A CHRISTIAN WALK MINISTRIES

Reverend Matthew & Mrs. Deborah Harper

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Christian basics part I

Sin enters the world in Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:15-3:1-24)

Sin entered mankind in the Garden of Eden through Adam who was enticed by Eve after she yielded to the serpent’s (Satan) temptation to eat fruit from the forbidden tree of knowledge of good and evil. When Adam ate the forbidden fruit he committed the first sinful act against God. At that point sin entered into Adam and Adam passed the seeds of sin along to all generations of man. That is why we are still born with a sinful nature. It’s important we understand that God held Adam responsible for the sin that was committed in the Garden of Eden, not Eve. However, Eve did suffer some consequences. In Genesis 2:16&17 God commanded man (Adam) not eat from the forbidden tree or he would surely die. Therefore, the curse of sin is upon man’s seed and that sin was and is propagated throughout generations until today.

Christian basics part II

Sinful disobedience of God’s people (Exodus 31:18 through 32:1-26)

Even God’s chosen people, the Israelites, has this sinful nature. That’s why they were unable to follow the laws that were given them in the first five books of the bible including the Ten Commandments. The laws God gave his people required them to sacrifice many things as offerings; animals, birds of the air, grain etc., but they all had one thing in common, they all had to be perfect without defects or blemished in any way. Once a year the high priest, from the tribe of Levi, would enter the presence of God in The Most Holy place in the tabernacle. The people had no direct access to God. Only the high could go through the curtain into The Most Holy place to offer sacrifices for the people’s sins. The people would accept the laws and agree to obey them but as soon as sinful temptations can they would yield to the evil desires of the flesh. In Exodus chapters 31 and 32 while God is giving Moses the written laws we see the people of Israel are tempting Aaron to build false idols for them to worship. This continues to be mankind’s habit of sinful disobedience towards god’s law. Our sinful flesh tempts us with all sorts of evil desires and we often succumb to these temptations grieving the Holy Spirit with our sinful behavior. You may have heard the saying, “Hate the sin but love the sinner”. While this is not a bible verse the intent of this saying is reflected throughout the old and new testaments. Throughout the Old Testament God provided laws and commands for His people to follow and they were unable and unwilling to live according to God’s commands. Many times the people’s sinful acts would invoke the wrath of God and only because of Moses’s intervention would God spare the people’s lives. God hated his people’s sinful actions but he loved his people and God knew they we unable to resist the evil temptations Satan used to entice them into sinful behavior. Therefore, having seen the weakness of his people, God devised a plan that would make it easier for them save themselves from Satan’s attempts to claim their souls.  It is God’s plan to offer all mankind eternal salvation through his son, Jesus Christ. That leads us to part III of Christian basics.

Christian basic part III

The Jesus Story (Luke 1:38; Mt. chapters 3, 4 and 23 also book of Hebrews)

Because the people could not keep his laws and their sacrifices could not take away their sins, God decided to send a perfect sacrifice that would offer his people salvation from sin once and for all. God decided to send his son Jesus Christ to die on the cross and his blood covered the cost of sin for the world. Key thing to remember here is Jesus had to be a PERFECT sacrifice without defect or blemish. This means Jesus had to be without sin. We know, from part I, man’s seed is contaminated with sin due to Adam’s eating the forbidden fruit. Therefore Jesus could not have a natural man as his father because he would inherit sin from his natural father and he (Jesus) would not be without sin and perfect. To allow Jesus to be born without sin Mary conceived Jesus through the Holy Spirit. After being born without sin Jesus grew into manhood and was baptized by John the Baptist. (Mt. chapter 3) After Jesus was baptized the Spirit of God came upon him in the form of a dove and God said; “This is my son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased”. After his baptism Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil (Mt. chapter 4). This is a critical phase in the life of Jesus because, we must remember, he had to remain free of sin to full-fill the plan God had for his life, to be a PERFECT sacrifice. Because Jesus entered the world in the form of a natural man he was vulnerable to all the desires that tempted man. Satan knew this and after Jesus was in the desert for forty days Satan launched his attack tempting Jesus three times. But Jesus resisted each attack by standing on the word of God. After Satan saw he could not tempt Jesus he fled from him. If Jesus had yielded to Satan’s temptation he would have been blemished with sin and unable to do what God had plan for his life.

