When God created Adam and Eve they were in perfect harmony with God.  Their thoughts were pure, their aims holy.  But through disobedience, their powers were perverted, and selfishness took the place of love.  Man’s nature became so weakened through sin that it was impossible for him, in his own strength, to resist the power of evil.

The human race was taken captive by Satan, and would have remained so forever without God’s intervention.  It was Satan’s purpose to frustrate God’s plan in creating the human race, and fill the earth with suffering and heartache.  Then he would point to all this evil as the result of God's work in creating man.

In their sinless state, Adam and Eve held joyful communion with their Maker.  But after their sin, they no longer found joy in holiness, and they tried to hide from the presence of God.  That is still the condition of a heart that has not been made new by Jesus. It is not in harmony with God, and finds no joy in spending time with Him.  The sinner can never be happy in God's presence.  If he were permitted to enter heaven, it would have no joy for him.  He would be like a fish out of water. To him, heaven would be a place of torture; he would long to be hidden from Him who is its light, and the center of its joy.

In this lesson we will discover why we, as sinners, need Jesus and what must be done in order to experience His power in our lives.

 1.  What is the natural attitude of the mind toward God?

 Romans 8:7 ____________________________________________________

 2.  Why is it impossible for the ‘natural mind’ to understand God’s Word?

 I Corinthians 2:14 ________________________________________________

Note:  The natural man always remains the same.  He is what hereditary tendencies, nationality, education, and circumstances have made him.  But when the natural man is changed by the grace of Christ, then the transformation is seen in the new man with a new heart, new purposes, and new desires.

 3.  What is the struggle of the carnal mind?

 Romans 7:18 ___________________________________________________

Note:  What evidence do we have that we are still operating with the carnal mind?  The inability to do that which is good and which we know we should do.  "For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish."  Galatians 5:17.

 4.  What does the Lamb of God take away?

 John 1:29, _____________________________________________________

Note:  Satan was thrilled that he had succeeded in perverting the image of God in man.  Jesus came to restore in man the image of his Maker. Nobody but Jesus can fashion anew the character that has been ruined by sin.  He came to evict the demons that had controlled the will.  He came to lift us up from the dust, to reshape the character marred by sin, and pattern it after His divine character, and to make it beautiful with His own.

 5.  What connected heaven to earth in Jacob’s dream?  And what was Jacob’s response to his dream?

 Genesis 28:12; 16-17 ____________________________________________

 6.  What were the angels of God ascending and descending on?

 John 1:51 _____________________________________________________

Note:  The meaning of Jacob’s dream met the need and longing of his soul.  With joy and gratitude he saw a way by which he, a sinner, could be restored to communion with God.  The mystic ladder of his dream represented Jesus, the only link of communication between God and man.

 7.  How many ways are there to God?

 John 14:6 _____________________________________________________

Note:  If by any effort of our own we could advance one step toward the ladder, the words of Christ would not be true.  But when we accept Christ, good works will appear as fruitful evidence that we are in the way of life, that Christ is our way, and that we are treading the true path that leads to heaven. 

 8.  What must take place before the times of refreshing?

 Acts 3:19 _____________________________________________________

Note:  The word repentance literally means a “change of mind.”   God takes away the carnal mind and puts His mind in its place.

 9.  What two gifts does God give?

 Acts 5:31 _____________________________________________________

Note:  If it were possible for man to repent, of himself, Christ's atoning sacrifice would be in vain.  But this is not possible.  If one step in the way of salvation could be taken without Christ, every step could be taken without Him.  Without His gift, the sinner can not take the first step in this way.

 10.  What is the purpose of repentance?

 2 Timothy 2:24-26 ______________________________________________

 11.  What does God guarantee will draw all men to Him?

 John 12:32-33 _________________________________________________

 12.  Who should we look to?

Hebrews 12:1-3 _______________________________________________________

Christ's death proves God's great love for man.  It is our pledge of salvation.  To remove the cross from the Christian would be like blotting the sun from the sky.  The cross brings us near to God, reconciling us to Him.  With the relenting compassion of a father's love, He looks upon the suffering that His Son endured in order to save the race from eternal death. 

Without the cross, man would forever be separated from God.  On the cross of Christ depends our every hope.  From it shines the light of the Savior’s love, and when at the foot of the cross the sinner looks up to the One who died to save him, he may rejoice with fullness of joy, for his sins are pardoned.  Kneeling in faith at the cross, he has reached the highest place to which man can attain.