A Reminder of What Sin Costs
“God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.”
(Genesis 1: 4 NASB)
Separation is horrible.
Longing for something we desire but being separated from it causes anguish.
Wishing we could regain that which has been lost or that which has been taken from us by force or by our choice requires us to see the value of that which we have lost.
“Then God said, “Let Us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness; . . .”
(Genesis 1: 26a & 27 NASB)
So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
When we look at the first man (Adam), it is easy to see the horribleness of his separation from the relationship he had with God as they walked together in the Garden of Eden.
As we read about the way Adam and Eve hid themselves from God when they heard Him walking in the garden, this helps us see the anguish they felt within their hearts when their eyes were opened and they saw their sin.
Finally, it is with clarity that we read and see how Adam and Eve valued what had been taken away from them through the deception of the serpent, what they had willingly given up as they ate from the Tree of Life, and what that decision cost them as they committed sin.
“The LORD God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may freely eat;
(Genesis 2: 16-17 NASB)
but from the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for on the day that you eat from it you will certainly die.”
Our relationship with God is vital.
God created us to have relationship with Him, and in fact, the Bible tells us that God placed within each of us an innate desire to know Him & to walk in relationship with Him.
Yet, from the moment of our conception, we are separated, alienated, burdened with our sinful nature.
- That is why God sent His Son: to provide the Way to know Him.
- That is why God came to us in the form of a baby in a manger: a baby named Jesus.
- That is how God demonstrated His love for us (mankind): God sent His Son to save us from the horribleness of our separation from God.
It is Jesus Himself (the Son of God) who spoke these words:
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.”
(John 3: 16 NASB)
“Now the serpent was more cunning than any animal of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
(Genesis 3: 1 & 4-5 NASB)
. . .
“The serpent said to the woman, “You certainly will not die!
For God knows that on the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will become like God, knowing good and evil.”
Sin is horrible!
Sin causes separation and alienation from God.
Sin brings deep anguish to our being.
Seeing our sin, seeing the death and separation we face at our earthly death, allows us to see that which we lack, to see the Savior God sent to us.
Until our eyes are opened to the truth, we cannot fully see God.
When the Holy Spirit opens our eyes, we are given eyes to see the door opened before us to eternal life with God.
As we boldly step toward the Light, we experience true redemption.
- Jesus is the very One we have been seeking all along!
- Jesus bore our burden of sin upon Calvary’s cross!
- Jesus took our guilt and gave His life on the cross!
- Jesus lifted our guilt of sin and Jesus freed us to know Him in relationship!
- Jesus provided the only way to experience eternal life in heaven with Him!
A beautiful song by Selah: “He Will Hold Me Fast.” Please listen and be blessed.
Oftentimes, life struggles, health concerns, family grievances, or the consequences of our actions remind us of what our sin costs.
These struggles awake us to the cost of our sin.
- God gives us moments of awakening, helping us see that which we have lost.
- God allows us to see with spiritual eyes.
- God desires a close, life-walk with us, but it is not God who has moved.
- God continues to walk throughout this world; however, it is us who hide ourselves, who cloth ourselves, and who wear the burden of our sin.
BUT THANK GOD, WE DO NOT HAVE TO REMAIN THERE: IN OUR SIN.
“For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
(Romans 5: 6-12 & 17 NASB)
For one will hardly die for a righteous person; though perhaps for the good person someone would even dare to die.
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, [JUST-AS-IF-I-HAD NEVER SINNED] we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him [through God’s only Son Jesus].”
For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
And not only this, but we also celebrate in God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, [through Adam’s sin]
and death through sin,
and so death spread to all mankind,
because all have sinned—
. . .
For if by the offense of the one, [Adam’s sin]
death reigned through the one,
much more will those who receive the abundance of grace
and
of the gift of righteousness reign in life
through the One, Jesus Christ.”
- Might today be the day we recognize the truth of what our sin cost us—Horrible Separation from Almighty God!
- Might today also be the day we see the truth of what the Light of the world did for us—Jesus Died So That We Might Believe in Him & Receive the Gift of Eternal Life!
- Might today be the day our eyes are opened to our SIN!
- Might today be the day our eyes are opened to the TRUTH of GOD!