THE IMPASSIBLE WALL
LESSON 3
Most of us can understand why we are not acceptable to God, but we may have trouble understanding why God can't accept our good works.
Both sins and human good come from our Old Sin Nature. There are 3 kinds of people in the world. They are good, bad and religious. Let's take a look at them:
1. The man people consider to be "good", may live a moral, upright life. He may give money to those in need and be very helpful to his friends and family. This man thinks God must be pleased with him because he is so nice.
2. The man whom society calls "bad" usually knows he is bad and he enjoys being that way. He knows that God is not happy with his actions.
3. The "religious" man may spend his entire life in what he considers to be service to the Lord, but if he has not believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, he does not have Eternal Life.
Let's examine these three types more closely:
The first man to commit an evil act was Cain. (Genesis 4:8) He murdered his brother Abel because he was jealous of him, and he was also very angry with God. This man can certainly be classified as a BAD MAN.
When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they tried to cover themselves with fig leaves. God could not accept that, so He covered them with the skin of an animal. God did that to teach Adam and Eve that an innocent substitute would have to die for them, and that was the first declaration of the Gospel to the human race.
Adam and Eve taught their children that only a blood sacrifice would be acceptable to the Lord. When the boys grew up, Abel was a shepherd and Cain was a farmer. The time came for them to make a sacrifice unto the Lord, so Abel brought a lamb from his flocks and offered it on an altar to the Lord. The Lord was pleased with Abel's offering.
Then Cain brought some of the beautiful produce he had grown in his fields and offered it, but the Lord did not accept Cain's offering, because it was not a blood sacrifice.
Cain was so angry that he killed Abel and buried his body. Then the Lord asked Cain, "Where is Abel, thy brother?"
Cain knew very well what he had done, but he answered the Lord and said, "I know not! Am I my brother's keeper?"
Cain received severe punishment for his actions, but we have no record of him ever admitting his sin to God.
Next, let's look at a GOOD man. In Mark 10:17-22, we see a man whom most people would call good.
Jesus was teaching the people on the streets in Judea when suddenly a rich young man ran to Him and fell at His feet saying, "Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"
Jesus replied, "Why do you call Me good? There is none good but God." Then Jesus quoted the last six commandments which apply to attitude and actions toward people, but He omitted the first four which apply to God as He said to the young man, "You know the commandments!"
The young man answered, "All these I have observed from my youth!"
Then Jesus told the man to take his eyes off his riches and follow Him. The young man went away sadly, because he had great possessions which meant everything to him.
The third type of man we want to examine is the RELIGIOUS man. Our subject will be the apostle Paul. Before he became a Christian, Paul was a very religious man, and he thought he was doing great things for God when he killed Christians. In I Timothy 1:15 Paul tells us that he is the worst sinner whoever lived because of his religious zeal. He continually persecuted Christians until Jesus Christ personally appeared to him on the road to Damascus and accused him of the wrong he was doing. Paul believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and received eternal life.
Before any of these three kinds of people can have eternal life, they must understand that any good things they might do cannot compare with THE GOOD WORK of God, which is, Jesus Christ dying on the cross for their sins.
David tells us in Psalm 14: 2 & 3: "The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand and seek God. They are ALL gone aside. They are all together become filthy! There is none that doeth good! No, not one'"
When a person believes in Jesus Christ, he is eternally saved from condemnation. He is given ETERNAL LIFE. Then God credits HIS VERY OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS (goodness) to that believer who has no unconfessed sin in his life.
STUDENT QUIZ
for
LESSON 3
FILL IN THE MISSING WORDS:
1. There are 3 kinds of people in the world. They are ________ , _______ and _______________
2. Adam and Eve covered themselves with ___________________________ God covered them with ____________________________________________
3. What did Abel offer as a sacrifice to the Lord?___________________
4. What did Cain offer as a sacrifice to the Lord?_____________________
5. Which of the two sacrifices did the Lord accept and why?____________
6. Who called himself the worst sinner who ever lived and why did he say that?
7. Why doesn't God accept our human good works?______________________
LINK TO LESSONS
http://biblelesson1.blogspot.com/
http://biblelesson2.blogspot.com/
http://biblelesson3.blogspot.com/
http://biblelesson4.blogspot.com/
http://biblelesson5.blogspot.com/
http://biblelesson6.blogspot.com/
Written by Lois Delnay
01/20/07
loisdelnay@hotmail.com
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link to Lois Delnay's Writings on Helium
Links to Lois Delnay Children Bible Study Sites
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