Part 1: Life Without Love

What you are about to read may shock some of you, but it is essential if we are to understand the magnitude of what is truly the Greatest Love Story Of All Time. 

Right after God created the heavens and the earth, He created man in His own image. God put Adam and Eve (the first man and woman) in the garden of Eden, and He gave them access to every tree in the garden of Eden except for one tree: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now up to this point in time, Adam and Eve had a perfect relationship with the Creator of the universe. But one day, the devil came disguised as a serpent and deceived Eve. She took the fruit of the forbidden tree and ate it. She also gave some to Adam who ate it as well. Then God came to them and talked with them about what they had done. As a result of their disobedience He made them leave the garden and their perfect relationship with their Creator was broken.

You might be wondering why such harsh punishment for eating some fruit? What is the big deal? But you see, it is not just about them eating the fruit. There was a deeper heart issue behind their disobedience. When they ate that fruit, they were rebelling against their Creator. Apparently the mere satisfaction of a moment was more appealing to them than perfect fellowship with God, the One who created them. 

I heard a preacher once who described disobedience as the creation pointing his or her finger at the Creator and saying, "No, I will not obey You!" So, it doesn't matter how small we view the sin; all types of sin are a direct disobedience to the Creator of the universe and that is the highest offense!

All of us as human beings are from Adam. Therefore we have inherited the sinful nature that came from him. The Bible says that we were born into sin and that we come out of the womb as sinners. Psalm 51:5. It is our nature to sin. We are full of envy, murder (see Matthew 5), strife, deceit, malice, idolatry, and all kinds of selfishness (just to name a few). And the wages of sin is death, hell, and eternal separation from God. (Rom. 6:23, Matt. 5:29, Isaiah 59:2)

Maybe you understand that you have sinned against God, but "Hey, that's ok because God will just forgive you, right?" Wrong. Not only is God a forgiving God, but He is also a holy and just God. Therefore He cannot let sin slide or He wouldn't be just anymore. And because He is holy, He cannot even look upon sin, much less condone it (Habakkuk 1:13). Sin has to be punished!

This is a serious problem for all of us!