Edison wanted a form of light that would not require gas or flame, thus making it safer and more affordable. Ford wanted to build a car for the masses, one that everyone could afford. Jobs wanted to produce a mobile device that would replace all your other devices combined. The point being, these inventions, and everything that has ever been invented or made, has had a purpose behind it’s being invented or made.

God did not need to create anything. He already, eternally existed in perfect relationship and glory within His Triune Self. God chose to create the universe, and specifically us, for the purpose of His glory and of making His glory known.

The word glory literally means “weightiness or heaviness. In other words, God desires to be the heaviest thing in our lives. Everything He created is meant to lean towards Him, to be a reflection of His goodness and perfection. To glorify God is to live life in such a way that others can see His character and attributes in and through our lives. It is to obey His Word and trust in Him alone to know how our lives were meant to be lived. Glorifying God is seeking His pleasure, His reputation, His desires above our own. It is making Him uppermost in our affections and desires. It is seeking to represent Him to the best of our abilities.

To glorify something is to love it more than anything else. You cannot have glory without love. To love something is to make a sacrificial choice to put the needs of that thing, or person, above your own. You cannot love without choice. So, you see, if God’s desire was for Adam and Eve to glorify Him and love Him above all, He had to also create the opportunity for Adam and Eve to not love Him above all. That is what the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil represents. A choice. The command to not eat of this tree was the opportunity Adam and Eve needed in order to truly love and glorify God. In the same way Adam could not reflect the image of a Triune God as an isolated individual, and so God made Eve, so Adam and Eve could not fulfill the purpose of glorifying God unless God also introduced the choice of choosing someone, or something else before God.

The essence of sin is not just about what you do or don’t do, which rules you keep and don’t keep. The essence of sin is in the reason behind why you do or don’t do something. Sin is when we make anything, or anyone, a higher priority in our lives that God. You can be the most religious person on the planet, but if the motivation behind your religion is that you might gain a better reputation then your religion is just a more disciplined version of idolatry.

Before eating the fruit, Adam and Eve were naked and unashamed. There was no fear, no insecurity. They trusted one another completely. They were vulnerable with one another in their nakedness and they were ok with that. Eve knew she needn’t fear Adam abusing or misusing her because she knew he loved God and sought to glorify God in their relationship. Adam knew he had no reason to doubt Eve’s intentions or devotion to him because he knew she also sought to glorify God in their relationship. But, when the ate the fruit their eyes were open to more then just their physical state of nakedness. For the first time since the beginning Adam and Eve looked at each other and realized God’s glory was no longer the pursuit of their hearts. In a moment, fear, insecurity and shame flooded their hearts and minds. Now, Eve had good reason to doubt Adam’s trustworthiness. Adam had reason to doubt Eve’s intentions. So what do they do? The same thing you and I do everyday. They put up walls in the form of fig leaves. They shut each other out. They put up their guard for fear of being hurt, rejected and abused by one another. Sin not only destroyed their relationship with God, it destroyed their relationship with one another as well. And this is what sin has been doing in relationships all over the world ever since.

To substitute means to trade places with another. A substitute teacher takes the place of the full-time teacher in the classroom so the full-time teacher can take the place of the substitute teacher at home. The player on the sideline trades places with the player on the field. A substitute takes the place of another.

The theological term is Substitutionary Atonement and it points to the fact that Jesus, who was seated at the right hand of the Father in perfect relationship willingly went through the separation from, and wrath of, the Father in our place, so that we who deserved separation and wrath might experience perfect relationship and right standing with God. He became our sin that we could become His righteousness. He didn’t just enable us to have forgiveness for our sin, he defeated the power of sin in our lives so that we could be free from sin and walk in righteousness.

To be a slave to something or someone means it/they own you. It means you do what you are told to do. You may have some freedom within slavery, like what you think or the words you use or what you do with your down time, but ultimately you have to do what your master commands you to do.

The only way a person can truly and legally come out of slavery is someone has to buy his freedom. Someone has to pay a price to take possession from the slave master. The point being that if we are slaves to sin, and under the control of a sin nature, then someone has to pay the price to free us from sin.

Jesus paid the price. His perfect life of obedience was the equity, the cash in His wallet if you will, and His death was cashing in that equity, delivering the payment on our behalf to buy us back from sin. His resurrection was proof that the transaction was now complete and we were free to walk out of death alongside our new Master.

By grace through faith. Meaning God, in His grace, gives you the gift of faith to trust in the finished work of Christ for salvation. Faith is more than jus a mental belief in something. Faith is the complete trust in something. You can believe a chair exists. You can believe that in should hold up your weight when you sit in it. But you demonstrate trust, or faith, in the chair when you actually take a seat in it. Faith in Christ is putting the weight of your eternity solely on His shoulders as they hung upon a cross, and on His back as He walked out of the tomb.