So
he said, "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was
naked; and I hid myself." -- Genesis 3: 10 (NKJV)
So much of the Bible deals with sin. God is telling us this for a reason and it is not just regarding salvation. Some poor modern theology chooses to overly focus on the atoning work of Christ on the cross as a means of no longer being cognizant of the sin that still can affect our lives. I am not speaking about salvation -- if you are saved then come judgment day your sins are covered by the blood of Jesus. I am speaking about our day to day life however prior to judgment day. Remember, God did not give us the "dos" and the "do nots" because He is a mean God looking to hurl a lightening bolt at someone. He gave us the parameters because He knows what will be beneficial for us and what will be detrimental to us in this life.
"Everything is permissible for me"--but not everything is beneficial.
"Everything is permissible for me"--but I will not be mastered by anything. --
1Corinthians 6: 12 (NIV)
It is almost as if some are
encouraging sinning because they know that the blood of Jesus will cover them
when they stand before God! Besides the argument for levels of reward in heaven
there are real consequences on this earth that we must deal with. Sin still
destroys. It still separates us from God. The Bible puts forth the principle of
sowing and reaping and that is not just regarding tithing. Whenever we sow to
our sinful nature we will reap a whirlwind of heartache but when we sow to the
Spirit of God inside of us, we know we will be found in His will. So when our
devotional time turns to topics such as sin, it is not an exercise in beating
ourselves up but rather in how to draw closer to God and spend less time caught
in the turmoil of this life. The church as a whole is obsessed with the word
revival but if we ever got things right the first time -- we wouldn't need to be
revived.
The key verse comes from the onset
of sin into this world and the initial reaction from the first human sinners --
Adam and Eve. Within this one verse are three lessons of what sin does to us in
relation to God and how the enemy has used these things masterfully against us
right up until today. The first thing that sin does is it brings fear into our
being. In the verse above we see Adam saying to God -- "I was afraid." Mankind
was not designed for fear beloved. Prior to eating the fruit, Adam walked in
the Garden with God. We were made to be in close communion with God. There never
was any fear in the design of God. Scripture supports this:
For
God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and
self-discipline. -- 2Timothy 1: 7 (NLT)
If God did not give us the spirit
of fear -- guess who did. Not only has Satan given us this sense of fear and
dread but he has wielded it masterfully against mankind since the Garden. Currently
over 40 million Americans are diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, costing this
country 42 billion dollars per year in healthcare costs. If you trace it back
it all returns to these words from Adam to God -- I was afraid. God did not make
Adam that way, nor the 40 million Americans who suffer from anxiety. His Spirit
provides the opposite of fear. It is our sin that makes us fearful and the enemy
uses it against us powerfully.
Secondly, sin introduced shame into
our being. Once again, man was not designed to be ashamed. They walked in the
Garden naked but did not even realize that they were. Once they sinned however,
they became cognizant of their nakedness and Adam even says to God in the key
verse that his initial fear was due to his nakedness. He decided to hide
because of his nakedness. This is what the sin nature does -- it drives a wedge
between you and God. It separates you from God. Sin is progressive in nature. It started with Adam feeling afraid, then he
recognized his nakedness, and then he decided to hide. There is a progression.
Listen!
The Lord 's arm is not too weak to save you, nor is
his ear too deaf to hear you call. It's your sins that have cut you
off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen
anymore.
Your hands are the hands of murderers, and your fingers are filthy with
sin. Your lips are full of lies, and your mouth spews corruption. -- Isaiah 59:
1-3 (NLT)
Our sins have cut us off from God.
We have redemption through Christ to be forgiven but sin still ultimately
separates us from God, even on a daily basis. The enemy uses this because the
further away we are from God, the less effective we will be for the advancement
of His kingdom.
Lastly, sin makes us think we can
fool God. The key verse tells us that Adam tries to hide from God. Can you
imagine? When God calls out asking where Adam was it certainly was not because
He didn't know. God knew exactly where Adam was but He wanted to see if Adam
knew where Adam was. Today, God knows exactly where you are as well. He does
not lose sight of you beloved. But we think that we can fool Him don't we? We
think we can dabble in sin here and there and it is no big deal. King Saul
thought he could keep the choicest plunder in direct disobedience to God and
get away with it. He had a religious excuse of wanting to offer sacrifices to
God. God was not fooled. King David thought that he could commit adultery and
murder and get away with it. David had worldly power as his excuse but God was
not impressed. King Solomon took 700 wives and 300 concubines despite God
specifically warning him not to. Eventually these relationships would drag his
heart away from the Lord and to their false gods. Solomon may have indeed had
societal excuses such as marrying kingdoms together for peace. God was not
fooled.
It does not matter what our excuses
are -- we too cannot hide from God. We can try! We can hide behind false piety
and religion like Saul. We can hide behind our position within the world like
David did. We can hide behind the norms or logic of this world like Solomon
did. But God knows exactly where we are -- the only question is if we do. Beware
tickling theologies that seek to minimize that which separates us from God. Do
not ignore that which carries with it a cost that we will never want to pay.
Rev. Anthony
