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 they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. – John 3:16?-?18 

This is the gospel in a nutshell. This opens a lot of questions for new believers though. Who is God? Who is his son? What is the belief? Why do we die? What is eternal life? How does the son save the world? What does he save the world from? Why are we condemned if we reject the son?

God and Sin’s Origin

 When God (Yahweh: an eternal, uncreated being) created the universe, he made man in his own image (Gen 1:27). He made a covenant (lawful contract/promise with conditions and consequences) with the first man, Adam (Gen 2:15-17). Under this contract, God would supply for all the needs Adam could ever have. In return, Adam was responsible for all creation on earth and would govern it. Man was made to rule God’s creation and to have a relationship with God. Adam had authority given to him by God to rule over all things. The only prohibition God gave was that Adam was to not eat of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil.

After some time, satan approached Eve (Adam’s wife and the first woman) either through a snake or in the form of a snake and questioned what God’s commandment was (Gen 3). Eve misremembered the commandment and believed the lie of satan. She desired what satan was saying, so after she touched the apple and did not die (which she thought she would), she was encouraged to believe satan and she ate the apple and then gave it to Adam. When Adam ate, sin entered the world and cursed all of creation. God came to them and told them the consequences of their actions and removed them from the garden (in order for them to not eat of the tree of life and live forever in a sin state).

This original sin that Adam committed cursed not only himself, and his wife, but also all of creation. The ground was cursed, the animals were cursed, even the heavens were cursed (in Romans 8, Paul talks about all of creation groaning because of sin for the new heaven and new earth to come. This is also the reason a new earth needs to be created free from sin). God then kills an animal to cover their nakedness and sin. This is the first sacrifice for sin that is done.

Sin’s affect

This sin affected all of creation and also affected new life when it is conceived. Before a baby is born, it is in sin. We inherit our sin nature from our father. If your father is a descendent of Adam, you are born with the sin nature inside of you (Romans 5:12; Psalm 51:5; Ephesians 2:3). Our spirit dies and we are separated from God as soon as we know right from wrong (the age of accountability) (Rom 7:7-25). Before we know right from wrong, we are not under the penalty of sin though. Which is why babies who die do not get punished but are under God’s grace and mercy.

This sin is a problem both for us and for God who made us with the purpose of having a family. God yearns for us to be with him in the same manner that you miss being around your family and friends when you have been alone for a few days or weeks (for the more introverted). God also can’t be in our presence as God is holy and perfect. Imperfect things can’t be around him. So, God quarantines us in hell (sheol/hades) when we die. He is also no longer able to talk to or fellowship with 99% of humans while we are alive (except the prophets, those given the Holy Spirit).

The Covenant

So, God enacts a plan to restore us to him and to our perfect state before sin. He establishes a covenant with a man named Abram (Gen 17). He tells Abram to move to a land that he will give to his descendants. God renames Abram to Abraham (the father of many nations) and his wife Sarah (formally Sarai) and tells them they will have a son even though she has gone through menopause and is no longer able to conceive (Heb 11:11; Gen 18:11). They are to name him Issac and many kings and nations will rise through him.

God then tells Abraham to sacrifice Issac, his only begotten son (which isn’t true, but it points to Christ) whom he loves (the first use of love in the bible and God mirrors this to Jesus), for his sake on a particular mountain (mount Moriah or the temple mount) (Gen 22). Issac carried the wood he would be sacrificed on up the mountain. There Issac agreed to be sacrificed to God and laid on the wood. Abraham then went to slay, on an altar to God, his son believing that God would be able to resurrect Issac afterwards (Heb 11:17-19) since the promises of the covenant are through Issac.

When he goes to stab Issac with a knife, the angel of the Lord appears and stops him. God then establishes a new covenant with Abraham in which all nations in the world will be blessed through his descendants because he was willing to sacrifice his son. God will later do the same to fulfill this covenant (John 3:16). God also takes on a new name, “The God of Abraham” (later of Issac and Jacob as well) (Gen 32:9; Gen 50:24; Exo 3:15; Acts 7:32). So, both Abraham and God were renamed in this covenant.

Abraham’s Descendants

After some time, Issac has a son, Jacob. Jacob was the man through whom the promises of Abraham were passed down (Gen 25:23; Gen 25:29-34; Gen 27:27-29). Jacob wandered the lands living in tents like his father and grandfather before him (Issac and Abraham) (Heb 11:9). One day while traveling with his family, Jacob saw the angel of the lord. Jacob wrestled with the angel of the lord all night until daybreak (Gen 32:22-30). Jacob demanded that he blessed him. The angel of the lord then renames him Israel, which means to struggle/wrestle with God (In this same way, we are allowed and encouraged to struggle with God and question why God does things the way he does).

