Imagine: you’re a Christian. You grew up in church and you were taught a lot of the stories of the Bible and you were especially made aware of your responsibility to share with others the good news about Jesus. Now your’e an adult, and you’ve just heard a sermon at church on Sunday about the Great Commission: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[b] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20 ESV) The preacher did good. And you are fired up about it, so you head to lunch, and at your table, your sever comes up and asks for your beverage order.
“Hi! Did you know Jesus loves you?” you ask with a huge smile on your face, hoping to start a conversation about Him in order to lead this person to trust Him for the first time.
“Uhhh, yeah,” the server half-replies, his eyes scanning the table to see if everyone is in on this or if it’s just you. He decides it’s just you so he begrudgingly looks back to your eyes.
“Well, did you know that if you just admit that you’re a sinner, believe that Jesus rose from the dead, and confess that He’s your Lord, you’ll be saved?” The awkward is beginning to be tangible.
“Uh, well, I mean I’ve heard that before,” he says, “yeah I know.”
“Oh cool!” you chime. “Have you done that before?”
Okay stop.
Like, really.
I think we all have this weird idea of evangelism that it always has to be like this because at our core, we don’t even understand what’s going on. We’ve heard that we need to tell others about Jesus, but we don’t know why. We don’t even know why God chose blood as the required payment for sins. But we know His blood is it, and everyone else needs to know, too.
I think one of the main reasons most people don’t talk to others about Jesus is just this: we don’t even know why we believe what we believe. So if we were to get into a conversation about it, we’d have to explain that we actually have no idea what we’re doing. And we’re scared of that.
At face value, this whole story might not make much sense. You need to get saved. Why? Because you’re a sinner. Why? Because God set rules and you broke them. Why? I don’t know, He just did, okay? Accept Jesus. But why? Because He’s the only way. The only way to what? Eternal life. Where did that come in???
It’s confusing.
But it doesn’t have to be.
It might seem illogical on the surface, but dig a little deeper and it makes so much more sense.
Let’s start where we find ourselves already: the Bible says that we need to trust Jesus as our Savior, and so do a lot of Christians around us, even if they don’t know why. Why does it say we need to do this? Because, it says, we are sinners who broke God’s laws. And it’s been that way since Adam and Eve first sinned in the garden.
But didn’t God create everything? If that’s true, then why did He create something that He was just gonna sentence to death and hell and then tease it by saying He loves it the most out of all His creation?
Okay, now let’s go back to the very beginning. If Adam and Eve got us into this mess, we should be able to get some answers from them.
Genesis 1 says that God created everything good. Why do we know that it’s only the good stuff? Because after literally every single thing He created, He stepped back, took a good look, and “saw that it was good.” It’s all over Genesis 1. Everything that He made is good. Always. Forever. Good.
Then in chapter 2, the Bible zooms in on the creation of man and woman. In it, Moses writes that God set a tree in the middle of the garden and told them not to eat from it. Why would He do that? Because He’s a moody middle schooler who just wants to keep people away from His stuff? Because He’s an ant bully, frying Adam and Eve with a magnifying glass for kicks and giggles? No. He did it to define their relationship with Him.
Think about it: nobody knows what the heck to do in a dating relationship because there’s no real, clear, concise definition of what it means to be dating. But there is one for fathers and sons. It’s made evident quickly when there are inappropriate actions between them because most people know what is appropriate and what is not as far as actions, thoughts, and emotions go.
So God puts the tree in the garden and gives them literally every good plant the earth grows and on top of it all He only gives them one rule: don’t eat the fruit on that tree. AKA, trust me. You got all this from me. Don’t look somewhere else. Not yourself, not anywhere else–you’ll get hurt. Don’t do it.
We call islands in the Caribbean or some people call Florida a paradise because they have everything they need in one place. Wall-Mart became a version of paradise for the retail industry because Sam Walton consolidated a bajillion stores into one. It changed everything. And that’s exactly why Eden was considered a paradise: you didn’t have to go anywhere else to get literally anything else at all. It was all right there; because Jesus was right there. He set the rule to keep them protected, provided for, and led in the right direction: back to Him.
But in chapter three, they get the first opportunity to live out their purpose in creation and they miserably fail. Literally the one and only rule they ever had, they didn’t just break–they absolutely destroyed it. And that was a major offense. God said the penalty for it was death.
