Genesis 2:15-17 says "The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, 'You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die'."
Guess what they did? The Bible states that after listening to the serpent (Satan) "When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.." (Genesis 3:6-7)
This was the first
sin. Adam and Eve disobeyed God. Before this, they had a relationship
with God; He walked with them in the garden (Genesis
3:8). But sin had severed that relationship.
Picture it like this:
Man stands on one
side, God on the other, and sin separates them.
Romans 3:23 says
"For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God."
That's an important
thing to understand. Notice the word all? Not some. Or
many.
But all. Does
that mean me? Or the guy next door? Or… you?
Yes. All have
sinned.
We can put that down
as number one on man's side:
Moving on to Romans
6:23, we read "For the wages of sin
is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Just as we earn wages
for a job, our paycheck, so our sin earns us death.
First, it's spiritual
death, separation from God.
Second, is physical
death.
Adam and even were
originally created to live forever, but when sin entered the world, it
brought death into the word.
So, let's put that
down, too! 
The final thing to
understand in man's plight is found in Hebrews
9:27. "Just as man is destined
to die once, and after that to face judgment."
Once man dies, he
is going to face God's judgment.
And because of our
sin, it won't go very well for us.
That's number three: 
Not a very pretty
picture is it?
Okay.
Let's look at another
verse.
John 5:24
"I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent
me has eternal life and will not be condemned, he has crossed over from
death to life."
This is Jesus talking.
Looking closer, we
can break the verse down.
Jesus says that if
we
1. Hear
His word
and
2. Believe
Him (God) who sent Him
then a couple of
things will happen.
First, we will have
eternal life.
Let's look at our.
drawing again.
We can place that
under God.
That cancels out death
because we now have eternal life.
And, we no longer
come under judgment.
We cross over from
death to life.
Romans 5:8 tells
us "But God demonstrates His own love for
us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Because of Christ's
death on the cross we can now cross over to God and the separation is gone.
What does this mean
for you? Well, now that you've read through this, look at the pictures.
Which side are you
on?
If you're on man's
side, would you like to be on God's side?
Let's look at a few
other verses: 
Romans 5:10
"For if when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the
death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved
through His life."
Romans 8:1 "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."
Romans 10:9-10 says "That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord', and believe in you heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."
If you've made a decision,
that yes, you know that you are a sinner, and would like to make a decision
to be on God's side, then do what the verse says.
1. Confess
with your mouth that Jesus is Lord
2. Believe
in your heart that God raised Him from the dead.
3. And
you will be saved.
Ephesians 2:8-9 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast."
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."
If you've made this
decision, then please, tell someone. It is important that you don't
keep a wonderful, life changing decision to yourself.
If you'd like to
tell me, I would love to know that the Lord has used this page to change
your life. 
You can find further
resources to begin your new life in Christ ("Therefore, if anyone
is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come."
2 Corinthians 5:8),
please check out my links on my ministry page. 
A word of encouragement.
You will note that in the picture, John 5:24
shows how Christ's death and resurrection cancels out the judgment and
death, but the sin remains. We still sin. It is a battle we
will fight our entire life. But have hope.
1 John 1:9-10 says
"If you confess your sin, God is faithful and just and will forgive
us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
So, yes, we will continue
to struggle with sin in our lives (that's a definite way to know that you
are on God's side, because He will now begin dealing with those things
in our lives that are unprofitable and do not bring Him glory). But
we must confess them. And God WILL forgive us and WILL cleanse us.
Isn't that great?
to the
Lord.