Israel had 12 sons (Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin, in order of birth). These are what are called the 12 “tribes” of Israel as each son had so many descendants that they were each considered “tribes” or “nations”. The second youngest of the sons, Joseph, was highly favored by his father (Gen 37). He was a shepherd and was given special clothing by his father. His brothers hated Joseph because Joseph would tell Israel, their father, all the bad things (sins) that his brothers would do. The Israelites hated him without good cause. The father, Israel, called Joseph to check on the flock of sheep, the brothers saw him and threw him into a pit and left him for dead. He was found by some merchants and sold into slavery to Egypt for 20 silver.

In Egypt, Joseph is punished for sins he did not commit (put in prison) (Gen 39:20). While serving his sentence, two men were thrown into prison with him (Gen 40). Joseph interpreted their dreams, and one man was raised up and the other condemned and executed. The man that was raised up told pharaoh about Joseph and he was brought forward to interpret the dreams of pharaoh (Gen 41). Joseph interpreted his dream and was given authority over all of Egypt that rivaled pharaoh. Joseph was named “Zaphnath-Paaneah” which means “salvation of the world”.

Later his brothers needed food during a famine and came to Egypt to buy some. They didn’t recognize their brother who they thought was dead (Gen 42). They were given food by Joseph who gave them their food for free (he even returned the money they tried to use to buy the food). Joseph didn’t accept any payment for his grace and mercy. Eventually Joseph reveals who he is and has his family comes to live with him in Egypt (which Pharaoh agreed to) (Gen 45). The Israelites rejected him the first time and bowed down to him the second time. The gentiles (non-Israelites) accepted Joseph the first time they received him.

The Exodus

After some time, A new pharaoh came who didn’t know what Joseph had done for Egypt and he began to put the Israelites in slavery and started murdering their sons so they would lose power (Exo 1). During this time of mass genocide, Moses was born. He was saved by Pharaoh’s daughter and lived in the palace until he was 40 years old (Exo 2). He refused to be called a son of Pharaoh’s daughter (forsaking all the pleasures of life). He witnessed a Hebrew slave being beaten to death by an Egyptian task master and saved the slave’s life by killing the taskmaster.

He gave up his way of life to save a slave. This became known to Pharaoh and Moses fled Egypt to the land of Midian. He gained a wife and a son and lived with them many years until God and the angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in a burning bush (Exo 3). God tells Moses his name, “YHVH” (possibly pronounced “Yahweh”, “Yahveh”, or “Yahoveh”). This name declares some of God’s characteristics. We could translate this as “I exist”, which is a claim of eternity (that God has always existed, without beginning). We could also translate this as “I was / I am / I will be” making a claim of his unchanging nature. Who God is then, is who God is now, and who he will always be.

God then tells Moses that he will use him to bring his people out of Egypt which was promised to Joseph. He tells Moses to tell Pharaoh to let his people leave (for a time) so that they might worship God. Pharaoh refuses. God sends several plagues over Egypt because of this (water turning to blood, frogs, lice, flies, livestock pestilence, boils, hail, locusts, darkness) and Pharaoh does not let the Israelites go (Exo 4-11). All of these plagues were to show that God ruled over everything. Many of the plagues were directly opposing the Egyptian gods and showed that they had no power compared to YHVH.

Then God tells everyone that he will kill the firstborn son of every house of Egypt and that they (the Israelites) need to sacrifice a lamb (perfect, without defect) and sprinkle its blood on their doors for their son’s to be spared (Passover) (Exo 12). They would eat the lamb along with bitter herbs and quickly prepared bread (the Passover supper). They were to pack their bags and be ready to leave at sunrise. That night the angel of death went throughout Egypt and killed the firstborn of every human and animal that did not have the sacrificial blood of a lamb on their doorpost. Pharaoh finally lets the Israelites go after his son dies and they leave Egypt. Pharaoh changes his mind again and he chases them to the red sea. God opens the sea and lets them pass through it on dry ground (Exo 14). Pharaoh and his armies follow into the red sea after them. God crushes them with the water, and they die.

The Law

When they were safe, God brought Moses to mount Horeb/Sinai to establish a law for the Israelite people (Exo 19). The angel of the Lord told Moses what to write and he carved the 10 commandments into stone tablets. He also gave him 5 types of laws (Judicial, Civil, Ceremonial, Ritualistic, and Moral) (Exo 14-Deut 30) in order to live better lives and live in accordance with God’s will. It also brought revolutionary moral teachings that still affect the world to this day.

