Sin Is Real

As a kid, like many children, I didn’t like getting in trouble. However, I liked doing the things that would get me in trouble. As a result, I would find myself having to “get creative” with explanations for what I was into. Many times, it was in relation to my brother, Sean, and how I was mistreating him. I was a Big Brother, and as a result, I didn’t always treat him the best. Most times, we were great, but other times, we were just not so good.

One fateful day, we were staying with my mother’s college roommate, Paula. Aunt Pot, as we know her, is a great woman. She and Mom always had an amazing time together, and she treated us like her own kids. One day, Paula’s son and I thought it would be a good idea to throw rocks at my brother. Again, we were kids and not so smart. Shockingly, this ended poorly, and my brother got hit in the head with one of those rocks. He took a small cut, but that small cut bled really well. When we got inside, my mom asked what happened. I told her we were all goofing off and Sean fell and hit his head. Immediately, Aunt Pot ripped into us. She watched the whole thing happen and was angry at the two of us for lying about it. My mom was even more angry. Needless to say, the rest of that day wasn’t nearly as fun, and the ride home was less than pleasant. It’s one thing to do something wrong, but it’s an entirely deeper thing when you lie to cover it up.

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 3:23

Sin is not a topic that many want to spend time talking about. It is, however,  one of the most important things that we must gain a better understanding of in our lives. We just celebrated the resurrection of Jesus yesterday. Why do we celebrate it? Because Jesus rose again and gave us the hope of eternity in Heaven with Him. Why did He have to rise though? Why did He have to die on a cross? Why did he have to suffer beatings, mockery, and an unfair trial? Sin. If there was no sin, there’s no need for the cross. Without sin, there’s no need for a savior. Without sin, we’re good to go. There would be nothing for us to fear. Walking the streets would never be a concern in any city. There would never be the fear of innocent children being murdered in the womb. Sexual ethics would be so simple to understand; one man and one woman. There would be no murder, no theft, no greed, and no jealousy. This earth would be the utopia that God designed it to be. The greatest loss of all? Without sin, we could walk in the presence of God every day.

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Genesis 2:15–17

When God created Adam, He was right there with Him. They talked. Do we even comprehend how amazing that is? Adam could carry on conversations with God. Adam was given free reign over the garden. He only had one thing he couldn’t do. Don’t eat fruit from this one tree. That’s it. Sounds pretty easy, doesn’t it? Well, as you probably have guessed, it didn’t go so well.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.  He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
Genesis 3:1–7

Adam and Eve were the epitome of innocence. They didn’t even realize they were walking around the garden naked, because there was no evil in their lives. Sexual perversion didn’t exist, and they were like small children in their view of each other. Satan took advantage of this and threw temptation their way. They fell for it and, in an instant, their minds were rewired to perversion. So how did they tell God about what had happened?

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Genesis 3:8–13

Two things happen here that we can probably identify with. When we have sinned, we usually do them; hide and blame. Again, Adam and Eve are the only people in history to have had the opportunity to walk and talk with God here on earth. They knew that God would be disappointed, so they hid. Obviously, this didn’t work. Then they began to blame others for their personal actions. Adam blames Eve. Eve blames the serpent. This is where we see the first byproducts of our sin. Separation and toil.

 To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.” And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Genesis 3:16–19

From here, Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden and the presence of God. God has no desire to be in the presence of Sin. He detests it. Because of this, man would never walk in the physical presence of God again. Only Moses was even given the opportunity to see the back of Jesus. Moses himself was a sinner. He wasn’t perfect. Therefore, he wasn’t able to look on God’s face. Sin separates us from God, and it simply makes life more difficult. 

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23

Sin comes with a cost. Death. It really is that simple. When we sin, death is to follow. We have disconnected ourselves from the source of life in God when we fall to temptation. How amazing is it that God knew we needed a lifeline and sent it in the form of His son, Jesus? As we celebrated yesterday, Christ took that sin that pulls us from God and eliminated it. Now we have hope, and that hope is eternal.