what's the problem?

you may be sitting there thinking... ok, i now know more about who the Bible says i am, so what? well, there's more. we aren't just created in the image of God then left to do whatever we please. in fact, it was a much more purposeful beginning. here, i'll let you read...

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 

God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food..."

did you see it? did you see the purpose? they were to "be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it." then man and woman were given the privilege of access to anything in the garden. in chapter 2 of genesis, the story is detailed a bit more. this is added:  "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.'" 


those are pretty serious words, so what do you think happened? if this story is familiar to you, then you know that the man and woman (Adam and Eve) did not heed the command. instead, when they were tempted to disobey, they did. enter the problem. for everyone...


we are inherently valuable because of who created us, yet we are also innately rotten. the word the Bible uses to describe this rotten state is sinful. 


what's sin? i'm so glad you asked. it's what separates us from God. you see, God is perfect. he made us like Him, but He is infinitely better. he never sins or does anything wrong, and He can't accept anyone who isn't at that same standard. seem harsh?


allow me to use a human illustration. let's take the olympics:  can anyone compete? exactly. no. not everyone can compete. only the best of the best. that means there are standards that keep people separated from participation. for the olympics that standard is being the best (or nearly) in whichever event you chose to compete. for God the standard is perfection. 


so here we are:  left with a problem that seems insurmountable because how can we ever become something we're not? how can we get rid of the sin problem?