Under this law brings a new revelation of sin (trespasses of the law) and a new system to (partially) pay for our sins (Aaronic priesthood and sacrifices). The word sin comes from archery in English (synn). To sin is to “miss the mark” or miss your target. It is when we fall short of the law and fail. In Hebrew the word for sin is aveira or to “transgress” or “cross over a boundary” (typically moral transgression). You sin when you transgress against the law and move away from it morally. All aveirot (sinful deeds) in the Hebrew bible (Christian Old Testament) are transgressions against the 365 negative commandments of the law (613 total commandments including the ‘10 commandments’). Negative commandments are things you must not do (you shall not murder). Positive commandments are things you must do (you shall honor your mother and father).

In order to be cleansed from these transgressions, God gave the sacrificial system to Israel through the levites (one of the tribes of Israel). There are 5 sacrifices for sin in the law. Only one takes away and forgives the sin of the people (the sin offering) (Lev 4). For the forgiveness of the people, the elders of each tribe (the entire nation) had to place their hands on a bull and kill the animal while confessing their sins over the animal. The priest would then take the animal and drain the blood and sprinkle some on the horns of the altar, sprinkle some in front of the curtain of the tent of meeting seven times and pour the rest on the altar of burnt offerings.

This process of shedding innocent blood was the only way to pay for sin as the consequences of sin is death. The blood had to be innocent as dirty things cannot clean (try mopping with a muddy rag if you want a visual). Death entered the world through Adam and now has been partially dealt with by the sacrifice of pure, unblemished male animals. The male animal represents us to God and its death covers the death that we deserve by sinning. It is male as sin entered the world through a male. We are “washed in its blood” from our sin. This mirrors the protection from death during the Passover when they sacrificed the lamb and sprinkled its blood on their doorposts. This sacrifice wasn’t perfect and there was still a curtain between man and God that kept us from him and him from us (Lev 16, Hebrews 9:1-9).

The King

After living in the promised land for some time, the Israelites wanted a king to rule them instead of God (1 Sam 8). The first king God gave them (Saul) was good until fear came over him and he sinned against God. God appointed a replacement for him in David (1 Sam 16:1). David was successful in all that he did for God and gained the favor of the people. Jealousy came over Saul as his people loved David (and his daughter and son) and God chose David to replace him. He tries to kill David via spear repeatedly. Even forcing David to flee for his life and live a large portion of his life being chased and attacked by his predecessor and father-in-law (David marries Milcah, Saul’s daughter).

Eventually Saul dies via suicide during a battle. David then becomes the second king of Israel. David served the lord faithfully in all things except two times. 1) He slept with a married woman and murdered her husband to cover it up. 2) He boosted his own ego and pride as a powerful ruler by forcing his military officers to take a census of able-bodied men who could serve in the military. Both of these offenses caused death for his family/Israel. Even with this, David is known as the man after God’s own heart. He is also the standard by which every single king is measured (if they are a good king they “followed the LORD like David”). His grandchildren will eventually split the country and found two separate countries (Israel and Judah). David’s direct line rule over Judah (eventually reuniting the two countries) and Israel was ruled by evil kings for a long time. Most of the kings after David do evil and so do the people, practicing every kind of evil you can imagine. The country falls apart and is wiped out by Assyria and Babylon. The kingdom is no more.

The Prophets

After some time, there started being prophecies of one to come from the bloodline of king David who would save the world. He was the child of promise that blessed the world from the covenant of Abraham (the binding of Issac). He was also a suffering servant who would die for the world (Isaiah 53). Psalm 22 (a psalm written by David) describes how the ‘messiah’ (holy, anointed one), or the savior, would suffer. It describes the act of roman crucifixion hundreds of years before it was even invented. He was also to become king and rule over all the nations of the earth (the son of David).

Some other prophecies about the messiah include (to name only a few): He is to be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14). He would be rejected by the Israelites. He would do great works for God. He will die for the salvation of many nations and the forgiveness of sins (Isaiah 53). He would not remain dead afterward (Psalm 22, Daniel 9). He would be a prophet like Moses being able to see God face to face and know God (Deut 18:15-22), He is a mediator for the people. He will be God’s begotten son (Isaiah 9). The messiah would be willing to be sacrificed in the same way Issac was. He would establish a new covenant with Israel/the world.

Jesus

After 500 years of silence from God (no prophet appeared to the Israelites), Jesus was born through a virgin (Mary). This fulfilled 3 things. Prophecy, to free him from the curse of Adam, and to be born in a similar manner as Issac, the son of promise (in the Abrahamic covenant). Jesus being born without a human father made the original sin and the curse not affect him. He was able to be a sinless sacrifice as he was the only human born without sin. He was born in a special way to mirror Issac’s birth. Issac was born when Sarah was infertile without eggs to conceive a child. God caused her to be pregnant in a special way like how he caused Mary to be pregnant (lacking eggs vs lacking sperm).

