Please see the post below if you have not read it. Today's is a continuation from that one. Seriously, you need to start with the one below. :)
Romans 3:23 says, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God."
Even though God us all in His own image, we have all tarnished that image through sin, represented by the black bead. It started with Adam, the first man, of whom the Bible says that "By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned..." This means that just as ALL of us were made in god's image, now ALL of us are sinners who have blown it and forsaken God. "There is none righteous, no, not one." We have messed up, and now there is nothing we can do in our own strength to fix it. Our righteousness is called filthy rags, and even the man who tries his hardest, working and serving and helping, cannot do it on his own: he is just as bad as the drunkard, the thief, the murderer, for all, ALL have sinned and all are in the same boat together. But here is where love intervenes: the Bible says, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly." This is God's love for sinners: there was nothing good, we were all rotten, but God still loved us.
3. God's Love died for sin: Red
That brings us to Romans 5:8: "But God commendeth his love towards us, in that, while were were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Jesus Christ loved you so much that he died for YOU. The Bible says, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends..." This means that God showed the greatest love possible by giving his life for us, shedding His innocent blood for our guilty sins, blood that the red bead stands for. Sin had mastered us totally, and God had to fight such a huge battle with sin that Christ Jesus had to die on a painful wooden cross. But Jesus came out victorious: after he died, he rose from teh dead in victory. Do you believe this? The Bible says that "if thou shalt confess with they mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, though shalt be saved." We have tarnished God's image, but Jesus can restore our sinful life if we will confess and believe in Him. The Bible says, "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the LORD shall be saved." This means that just as ALL men sinned, now ALL men have a way to be reconciled to God. As Jesus said, there is no greather love than God dying for sinners."
I'm stilling thinking this is some of the most beautiful pictures I've ever seen painted with words. I think what's so amazing is so much of what he speaks comes straight from God's word.
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