Lesson 9: Christ

by Stacia McKeever and Dan Lietha on January 25, 2016

“The Seven C’s of History” (Creation, Corruption, Catastrophe, Confusion, Christ, Cross, Consummation) help us remember the big events which have affected—and will affect—the history of the universe.

“So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which is translated, ‘God with us.’” (Matthew 1:22–23).

God’s perfect creation was corrupted by Adam when he disobeyed God. This disobedience brought sin and death into the world. Because of Adam’s disobedience, and because we have all sinned personally anyway, we are all deserving of the death penalty and need a Savior (Romans 5:12).

God did not leave His precious—but corrupted—creation without hope. He promised to send Someone one day who would take away the penalty for sin, which is death (Genesis 3:15; Ezekiel 18:4; Romans 6:23).

God slew an animal in the Garden (a lamb/sheep?) because of the sin of Adam, so Adam’s descendants sacrificed animals. Such sacrifices could only cover sin—they looked forward to the time when the ultimate sacrifice would be made by the One whom God would send (Hebrews 9).

When God gave Moses the Law, people began to see that they could never measure up to God’s standard of perfection (Romans 3:20)—if they broke any part of the Law, the result was the same as breaking the whole lot (James 2:10)!

They needed Someone to take away their imperfection and present them faultless before God’s throne (Romans 5:9; 1 Peter 3:18).

God’s Gift to Us

Just as God has a purpose and plan for everything and everyone, so He sent His promised Savior at just the right time (Galatians 4:4). There was a problem, however. All humans are descended from Adam, and therefore all humans are born with sin. God’s chosen One must be perfect, as well as infinite, to take away the infinite penalty for sin.

God solved this “problem” by sending His Son Jesus Christ—completely human and completely God. Think of it—the Creator of the universe (John 1:1-3, 14) became part of His creation so that He might save His people from their sins!

Jesus was born to a virgin over 2,000 years ago in a town called Bethlehem, as the prophets Isaiah (7:14) and Micah (5:2) had foretold 700 years previously. His parents took Him to Egypt to escape the anger of King Herod, and the family later settled in Nazareth.

Jesus fulfilled more than 50 prophecies made about Him centuries before, showing He was the One promised over 4,000 years before by His Father. While He spent over 30 years on Earth, He never once sinned—He did nothing wrong. He healed many people, fed huge crowds and taught thousands of listeners about their Creator God and how to be reconciled to Him. He even used the book of Genesis to explain that marriage is between one man and one woman (Matthew 19:3-6, quoting Genesis 1:27 and 2:24).

Jesus Christ came to earth so that we might have eternal life with Him!