Lesson 5
  1. So far we have learned the following:
    1. God and people start as _________________.
    2. God made people to have a _______________.
    3. All people have chosen to _________.
    4. Sin _____________________ people from God.
  1. Once we are separated from God by our sins, can we ever be back with God again? That is a question God must answer since we can do nothing to take our own sins away. God must make the next move. Shall he punish our sins by keeping us separated from Him or shall He forgive our sins and bring us back as friends again? God loves us and wants to bring us back. But God also is just (righteous) and must punish our sins.

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  2. God’s choice, Step 5 in the Bible story, may be represented like this:



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  3. Answer the following questions?
    1. Do our sins separate us from God? (Isaiah 59:2)
    2. Does God want us to remain away from Him so that we will be lost eternally? (2 Peter 3:9)
    3. Can God forgive our sins and not punish them? Is it lawful for a judge to turn a convicted criminal free with no punishment for what he has done? If God did so, He would not be a just or righteous judge. So can God be just and not punish sinners?


      4. Read Romans 3:23 and Ezekiel 18:4.

  1. So God is just and must punish our sins. But we learn in John 3:16 that God loves us and wants to forgive us, not wanting any to be lost eternally. Here God’s wisdom enters the story. God found a way to do both--both to punish and to forgive. This is the gospel, the good news the Bible brings! Read Romans 3:24-25.


    2. Now look at Romans 3:26--"And God gave Jesus to show today that God does what is right. God did this so that he could judge rightly and also make right any person that has faith in Jesus." So God "judged rightly" --that is He punished sin. But he also "made right"--that is He forgave sinners through the righteousness act of Jesus Christ who died for them. Read 2 Corinthians 5:21.
     

  2. Based on what you just learned, answer these questions.
    1. Does God’s justice demand that all sins be punished?
    2. Does God's love and mercy want to forgive all sins?
    3. Does God want people to stay separated from Him?
    4. Why does God want people to be able to come back to Him?
    5. So does God punish sins, forgive sins, or do both?
    6. How does he do both?
  1. Fill in rest of the words by the P and F that tell us that God found a way to do both:


    2. God will both ___________ and ____________.