After the fall into sin of Adam and Eve from the paradise of God, God cursed the ground and subjected man to hard labor for food, and he subjected woman to pain in childbearing and conflict in relationships. When God cursed the serpent, He declared that a Son from the woman would come who would deal a crushing blow to Satan, while the serpent would wound the heel of that man.
Adam's son, Abel, was a righteous man by faith, but was murdered by his brother Cain. Then Adam and Eve had Seth, who had a descendant called Noah. God showed grace to Noah and his family by sparing their lives in the ark, during the destruction of the world through the Flood. From Noah's three sons the earth was repopulated. Noah blessed his son, Shem, from whom came a man named Abram. God called Abram away from his homeland, and promised him another land, where He would make a great nation from his descendants. From that nation, God said He would bless every nation who would bless Abram, and those who cursed Abram would be cursed. God changed Abram's name to Abraham and showed him that his descendants would be slaves for 400 years in Egypt, but that God would deliver them. Abraham believed God, and so God counted him to be a righteous man by faith.
Abraham and his wife Sarah did have a son according to the promise, even though they were both very old. From that son, Isaac, came Jacob, and from Jacob, came the twelve tribes of Israel. They all moved to Egypt during a famine, and their descendants later became slaves in Egypt. After 400 years, God raised up Moses, by whom He miraculously delivered Israel out from slavery in Egypt and brought them through the desert wilderness to the land of Canaan. Because the people had rebelled and disbelieved the Word of God, every single one of them except 2 died in the desert, and their children went in to take the land under the leadership of Joshua, who's name means "God saves." God instituted sacrifices for the people under a high priest, in order to remind them of their sin and need for forgiveness. But they often turned away from God to idolatry.
From the nation of Israel, God raised up a king, named David, to rule His people. David trusted in the Lord God, so the Lord promised that one of his descendants would rule on the throne forever. From the family tree of David, God brought Jesus into the world, who's Hebrew name is Joshua, and means "God saves." The angel that appeared to Joseph and Mary told them to name him Jesus, because "He will save his people from their sins" (Matt. 1:21). He was also called Immanuel, meaning "God with us."
Jesus fulfills all the promises, and showed himself to be the Son of God and Son of David by the miracles he performed. His rejection and death at the hands of his own people, proved that he was the Messiah, or Christ (Anointed One), which the Scriptures had predicted. When Christ rose from the dead, he showed himself to his disciples, who could not believe He was alive until after they saw him eat and drink with them. These men He filled with the Holy Spirit, and sent them to preach repentance and forgiveness of sins in His name, that all who believe would receive the Holy Spirit by faith in Jesus Christ when they repent. Everyone who believed was baptized, shared together the symbolic Lord's supper, and continued living under the teaching of the apostles as they put their hope in Christ. This salvation came as a work of God, and it extends not only to Jews, but to every person on earth who receives it as a free gift, and accepts God's testimony about His Son.
Reader, will you turn open the pages of the Holy Bible, and learn from them who Jesus Christ is, and how He came to save you from your sins if you trust Him? God promised that His final judgment is coming on this world, and everyone who is not born again by the Spirit of God will be condemned to eternal hell. But Jesus provides eternal salvation for all who come to Him by faith before His return. Praise God that He accepts every sinner who repents! Don't wait or ignore Him, because Jesus is the way and the truth and the life, and all who truly turn to Him have access to God the Father and are His beloved children!
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