This story starts with "Ïn the beginning, God...".
Everything has a beginning and it is here that we find answers to the questions:
Why am I here?
Where did all of this come from?
What is the purpose of it all and can I find meaning?
The Bible tells us that the God of the beginning created all things including humans. The first man and woman, Adam and Eve, disobeyed God and were banned from God's presence. Not only were they no longer able to be in God's presence because of sin, they and their descendants would now suffer death.
Humanity and all of creation was now condemned and would need to pay the penalty for the transgression of Adam and Eve.
While many of us try, the Bible confirms that not a single person in all history could meet God's standards - except one man.
As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God". Romans 3:10-11
Two thousand years ago in the Roman province of Judea, a man was born to a virgin named Mary. He was the promised servant of God. He had many titles, but chiefly he was called the Son of God, Messiah, and the last Adam. He proclaimed that He would die for the sins of all of humanity - fixing the problem that occurred in the Garden of Eden.
He was crucified at the Jewish feast of Passover. Three days later, He was seen by various groups of followers. He asked them to take the message of God's love, grace, and mercy into all of the world.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16
That the Word of God is an objective, propositional revelation, inspired in every word, absolutely inerrant in the original documents. That the Scriptures constitute the only infallible authority and are sufficient for all matters of faith, practice and conduct. By interpretation we attempt to arrive at the exact meaning of Scripture. We seek to interpret the Bible by the literal grammatical-historical (or “common sense”) method of interpretation under the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. The grammatical-historical method takes into account the laws of grammar and the facts of history.
In one living and true God, an infinite, all-knowing Spirit, perfect in all His attributes, one in essence, eternally existing in three persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In the sovereignty of God in creation, providence and redemption and that He is the creator of all things, the only absolute and all-powerful ruler of the universe.
That man was directly and immediately created by God in His image and likeness, created with a rational nature and free to act in accordance with the Divine will or against it. That because of Adam’s sin of disobedience to the revealed will and Word of God, man lost his innocence, incurred the penalty of spiritual and physical death, became subject to the wrath of God and became inherently corrupt.
That salvation is wholly of God, by grace through faith and that Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His sacrificial death on the cross. That His death on our behalf was voluntary, securing a satisfactory basis for the remission of our sins.
That the Holy Spirit is a divine person possessing all the attributes of personality and deity. That His divine activity includes convicting the world of sin, righteousness and judgement; glorifying the Lord Jesus and transforming believers into the image of Christ. That the Holy Spirit is the supernatural and sovereign agent in regeneration, baptising all believers into the body of Christ. That every believer possesses the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit from the moment of salvation and that it is the duty of all those born of the Spirit to be filled with the Spirit.
That God the Holy Spirit is sovereign in the distribution of all gifts for the equipping of the saints today.
That Jesus Christ is the second person of the trinity, possessing all the divine excellencies. That He is co-equal and co-eternal with the Father. That Jesus Christ was virgin born and that in the incarnation Christ surrendered only the prerogatives of deity but nothing of the divine essence, either in degree or kind. That Jesus Christ represents humanity and deity in indivisible oneness.
That in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave God confirmed the deity of His Son and gave proof that God accepted the atoning work of Christ on the cross. That His resurrection is the guarantee of a future resurrection life for all believers.
That Christ will return to receive the Church to Himself. That the Lord Jesus Christ is the one through whom God will judge all mankind.
That there is one, holy, universal church, which is the body of Christ to which all true believers belong and in which they are united through the Holy Spirit and of which Christ is the Head. That the establishment and continuity of local churches is clearly taught and defined in Scripture and that church leadership, gifts, order, discipline and worship are all appointed through His sovereignty as found in the Scriptures.
In the importance of discipleship, mutual accountability of all believers, that all saints are called to works of service as well as the need for the discipline of sinning members of the congregation in accordance with the standards of Scripture.
In the practice of baptism and the observance of the Lord’s Supper.
In the bodily resurrection of all men and women: the saved to eternal life and the unsaved to judgement and everlasting punishment.