AN OVERVIEW OF THE BIBLE
Why does the Bible say that I need to be “born again” to enter heaven? Does my eternal state actually depend on this?? Why would the Bible make such a strange claim???
Let me begin by saying, this booklet isn’t about religion. It’s about finding out what the Bible says concerning your eternal condition before the Creator God. But maybe you don’t believe in God, or you assert, “I have my own agreement with God and don’t care what you have to say.” Or maybe you just don’t want to get into a discussion about the Bible. I mean, let’s face it, to talk about such things goes beyond the surface of everyday small talk. It goes deep into our personal lives and unearths convictions that can sometimes lead to tension and division.
You might also ask, “Why do people push their beliefs on me? Why can’t Christians keep their religion to themselves?” Fair enough. First of all, when a Christian engages you in a conversation about the Bible, he or she is simply doing what the Lord Jesus commands all of His followers to do. Jesus said, “‘Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen” (Matthew 28:19-20). This command of Christ is called “the Great Commission.”
Secondly, Romans 10:14-15 says,
How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!”
So, if a Christian is “preaching” to you, it is because he or she is obeying Jesus’s command and is concerned for your eternity.
Rest assured, if you have this booklet in your hand, God wants you to hear His message. Please take some time to read this overview of the Bible. In it you will not only find what God planned for the world from its beginning to end, but also what He desires for you!
CREATION & THE FALL OF MAN
The Bible begins with God creating the world in six literal days and choosing to rest on the seventh. God spoke creation into existence – the sun, moon, stars, earth and all of its creatures. “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. …” (Genesis 1:31). On the sixth day, God said,
“Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:26-28)
In the beginning, all of creation was perfect! The wolf lay beside the lamb, and man could walk and talk freely with God in the garden. But then man decided to disobey God – he chose to sin. God had already given the man and woman everything they needed. But He also commanded them, “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” (Genesis 2:17). Sadly, the woman (Eve) was deceived by the cunning serpent, who said to her,
“Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?’” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’” Then the serpent said to the woman, “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.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her and he ate.” (Genesis 3:1-6)
Adam and Eve’s decision to disobey was sin and an attempt to become like God. However, instead of becoming like God, they became separated from Him. The perfect relationship they had enjoyed with God in the garden was broken by their sin, and the outcome was death, just as God had said it would be. This death was both spiritual and physical in nature, and it affected the entire world, including each one of us. The Bible says that as descendants of Adam, we all die spiritually (1 Corinthians 15:22). Furthermore, a day has been appointed for each of us to die physically and step into God’s presence (Hebrews 9:27). If we are to avoid condemnation and eternal separation from God on that day, our sins must be paid for. But how?
Thankfully, God created humanity for a purpose, and He had a plan that could not be thwarted, even by Satan’s cunning and man’s sin. So when God judged the serpent, He also promised a coming Redeemer!
The Lord said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more that every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise His heel.” (Genesis 3:14-15)
One day the “seed” of a woman would be born who would defeat Satan and overcome the curse caused by sin.
After judging the serpent, God told the woman, “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children; your desire shall be for your husband and he shall rule over you” (Genesis 3:16).
God’s judgment continued on to the man.
Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you saying you shall not eat of it; cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you shall return. (Genesis 3:17-19)
As soon as the perfect union between humans and God had been broken, God took the initiative and carried out the first blood sacrifice to cover their nakedness. From this, “The Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21). The punishment brought about by sin was death. Therefore, the blood of an innocent life had to die as atonement. This first blood sacrifice was a symbol of the Redeemer who was promised to come.
THE GREAT FLOOD
The sin nature in Adam passed down to his offspring, as is evident in his firstborn son, Cain, who murdered his brother, Abel, and the effects of sin continued to spread throughout the world until human society was totally corrupt.
Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He made man on the earth and He was grieved in His heart. So the Lord said I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them. (Genesis 6:5-7)
But remember Genesis 3:15? God had promised that one day the “seed” of the woman would crush the head of the serpent. God’s plan for the world was not finished. And so, He chose to start over with a man named Noah. The Bible says, “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord” (Genesis 6:8). Grace, an important theme found throughout the Bible, can be understood as unmerited favor. Another good way to remember it is: God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense!
Noah was commanded by God to build an ark – a great, big box boat. The ark was 450 feet long by 75 feet wide by 45 feet high, and it had three levels (Genesis 6:15-16). It is assumed that no boat this size was made again until the advent of steel ships in the 1900’s. After the ark was built, God brought representative animals from all of creation to Noah, two of every kind. Then He miraculously closed Noah and his family and all of the animals into the ark.
The Bible says that God is patient and unwilling for anyone to perish (2 Peter 3:9). But He is also just. He takes sin so seriously, because it separates us from Him. In a moment of intense house cleaning, God allowed the fountains of the deep to break open and release water from under the earth’s surface. At the same time, the protective layer of water above the earth’s atmosphere came down in rain for forty days and forty nights. After this, the earth’s crust closed and the rain stopped. The whole earth was covered by water, killing all that had the breath of life. Only those on Noah’s ark were saved (Genesis 6-8).
Psalm 104:5-9 expands the picture of the flood.
You who laid the foundations of the earth, so that it should not be moved forever, You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. At Your rebuke they fled; at the voice of Your thunder they hastened away. They went up over the mountains; they went down into the valleys, to the place which You founded for them. You have set a boundary that they may not pass over, that they may not return to cover the earth.
