Session 1 the Inverted Bridge

7/29/2019 Session 1 the Inverted Bridge

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In the beginning was God. Genesis records the story of the creation of the world, andall that God saw all that He had created, and said "It is good."

In the Beginning


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Genesis also records that God said "Let Us make man in Our own image." Hewanted fellowship with His creation.

Like God


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Because He wanted an ongoing fellowship with His creation, He created man to haveLIFE forever.

God = Life


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Since God wanted fellowship, and not a "robot" companion, He gave man free will.

That is, man was free to choose whether or not to fellowship with God. Man hadevery reason to do so; his Creator loved him and provided a perfect home for him. Infact, the only thing that God required of man was not to eat the fruit from one tree inthe garden that God made as man's home.

Unfortunately, man was deceived by God's enemy, and chose not to follow God'scommand. Because God is perfect, He could not allow man to remain in His

presence, and thus man was separated from God.

The Fall


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Choosing not to follow God's will is called SIN.

Sin


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Since man was separated from God, he no longer had access to God's LIFE, for whichhe was created, and so DEATH entered the world because of man's SIN.

Death


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Remember that God created man expressly for fellowship with Him, and he builtinside each man a desire for fellowship with God.

Since man is no longer perfect, he tries to fill that desire himself. He tries things hethinks will make him more "spiritual". Many people attend a church because theythink it will make them closer to God. Many try to do good works because they thinkGod will be more pleased with them. Many try other religions, and "create" a "god"

that they can fellowship with instead of the true God who created them.

What we try to do


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Again, remember that God created man expressly for fellowship with Himself. Hestill desires that fellowship. But all man's efforts fall short. No matter how hard hetries, man cannot reach perfection. So God, in His true love for man, came down to

Man to restore that fellowship.

God became Man


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The way He came to man was to become a man, Jesus, and live on the earth among man.Jesus told the world about His Father, and how His Father desired fellowship with man.

He also told the world about sin, and that the only way to restore a relationship with Godwas to trust in Himself, Jesus, and to follow Him.

But many men refused that message, and (just as God had predicted) killed Jesus on across.

But, just as God had said, Jesus rose from the dead three days later. He stayed on the

earth for another 40 days, continuing to preach and proclaim God's love for man, andthen He returned to heaven.

The Way Back


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In the book of John, Jesus said "For God so loved the world that He gave His onlybegotten Son, that whoever believes on Him should not die, but have everlasting

life."

John 3:16


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Jesus' words indicate that we must choose to believe Him, and believe on Him, tohave that everlasting life. So when man, in his walk through life, approaching death,is presented with Jesus and His life, death, and resurrection, has a choice to make:

will he follow God, or follow his own path?

The Choice is Yours


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God had already told man that the only way SIN could be dealt with was through theshedding of innocent blood. So before Jesus came, God's people shed the blood ofinnocent lambs to cover their sins. But those sacrifices only covered past SIN. WhenJesus, who was perfectly innocent, was killed on the cross, His own blood was shed.

He did that freely for all man, so that their sin could be covered.

Jesus cancels Sin


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When we choose to follow God, and HIS way to LIFE, we give up something. It's nota free gift, in a sense, because it costs us our own life. But maybe that's not such abad thing; after all, we all know that we die someday, and if we die without God's life,

that death will be worse than just the end of our life here on this earth.

Give up Death


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But God gives us something in return for our choice: He gives us LIFE! And not justlife here on the earth, but also eternal life! After all, that's what He designed us for -LIFE with GOD!

So in that choice to follow God, and to trust in His Son Jesus as the covering for ourseparation from God, we can be completely restored to God for eternity.

Life with God

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Session 1 the Inverted Bridge