Long ago, our forefathers in the human race chose disobedience over obedience, chose pride over worship, and traded the knowledge of the Creator for the fleeting enjoyment of creation.
In Adam, the first man, the Bible teaches that all have died. In his disobedience, sin entered the world – its curse has touched all of us. Like Adam, we are by nature sinners, who hate the light and love the dark – who hate the truth and love a comforting lie.
Our first impulse is not to love others; it’s to love ourselves.
Our first impulse is not to love the Creator; it’s to love the stuff of the world.
After Adam sinned, God did not give up on humanity, though humanity continually gave up on him. He would call Abraham to a far-away land – to be the father of a nation. A nation that would be a blessing for all the nations in the world – a nation that would be as innumerable as the number of stars in the sky.
To make a long story short, this nation ends up in Egypt – a nation of slaves, breaking their backs in service of an evil earthly empire. In this brokenness, God would raise up a man named Moses to lead his people out of slavery.
He met with Moses on the top of a mountain. He gave him the Law – to the letter they must keep it. How can this sinful people, the stubborn children of Abraham, live with a holy God who had made them his own? They must keep this Law: read it, memorize it, write it, share it, teach it.
But, honestly, that was hard. Sometimes God’s people had good leaders and did most of what they were supposed to do. Other times they had bad leaders and did basically nothing they were supposed to do.
After sending prophet after prophet, calling his people back to himself, God raised up one final prophet in the last days – a strange, simple man named John. His message we’ll consider in the next couple of weeks. God gave him a sacred stewardship. He came to bear witness about the Light. He came to bear witness of one who, though born after him, existed before him. He came to bear witness of one who is greater than him – one whose sandals he is unworthy to touch.
Light has come to darkness. Truth has come to lies. Life has come to death.