This worldwide flood caused catastrophic changes to the earth’s surface, which shifted under the enormous weight and pressure of the water. Mountains rose up and valleys sank down. Eventually, with the subsiding of the flood waters, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. When God opened the ark’s door, Noah and his family beheld a destroyed earth still mostly covered in water. But in His mercy, God made a covenant with the world that He would never again flood it completely with water. “It shall be when I bring a cloud over the earth that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh” (Genesis 9:14-15).
Noah had three sons – Shem, Ham and Japheth. Once again, as in the beginning, humans were commanded to “[b]e fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth” (Genesis 9:1b). One other significant change occurred on earth after the flood– God put a new fear of man into the animals. Perhaps He did this because He also gave man a new permission– to eat meat in addition to just fruit and vegetables (Genesis 9:1-3).
THE TOWER OF BABEL
As the human population grew, people moved from the area around where the ark had landed into the plains of Shinar. But again, asserting their sin nature, they refused to spread out further and “fill the earth,” as the Lord had commanded (Genesis 1:28 and Genesis 9:1). Instead, they united under the leadership of Nimrod, a man whose name can be translated, “we will rebel,” and began to construct a tower known as “the Tower of Babel.”
… they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” … And the LORD said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they purpose to do will be withheld from them. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. Therefore its name is called Babel …” (Genesis 11:4-9a)
From the descendants of Noah came all the races and nationalities of the world. These were scattered by the Lord over the entire earth. But because sinners will continue to sin, they took along with them their sinful and idolatrous practices from Babel.
ABRAHAM & THE NATION OF ISRAEL
Many years later, the Lord again divinely intervened in human history. He chose a pagan man named Abram to follow Him. God would make Abram the father of a nation through which He would reveal Himself and His plan for redemption to the whole world. God told Abram, “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:1-3).
God then made a covenant with Abram and changed his name to “Abraham” to reflect this new relationship.
As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you … No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. (Genesis 17:4-8)
A covenant can be defined as a pledge or a promise that binds two parties together. However, the covenant that God made with Abraham was unilateral. It would be an everlasting, unconditional covenant. God swore to Himself to create a chosen nation through Abraham that would be a source of blessing for the entire world. The Redeemer, promised all the way back in the Garden of Eden, would come from this nation.
God then promised to give Abraham a son to carry on this covenant. “…Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him” (Genesis 17:19). This covenant would continue on from Isaac to his son, Jacob (Genesis 28:3-4).
Jacob, whose name God changed to “Israel” (Genesis 28:32), had twelve sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph and Benjamin. The descendants of these sons became known as the twelve tribes of Israel.
Being sinners, the sons of Jacob sold their younger brother, Joseph, into slavery in Egypt. But God used Joseph to save the entire family from famine and move the family to Egypt where Pharaoh gave them the land of Goshen. “So Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions there and grew and multiplied exceedingly” (Genesis 47:27). Here Israel was set apart and protected, allowing them to grow into a great nation of many people that would later be called “Hebrews.”
Over time, a new Pharaoh came into power who didn’t remember Joseph and feared Israel’s growing numbers. He said, “Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we; come let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land’” (Exodus 1:9-10). So this Pharaoh enslaved the Israelites and ordered that all of their male babies be put to death. Despite this persecution, God caused the number of Israelites to grow even more.
MOSES & THE EXODUS
To save their newborn son, one Hebrew family defied the order of Pharaoh and hid their baby in a basket in the reeds beside the Nile River. The daughter of Pharaoh discovered this baby and claimed him as her own but allowed his real mother to continue care for him as an infant. After the child grew older, “she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. So she called his name Moses, saying, ‘Because I drew him out of the water’” (Exodus 2:10).
Moses was raised as a prince of Egypt. But as an adult he rejected the riches and pleasures of the kingdom and took his place among the Hebrew slaves. “By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward” (Hebrews 11:24-26).
Still Moses was a sinner, and one day, taking matters into his own hands, he killed an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew slave. This act became known, so “Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian” (Exodus 2:15). Forty years later, the Angel of the LORD spoke to Moses and told him to go back to Egypt to set the Israelite people free from their bondage. This time Moses would do it God’s way.
It took ten supernatural plagues ravaging the land of Egypt before Pharaoh agreed to release the Israelites (Exodus chapters 2-12). These plagues were directed against the gods the Egyptians worshipped and demonstrated the futility of these false gods compared to the one true Creator God. The last plague was the severest of them all– the death of all the firstborn male children in Egypt.
This plague became known as “the Passover.” God warned Moses that the Angel of the LORD would go throughout Egypt and kill the firstborn males in every household. To avoid this horrible plague, the Hebrew families were told to sacrifice male lambs without blemish and sprinkle some of their blood over the doorframe of their houses. This was a sign for the Angel of the LORD to pass over and not kill the firstborn of that household. The Hebrew people obeyed the Lord’s instruction, and their firstborn sons were spared.
God also commanded the Hebrews (later known as “Jews”) to commemorate this day of Passover and their deliverance from Egypt every year to follow. The lamb without blemish sacrificed for the Passover remembrance was a picture of the coming Christ and His blood that would be shed to save His people from their sins and death.
After the Passover plague, Pharaoh let the Israelites go from Egypt. But soon after, he hardened his heart and pursued them with his army. God led the Israelites out of Egypt with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. The way He chose brought them down to the Red Sea. Here they were trapped, with the Egyptians closing in behind them.
And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the LORD. Then they said to Moses, ‘Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt?’ … And Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today…’” (Exodus 14:10-11, 13)
The parting of the Red Sea is one of the most famous miracles in the Bible.
Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided. So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. And the Egyptians pursued and went after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen … And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and when the morning appeared, the sea returned to its full depth, while the Egyptians were fleeing into it. So the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. Then the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. … But the children of Israel had walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. (Exodus 14:21-23, 27-29)
THE LAW
After the destruction of its army, Egypt never fully recovered to be a world power again. The Israelites were free from their bondage and became a traveling nation led by God’s pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. God led them on from the Red Sea to Mt. Sinai, where He gave Moses the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20). In short, these commandments read:
You shall have no other gods before Me.
You shall not make for yourself a carved image to worship.
You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
Honor your father and your mother.
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness.
You shall not covet.
The Ten Commandments are known as the moral law. God also gave His people a judicial law and a sacrificial law. The judicial law upheld justice by punishing acts of sin. It was designed to match the punishment to the crime, and it established a law of limitations. The sacrificial law established God’s proper procedure for the priests to offer sacrifices. The continual sacrifice of innocent lambs under this law foreshadowed the ultimate and final sacrifice that God would provide on man’s behalf.
Although Moses was a great leader, it was not he who rescued the nation of Israel from Egypt. It was God Himself. It was God who guided them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. And it was God who instructed them to build a tabernacle (a big tent) where His glory would reside.
God was very present with the Israelite people in one sense, and yet He was unapproachable in another. No one but the priests could enter the actual tabernacle, and only the high priest could enter its most holy place, once-a-year, after offering a blood sacrifice on the peoples’ behalf. In this most holy place, God’s presence dwelt above the Ark of the Covenant’s mercy seat. The blood sacrifice required to enter God’s presence foreshadowed the perfect and final sacrifice that would be given one day to unite man and Him in a right relationship.
Sadly, despite God’s faithfulness to His people and His awesome presence in their midst, the children of Israel were still sinners who continued to sin, worshipping idols and breaking the commandments. And although they were God’s special covenant nation on their way to the land He had promised to their forefather Abraham, they failed to trust and obey Him for victory but looked to their own strength instead. So, God allowed them to be defeated in battle and spend the next forty years wandering in the wilderness. Their sin had to be dealt with. Even Moses, whom the Bible portrays as one the greatest leaders of all time and the meekest man to ever live (Numbers 12:3), was not permitted to enter the Promised Land because of sin.
CONQUERING THE PROMISED LAND & BRINGING ABOUT A KING
After Moses died, his servant Joshua led the next generation of Israelites into the Promised Land. Israel conquered the land by the miraculous hand of God, and its territory was divided among the twelve tribes. But even once in the land, Israel continued to be disobedient to God. They were still sinners in need of redemption.
In disobedience to God’s command, the people began to marry foreign wives who turned their hearts away from God to idolatry. So, God removed His hand of protection from them and allowed Israel to be defeated and enslaved by their enemies. However, whenever Israel repented and cried out to God, He would raise up judges to deliver His people from bondage. The most famous of these judges was Samson. Over the course of three hundred years, God provided thirteen judges to rescue and help guide the nation of Israel. In spite of this, Israel wanted to be like their neighbors who had glorious kings. So, they demanded that a king be given to rule over them. God told the prophet Samuel,
… Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day– with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods– so they are doing to you also. Now therefore, heed their voice. However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them. (1 Samuel 8:7-9)
As God instructed, Samuel warned the people how a human king would end up treating them.
“… you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the LORD will not hear you in that day.” Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, “No, but we will have a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” (1 Samuel 8:18-20)
Consequently, God gave them what they asked for in Saul from the tribe of Benjamin. Saul was the tall and handsome king that the people craved for, but he turned out to be harsh and unfaithful as a ruler. He too was a mere man separated from God by sin. So, God replaced Saul with a king after His own heart. His name was David, the son of Jesse.
God commanded the prophet Samuel to visit Jesse and his eight sons, saying that he was not to look at mere outward appearance for, “the LORD does not see as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). After the seven oldest sons of Jesse were rejected, the youngest, David, was brought in from tending sheep in the fields. “…And the LORD said, ‘Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!’” (1 Samuel 16:12).
Even before becoming king, David demonstrated his heart for the Lord. Once, when Israel’s army was in a standoff with the army of the Philistines, their greatest warrior, a giant named Goliath, stepped forward demanding a one-on-one fight to settle the war. None of Israel’s soldiers was brave enough to face Goliath. But when young David heard this Philistine mocking Israel, he quickly volunteered, saying, “…who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (1 Samuel 17:26). The soldiers, however, refused to listen to David and chided him as being a mere boy. Nevertheless, God used young David to defeat this giant with just a slingshot, demonstrating that God takes pleasure in using the weak things of this world to shame the strong (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:27).
David went on to become Israel’s greatest king. One can read his psalms in the Bible and understand why he was called “a man after God’s own heart.” But David was also a sinner who needed the Redeemer promised at the beginning of history. He committed some serious sins later in life, but he repented of them and humbly asked for God’s forgiveness. God forgave King David and remained faithful to the covenant He had made with him earlier, promising that one of David’s offspring would reign as King over the whole earth, forever. God said,
… I took you from the sheepfold from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people, over Israel. And I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and have made you a great name… When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he shall be My son… And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever. (2 Samuel 7:8-16)
This promise is known as the Davidic covenant. It is an everlasting, unconditional covenant that finds its ultimate fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ. What’s more, Jesus Christ, born from the royal line of David, will return one day to set up a kingdom on earth that will last forever!
