Salvation: Recognition Sunday The Problem, the Plan, the Solution (Condensed)

The Problem

Our God is a Holy and Perfect God and He Cannot and Will not Abide or Excuse Sin

Leviticus 19:1-2

 1  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2  Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy.

We find in Leviticus that our God is Holy. That Hebrew word means sacred, set apart, and not touched with any impurity at all. In Isaiah chapter 6 starting in verse 1 we read Isaiah write:

Isaiah 6:1-3

 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. 2  Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. 3  And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

Habakkuk 1:13

 Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil,

and canst not look on iniquity:

We have All Sinned

Ecclesiastes 7:20 “For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.”

Isaiah 53:6 “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”

1 John 1:8 “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

So mankind, the creation of God, failed God, sinned against God and now was unclean. This means every man or woman that is born of a human father inherits their father's sin nature and we all, young and old alike have sinned against God.

That means we have only two possible outcomes once we die. Our souls must depart from the presence of God because God is Holy, Holy, Holy and cannot abide or regard iniquity or we must be cleansed of our sin.

Ezekiel 18:20

 The soul that sinneth, it shall die.

Nahum 1:3

 The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked:

The Plan

Isaiah 7:14 (KJV)

"Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."

This further connects to the fact that when He was questioned by the locals in Nazareth that they said:

Mark 6:3

 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.

This was mean to infer that Jesus had been born not of Joseph but from an unknown father, and they didn't know that they were actually affirming prophecy.

So now going back to the Hebrew understanding of Genesis 3:15 let me make these points.

1. "I will put enmity between thee and the woman"

• Enmity: The Hebrew word used here is אֵיבָה (eyvah), which means deep hostility or conflict. This is not a simple dislike but an ongoing, bitter struggle.

• The Woman: In the immediate context, this refers to Eve, but symbolically, it represents humanity in opposition to the serpent (Satan).

2. "And between thy seed and her seed"

• Thy Seed: This refers to the offspring of the serpent, symbolizing those who align themselves with evil or are under Satan’s influence (see John 8:44, where Jesus calls some "children of the devil").

• Her Seed: This is unique in Hebrew phrasing. Normally, lineage is traced through the male, but here it is specifically "her seed," foreshadowing the virgin birth of Christ (see Isaiah 7:14 and Matthew 1:23).

3. "It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel"

• Bruise: The Hebrew word is שׁוּף (shuph), which can mean "to crush" or "to strike." The wordplay suggests two distinct outcomes:

  • The serpent’s head will be crushed—a fatal blow.

  • The seed’s heel will be bruised—a non-fatal injury.

So in just one statement in Genesis 3:15 it carried the beginning of the story of

A. The Promise of Redemption

B. The Conflict Between Good and Evil

C. Foreshadowing the Messiah

John 3:16 Memory Verse

John 3:18

 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

John 6:40

 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Acts 8:37-38

 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. 38  And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.

What a beautiful, simple, admission of acceptance that Jesus was and IS the sacrifice that God sent for the whole world as the perfect, powerful, merciful Son of God!

Acts 16:28-30

 But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. 29  Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, 30  And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

Again the only question recorded in the entire Bible in this manner... what must I do to be saved?

Acts 16:31

 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

John 3:18 - Believe

John 6:39 - Believe

Acts 8 - Believe

Acts 16 - Believe

Ping Pong Example.

Do you want to go to heaven when you die? If you do then all you have to do is believe that God provided a sacrifice to cover your sins and that sacrifice is Jesus Christ, the man that was and is the Son of God.

Now, for those of us here... saved, 1 year, 10 years, 50 years... I don't care. Don't let this world, don't let well meaning Baptist tradition, don't let any man of any age, of any degree, or any amount of respect ever convince you that salvation in Jesus is any more than what the scriptures make clear... that it is belief in Jesus. And then, once that is clear in your mind and your heart I want you to look on the people around you, your friends, your coworkers, your neighbors, your enemies, your children, your grandchildren... and remember how simple, and how important it is to teach the world around us that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes to the Father but by belief in Jesus.