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Downward Spiral

We started our journey at the Garden of the Gods, and I have to admit, I much prefer that to this place. And it's no wonder: I was created to live in a garden, to delight in fellowship with my Creator, and to dwell in harmony with other people. And so were you. Instead, we live here, in the desert of destruction—the aftermath of original sin. Since the first act of rebellion against God, death has permeated life on earth. I mean, look around. It's as if a plague has wiped everyone out, and what's left is in a downward spiral of decay. 

When the Jewish people were in bondage in Egypt, God visited increasingly intense plagues on Pharaoh and the Egyptian people. To spare the Jews from the final, and most devastating, plague—the death of every firstborn child—God required an act of faith. He instructed His people to take a lamb's blood and smear it on their doorposts. That act of sacrifice, and displaying the shed blood, meant that the plague would pass over their homes, sparing their lives.

It doesn't make human sense, does it? But it makes God-sense. The lifeblood of an innocent was required to atone for sin, to redeem the relationship between God and mankind. That was God's original plan in response to original sin. Each blood-stained doorpost in Egypt equaled the sacrifice of one innocent lamb.

Now, God's people were not innocent. Their sin offended God. My sin offends God. Your sin offends God. And there's not a thing you can do about it. God already did everything about it. Soon, He would send the Lamb, who was slain from the foundation of the world. The final sacrifice that would finish His work of redeeming us, restoring us to Himself. All that's required from you is an act of faith.