In the beginning, before it was spoiled, God's creation was magnificent beyond anything we can imagine. This is because God Himself is beyond our ability to fully grasp. However, He has a plan to restore creation to its original condition and bring peace harmony and order to the entire planet! 

In the beginning the Triune God (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit) created heaven, earth, the sun, moon, stars, planets, plants, animals ... He created it all. But then He created something very special - man. What is so special about man? It is the fact that God created man in His own image! God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness." No other creature was created in God's image. Man was created to have wonderful companionship with God and man's physical body was created to never die, but to live forever! 

God put His crown of creation, Adam and Eve, in a garden He had made for them and told them to be fruitful and multiply and have dominion over all the earth. Growth is never a problem for God because he is the Creator. He can create innumerable habitations for man. He has the immeasurable and inexhaustible capacity to know personally every person that ever has or ever will be born. This is hard for us to understand because we are finite created beings. God too is a being, but He is infinite and uncreated. Many have asked the question, "Where did God come from?" This question shows that finite created man has difficulty beginning to understand the nature of the infinite uncreated God. 

However, in spite of all the infinite glory that God had made available to man, man was tempted and rebelled against God. God had said, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." But the tempter came and said to the, "You will not surely die. "For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." The man and the woman doubted God's word (that death would really come) and actually believed he could be equal with God.

Adam and Eve ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil and the rest is history. Sin and death entered the human race according to God's law. Mankind fell from the position of close personal companionship with God and has sought ways of regaining dominion over the earth ever since. The result has been greed, jealousy, murder, theft, pain, suffering, rebellion, wars, and injustice of every kind.

God has placed a barrier of separation between Himself and all who sin. God is holy and pure and will not defile His purity or allow sin into His presence. If He did, we would certainly be without hope because there would be no trustworthy standard in heaven or in earth. God will not break this rule or any of His eternal laws. 

However, because of His love for man, God did not totally abandon him but made a way to maintain a level of contact with him through a process called atonement. In atonement, innocent animals were killed and their blood was received by God to atone for, or in other words, satisfy the requirement of the law of God which says, The Wages of Sin Is Death. Through atonement by blood, God established a means of making covenants or "agreements" with men. However, God found very few people through history with whom He could make a covenant. 

Eventually God found a man named Abram and made a special covenant with him. God made a covenant with Abram by blood and changed his name to Abraham. God commanded Abraham to keep this covenant and to command his children and household after him to keep the way of the Lord. God promised Abraham that through his family line He would eventually bring the blessing of salvation from sin and death to all nations. 

Abraham had a son named Isaac and Isaac had a son named Jacob. Jacob had an experience with God and God gave Jacob the name Israel. Israel had twelve sons and they became twelve clans (or tribes) which became the nation known as Israel. 

During a severe famine, God sent Israel to the land of Egypt where He gave them favor with the king and food to survive. However, an evil king arose who made slaves out of the whole nation. After 400 years, God raised up a leader named Moses and used him to delivered Israel out of Egypt with many mighty miracles and displays of power. Moses was the most humble man on the face of the earth. God gave Moses the law known as the Ten Commandments: 1) You shall have no other gods before me. 2) You shall not make for yourself a carved image. 3) You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. 4) Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 5) Honor your father and your mother. 6) You shall not murder. 7) You shall not commit adultery. 8) You shall not steal. 9) You shall not bear false witness. 10) You shall not covet. He told His people to follow these commandments and they would prosper and be blessed.

Through hundreds of years of Israel's history, God blessed them and give them victory over their enemies when they offered the required blood sacrifices and walked in the ways of God. Yet, when they disobeyed God and worshiped false god's and became wicked, God handed them over to be defeated before their enemies to learn to trust and obey Him.

All the while, through many good times and bad times, God was still working on His plan to bring salvation to all nations. It was part of God's plan and His agreement with Abraham to bring through his bloodline (the nation of Israel), a special man who would offer the perfect blood sacrifice once and for all. You see, the blood of animals was only a temporary atonement. Even the most perfect and innocent animal, such as an innocent little white lamb, could not fully atone for the sin of man because animals were not created in the image of God as man was. Something lesser cannot purchase something greater. 

However, since sin had entered all men there was none totally righteous, not even one. Yet all the while, God surely knew what he would do. He would come to earth Himself in the form of a man and live life on the same level as man. He would defeat the power of sin by never yielding to it and then He would offer His own life (blood) as the atonement for man's sin.

In all ways, Jesus endured the tests and temptations of this world as a man. Even His entrance to this world was like ours, through the womb of a woman. God the Holy Spirit planted the seed of God in the womb of a virgin named Mary who gave birth to Jesus in the most humble and lowly circumstances. This man was Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, the earth-born Son of God. He and He alone is God's Sacrifice Lamb that takes away the sins of the world. Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. Though He is fully God yet He fully became a man and overcame the world as a man facing all the same temptations that we face, yet without sin. This qualifies Him and Him alone to be the sacrifice for man's sin. 

This Jesus demonstrated true humility and love in the midst of a perverse world. He healed the sick, raised the dead, and did many wonderful miracles. He gave this world a taste of what God desires for all men to have. He also trained a group of followers to carry on God's plan to bring salvation to all nations, not just Israel. 

