Page 5 - Personal Spiritual Life Syllabus w videos

The woman on the right is a famous actress. Notice over the years how
her body changed. We call it aging. But it is better called dying. We are all
dying as we get older, and eventually some important body function will
fail, and our body will stop functioning, and we will die physically. It’s
guaranteed as the result of sin, both ours and Adam’s.

The Bible presents DEATH as separation. It is not the end of life, but the
separation of life from the giver of life, God. Spiritual death is separation
of the soul from God; physical death is the separation of the soul from the
body. Adam and Eve experienced spiritual death the moment they
disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden, and later, over the years, their
bodies aged and eventually they experienced physical death (Genesis 5:5).
And every person is a son of Adam. We are all born separated from God spiritually because of the
inherited nature to sin which we received from Adam. And we will all die physically.

Sounds pretty bleak, doesn’t it? We are all born sinners and we will all be separated from God and our
bodies by death. But God is not only a God of justice; He is a God of infinite love. He had made a way to
overcome the sting of physical death and the hopelessness of spiritual death.

We have a Savior

God came to earth in the person of Jesus Christ. He was God with us. And He came for one major
reason: to provide a way for sinners to become righteous in God’s eyes. On the cross, Jesus Christ also
experienced physical death (Matt. 27:50). The difference is that Adam died because he was a sinner,
and Jesus, who had never sinned, chose to die as a substitute for sinners (Heb. 2:9) Jesus then showed
His power over death and sin by rising from the dead on the third day (Matt. 28). Because of Christ,
death is a defeated foe. (I Cor. 15:55) Here are some verses that help us understand why Christ came to
die:

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Romans 5: 17-19 For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man (Adam),
much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life
through the one man Jesus Christ. Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one
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act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man's disobedience the
many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Bible declares that Jesus Christ died to pay for the sins of every man (I John 2:2). It is called a special
gift from God and is available to any person who reaches out by faith and receives this gift. And it is
freely offered to all. So how do we get this gift?

If I wanted to give you a free gift and held it out to you, what would you have to do to receive it?
Wouldn’t you have to reach out your hand and take it from me? If you did not want the gift, you could
refuse it, but if you really wanted my gift, you would come to me and take it from me freely.

The Bible says that receiving forgiveness for our sin is basically the same process. By faith we believe
that Christ died for our sins. We recognize that we are sinners in need of a Savior. And we understand

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