A few years ago my brother said something in a conversation that has stuck with me. He said; "Every time we sin, I think something dies. We may not see it at the time, we may be unaware of it altogether, but I think something dies". Now this is not a bible verse. I cannot find this exact phrase anywhere in the bible. None the less, it feels true, and if it is true, what should that mean for us and how we approach obedience in our lives.
When my kids were younger, we used to play the antonym game in the car. I would say a word while glancing at them in the rear view mirror, and they would tell me the antonym from their car seats. I would say big, they would say small. I would say fast, they would say slow. I was always amazed, even at a very young age how quickly they were able to comprehend this concept.
So I've been thinking, what is the antonym of sin? Obedience? Righteousness? Virtue? Morality? Law keeping? Arguably not as simple and clear cut as fast & slow. I guess my point here is that "sin" is not an easily definable word. You know what else I think is not easily definable? God. I believe some things are just to complex to comprehend in flesh and blood. How can we define something spiritual when we are in these limited bodies with limited intellect and limited comprehension? God knows this. I won't get into it, but I think we can all agree, we have limited comprehension when it comes to understanding God. I also think we have limited comprehension when it comes to sin and it's consequences. Just as we cannot fully comprehend God, we also, I think, cannot grasp sin in it's entirety. Due to our limited capacity, in scripture, God conveys himself often in concepts and metaphors. One concept God uses in which we can all grasp is Light and Dark. This was an easy one, even for my small children.
"God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness". Genesis 1:4
"Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter." Isaiah 5:20
"The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light." Romans 13:12
Sin is a big deal to God. It is the one thing that is diametrically opposed to all that he is. That's a big deal. God is the Giver of Life. Can we agree the antonym of Life is Death?
"The wages of the righteous is life, but the earnings of the wicked are sin and death." Proverbs 10:16
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23
"Truly the righteous attain life, but whoever pursues evil finds death." Proverbs 11:19
"'You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.'" James 4:4-10
Imagine for a minute what it must feel like for God when we chose sin and disobedience, instead of Him. Have you ever been betrayed by someone you love? Maybe it was a best friend, a sibling, a spouse, a parent or child? We have all felt worldly betrayal at some point in our lives by someone we love and counted on. Consider for a moment that God feels that same kind of betrayal every time we chose this world, sin or ourselves over Him. I'm thinking today about the pain and hurt God must feel as a cost of his love of us. To continually and perfectly put himself out there to us and for us, only to be selfishly rejected over and over again. Yet, he continues to pursue us, continues to love us, continues to believe in us and never ceases his pursuit. His one aim is for us to be reconciled to him, made righteous through our faith in Christ, and build a real and intimate relationship with him. He never quits. He looks past our sin, our selfishness, our deceit and lies, our abandonment, our ignorance and weakness. He looks past all of this and sees our soul, our pure core underneath all the screwed up layers of sin that are destroying and suffocating us. He loves what is under all of this and sees us as we truly are without all the worldly falseness and walls. He sees past all this and values us beyond measure in spite of our constant rejection of him, our turning away, and our sin. He sees us as we were meant to be...as he created us.
Conversely, recall what it feels like when someone you love comes through for you. When they chose you over someone or something else. That feels great doesn't it? So if our disobedience can cause such pain to our Lord, obedience should have the opposite affect. Choices we make, sin, obedience, faithfulness are all personal to God. We are not alone whether we realize it or not. He is there and experiences both the joy and the pain of His love for us, and never turns away...
Just something to think about,
Chris