Then, those descendants of Abraham who were supposed to be expecting His coming refused to believe in Him and had Him killed. Though Jesus was killed by those who hated Him, yet they did not take His life against His will. He gave His life willingly because He knew that He was the sacrifice for man's sin. This was the greatest act of love the world has ever known. Jesus' death satisfied the requirement of the law that says, The Wages of Sin Is Death. 

Jesus was nailed to a wooden cross and hung there until he died. He was then buried in a tomb, but on the third day after His death, He rose from the dead and was seen alive by many people over a period of forty days. One time He was seen by five hundred people at once! The resurrection of Jesus Christ is an undisputable fact. This proves Him to be exactly who He says He is; He is the way, the truth and the life, no one can be saved apart from Him! 

During this 40 day period, Jesus spoke to his followers and continued to give them instructions to carry out the plan of God to bring salvation from sin and death to all the nations and prepare the earth for His return and the appearing of the Kingdom of God on earth. Jesus told His followers to wait in Jerusalem until they received power from on high and then take the message of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth (Jesus had told them earlier that He must leave in order to send the Holy Sprit). Then He ascended into heaven and disappeared into the clouds as His disciples watched. At that time, they received a promise from angels that Jesus would return again in the same manner that he ascended.

About 10 days later, Jesus' followers were gathered together in one place and the promise of power from on high was fulfilled. The Holy Spirit came upon 120 people with such great power that it sounded like a strong wind. The Spirit appeared to them as flames of fire that lit upon each one of them. The noise of it was such that it was heard by people all around the city and they gathered to see what was going on. One of the men named Peter stood up and explained to the crowd what had happened. He told them that Jesus who had been crucified was the Christ. He explained that death could not hold Him and that He was risen from the dead and had sent the Holy Spirit. This was the plan of God coming to pass that had been spoken of by the prophets centuries before. Peter exhorted them to be saved from this perverse world by believing on the name of Jesus. He told them that if they would turn from their sins and be baptized, they too would receive the Holy Spirit. About 3000 people believed and were baptized that day!

The atonement through the blood of Jesus happened almost 2000 years ago. Since that time, blood sacrifices have no longer been required by God. The sacrifice of Jesus' blood is good once and for all to those who believe and trust in Him. The requirement now is to believe on the Name of Jesus Christ and follow Him. There is no other name given among men whereby we can be saved. 

The followers of Jesus received the power of the Holy Spirit and began to spread the message of salvation and do the same kinds of miracles and works that Jesus had done. It continues today. There have been many struggles in taking the good news about Jesus Christ to those who are still under the power of sin. Many have suffered or even lost their lives at the hands of wicked men who hate God.

Why does God allow all this to go on for centuries? One reason is because He is patient, not desiring for any to perish, but willing that all would come to believe in Jesus Christ and repent of sin. Another reason is because He desires a people who have been tested and found true. Common wisdom teaches that faithfulness is developed by responding correctly in trials and difficulties. Through this, God finds those who will be faithful for eternity. Oh yes, He could have made us like robots, simply programming us to act according to a specific plan. But then, since God is not a robot, we would not be created in His image. To be made in God's image is a high privilege. It is to have a level of companionship with God that no other creature can have.

God is not bound to time and space as we are. A thousand years to God is like a day and a day is like a thousand years. God's plan is marching on. Jesus will return again, not as a sacrificial lamb, but as a conquering King. He will judge all those who resist Him and establish His Kingdom throughout the entire earth. This gospel (good news) of the Kingdom of God must be preached to the ends of the earth and then He will come back to correct all injustice and complete the restoration of creation to the original condition that He intended. At that time, immortality and eternal life will be a present reality for those who have trusted and followed Jesus.

This story is true. It is confirmed every day in the lives of hundreds and thousands of people who have experienced the life-changing power of forgiveness through faith in Jesus Christ. There is much more to this story than could be written in this short account. But the question for you is, "Do you desire to have eternal life and be a part of His Kingdom when it appears?" If so, your spirit and soul must be transformed. Religion won't do it. Only a living relationship with Jesus Christ can change the human condition. As Jesus said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

Start by looking at the Ten Commandments and realizing that you are guilty before God and will be judged accordingly unless you receive His grace and forgiveness. You will see that you have probably broken most of them. For example, Jesus said if a man lusts after a woman in his heart, he is guilty of adultery, though he has not committed the act in the flesh. And, the person who hates another person is guilty of murder! 

Next confess out loud to God that you are a sinner in need of forgiveness and transformation. Ask God to receive the blood of Jesus as the payment for your sins. 

The Bible records people coming to this point in Acts chapter 2. Having recognized their guilt, they asked Peter, "What shall we do?" He said, "Repent and be baptized and you will receive the Holy Spirt." Therefore, repent from all known sins. This means that you must stop doing what you know is wrong and do what is right. True conversion always has repentance and true repentance always bears fruit. No one is a true Christian who continues in sinful practice. Jesus is not an "add-on" to your life. He is LORD. God will help you if you are sincere. The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit. Next, find a church solidly committed to the scriptures where you can be baptized and receive encouragement and training. Be careful. Not all who claim the name of Christ are true. Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven."

Now, you are not finished; you have just begun! Now you are ready to begin a new exciting life in Jesus Christ as a worker helping to carry out His eternal plan.