Powerless Sinners.

Snow slope story

A young family were climbing a crowded path to the top of a ski slope when they heard a scream from further up the mountain.

Then they saw a young boy sliding down the mountain towards a cliff edge, he was unable to stop himself from sliding towards the edge.

Just when it seemed all hope was lost, a young man ran from the path, across the snowy slope and planted his feet just before the cliff edge and caught the young boy.

Everyone cheered the young man, wondering where he found the courage to risk his life in the rescue attempt.

Then we heard the young man was the father of the young boy and then it all made sense.

Romans 5:6-11 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.

Perfection 

God created the perfect man and placed him in a perfect location.

• Genesis 1:31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.
• Genesis 2:8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden, and there he put the man he had formed.

Eden is the Hebrew word Arden, which means Garden, the place of voluptuous living, where all man's senses were satisfied. An abundance of food and water, the temperature was exactly right, and it was a beautiful place.

Pollution

• Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way, death came to all men, because all sinned…
• Genesis 3: 1 Now the serpent was craftier than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman "Did God really say"

Satan brought the first pollution into the world, as he tempted Eve to believe a lie, and Adam and Eve fell into sin.

Powerless

• Romans 5:6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.

Just as the child on the snow slope was unable to save itself, so we humans are powerless to save ourselves from the effects of sin. Once humanity slipped into sin, it was downhill from then on.

We need a Saviour.

Precipice

• Hebrews 9:27 Just as man is destined to die once and after that to face judgement,

There is a point of no return, just as slipping over the cliff edge, was the point of no return for the child in the story, so death is the point of no return for us as humans. God's original intention was that man would not experience death, but after he sinned it was the natural consequence.

After the fall follows death and after death follows the judgement.

Penalty

• Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death…

Death does not mean the end, it means separation, mankind faces 3 kinds of death.

when our bodies die, our Spirit and Soul are separated from our bodies, for we do not cease to exist when our bodies die.

, being separated from God whilst on this planet, not knowing Him or spending time with Him.

follows physical death for those who were separated from God on earth, for they are eternally separated from Him. They exist forever in the place designated for the Spiritually dead.

Propitiation

 – to regain the favour of God by bearing the penalty

Romans 3:25 Whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood.

A perfect man sinned, and the penalty was that a perfect man must die. Either Adam must die or someone else who was perfect must die. But not just physically die, he must die spiritually to fully pay the price.

Humanity was polluted by sin from Adam onwards, so someone from outside humanity must step in, and God himself did just that. That was why Jesus had to be born to a virgin and for the Holy Spirit to overshadow her, so that Jesus blood would not be tainted by sin.

Jesus Christ was the only man that lived without committing sin and was therefore the only man that qualified to pay the penalty.

Peace

• Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ

All those that will accept that Jesus is the Christ and that his death at Calvary has paid the penalty for sin, are now at peace with God.

Those that will not accept that Jesus has paid their penalty will have to pay that penalty, themselves.

The young child in our story had to be saved by someone who was able to reach him and carry him to safety, he had to relax into the arms of his saviour. There are those who accept Jesus as their saviour, but at some point, they jump out of his arms and try to save themselves, and straight away begin to slip back down the slippery slope of sin.

Accept Jesus as your saviour tonight, and trust in him for the rest of your life.

Written by Pastor Graeme Foster

Apostolic Praise Centre

Apostolic Prophetic Training network