King David reigned 40 years over Israel and then died. The kingdom passed on to his son, Solomon. At the beginning of Solomon’s reign, he asked God for wisdom so that he could rightly judge the nation. God answered Solomon’s prayer, making him the wisest and wealthiest king ever. Solomon replaced the tabernacle tent with a temple built in Jerusalem. Then the Ark of the Covenant was placed behind a thick curtain in the temple’s most holy place, symbolizing holy God’s separation from sinful man. The glory cloud that had led the nation of Israel out of Egypt came to rest in this temple made for God. The cloud was called the Shekinah glory, which means, “He caused to dwell.” It represented the presence of the LORD God on earth.
Like his father, King David, Solomon ruled the people of Israel for 40 years. Before his death, he passed the kingdom on to his son, Rehoboam. Rehoboam, however, was unwise. When the people requested him to lighten the burden of labor that had been pressed upon them, King Rehoboam denied their request and increased the load. As a consequence, the kingdom split in two under his reign. Ten tribes in the north separated to form the kingdom of Israel, while only two tribes in the south remained with Rehoboam. They became known as the kingdom of Judah. The northern kingdom did not obey God and fell deep into the worship of idols. So God, who is patient and not willing that any should perish, sent prophets to call them to repent. Sadly, they rejected the prophets’ warnings and continued in their sins.
KINGDOMS OF GENTILE NATIONS
In 722 BC, God fulfilled the warning in His Law:
When you beget children and grandchildren and have grown old in the land, and act corruptly and make a carved image in the form of anything, and do evil in the sight of the Lord your God to provoke Him to anger, I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess; you will not prolong your days in it, but will be utterly destroyed. And the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you. (Deuteronomy 4:25-27)
The northern kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Assyrian Empire and dispersed among the nations. The Assyrian army then marched south to attack the kingdom of Judah. But the Lord stopped them. As the people of Judah were trapped within the walls of Jerusalem, the Angel of the LORD spoke through the prophet Isaiah saying,
“…concerning the king of Assyria: ‘He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor build a siege mound against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return; and he shall not come into this city,’ says the Lord. ‘For I will defend this city, to save it for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.’” And it came to pass on a certain night that the angel of the Lord went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses—all dead.
(2 Kings 19:32-35)
The Assyrian conquest ended with the defeat of Israel. God had protected Judah. But unfaithful Judah, like Israel, increasingly committed idolatry with foreign gods. Again, God repeatedly warned Judah through prophets to repent and turn back to Him. But they did not. So, finally, God removed His hand of protection from Judah as well.
In 609 BC, the Babylonian Empire emerged as the new world power. Nebuchadnezzar took the throne in 605 BC and proceeded to conquer Judah. To ensure that tribute would be given to him, Nebuchadnezzar took captive royal children from the nations he conquered. From Israel he took: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. They were trained to serve King Nebuchadnezzar and promote his empire (Daniel 1).
In 597 BC, the Jews rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar. So he took 10,000 more captives from Judah, including Ezekiel the prophet. At this time, the Shekinah glory also left the holy temple in Jerusalem (Ezekiel 10-11). The Shekinah glory had dwelt with Israel from the time of the Exodus until 593 BC. In 586 BC, the Jews rebelled again. This time, Nebuchadnezzar came and destroyed the temple in Jerusalem, taking all of its treasures to Babylon.
Daniel the prophet served the kings of Babylon throughout the Babylonian Empire. During that time, Nebuchadnezzar came to believe in Israel’s God and surrendered his life to the LORD. His testimony was posted throughout the kingdom. However, his grandson, Belshazzar, defied God and gloated over the victory over Israel by hosting a huge party and using the treasures taken from God’s temple as utensils, thereby mocking the God of Heaven. God crashed the party by causing a hand to appear and write on the wall of the king’s palace. Daniel was brought in to interpret the writing. It said, “God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it; you have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting; your kingdom has been divided, and given to the Medes and Persians” (Daniel 5:26-28). The Babylonian Empire fell that very night without a fight. The Persian king, Cyrus, diverted the Euphrates River allowing his army to go underneath Babylon’s siege gates while Belshazzar was throwing his party. Belshazzar was killed, and Persia became the new world empire. The year was 539 BC.
Before Judah was conquered, Jeremiah had prophesied that the Babylonian Empire would last seventy years. He wrote, “And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years” (Jeremiah 25:11). But the Lord also promised Israel that when the seventy years were ended, they would go back and rebuild Jerusalem. “For thus says the LORD: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place” (Jeremiah 29:10).
After the defeat of Babylon, Daniel prayed to the Lord to forgive His people, the Jews, and allow them to go back to their land and rebuild the temple (Daniel 9). God heard Daniel’s prayer. He would fulfill His promise. So He moved the heart of King Cyrus to allow the Jews to return to their homeland and rebuild God’s temple.
Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: “All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is among you of all His people? May his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel (He is God), which is in Jerusalem.” (Ezra 1:2-3)
The prophet Isaiah had foretold Cyrus’s victory nearly two hundred years before his conquest. History says that when a Jewish priest showed Cyrus the prophecy of himself, Cyrus was extremely impressed. The prophecy said,
who confirms the word of His servant, and performs the counsel of His messengers; who says to Jerusalem, “You shall be inhabited,” to the cities of Judah, “You shall be built,” and I will raise up her waste places; who says to the deep, “Be dry! and I will dry up your rivers”; who says of Cyrus, “He is My shepherd, and he shall perform all My pleasure, saying to Jerusalem, ‘You shall be built,’ and to the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’” Thus says the LORD to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held– to subdue nations before him and loose the armor of kings, to open before him the double doors, so that the gates will not be shut: “I will go before you and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the LORD, who call you by your name, am the God of Israel.”
