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It is no surprise to any of us that in life, we
experience pain and suffering. But often we fail to realize that suffering
is caused directly or indirectly by sin.
WHAT IS SIN?
• Sin is often thought of as individual acts of deliberate
disobedience toward God.
While this is true, sin has greater and
farther-reaching implications than that. Many times, the Bible speaks of sin
as "missing the mark" ("failing to hit the bulls-eye, "
if you will). We are often aware of the burden of guilt created by our
sinfulness. But sin is like a disease that pervades all humankind. Because
of its effect on our lives in ways we cannot imagine, even the good that we
try to do– even the most noble, loving, righteous acts– are tainted by
its influence.
"For all have sinned; all fall short of God’s
glorious standard." (Paul, in Romans, chapter 3, verse 23)
"But no, all have turned away from God; all
have become corrupt. No one does good, not even one!" (Psalm
14, verse 3)
"All of us were like sheep that had
wandered off. We had each gone our own way..." (Isaiah,
chapter 53, verse 6a)
"We are all infected and impure with sin.
When we proudly display our righteous deeds, we find they are
but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall. And our
sins, like the wind, sweep us away." (Isaiah,
chapter 64, verse 6)
"If you obey every law except one, you are
still guilty of breaking them all." (James, chapter
2, verse 10)
"If we say that we have not sinned, we are
fooling ourselves, and the truth isn’t in our hearts." (1
John, chapter 1, verse 8)
• You
see, sin is not as simple as isolated acts of rebellion.
We sin by being, doing,
thinking, and saying what we shouldn’t. We sin by not being,
doing, thinking, and saying what we should. We seldom have a clue
just how far from God we are.
• We
come into this world with a sinful nature– a
self-will that is sometimes expressed as active rebellion against
God, but is expressed just as often in passive indifference towards
Him. It is going our own way rather than God’s. And to make
matters worse, our pride makes it difficult for us to admit that we’re
incapable and ill-equipped to handle life’s problems alone.
In Charles Schulz’ comic strip "Peanuts,"
Charlie Brown is often feeling the weight of his inability to deal
with life. Once, while talking to his friend, Linus, Charlie Brown
explained his sense of inadequacy: "You see, Linus, it goes all
the way back to the beginning. The moment I was born and set foot on
the stage of life, they took one look at me and said, ‘Not right for
the part!’"
In a way, that’s an accurate assessment of us all.
We are completely unable to play the part that our loving Creator
intended for us to play in life.
• We
can’t compare ourselves to others–
because all people are
affected by sin. One person may think he/ she is better (more moral,
religious, worthy) than the next person, but the Bible is clear: all
have sinned, we cannot pay for our sins, and our condition has already
taken it’s toll on us. Through our own efforts, we are unable to
improve our spiritual condition, no matter how we may try to do so. Think
about this: If two people were standing on the edge of the Grand
Canyon, it is unlikely that you would hear one boast to the other that
he could jump farther than his friend. That is because they both know
that it doesn’t matter how far they try to jump– neither would
come close to making it to the other side. Comparing our
"goodness" to that of others or trying to reach God on our
own is just as absurd.
WHAT DOES SIN DO?
• Sin
separates us from the God who loves us. We all find ourselves spiritually
lost, and far from God.
"God
is on one side and all the people are on the other side." (Paul, in 1 Timothy, chapter 2, verse 5a)
"...your sins have made a separation between you and
your God..." (Isaiah, chapter 59, verse 2)
• Sin
causes spiritual death and judgment.
"You may think you are on the right road, but in
the end it leads to death*." (Proverbs 14:12)
"Sin pays off with death*. But God’s gift is
eternal life given by Jesus Christ our Lord." (Paul, in Romans
, chapter 6, verse 23)
(*not only physical death, which all people experience;
but spiritual death, which separates us from God. This is called
"hell." Thus, we are prevented from experiencing abundant life
now, and life that lasts forever when this life is over.)
• Sin
causes us to miss out on the good that God wants for us.
"I
have come to give life in all of its fullness." (Jesus, in John, chapter 10, verse 10)
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