This lesson begins a series of lessons which will seek to focus on what God does for us in Christ so He can re-establish relationship with all who are guilty of sin. To approach this series, we need to begin with some background. Our objective is to understand the problem as it existed when Christianity began. Our objective is NOT to be defined by (a) imposing twenty-first century questions on first-century problems, or (b) imposing twenty-first century problems on first-century problems, or (c) or seeking to understand twenty-first century answers to twenty-first century concerns.
Think as we consider–do not just react prior to considering all the information even if the information requires you to think about your concepts. Genesis chapters 1-6 introduce us to the problem. In chapter 1 when creation is completed, God is so pleased with His creation that He calls the creation good (Genesis 1:31). People are in 100% relationship with God. In only 6 chapters, human sin produced such total rebellion against God that He is sorry that He made people (Genesis 6:5, 6). Consider that in only 6 chapters we go from 100% relationship with God to 0% relationship with God! The result: God decided to destroy most of His creation with a flood (Genesis 6:7) At the moment God made His decision, there were no humans in relationship with God. In the first book of our Bible, the first 6 chapters declared people went from total relationship with God to no relationship with God, and the Bible message has hardly begun.