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Hi Josh —
Thanks for your questions.
As Christians, we believe in the Old and New Testament Revelation of God.
In the Old Testament, God Himself, reveals that we all
are created by God in His Own Image and Likeness. We were made to know,
love, serve Him: (be like Him in this life) and be happy with Him in the
next life to come: Eternity. The Sacred Scriptures, the Bible,
also reveals that God tested the first Man and Woman, asking for their
obedience to Him alone. After their disobedience to Him, they and all mankind
were punished with what is called, original
sin.
Their sin was propagated to their offspring as well as succeeding
offspring down through history. Every person born into this world has original
sin on their souls due to the fall of our first parents, Adam and Eve. This is different from personal sin (as someone below the age of reason can't sin).
We must be saved from original sin in order to re-establish communion
with the Lord, our Creator, again. This is accomplished by Holy Baptism. In Baptism, original
sin is removed
from our souls.
The loving, just, and merciful God promised a Savior would come
to redeem all mankind from its sins. The only thing he asked is
our participation and cooperation with His Divine Son, Jesus,
the Christ. (Christ means anointed one.)
When we offend a friend, this is an offense on the nature level. When
we offend God, reparation can't be made on a nature level, but must be done
on a supernatural level. Sins against a Supernatural God, requires reparation to a supernatural
degree.
This is accomplished through Jesus and The Church He established. (Matthew 16:13-19, 1 Timothy 3:15) Through
the sacramental ministry of the priesthood that Our Lord instituted before
ascending into Heaven, mankind can have its sins removed, thus re-establishing
communion (or a Common Union) with God. Read John 20:19-23.
The visible Church that He established
to fulfill His redemptive work is the Catholic Church. It is the only Christian
Church that has been in existence every day for nearly 2,000 years.
We need Jesus, the Savior to save us from our sins so we can be one with
Him in Eternity. If you are interested in pursuing this, check out my becoming
a Catholic page and grab a copy of the Catechism and read it!
I hope this helps,
Your brother in prayer, your brother in Christ,
Mike Humphrey
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