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Sin and death go together. Sin brought death, the consequence of behavior
not pleasing to God; Adam and Eve sinned and were banished from the
Garden of Eden. Two things happened to mankind as a result. One, man was
separated from God and life in one act of disobedience; God being the
giver and sustainer of all that lives: [Acts 17:28] For in him we
live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets
have said, For we are also his offspring. Two, death was visited
on all when his offspring, Adam and Eve, disobeyed. Sin then separated
them and their progeny from God and it pronounced the death sentence
that ends this life. That is the enormity of sin.
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However, the enormity of sin and death goes deeper with its inevitable
consequences. At one point in history, mankind became so wicked and evil
that the earth, as it was known at that time, was destroyed with water
and only eight people out of all who were alive at the time were saved.
(I Peter3:20-21) Death with no hope was the final chapter for
the life of those people not on the ark.
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Death held mankind captive in its grip due to the act of Adam. Paul wrote
in Romans: [Romans 5:12] Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into
the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that
all have sinned: At birth a baby is innocent but at some point
the new human becomes accountable to God for engaging in forbidden
behavior and is separated from God by sin and has to be reconciled to
God again or be eternally separated from God, commonly known as lost.
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We can see the agony that is involved when Jesus used the parable of the
rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31. The rich man didn’t believe and
was suffering the torment of being separated from God for life. The
parable shows the end of a life of a man that was only concerned with
his own comforts. When the man saw that pleading for himself would do no
good, then he made a plea for his family. Jesus replied:
[Luke
16:31] ... If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be
persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
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The remedy for sin and the death which it brings is Jesus Christ. Read
the words of Paul in 1st Corinthians: [1 Cor 15:55] O
death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?[1 Cor 15:56]
The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. [1 Cor
15:57] But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our
Lord Jesus Christ. [1 Cor 15:58] Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye
stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,
forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
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When Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden, God knew then he would
need to fashion a remedy for their sin if his creation would be saved
from sinful ways. He determined that death wouldn’t reign supreme and
Jesus went to the cross to put away sin and give people hope for eternal
life through belief in His Son.
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Paul wrote in Romans: [Romans 6:23] For the wages of sin is death;
but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
People receive wages for what they do and death is the wage payment
for sin that God gives for the unrepentant. Obey and be rescued from sin
and death and enter into the joy of the Lord.
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© 03-15-2006 DEC
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