First Baptist Jackson

Once, God made people. Things were great at first, but eventually people turned their back on Him. Eventually God made up a contract (or covenant, as the Bible calls it) with a man we know as Abraham. In this covenant, the stakes were that if you broke it, you agreed to be butchered to death - it was that severe! The deal was that God would be our God and act as a good God would, IF we would be faithful and never turn from Him. Abraham agreed, but before he could finalize the contract, God stepped in and signed it for both of them - knowing that we would never be able to hold up our end of the bargain.

Fast forward many, many years to about 2,000 years ago. Humanity has turned from God almost entirely, but God remembers and decides to make good on His promise. He literally came down in the form of Jesus and did end up being butchered and killed on a Roman cross. This was sufficient because Jesus was uniquely both God AND man - thus being the only one capable of fulfilling both ends of the covenant.

But the story didn't end. No, Jesus came back to life after a few days of being dead and went back to Heaven where He belongs. But He sent His Spirit to live in and guide His people (known as Christians). Christians still turn from God and act selfishly and often hypocritically, but the beauty of the whole thing is that the covenant is fulfilled - His work is done and our work continues as we, as a church, seek to make disciples and draw others into His family.