From “How to become a Christian”: Chapter 6 – The bad news first – sin and its consequences.
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 3:23 (NIV)
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23 (NIV)
To explain the gospel message properly we have to go back to the beginning of time and look at the creation of the world and of the human race. When we understand why God created us in the first place it helps us understand why Jesus had to come to save the human race. The main details of the creation of the world are set out in the early chapters of the book of Genesis. That is the first book of the Bible. At some point in the past, God decided to create planet earth, the universe and the human race. He did this in six literal 24 hour days, simply by speaking everything into existence.
He created the earth and then the stars and then all of the creatures that live on the earth. Finally He created man on the sixth day. He did so by creating one single man called Adam, which is just the Hebrew word for ‘man’. He then created a woman, called Eve, to be Adam’s wife.
When Adam and Eve were created they were perfect in every way. They came into existence as adults from the very beginning, with ready made knowledge, and understanding. They also had the ability to relate to God and to speak to Him face to face. Adam was no caveman. Far from being primitive, he was probably much more intelligent and capable than we are. He may well have been cleverer than Einstein. He was created with knowledge already programmed into him. His mind operated perfectly, as did his body.
There was no sickness, death or sin in the world. All was perfect and in harmony with everything else. That was the way God designed the world and the human race. He intended that Adam and Eve should have children and populate the whole world with people who would have an equally perfect and sinless relationship with God.
