Truth and Eternity

Historical fact and truth3

'In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth' Genesis 1:1. This is the first word of the Bible. God created everything in the world at the beginning of the world. Man was created on the earth where everything was offered. God formed man with the dust of the earth and breathed into his nose the breath of life. So man became a living being. Man was created in a place where everything was full.
　The Lord God set up the Garden of Eden in the east and placed the man he had formed there. It was a place full of God's light, where sin and death did not exist. God did not want man to be alone, so He created beings to be his helpers. Thus man and woman were created. From the tree in the Garden of Eden, man was allowed to eat from any tree as he wished. God provided all that they should eat. Because God loved them, he gave them everything without asking for anything in return. In the Garden of Eden, man had an intimate relationship with God. One could have communion with God all day long. He could adore God as his real father and nothing could hinder him.

　And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
　Genesis 2:9/KJV

　God put two trees in the middle of the garden. God gave man certain commands.

　But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
　Genesis 2:17/KJV

　The two trees in the Garden showed that man was given free will and freedom of choice. He could choose the tree of life or the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

　At one time sin entered into man. This is recorded in Genesis 3 of the Old Testament. Satan in the form of a serpent appears and speaks the following words to man concerning the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

　And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
　Genesis 3:4-5/KJV

　Satan spoke two falsehoods. The first was doubt about God. God loved man through and through. Therefore, his commands to man were an expression of God's love.

However, Satan made man doubt God's love. He made them understand that God does not want people to be like him and therefore wants to keep them away from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He made them doubt against the fact that God is infinitely good.

Another falsehood was the teaching that one should not trust God, that one should not believe in God.

　People ate the fruit of that tree, which is the knowledge of good and evil. Man did not believe the word of God, but the falsehood of Satan. Man chose the tree of the knowledge of good and evil instead of the tree of life. This was the first time man disobeyed God. From that moment on, man became a being with original sin. This causes man to be cut off from God.

Genesis 4 describes the first murder of mankind. Cain, the son of the first humans Adam and Eve, kills his brother Abel. With the entry of sin, the relationship between human beings was also broken. But when sin entered the world, God tells Satan in the form of the serpent the following words.

　And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
　Genesis 3:15/KJV

　These are the words that announce the coming of the Redeemer from sin. Prophecies about the eventual coming of the Redeemer are repeated in the Old Testament. Prophecy is the language of those who are entrusted with the word of God.
　The long-awaited Saviour is Jesus Christ.
　The New Testament is about Christ. Christ was born into the world as the only sinless human being who was God. He then died by crucifixion to atone for the sins of all mankind and rose again on the third day.
　According to the Bible, this event saves all who believe in Christ from sin and gives them eternal life. The word 'redemption' is not often used outside of Christianity, but it means 'buying back'. In ancient Israel, a relative who had the right to buy back land on behalf of a person who was in need and had to give it up was called a redeemer. The cross, the symbol of Christianity, is a symbol of Christ taking the place of the sins that man had to bear and paying the price. Christ is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word messiah 'anointed one', a word meaning 'saviour'.
　If "historical fact is not the same as truth", then should the events of this crucifixion also be considered true but not historical? If the events that formed the basis of the doctrine are fictitious, where in the Bible should we find the value of believing in them?