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God has always had a plan to forgive us of our sins!
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Background music - Mining by Moonlight by Kevin MacLeod, http://incompetech.com
We are all spiritual criminals, a .k .a. sinners, and the penalty for our crimes is eternal death.
Is it possible to avoid the penalty? God is merciful and he loves us. Because of this, he devised a plan for us to live forever with him in heaven.
He enacted his plan after Adam and Eve sinned and continued to reveal it in the centuries leading up to the time of Jesus.
The book of Hebrews says that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. Because we sin, a life must be sacrificed.
If God had not made another way, the life that would be sacrificed would be our own. Before Jesus came,
God accepted the death of an animal as a substitutionary sacrifice to stand in for the death of the person who had sinned.
The idea was that the death of the innocent substitute provided life for the guilty. The Bible says that it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin.
The blood of animals could bring about the forgiveness of sins, but could not remove sin. When someone offered an animal sacrifice,
God released them from the penalty of eternal death, but the animal's blood did not erase their sins. The sins were still there, but they were covered up by the blood.
This form of reconciliation was only temporary. The people had to continually sacrifice animals throughout their lifetime.
Animal sacrifices were lacking, and a perfect sacrifice was needed. A perfect sacrifice would require the death of someone who had never sinned.
Since no human has ever lived a sinless life, only God could provide a perfect sacrifice. Therefore, God sent
His Son, Jesus, to earth. God loved the world so much that He was willing to allow
His Son to serve as a sacrifice for us. Jesus' sacrifice could not only bring about the forgiveness of sins, but could also erase them, as if they had never happened.
Jesus was put to death on a cross. During the times when Jesus was on the earth, crucifixion was a method of capital punishment for criminals.
Jesus died and was buried. After three days, God raised Him from the dead. Jesus spent time with His followers for the next forty days.
After this time, He ascended back into heaven from where He originally came. The benefits of Jesus' sacrifice are available to all who are willing to take advantage of it.
Those who follow Jesus will have their sins erased because of His sacrifice. If we are willing to become a follower of Jesus, endeavoring to live our lives in accordance with His wishes, we can also one day be resurrected from the dead to live eternally with Him in heaven.