(Isaiah 44:26 - 45:3)
Just as there were three deportations from Jerusalem, so there were three returns. Cyrus allowed the first return in 538 BC. Ezra led the second return in 458 BC. And Nehemiah led the third return in 444 BC, as recorded in the book of Nehemiah. Not long after the temple and Jerusalem were rebuilt, God ceased to speak through the prophets. This ended the Old Testament period.
After the Old Testament period, history tells us that the Jewish people came under intense persecution from a fractioned Greek Empire. The Greeks, under the rule of Alexander the Great, conquered the Persian Empire. When Alexander died, the Greek Empire was divided into four separate kingdoms. Alexander’s top four generals became rulers over these four kingdoms. Cassandra was given the Greek territory. Lysimachus was given Asia Minor. Seleucus was given Syria, north of Israel. And Ptolemy was given Egypt, south of Israel. This was prophesied by Daniel over two hundred years before, in the book of Daniel, chapter 8.
The Seleucid and Ptolemy kingdoms battled back and forth with the land of Israel trapped in between. As a result, Israel suffered great persecution, especially at the hands of the Seleucid kingdom. In 167 BC, one of the Seleucid kings, named Antiochus Epiphanes IV, committed what is known as “the Abomination of Desolation.” He set up an idol of the pagan god, Zeus, in the temple of God and sacrificed a pig to him on the temple’s altar. He then attempted to abolish the Jewish religion by killing all Jews who refused to deny God and worship Greece’s pagan deities.
But the Jews fought back, were victorious, and cleansed the temple in the Maccabean revolt, as recorded in the books of the Maccabees. Daniel foretold this revolt in 539 BC. His prophesies of the era, as found in Daniel chapter 11, were so accurate that skeptics claimed the book of Daniel had to have been written around 150 BC. This accusation has since been proven false.
NEW TESTAMENT GOSPELS
By the time the New Testament period began, Rome was in control of Israel, and their puppet king, Herod, was standing on the necks of the people. This caused the Jews to long even more for their promised Messiah. They were expecting a mighty king/deliverer who would rise up and throw off Rome’s oppression. But it was Israel’s sin issue that God wanted to deal with first.
The New Testament begins with four gospels. (The word “gospel” simply means “good news.”) These four gospels are eye witness accounts of the life of Jesus, recorded by four different people. The first one is the Gospel of Matthew. This gospel begins with the genealogy of Joseph, Mary’s husband, who served as a caretaker for Jesus. This genealogy is important because it establishes a legal link between Jesus and King David to whom the Davidic covenant was given, promising a descendant from his line would sit on the throne and rule forever (2 Samuel 7). The genealogy also connects Jesus to Abraham, in whose “seed” all the nations of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 22:18), and to Judah, from whose tribe the Messiah was prophesied to come (Genesis 49:8-10).
The Gospel of Luke begins with the story of John the Baptist who was led by God to announce the coming of the Messiah/Redeemer, promised all the way back in the Garden of Eden. Thousands of people came out to hear John’s message as he prepared their hearts for the arrival of Jesus. Luke’s Gospel also contains the genealogy of Jesus’s mother, Mary, (Luke 3:23-38). This genealogy traces Jesus’s physical lineage all the way back through King David and Abraham to Adam, reminding the reader of Genesis 3:15’s prophecy that one day a seed of the woman would arise and defeat the evil one.
Both Matthew and Luke’s gospels tell us how this came to pass when Jesus was supernaturally conceived by the working of the Holy Spirit in the “seed” of the young virgin, Mary. (Jesus had no earthly father.) This was also a fulfillment of the prophesy found in Isaiah 7:14 that says a “‘virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel’ which translated means, ‘God with us.’” (cf. Matthew 1:23).
Luke’s gospel tells us that Jesus “…grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him” (Luke 2:40).
And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men. Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilot being governor of Judea, [and] Herod being tetrarch of Galilee ... the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remissions sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the LORD; make His paths straight. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’” (Luke 2:52 - 3:6)
This John, son of Zacharias, is called the Baptist. He was miraculously raised up by God to prepare the nation of Israel for Jesus’s coming. When John the Baptist baptized Jesus, in 29 AD, the heavens were opened and “the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon [Jesus], and a voice came from heaven which said, ‘You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased’” (Luke 3:21-22). This began Jesus’s public ministry. Jesus was about thirty years of age at the time (Luke 3:23). Jesus then chose twelve disciples to follow Him: Simeon Peter, Andrew, James and John (the sons of Zebedee), Phillip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James (the son of Alphaeus), Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot. These twelve disciples came from various backgrounds and had different personalities, but they all learned from the teaching of Christ for the next three years.
Jesus based His ministry in the town of Capernaum on the northern border of the Sea of Galilee. Capernaum was the heart of the Mediterranean world’s trade routes. As traders came through Israel, they had to stop at Capernaum to pay taxes. When they did this, no doubt many of them heard and saw Jesus. His teaching focused on one message, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Many traveling merchants must have carried Jesus’s words back home with them, taking the good news to the ends of the known world.
Jesus claimed to be God in the flesh, and He proved this by healing the sick, lame, and demon possessed. He not only healed all who were brought to Him, He also raised people from the dead, fed thousands miraculously, and calmed storms with a word. The people were so amazed by all of Jesus’s miracles, they tried to make Him king by force, hoping that He would deliver them from the oppression of the Roman Empire. But Jesus had come to earth for a different reason. He had come to fulfill God’s plan to redeem man from the bondage and separation caused by sin.
