When God created Adam and Eve, He created them in His image. In His presence, they were safe, secure, significant; they were to rule over all of creation—the birds of the sky, the beasts of the field, the fish of the sea. They didn’t have to search for significance; it was an attribute. They were totally secure in the presence of God; all of their needs would be met. But then Eve was deceived, and Adam willfully chose to sin.
As a result of that, we are all born dead in our trespasses and sin. Every descendent after the Fall comes into this world physically alive but spiritually dead, separated from God. During those early, formative years of our lives, we are all learning to live our lives independent of God; that’s what the flesh is.
God saw a dead and dying humanity, and the only thing He had to do was to cure the disease that was causing the death. “And the wages of sin is death.” So Jesus went to the cross and died for our sin. But is that the whole gospel? Absolutely not! Let’s finish the latter half of Romans 6:23—”but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
What Adam and Eve lost in the fall was life. What Jesus came to give us was life. He’s the bread of life. If you’re a child of God, your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. “I am the resurrection, and the Life.” That life means your soul is union with God; it’s Christ in you the hope of glory. It’s that life that we cling to, and it’s eternal. “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:12).
Neil T. Anderson is the founder of Freedom in Christ Ministries. He began the ministry in 1989 and continues to spread the message of freedom to this day.