Then Jesus began to preach God’s Word and called disciples to help him spread the good news of God; (Mt. chapter5- 7).   During his life of traveling and teaching Jesus also performed many miracles winning thousands of converts to the idea of a new covenant with God. Jesus’s success in winning over so many people incurred the wrath of the keepers and teachers of the Law (the Pharisees and Sadducees). These groups hated Jesus for any number of reasons but primarily they disagreed with Jesus’s teachings because it conflicted with their belief in the law. Also, they would be out of work and without power if people no longer tried to live according to the teachings of the law. It was these groups that built a case against Jesus that ultimately led to His crucifixion. However, Jesus gives clear warning to the Pharisees and the Sadducees in Mt. chapter 23 that there would be consequences for their acts against him.

When Jesus died on the cross (Mt. 27:50&51) the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. Remember in part II we said only the High Priest was allowed to go through the curtain and be in the presence of God? When Jesus died on the cross the curtain was torn open and we now have access to God through Jesus. Jesus paid the price for our sins once and forever more. We no longer need a High Priest to make sacrifices for us year after year. Jesus, the son of God is now our new High Priest and through his blood we are now justified (Ro. 3:21-26). All we have to do to be saved is believe in Jesus and accept him as our Lord and savior. The book of Hebrews gives great details about the advantages of living under the new covenant as Christians as compared living under the old covenant of the law. Sounds as if life should be easy for us, not having to continually follow the laws and make sacrifices, but this is not the case. We struggle to resist the temptations Satan sits before and we often fall short. God knew this would happen that’s why He gives us the Grace to repent and ask forgiveness when we sin. This leads us to the next part of Christian basics, walking the Christian’s walk.

Christian basics part IV

WALKING THE CHRISTIAN’S WALK (Romans chapter 8; I Co. 10:13)

Once we believe and accept Jesus as our Lord and savior we begin our Christian walk to increasing Holiness. This walk will at times be difficult for all Christians, more so for some than others. New Christians are more likely to be tempted in the early stages of their walk with God just as Jesus was tempted in the desert after he was baptized. But, as Christians, we now have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us and God promises us in I Co.10:13; “He will not let us be tempted beyond what we can bear… he will provide a way out”. The diagram below reflects a Christian’s total life journey, before accepting Christ and after. The line connecting the unsaved circle to the saved circle shows that part of a life when the person has no connection with God. The arrows indicate the person yielded to any sinful temptations that came along. They were freely living in sin and on their way to burning eternally in hell. Then someone or something led the person to accept Christ as their Lord and they became saved. The line connecting the saved circle to the Holiness circle represent two things; our Christian walk on the straight and narrow path to Holiness and our progress through the Sanctification process.

Just as a child is weak and vulnerable when first born, Christians are also weak when born unto Christ in a Spiritual birth. Just as the physical child has to grow and become strong in order to defend itself the Spiritual child must grow spiritually in order to resist the temptations Satan will send to entice it into sinful acts. Looking at the diagram you see the new Christian yielding too many sins. But as he walks further down the path to Holiness he becomes spiritually stronger and able to resist more temptations. Just as a loving physical father will always be there to help and support his child, even after the child is fully grow, so will God always be there to protect and support His Christian children.

SUMMARY: God realized we could never keep his laws and commandments so he sent his son, Jesus, to die on cross and offer Salvation for sinners such as us. Through the blood of Christ we now live under a covenant of love and grace. Walk with God on your Christian walk and may God be with and bless you all the days of your life.