Even John the Baptist, the one born to prepare the people for their Redeemer, was looking for a political savior, not a suffering Savior who would rescue mankind from sin and restore them to fellowship with God. When John the Baptist was put in prison, he sent messengers to Jesus asking Him who He was. Jesus answered John’s question by saying, “Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me” (Luke 7:22b-23).
The Bible teaches that the punishment for sin is death– separation from God. Because Jesus lived a sinless life, He was the perfect sacrificial “Lamb of God” able to pay our sin debt. He did not come to overthrow the rule of Rome. He came to overthrow the rule of sin in each person’s heart by shedding His innocent blood as a sacrifice for the sins of the world.
After the Jewish people tried to make Jesus their king, He withdrew and focused His ministry on His disciples rather than the multitudes. He knew that His time on earth was coming to an end. He also began to teach in parables. When His disciples asked why He taught in parables, Jesus answered,
… Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: “Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.” But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. (Matthew 13:11-17)
The people were willing to accept Jesus as a king to free them from Rome, but they were not willing to submit their lives to Him for the remissions of sins. This is what Jesus was born for, so He taught the people who were only interested in earthly things in parables. If they wanted to understand the spiritual truth of His parables, they would have to seek out the truth.
The religious leaders of the time were the Sadducees and the Pharisees. They had built a wall of detailed rules around Moses’s law, believing that strict observance of a moral code was the way to God. They had become self-righteous and were blindly leading the people astray. Jesus confronted them for being hypocrites saying, “…woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in” (Matthew 23:13). These two groups combined forces to kill Christ.
When Jesus went to the Passover in Jerusalem, it was the last week of His life. He approached the city riding on a donkey, which in ancient times was the traditional way for a king to signify that he came in peace. The people received Jesus gladly, shouting, “‘Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD! Hosanna in the highest!’ And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, ‘Who is this?’ So the multitudes said, ‘This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee’” (Matthew 21:9b-11).
CHRIST’S DEATH & RESURRECTION
Jesus spent His last week in Jerusalem teaching the people in parables and confronting the Pharisees and Sadducees who were trying to trap Him in His words. But they could find no wrong in Jesus. Therefore, they schemed to take Him by night in secret and put Him through an illegal trial in hopes of finding Him guilty.
A last Passover supper was held by Jesus and His disciples in an upper room in Jerusalem. There Jesus announced that one of them would betray Him. Judas Iscariot left to commit the act of betrayal. Then “Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body.’ Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remissions of sins’” (Matthew 26:26-28).
When Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His disciples over the Brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which He and His disciples entered. And Judas, who betrayed Him, also knew the place; for Jesus often met there with His disciples. Then Judas, having received a detachment of troops, and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons. (John 18:1-3)
Here in this garden, Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss, indicating to the soldiers which one was Jesus. When the soldiers arrested Jesus, His disciples fled. Jesus was taken that night to the high priest to be tried in an illegal court. While being falsely accused, Jesus confessed to the priests that He was indeed the Christ, the divine “Son of Man” spoken of in Daniel 7:9-14.
… the high priest asked Him, saying to Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” Jesus said, “I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” Then the high priest tore his cloths and said, “What further need do we have of witness? You have heard the blasphemy! What do you think?” And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death.
(Mark 14:61-63)
Here we witness the priests unwittingly performing their priestly duty of examining the Passover lamb before its sacrifice to determine if it was without flaw and worthy to be sacrificed. The only thing they could find Jesus guilty of was claiming to be God.
As a conquered nation, the Jews did not have the authority to execute people. So they took Jesus to Pontius Pilot, the Roman Governor. Pilot found no fault in Jesus, but the religious leaders stirred up the crowds to demand Jesus’s death. So, Pilot ordered that Jesus be crucified. This was a form of torture and death so terrible that it was illegal to do to a Roman citizen and was used as a means to terrify Rome’s subjects into submission.
Before Christ was led to the cross, He was handed over to Roman soldiers who brutally beat Him to the brink of death. He was scourged with 39 lashes, punched in the face multiple times, given a crown of thorns, and beaten with a staff until the thorns were crushed into His head.
God the Son, who had spoken the worlds into existence, could have ended this all with one word. However, He endured the torture and the mocking. God the Son, who had chosen to be born of a woman so that He could save mankind, carried a cross up the hill of Calvary for His execution. His hands and feet were nailed to the cross. Then the cross was lifted up and dropped into the hole with a force so great it likely pulled His shoulders out of their sockets. For the next few hours, Christ would struggle to breathe as His bloodied back supported by weakening legs slid up and down the rough wooden cross. This form of execution was public and brutal!
Jesus not only endured the pain, but He also endured the mocking of the priests and scribes who stood at the foot of the cross taunting, “… He saved others; Himself He cannot save. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross that we may see and believe” (Mark 15:31-32). Jesus’s response to those around Him was, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” God had a greater plan, one that had been in place from the foundations of the world, promised at the fall of man, and foreshadowed by the temple sacrificial system. In Jesus Christ it was being fulfilled.
Two thieves were crucified at the same time as Jesus. One was on His left and one on His right.
… one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If you are the Christ, save Yourself and us.” But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
(Luke 23:39-43)
Before Jesus breathed His last breath, He cried out with a loud voice, “Tetelestai!” which means, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). It is also the word that was written on legal documents and receipts when a bill had been “paid in full.” Christ had endured the cross, defeated the demonic attacks, and shed His blood so that mankind could be forgiven. At the time of His death, an earthquake shook Jerusalem and the temple. The curtain in the temple covering the holy of holies was torn in two, signifying that Jesus had opened a new and living way to God the Father through His blood.
