I.          A state of perfect harmony: Shalom

            God created humanity in a state of perfect harmony with Himself, and with all creation. In the Old Testament, this is called a state of “Shalom,” that is, perfect peace and harmony.

·         Man and God: At the beginning of human existence there was a state of perfect communion between God and humanity. God communicated directly with humanity, without intermediaries, and humanity had perfect knowledge of God and sensitivity to God’s voice. (Gen 3, 8)

·         God and nature: Humanity was given the authority to serve as administrator of all God’s creation, and the earth gave generously of its fruit. (Gen 1, 28-31)

·         Each person with their neighbour: God did not create humanity to live in solitude, but in relation with one another. (Gen 2, 18-19).

II.         The reality of sin

            The purpose for which God created humanity was to live in a state of perfect harmony with God and with all of creation, and in living a full and happy life, we would glorify Him as our God and our Lord. But humanity chose the way of disobedience and prefers to choose their own way; and in this way of disobedience sin entered our reality, and along with sin, death. (When a church’s theology ignores or minimizes the reality of sin, you’ll see a certain pride creep in, and an emphasis on being “made in the image of God,” and you’ll notice that with the idea that “God is in us,” it slips toward an attitude of “we are gods.” –idolatry. We were made in God’s image, but in choosing the way of disobedience, humanity took on a primarily sinful nature.

This is hard stuff for us to swallow, but if we cannot accept the reality of our sinful nature, we will never be able to accept the gift of God’s grace. We’ll always think that we are somehow deserving of God’s grace. We may be able to act politically or socially correct – as many nonbelievers do – but we will never be able to respond to the grace of God unless we understand our situation of separation from God.

Satan’s tactic has always been to sow seeds of doubt about the Word of God and make us believe that disobeying God isn’t such a big deal, and won’t bring any consequences (Eve with the snake; Jesus in the desert). Genesis 3, 2-4a      ² The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, ³ but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'” ⁴ "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. (She didn’t die immediately, so it would seem she avoided the consequences, but she didn’t)

For this reason, Luther defined the fundamental sin as disbelief, and all of our “moral failings” are really a result of our disbelief in the Word of God.

            Sin does not bring consequences just for individual humans, it affects the whole order of life and nature. (Rom 5, 12). Our failings affect our families, like it or not. A parent’s failings (and not even the best parent is perfect) affect their children. If I cheat on my husband – even if he never finds out – it’s going to change who I am, and that’s going to affect everyone around me.

• Humanity and God: the intimate communion between God and humanity was irreparably damaged. Now humans will live with their backs to God, as though God doesn’t exist (Ps. 14, 1). So, sin has created a deep canyon between God and us, a canyon that we cannot cross.
• Humanity and nature: Humanity who, prior to sin was a faithful administrator of God to care for and protect the earth, has now become a predator of the earth. Every day new species are going extinct because of the indiscriminate use of human beings; natural resources such as water and forests are polluted or overexploited. And all of this is provoking more and greater natural disasters. Nature itself is harsh and hostile (most people don’t live in brick houses with central heating), and animals prey on one another.
• Between Human beings: Human beings have become, at worst predators of one another, at best competitors of one another. People regularly instrumentalize one another, or take advantage of one another for personal gain. There are military conflicts in all of the world.
• Death: The Bible teaches that the ultimate consequence of sin is death, both physical and spiritual. (Rom 5, 12) This is not in the sense that “God will strike you down” if you sin, or in the sense that illness is punishment for sin; but disharmony brings deterioration, and the fallen human condition naturally ends in death for everyone, which is what God had warned, but humanity disbelieved.

III.        Christ, the bridge to God

            Our God had a plan. From the very beginning of time, God moved history toward a colossal event that would restore sinful humans like us to a rich fellowship with Himself.  God was the first prophet to announce the coming of the Messiah who would conquer death, but who would also suffer in doing so.

Genesis 3, 15 And I will put enmity
       between you and the woman,
       and between your offspring and her offspring;
       he will crush your head,
       and you will strike his heel."

Jesus is the only way to God, because He is the only one who can restore our lost relationship with God and with all of creation.

• Humanity and God: Jesus is one with the Father; and when, in humility, we acknowledge our own utter inability to know God through our own efforts, and accept that Jesus’ sacrifice alone can restore our relationship with God, only then can we return to a state of communion with God in this life, which is perfected in the next. (Jn 14, 6) “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth and, the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” If we seek God in any other way, we are only seeking blindly; we may have in our hearts the idea of a superior being, but it will be a distorted image, and will lead to some form of idolatry.

This is not popular in our pluralistic society. But, like Eve, we have to decide to believe God’s Word or not believe it. Somewhere in the back of our heads is a little voice saying, “Oh, that’s not true. Are you telling me that all Muslims are going to Hell? That’s old fashioned intolerance. I know lots of very nice Muslims. There are many ways to God.” Well, the Bible says there is only one way to God, and that we will be judged based on our relationship to Jesus. I had trouble with this idea from a very young age. Story of asking at Baptist Church: “That’s why we have to tell everyone about Jesus.” True, but we also have a God who is infinitely merciful, and Paul says that we will be judged based on what we know, not on what we don’t know. This is confirmed in Matthew’s “judgment of the nations” text, where neither the sheep nor the goats understand why they are allowed to enter the kingdom or are cast out. I think that there are many Muslims who embody Christ-like characters, and who are hospitable to the body of Christ, who will enter the Kingdom of God, just as there are Christians who have been life-long members of a church but have never accepted Christ who will be in for a big surprise.

• Between human beings: Christ empowers us for a ministry of reconciliation, and this affects first and foremost our primary relationships: with our spouses, parents, children, friends, coworkers. Where Christ is the centre of our relationships, those relationships will be stronger. Because we are forgiven, we can forgive others. Because Christ lived unselfishly for us, we can set our own selfishness aside to live and care for others.
• • Humanity and nature: Through Christ our relationship with nature is restored, as we see that all of creation belongs to our Father, and we accept the mandate or being God’s hands in the world to care for His entire created order.

• None of this is to say that non-Christians are incapable of doing good and moral acts. Nonbelievers will do these things out of personal interest or personal sense of morality, while Christians act through the power of the Holy Spirit and as a response to God’s grace. Moral acts on their own do not restore our relationship with God. Only through Jesus Christ are we, as fallen creature, able to return to God and enjoy a relationship with Him that begins once we believe in Jesus and lasts for eternity. Eternal life does not begin after our death: it begins the moment we believe in Jesus.