Several years ago I watched an episode of Xena, The Warrior Princess and at the final scene of the particular episode, Xena and Gabrielle arrive at a lake.

Turning to Gabrielle, Xena said, “See how calm the surface of the water is?…That was me once.” Xena then throws a rock into the lake, both looking at the ripples that formed in the water,  Xena then said, “That’s what I became.”

Upon seeing this, Gabrielle replied, “But if we sit here long enough, it will go back to being still again. You’ll go back to being calm.”

Xena responded, “But the stone’s still under there. It’s now a part of the lake. It might look as it did before but it’s forever changed.”

On an evening, Jesus explained to Nicodemus that a person cannot see the kingdom of God unless they are born again (John 3:3). The kingdom of God demands perfection and that means a soul spiritually whole, absolutely pure, and untouched by sin.  The only time Man ever was soul perfect was after the creation and before the fall (Genesis 3). The soul perfection of man, unstained by sin made it possible for God, Adam and Eve to dwell together in the same vicinity.

But with the fall of Man came a separation. That even at the voice of God, Adam and Eve became terrified.  An emotion they had never felt before (Genesis 3:10). Sin forever changed Man. Sin corrupted Man and continues corrupting every facet of our universe. From the human anatomy both physiological and psychological, the earth, crops, animals, stars, moons, etc… all have been changed by sin. Just like the rock in the lake, becoming a part of the lake and thus forever changing it, the entry of sin into the world made sin become a part of us and changed our world forever.

We were never the same.

When Adam and Eve sinned, their souls began to die that day. Their physical appearance might’ve looked fine but they were dying because their souls became separated from God (Life Giver). Much like a laptop on battery life, It soon dies unless it gets plugged back into the wall. Their souls died and later on their physical bodies would follow. Sin causes separation and separation from God is death. The wages of Sin is death (Romans 6:23)

Nevertheless, God in his manifold compassion and love, seeking to reconcile us to himself, provided a way to change us back as we once were, soul perfect and without sin. He accomplished this himself through Jesus Christ. The sacrifice of Christ perpetually cleanses the believer providing rebirth (born-again), perfection, purity, and a sinless soul. This was what Christ offered Nicodemus that evening. And it is what Christ offers you today. You only need to believe.