into His Heaven to have blissful, eternal fellowship with Him in a resurrected, physical, immortal body. Thus, all/ALL humans will live forever. Both Heaven and the lake of fire will be on a brand, new Earth The Lord promises to create. (See: Earth's Next Versions (Series))
To activate His plan of salvation, God selected Abram (who became Abraham) to be the human seed through whom mankind's Kinsman Redeemer, Jesus Christ, would come as a human being. He further narrowed the seed to Jacob (renamed Israel), Abraham’s grandson, whose lineage became the Jews or Hebrews. To this lineage (ancient Israel), God first extended His plan of salvation, namely, Jesus as their Messiah, their Kinsman Redeemer. Jews rejected Jesus as such because they only understood a very narrow part of God’s much broader plan of redemption. Pre-knowing this rejection, God used it to extend His Grace, His offer of salvation to ALL humans, including you and me, not just to the Jews. This was Heaven's plan since before creation! He also agreed to extend Grace to a future remnant of Jews, who at that time, will embrace Him as their Messiah. This will be during His long-promised Millennial (thousand-year) Reign as global King on Earth. Thankfully, many Jews today so embrace Him as The Messiah.
In this current age, God’s plan of salvation involves:
1. Recognizing and admitting (vocalizing) to Him our sinful nature; and repenting, asking for His forgiveness2. Embracing/accepting Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, recognizing and confessing His sacrificial death was substitutionary, on our behalf3. Asking for His Spirit (His nature) to be born into our spirit (heart)4. Thanking God for hearing and answering this, our prayer of salvation5. Beginning the processes of (a) learning His Heart and Mind through Bible reading, study, meditation, and practice; and (b) fellowshipping with like-minded Christ believers. The Bible is one book, comprised of 66 sub-books. They chronicle illustrative events that help to convey Heaven's perspectives on all key aspects of human life. His Spirit inspired and prompted the writers to write what they wrote. Thus, as we read and meditate on their writings today, His Spirit is present to catalyze in our spirit the core messages He intends us to receive and to live by. This makes The Bible 'a living book'.
With these steps, we become ‘Christians’ (Christ believers and followers/disciples), and are spiritually re-born as a babe into The Kingdom of God on Earth. As we practice #5, we grow and mature spiritually, learning to recognize and reject devilish temptations to remain spiritual babes, or to back-slide into sinfulness. We regularly repent as God’s Spirit reveals to us where we may have sinned (missed His growth targets for us), and He graciously forgives, restores, and encourages us to continue to grow, just like we do with our children. If we fail to be attentive and to repent, He gradually increases the pressure, called chastisement, to get our attention for positive change and development. As we grow and mature, we should consciously sin less and less, and be more attuned to what God calls righteousness. As we do, we become more equipped and prone to share our faith, and increase our usefulness in His Kingdom on Earth. Many problems ensue for us, our families, our society, our nation, and the world, writ large, when we don’t. (See: ‘If My People……Don’t!’)
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* See: 2 Peter 3:8 and Psalm 90:4