Jesus’s body was then put in an unused tomb. But on the third day, He arose from the dead, conquering death and confirming the New Covenant that had been sealed in His blood. Following His resurrection, He met with His disciples and hundreds of other followers, demonstrating to them with many infallible proofs over a period of forty days that He was alive! (cf. Acts 1:3 and 1 Corinthians 15:6). Finally, Jesus commissioned His disciples to go out and make more disciples, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen” (Matthew 28:18b-20).
THE BEGINNING OF THE CHURCH
And that, my friend, is God’s story from creation to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Humanity could not reach up to God, so God became a human and reached down to us. But the story is not over. God did not save us and leave us. Jesus taught His disciples that when He departed from this world, He would send a Helper to be with them forever. This Helper is the Spirit of God– the “Holy Spirit”– who indwells all who believe and call on Christ as their Lord and Savior. Jesus said,
“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever– the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me. These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you...” (John 14:15-27a)
Before His ascension to heaven, Jesus commanded His disciples to wait in Jerusalem for what He had promised– the Holy Spirit.
“for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. (Acts 1:5-9)
After Jesus ascended to heaven, His followers remained in Jerusalem, as Jesus had instructed, and were gathered in an upper room. There the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they began to speak and prophesy in other languages.
And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born?” (Acts 2:2-8)
God had filled His followers with His Spirit, just as Christ had promised. As the disciples prophesied, the Spirit spoke through them so that everyone present heard about the wonderful works of God in their own language (Acts 2:11). This was a miracle. The Gospel of Christ was preached by the power of the Holy Spirit. Many Jews hearing the Gospel became born again and returned home to share the message to others. This was the beginning of the Church.
These early believers faced great persecution. One of their persecutors was a Jewish man named Saul. Saul condoned the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr, and went from house to house dragging off Christians to prison. He even led a group to Damascus to arrest to all who preached Christ there in an attempt to snuff out the Church. However, on the way he was intercepted by Christ Himself! (Acts 8-9)
Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one. Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank. (Act 9:1-9)
Saul became a Christian on the road to Damascus. God then changed his name to Paul and made him an apostle to the Gentiles (non-Jews). Paul later travelled all over the Roman Empire preaching the good news of Jesus Christ. His letters (or epistles) to the new believers comprise a large part of the New Testament. Paul and the other apostles were given authority to record God’s word as the Holy Spirit led them, “knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20-21).
The Old Testament books, together with the New Testament letters and the four gospels written by Christ’s apostles (or those approved by the apostles), are considered to be the authoritative word of God. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
Often the word “Church” is perceived as a literal building made up of bricks or stone. But it is actually people who believe the Gospel, those who have been “saved” or “born again,” that make up the Church. That being said, the Bible uses the imagery of a spiritual house, building, or temple to describe this body of believers. Every building foundation has a cornerstone that is perfectly true and square. This cornerstone is put down first, so that the foundation can be aligned to the plane of its perfection. Jesus is this chief cornerstone for the Church. The Bible says it this way,
Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:19-22)
Jesus is the cornerstone that was put down first. The apostles, who were taught by Christ, make up the foundation. They went on to preach the Gospel of Christ to all the world, and great multitudes of people were saved. This multitude of believers comprises the structure of the Church.
BEING “BORN AGAIN”
So how does one become a part of this Church? Let’s go back to Jesus’s teaching in John chapter three. A ruler of the Jews named Nicodemus came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God be with him” (John 3:2b). Knowing what was really on Nicodemus’s heart– how one can enter heaven and have eternal life– Jesus got straight to the point and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).
Like many people today, Nicodemus did not understand what Jesus meant by this mysterious phrase, “born again.” So, in reply, he asked a clarification question, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” (John 3:4).
Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, “You must be born again.” The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.
(John 3:5-8)
Here Jesus is saying that you must be born of water and the Spirit to enter the kingdom of God. Being born of water is not a reference to water baptism, for Jesus immediately explains it is as “being born of the flesh” (3:6), i.e., a physical birth. Every one alive has had this first birth. However, to enter the kingdom of God, one must also have a second spiritual birth. This is called being “born again.”
To illustrate this further, Jesus said, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone born of the Spirit” (John 3:8). We all know that wind exists, because we feel it. And even though we cannot see it with our eyes, we can see its effects. The same holds true for God the Father and His Holy Spirit. Although we do not see God the Father with our physical eyes, we know that He exists from seeing His creation. Likewise, the Holy Spirit cannot be seen, just as the wind cannot be seen. However, we can know that He is present and working in the life of a true believer, because we see His effects– a changed life. The Bible calls this “a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Everyone who receives Jesus Christ as Lord receives the Holy Spirit.
Nicodemus was still confused and said to Jesus,
“… How can these things be?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is the Son of Man who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:9-15)
Jesus explained to Nicodemus that he had to believe by faith in the testimony of the One who came from heaven and knows the way to everlasting life with God the Father. Jesus is that One. In other words, Jesus came to earth to give and be an eye witness testimony of God. Notice how Jesus used language such as “We speak” and “Our witness” to indicate that He is part of the Triune Godhead and is speaking on behalf of Himself, the Heavenly Father, and the Holy Spirit. Jesus concluded by saying that He would be lifted up on a cross to die for the sins of the world, and that looking to this sacrifice with eyes of faith would be the only way for man to be saved from the consequences of sin … to be “born again.”