Jesus lived a sinless life while doing great works (miracles) and teaching many. He spoke with great authority. Like Joseph, He was rejected by the leaders of the Israelites and some of the people during his first coming but accepted by the gentiles. The leaders of the church (shepherds of God’s flock) planned to kill him, like Joseph. He was hated because of the bad report he brought to the Father about the leaders’ sin. He was hated without good cause. He was sold for 30 silver (Joseph was sold for 20). Jesus humbled himself and became a servant (Joseph a slave, the Hebrew word for servant and slave are the same) for mankind. He was punished for sins he did not commit. While serving his sentence, two others were serving it with him, one who was saved and one who was condemned (the cross vs prison). Jesus is called the salvation of the world, like Joseph. His actions save both the Jews and the gentiles.

The Sacrifice

Jesus willingly went to the cross and suffered in the way described in prophecy. He carried his wood (the cross) that he would be sacrificed on, the same way Issac did. He was sacrificed on the same mountain Issac was to be sacrificed (mount Moriah). He was killed by the elders of the tribes of Israel as a sin offering (perfect male human) coinciding with the law of Moses (the bull being sacrificed for sin). He is the Passover lamb, the firstborn of God as a sacrifice for us. He gave up his life as a willing sacrifice to sprinkle his blood on all the peoples of the earth to forgive our sins (no one took his life; he chose to give it).

He did not allow the Israelites to pay for his sacrifice (like Joseph). He saw all the sin of the world both before and after and chose to die for the sake of all. He died for you while you were still in sin, broken, and lost. Jesus is the son of God and is God. He is the angel of the Lord that stopped Abraham from killing Issac. The angel of the Lord who wrestled with Jacob. The angel of the Lord who spoke to Moses in the burning bush. The angel of the Lord who led the Israelites out of Egypt and gave them the law. He fulfilled the covenant with Adam, Abraham, Moses, David, and brought forth a new covenant in which he is our sacrifice and our mediator with God. When we repent and ask for forgiveness of our sins, Jesus is the sacrifice to pay for them, dying once for all. He paid for the curse and all the transgressions of the law with his death. He took back the authority of the Earth that Adam lost and gave it back to us along with the Holy Spirit and the Gifts of the Spirit. He fulfilled the law, the festivals, prophecy, and the covenants with God. If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that he died for your sins and that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

The payment

The punishment of Adam’s sin is death. The sacrifice of perfect male animals forgives sin temporarily. The sacrifice of Jesus takes away sin permanently and reunites us with God. Jesus’ last words were “it is finished” or tetelestai in the Greek. It is a word that was used for a variety of things in Jesus’ era. It was used on legal documents to show that a debt or prison sentence was paid in full. It was used by artists when creating their masterpieces. When they would finally finish a great painting or sculpture, they would say tetelestai. A servant or slave would say this when they accomplished a task their master assigned to them. Finally, a priest would say it when examining animals for sacrifice of sins. If the lamb was faultless, perfect, and acceptable for sacrifice, the priest would say tetelestai.

So, when Jesus is saying this on the cross as he dies, he is saying that death and sin is paid in full, that the covenant with God, his masterpiece, is complete, he set out to do what his master wanted him to do, and that he was a perfect, acceptable sacrifice for sin. Not just that. Tetelestai in Greek is in the perfect tense of the verb. This is something that doesn’t exist in English. A ‘perfect tense’ verb means that it is something that happened in the past, is affecting the present and will continue to affect the future. For all time this thing is/has been happening. So, Jesus paid for your sin as a perfect sacrifice completing God’s covenant and the purpose for his life then, now, and the time to come. All sin you will ever commit was paid for once on the cross well before we were born.

Our New Life

We can now pray to God, ask for forgiveness, and have faith in Jesus that he died for us to be saved. The curtain of the temple, the barrier between us and God (sin), was torn and we can fellowship with God in perfect harmony. The temporary quarantine of hell is now void and only reserved for those who chose to reject God’s relationship and grace since they are still in their sins.

When we die and are summoned to the courtrooms of heaven, where we have to give a testimony about all that we did in our lives, we now have Jesus as our lawyer. He is our mediator, sacrifice, King, and God. No one merits their salvation. It is a free gift from God that he gives to us (Ephesians 2:8-9). It is by grace that we are saved through faith. You cannot behave yourself into heaven. It is God’s grace and the relationship with him that redeems us and makes us righteous again. Jesus died for the whole world. Jesus intercedes for all who come to God through him. Which is available to all but is only applied to those who believe in him.

God earnestly seeks after a relationship with you. God loves you. God is not disappointed in you. He just wants a relationship with you. And just like any relationship, you have to spend time with someone to get to know them. God’s word lets us know who God is and walking with him in faith lets him know who we are and that we love him.