The Bible is the only book God ever wrote to mankind. The very first line of God’s Book starts by introducing us to God the Creator, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The closing line of the Bible concludes with a blessing from God’s Son, “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.”
The content of the Bible deals with a holy God and a sinful human race. The Psalmist asks the question, “Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? And who may stand in His holy place?” [Ps 14:3] Then he answers the question, “He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood And has not sworn deceitfully. He shall receive a blessing from the LORD And righteousness from the God of his salvation. [Ps 24:4-5] Apart from Jesus Christ, all humans have come short of God’s standard: “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” [Rom 3:23] There is nothing within a sinful being that can measure up to God’s perfect righteousness, so we all stand condemned by God’s perfect justice.
God’s sacrificial love could not spare people from His pure, unadulterated justice, which demanded condemnation. The all-knowing wisdom of God found a way by which God’s pure love could save a person without violating God’s absolute justice. Justice had to be served, which demanded punishment for sin. For God so loved the world that He sent His Son, who is the second Person the Trinity, into the world of mankind. Jesus was born of the virgin, hence the Son of Man, being fully God and Man in one person.
As a man, Jesus could pay the penalty that God’s justice demanded, which was both physical and spiritual death. Also, since Jesus is truly God, He could satisfy the payment from man’s sins completely. “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things. [Rom 8:32] Salvation from God’s wrath is through Jesus Christ, who paid for our sins on the cross. The resurrection of Christ reveals God’s acceptance of Jesus’ death in our place. “He who was delivered over because of our transgressions and was raised because of our justification.” [Rom 4:24]
How is Christ’s death and resurrection applied to us? Since Jesus Christ did all the work, it eliminates all our religious work in order to be saved. “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” [Eph 2:8-9]
Since all are sinners and under God’s wrath, it is necessary to repent of our sins, to turn to Christ in faith alone, in Christ alone. “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” [Acts 4:12] To sum it up, here are the words of the Lord Jesus, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. [John 14:6]