Now God, why the heck would you get so mad out of two bites taken out of a fruit? Not as much for yourself? Losing seeds for the next crop season? No. He was troubled because they literally took the one rule of “trust Me,” and spat in His face over it. “Nah, we’re good. We don’t need you.” So here’s why that’s such a big deal:
#1: God is pure and perfect (lacking nothing). Think of the most innocent and un-guilty person you can think of. Maybe your child. Maybe a baby. Maybe your granny. Now imagine that person brutally beaten to death with the blunt end of a lead pipe. You’re gonna go after that murderer, aren’t you? Hack him to pieces and see how he likes that. It’s totally unjust. That never should’ve happened. But here’s the deal: God is even more pure and innocent than that. We’ve already established that all He ever did or made was good. The reason behind that was because He’s only good anyway. the Bible calls God omnipotent: all-powerful. He’s can do any single thing in the world, as long as it’s good. Because the reality is He’s actually incapable of some things; namely, anything that goes against his character. Like sin. Or bad. Or evil. He can’t do that. So they violated Him. That’s a big deal.
#2: God is infinite. That insanely heinous negligence of the innocent in #1, yeah that applies to an infinite God so the crime is literally infinite, too. Nice.
So yeah, it makes sense that whoever did that would lose their right to life. If you look at the very being who gave it to you and not only spit on his face, but trample him under your feet and worse, he’s for sure gonna take away the life that he gave you. It only makes sense.
Now, how does that apply to you and me? This still sounds like only an offense that Adam and Eve committed, but we’re still all condemned worldwide somehow? Well, here’s your answer: the Bible says that when Adam and Eve sinned, their decision didn’t just impact their direct relationship with God; it also tainted the rest of creation, too. It literally stained everything God created with sin. That includes the egg and sperm cells that created Adam and Eve’s children, Cain, Abel, and Seth (and more, but we’ll stick with the boys for now). So they were literally conceived in sin (Psalm 51:5). Every baby from there out was made from sinful, broken cells. Therefore, it makes a lot of sense that the world looks like it does right now, and how the Bible can say that every single human throughout time has been sinful. So now that brings us to our own predicament. We are born with a natural bend to sin.
So when we look at our sin now, how does it stand equal the sin they committed in the garden? To understand it, we have to compare them.
Let’s use Adam & Eve, Adolf Hitler, and myself. We already know Adam & Eve’s sin, and most of us know Adolf Hitler’s. If you don’t, Google it. Won’t take long. For me, the Bible has clearly said that I need to control my eyes and control myself when I see women that I think are attractive. I would be lying if I said I’ve never struggled with where my eyes go. It stinks. But it’s my life. So how are all three of us equally guilty in God’s eyes?
Easy. What is true about all three? Only one thing: that God set a rule, and in all three situations, we looked back at Him and said, “Yeah, thanks, but no thanks. I know better than you.” We’ve already established that was the real issue in Adam & Eve’s story. At the end of the day, all of God’s laws exist to protect us and provide for us in a world where sin makes it really stinking difficult to live that way; protected and provided for. The laws point to Him as our source, not anything else. Not satisfied with the way the world is? Don’t kill 6 million people to make it better. It won’t work. Come to me. Feeling like she’s gonna give you a good time, even if it’s just in your head? Don’t. She won’t. It won’t last. But my goodness and peace will. Rest in that. Find satisfaction there. Come to me.
So we’re equally guilty because that’s exactly what Adam and Eve were commanded to do.
So everybody’s guilty, , and everybody’s dying. Great.
And we’re also going to hell. Don’t forget that part. (There are so many verses about this, just click here.)
See, this is the part a lot of people take issue with. “If God is love, why would He send anyone to hell?” That’s a very good question.
What is hell, first of all? Do you know why it exists? Why God created it? What happens there?
It’s the only place in all of creation that is completely, totally, 100% devoid of God. Satan, the artist formerly known as Lucifer, rebelled against God. He got it in his head that he could be greater than God, so he convinced a third of the angels in heaven to sign his petition and then fight against God. Needless to say they lost. Bad.
So since God saw that clearly, Lucifer didn’t want Him anymore, He made a place just for Him and His following that God would never be a part of. He called that place Hell. It’s described as a dark place, full of weeping and gnashing of teeth, and it’s nicknamed the Lake of Fire. This is not some magnifying glass that God uses to burn people just for fun. It’s also not a scriptural inconsistency with His goodness. This place exists because He is love. It exists out of His goodness; He wants us to be able to choose to follow Him or not. Because He is good, He gives us the option. That does not mean that He causes sin. the Bible is clear about that. All it means is He gives us the ability to choose Him, or not.
So Hell is not a torture toy for Him; it’s exactly what we’re asking for when we say we don’t want Him. If He created all things good, perfect, and joyful because He is good, He is perfect, and He is joy, then a place without Him in any degree will also not have any of those things in any degree, either.