Here Jesus is referring to an Old Testament story that Nicodemus would have known well– the story of Moses lifting up the serpent in the wilderness, found in Numbers 21:5-9.
And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.” So the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, and many of the people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD that He take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.
At first glance, this is a strange story. But it contains a very important illustration. God is holy and just. Therefore, He cannot let sin go unpunished. However, in His love and great mercy, He provided a way for the Israelite people to be forgiven and healed. A bronze image of the serpents that had bitten the people was lifted up on a pole for all to see. Likewise, our sin, that causes spiritual condemnation and death, was laid on Christ, and He was lifted up on a cross for all the world to look to for salvation.
Jesus finished the conversation with Nicodemus by saying,
For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God. (John 3:1-21)
This passage is simple. If you believe and follow Christ, you will be saved. Your sin will be forgiven and paid for by the sacrifice of Christ. His righteousness is both the light that exposes our sin and the way back to fellowship with God. Unfortunately, many people reject this because they love their sin more than God.
Jesus said you must “believe.” What does it mean to believe? Is this just a general understanding that Christ came and died on a cross for people’s sins? No, it is a much higher calling than that. Genuine belief results in action and commitment.
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). This is a very important scripture. Jesus is saying that He is the only way to be saved. Not by any other means, such as false gods, false prophets, or even your own good works. The Bible also says that, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
So how do we “get saved” if it is not by being good? Aren’t there scales in heaven weighing out our good and bad deeds? You may think, “My good works should outweigh my bad ones. I don’t think I’m that terrible of a person. After all, there are much worse people than me.” Have you ever thought this? Many people have this belief, but it couldn’t be further from the truth. Romans, chapter three says, “‘There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have all together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one.’ … for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (3:10b-12, 23).
Now, if we have all sinned and can’t work our way to heaven, how do we receive this gift of salvation? Let’s examine what Romans 10:9-13 says,
that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteous, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”
Here, genuine belief results in confession. Let’s compare this to marriage. In a free society, when a man wants to marry a woman, he tends to go to extremes to prove his love for her. But the woman can freely decide if she will accept or reject his proposal. If she says “Yes,” then she chooses to enter into a marriage covenant with him. To confirm this covenant, she confesses with her mouth that she wants to live in a relationship with this man for the rest of her life. Although the marriage vows differ slightly, the gist of them is something like this: “I swear to love this man in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, till death do us part.” In marriage, the two become one (cf. Mark 10:8).
The same holds true when entering a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. He went to great lengths to prove His love for us! He left heaven to live among us, and then gave His very life on the cross to take our place and pay for our sins. This sacrifice was sufficient to pay for the sins of the whole world, and it was acceptable to God the Father. However, just as the woman must say “Yes” to the marriage proposal, you too have to respond to this good news, the Gospel, to enter into this covenant. By confessing Jesus Christ as your Lord and your Savior, you will enter into the New Covenant that He purchased with His blood and be joined to Him forever.
So, what is the definition of “Savior,” and what do we have to be saved from? A savior is someone who rescues another from grave danger. For example, a fire fighter saves a man from a burning building. Or a life guard saves a girl from drowning. A more extreme example would be a soldier who gives his life for a fellow brother in arms. These are lower examples of what Christ has done for us. As Romans 3:23 and 6:23 say, we are all sinners condemned to die. But God sent His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16). Jesus is the only Savior that can save us from sin’s condemnation and eternal separation from God.
So, what is the definition of “Lord,” and what does it mean to confess someone as Lord over your life? I believe a good example of this is when a knight bows down before a king and proclaims to him, “My lord.” The definition of “Lord” is someone having influence, power, and authority over you. By bowing down and confessing someone as your Lord, you are submitting your life to him as your Master, your Ruler, your King. You submit all authority to him. This is what we are called to do before Jesus Christ. To His disciples, Christ put it this way, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 16:24b-25).
When you realize that you are a sinner condemned to be separated from a holy God for eternity, this leaves you in need of a Savior! To receive Jesus as your Savior is to humbly accept the sacrifice that He paid for you personally on the cross. To confess your sin before God is to agree with Him that your condition is hopeless without Christ and that only by Christ’s blood sacrifice can you be forgiven.
If you were trapped in a consuming fire or drowning in water, you probably wouldn’t hesitate to cry out for someone to save you. Likewise, we must call out in prayer to God for His mercy and forgiveness through Christ.
To acknowledge Jesus as Lord is to submit your life to Him. Just as the bride in the wedding confesses with her mouth her vows to the man she is committing herself to for the rest of her life, the same holds true to enter into the New Covenant with Jesus Christ. Your confession of Jesus as Lord, resulting from faith, and your belief in God’s raising Him to life again for our justification, will save you from your sins and seal you in the New Covenant which was purchased for us through Christ’s blood. Just as in a wedding, one vows to enter into a covenant that will last until death do you part, this commitment to submit to Jesus as Lord is a lifetime commitment.
What does Christ give us in return for our submitting to His Lordship? In addition to forgiveness of sins and eternal life, the Bible says that Christ gives us the Holy Spirit who seals us and helps us to be lights in this dark world. “In Him [Jesus Christ] you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:13-14). Speaking to His disciples, Jesus said this, “It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” (John 16:7b-8).
In closing, salvation is available to “whoever will call upon the name of the Lord.” That includes you. Have you received Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, confessing Him as Lord of your life, submitting all authority to Him, committing to follow Him the rest of your days? Have you been “born again”???