Truth isn’t welcome in the minds of many people, especially when the subject is the human condition of sin so aptly pointed out in scripture. Paul wrote: [Rom 3:23] For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; A truth that people want to deny and refuse to accept is that they will receive God’s justice while in the throes of disobedience to God’s word. They think that they are okay with God because after all God loves everyone. John deals with such notions in the following manner: [1 John 1:8] If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. That is a far cry from what is heard in the world today among those who claim to follow God. Sin is no longer sin; it is a new life style for a New Age Religion  and anyone who rejects it is subject to all sorts of name calling.

God didn’t and won’t tolerate sin and demands that justice be meted out to those who refuse to obey him. In other words, the unrepentant sinner receives what he deserves which is death, eternal separation from God. A glimpse of that separation from God for eternity is seen in the story of the rich man and Lazarus. [Luke 16:24] And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. [Luke 16:25] But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. The painful truth is that the rich man did certain things while living and is now getting the justice that he deserves or saying it in another way, getting his due.

When Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden the truth of their deed brought to them what they deserved. Since God is a just God, they received the punishment for their deed. Yet God showed mercy in his justice which will be explained after the following verse: [Gen 3:22] And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: [Gen 3:23] Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. The revealing words are eat and live forever. If God had allowed them to take of that tree, then mankind would be eternally consigned to sin and God could not have done anything to stop it because he would have allowed it to happen. By banishing them from the Garden he tempered justice with a certain amount of undeserved mercy.

God could have ended the whole matter at that point except his love for his creation  would not allow it. God purposed to redeem us and save us in Jesus from his wrath from the very beginning as Peter wrote: [1 Pet 1:19] But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: [1 Pet 1:20] Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, and as Paul wrote: [Rom 5:8] But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. [Rom 5:9] Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. [Rom 5:10] For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.  Instead of justice, God gave us mercy by putting his son to death on the cross. To deny the fact of sin is to denigrate the life and death of Jesus Christ and his love toward all of mankind.

Sin is a fact of the human condition and the only way to escape is to repent, obey the gospel, and walk in newness of life, thus escaping Gods wrath and justice and be able to enjoy fellowship with him for eternity.

06-19-2006 DEC

                                   Next Lesson  Two Paths