Nice. What a great place to be. Sinful, condemned to death and an eternity of pain and misery in a lake of fire. What a nice and loving God, leaving us stuck like that with no way out.
Hold up.
It’s not over.
Yeah, death is coming because you sin. That’s a real thing. Can’t get around it. But maybe you can (?).
God is just, so somebody’s gotta pay for these issues. He can’t just neglect injustice and forget about it. It goes against His character. Tack that onto the list of things He cannot do (but thank God that’s true, which we’ll talk about in a second). Something’s gotta be done.
So say you get a speeding ticket. Who’s gonna pay for it? Your dog? Your horse (if you have one)? Your Amazon Echo (“Alexa, pay my speeding ticket.” lol if only)?
No. That’s stupid. A human has to pay for it. Doesn’t necessarily have to be you, but until another human steps in and pays for you, that ticket’s on you. It’s the same thing here: humans have to pay for the sins they’ve committed. God can’t just do that because that’s not real justice. Once again, against His character.
So it’s gotta be a human. But what are they gonna pay? American dollars? British pounds? Sweet potatoes? Roman lots? None of it is worth anything to Adam. But God’s not gonna ask for different payment from different people if everyone’s offense is the same.
So what’s the one thing that every human at any point in history forever has more or less the same amount of which is also worth the exact same thing to every single one of us?
Our blood.
Right now, my blood is worth the exact same amount to me that Adam’s and Moses’s and Alexander the Great’s and Oprah’s and Donald Trump’s and Jeff Bezos’s and the Queen of England’s and your neighbor’s down the street all of our great great great great great great great grandkids’ 400+ years from now was, is, and will be to all of them: it’s worth our whole lives.
Whoa wait a second, didn’t God say that the payment for sin was death? A.K.A. our lives?
Yup. Blood. Crazy isn’t it? It’s all falling together a little more now.
But it gets even crazier.
Because here’s the deal: if I made an infinite violation against an infinite, pure God, then my blood’s not gonna work. At max, I have a gallon and a half of blood in my body. But remember, not only is it not enough; it’s also made out of sinful cells.
So if I use my blood to pay for my sins, I don’t have enough and even if I did, it’s dirty anyway. It’s like washing a muddy, soggy, puke-stained, dirty California King-sized comforter with a single fluid ounce of muddy water. It’s for sure not gonna work.
So here’s our issue: we’ve violated God’s good and perfect standard, so we need a human that has endless, pure blood to pay for it; someone that can pay back the infinite offense with blood that has zero sin in it.
There’s only one person in history who’s ever fulfilled those requirements.
That’s right, it’s Jesus.
He became a human out of the divine intervention of the Holy Spirit (Mary didn’t have sex with God; if He has the power to speak planets into existence I think He has the power to make a virgin pregnant pretty much by just thinking. Don’t make it weird.) He lived a life for 33 years without committing a single sin (because He’s God, so once again: against His character. Not that crazy when you really think about it.). At 33, He died, shedding His blood. When He did, the temple had a curtain that separated God and humanity. It represented the division between God and man that came as a result of choosing sin over Him. It represented the injustice that had occurred against Him. That curtain was 60 feet tall (according to Josephus who claimed that Herod extended it in the temple, above the original 45-foot requirement given by God [which would’ve been impressive enough]). It was also at least 4 inches thick (although some records claim 15-20 inches). When Jesus did, that curtain ripped right down the center from top to bottom. Nobody climbed up there and cut it with anything (what would they cut a four inch curtain with anyway?). The point is clear: God removed the separation. Jesus fixed the issue.
Then He rose from the dead three days later, proving He has power over literally everything ever, even death. This also extended His payment of sin into eternity future, since if He had stayed dead, the payment would’ve only counted for everyone that had lived up until that point.
So now here we are. It’s been 2,019 years since Jesus was born and now we have the ability to start walking with Jesus in a way that redeems the things that are wrong about us. Hitler could’ve had the opportunity to turn from his ways, live a life of good and prosperity and love and would’ve had a legitimate ability to do so by spending time with Jesus in His word and with His people. I can do the same and live a life full of pure thoughts that lead me to think healthily about the women around me (anybody looking for a solution to rape culture and “toxic masculinity”? Hello.). Adam and Eve could pursue God by accepting the payment He would send in Jesus, which they were made aware of from the beginning.
Evangelism makes a lot more sense when we look at the whole story. Heck yeah we would want to invite people into this. I don’t want anybody in that position to stay there if they don’t have to.
Choose Jesus. He’s worth it. And He makes a whole lotta sense, tbh.
Ty Hirsch 