Let's talk about the Cross Part 2

In my last blog I spoke about how God put a plan in motion that was meant to remove the sin from the world.  Why was sin IN the world? I'm glad you asked!

Now I don't claim to be an expert on theology, but from what I've studied the best I can say is that there was a time before humans existed that there was something major that happened.  We count the start of time by the start of existence of the human race, or even when the earth began.. but if you believe in God then you would know that He is Eternal.. and that means He has no beginning and has no end.

He exists.  Has always existed, and will always exist.

From this we can gather that our story is not truly the beginning.  There really is this whole other storyline and we are just dropped down into it... kind of like watching a new character get introduced into a soap opera show.  Any new character from that show Lost wouldn't know what the heck was going on because of how much drama that had already played out (Remember that show??).  So we can loosely associate this to describe the scene of Genesis.

Genesis chapter 1 and 2 essentially hit on creation.. but I can't help feeling like there are so many holes and gaps in the story.  In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1), but why?  When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, 5neither wild plants nor grains were growing on the earth. For the LORD God had not yet sent rain to water the earth, and there were no people to cultivate the soil. (Genesis 2:4) okay cool, so He plans to? But why?

I can't help it.  I feel like there's this setting being created and there's no explanation other than He created man and woman in His own image because He wanted to.  But this is God we're talking about.  He does NOTHING without a purpose and a plan.

This was just my theory, so don't go all crazy on me about how wrong I am, but as I started to study Genesis and read the bible something really started to stick out at me... in the first real story about Adam and Eve there's another character that shows up... the serpent.  And he's got lots of bad things going on with him and hello.. how come he can talk and no other animal can? HUH?

He's got a few other spotlights too.  He shows up in Isaiah 27, he's all over Job, and even in the Psalms. He's got a name too, Leviathan.  He's referred to even in the New Testament in Romans.  This serpent that shows up in the beginning is referred to more than a few times.  And I can only wonder, who is this serpent and why is there a resounding need to crush him?  He's not a new character, I can tell you that.  And he definitely manipulated Adam and Eve for his own purposes.  Him and God seemed to have some history. And not a good history.

There are many speculations of who he really is, but one thing remained, he was absolutely the enemy.  He conspired to trip up humanity because obviously he was looking for trouble.  I imagine he was more than a serpent.

But what I know is merely bits and pieces from a larger story in a time that no one has ever seen.  It's ancient.  And really all that applies to us as human beings is the scene from the garden.  When Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden tree it was like a domino effect that continues to this day. That's where sin originated for humans.  But for the serpent it existed with his story.  And I can't tell you that, but I can tell you where I think is the end of those dominoes.  That we find in Revelation 12:7-9(NLT)...

7Then there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and his angels. 8And the dragon lost the battle, and he and his angels were forced out of heaven. 9This great dragon—the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world—was thrown down to the earth with all his angels.

This "serpent" that deceived the human race in the garden was really just setting the stage for something much bigger that was eventually going to be his undoing... the serpent was helping God with his own destruction.

Whoa.. come on.. right?? But think about it.  God created a race, in His own image, then put them in the place where He has cast this "serpent" aka "Satan"... then placed trees in the garden where the people were and told the humans not to touch it, but the serpent was all.. no way, I'm totally going to thwart His plan?? Come on, let's give God some credit.  He created all things, and KNOWS all things.  Don't you think He knew that the serpent was going to do that?  So why could He possibly have created those people? Hmmm?? Anyone have a guess?

TO CRUSH THE SERPENT.

But as it stood, those humans had eaten from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil... And God couldn't have sin in His presence... but He didn't set all this up without a plan and purpose! No way.  He had GREATER THINGS IN MIND.

Let's talk about the Cross. Part 1 of 3

Today as I drove home from dropping off my son.. my mind started wandering to the things that are in my life right now.

Lots of new things are starting to poke through the ground (metaphorically speaking) and I'm starting to see the changes.  But one thing has been ever-present... my belief in Christ is still this place in my heart where I don't completely understand.

Why is the Cross so very important?  Why is it that Jesus can make such a difference in me?  God, sent His son, in human form to die for me... so that He can remove anything in my life that would keep us apart.  But why?  Why does that prove He loves me?  Why does it even matter?

So let's talk about this giant elephant in the room.  Let's talk about what the Cross is and why it's so dang important, shall we?

Ok, first of all, I'm not perfect.  (WHAT????) Yeah.  It's the truth. (Hangs head)..

Little old me, I make mistakes.  I try really hard not to, but they are there.. like a gross stain on the white t-shirt of life.  And I can bleach the heck out of it.. you know, try to make up for it.. but there's so many stains! I've lied, cheated, stole, been an adultress (eck.. that one stings) and more!  I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of.  So I've changed my life to make up for it.  I bleached my shirt, so to speak, and I can say that those stains aren't so apparent anymore.. but there's this other thing in my life.  I believe in God.  I believe that He created me, and that when I die I will have Him to look forward to.  But guess what?  Those bleached stains on my t-shirt of life? Yeah, they aren't so invisible to Him.  He sees them.  He knows they are there.

YIKES!  So what I'm saying is if I choose to live this life of faith and believe there is a God who created all things then I have to follow His rules for all things..

Rule no. 1? Sin is a no no.  You have to be without sin to be in His presence.  No He's not this giant, evil kid with a magnifying glass waiting to fry the puny ant-people on this planet.  If you read His book (The BIBLE, in case you didn't know) the very first chapter of the very first book tells us that He created the earth and people to share Himself.  He LOVED His creation.  Wanted to have a RELATIONSHIP with His creation.. He even made us in His own image!  He was a proud Father... spent time with them, and gave them rule over all the earth.  What does this have to do with me?

Well, this garden they hung out in is the scene of the first Sin in human history.  Adam and Eve went against the direction of God to not eat from the tree of good and evil and became aware of knowledge that changed our history.  They were ejected from the Garden because if they possessed that knowledge AND ate from the tree of life then eternity would be filled with a humanity that had sin in their life.  NOT GOOD.

Fast forward to today and we see humanity still has this knowledge.  Knowing Good and Knowing Evil. Doing Good and doing Evil.  EVERYONE. No one is exempt.  Including me.  I do good, but I also do evil.  Evil is whatever is not good.  Do I really need to explain that?  Well maybe I should, because lately this world seems to not have a handle on what the difference is.

If you're wondering what God's list is then look up the Ten Commandments.  Those are pretty self-explanatory.. God's pretty black and white about what's good.  If you're still not sure then take a look at the Bible.  He's got some great examples of what's good AND evil in there!

For me, that means that I've sinned.  All that stuff I've done in my life that was not good according to His word is all those stains on my white t-shirt that I was talking about.  And I can bleach all I want, He still knows about them.  There's nothing I can do to remove them.  I need a new shirt.

God knows this.  In fact, He already knew this even before I was born!  He had a plan the moment Adam and Eve were created.  His plan wasn't thwarted by those two.. no, it was put into motion!  Because of this whole other deal with the one who started this crap in the first place... Satan.

Oh dear, I guess I'm gonna need to make this a three parter... Next up? What the crap is Satan and why does he even matter?