2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Friends,
A letter that I received was used by God to prompt me to meditate over a very difficult subject: sin, guilt, and God’s mercy. None of us likes to think about something as negative as sin, and yet, God demands that we must consider it’s ramifications on our lives. I remember having a student of mine complain at the beginning of a course I was offering on the book of Revelation, “why would you pick such a negative book to teach? It’s full of so much sin and death!” While it is true that there are many things in Revelation that are the stuff of nightmares to say the least, my student didn’t understand that Revelation is not only the consummation of all Godly prophecies, but it is also a heroic story of victory over sin for those who endure in their faith. I asked this student to trust me that going through the negative content of that book and sticking with this study would be worth it. I’m happy to tell you that by the end of the course my student saw why, coming away with a completely different perspective on it than the one had at the beginning of the course. God prompts me to make the same request of you to stick with me in talking about this topic. Looking at some of His perspectives from the Scriptures sheds light on His attitudes and teachings.
We all know that the reason we sin has its origins in GN 3: 6, the original sin of Adam and Eve. “The woman saw how beautiful the tree was and how good its fruit would be to eat, and she thought how wonderful it would be to become wise. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, and he also ate it.” Shortly thereafter, God pronounced judgment against the serpent (Satan) who was responsible for tempting the first people. GN 3: 14-15, “ Then, the Lord said to the serpent, ‘You will be punished for this; you alone of all the animals must bear this curse: From now on you will crawl on your belly, and you will have to eat dust as long as you live. I will make you and the woman hate each other; her offspring and yours will always be enemies. Her offspring will crush your head, and you will bite their heel.’ “ Because we are all descended from Adam and Eve, then we are all born in sin. While GN 3: 15, the Protevangelium, announces the conflict between good and evil that fills the pages of the Bible until the moment when Satan is finally cast into the lake of fire and sulfur [REV 20: 10, 14]. Yet, when you look more closely God’s ultimate love of mankind and mercy can be seen. Which one is more destructive, being bitten in the heel or having your head crushed? Do you see what I mean? If you were to stop at my statement about being born into sin without looking at the rest of the Scriptures to follow, our situation would seem very hopeless indeed. But, because we know about Christ’s Atonement, we know it isn’t.
In previous messages I have spoken about how necessary the shedding of blood is for there to be forgiveness. Look again at LV 17: 11 and HE 9: 22 to get God’s perspective on this. The first time I read GN 3: 23, I felt pretty hopeless. “So the Lord God sent him [Adam] out of the Garden of Eden and made him cultivate the soil from which he had been formed. God had no intention of leaving me with that lack of understanding. That’s why He put me in a one-year class on the book of Genesis and used a dear friend’s discovery of the underlying meaning of GN 3: 21 to put my understanding right. “An the Lord God made clothes out of animal skins for Adam and his wife, and He clothed them.” That was done just before He cast them out of the Garden. Look what those clothes were made of. An animal’s blood had to be shed to prepare those garments! My friend’s realization was the underlying promise God was making that mankind would eventually be provided with a way out from the consequences of sin.
These revelations are in no way an invitation to sin and not worry about it. As the citations in the next few messages will show, God provides a way out which we can only take if we are willing to responsibly assess our sin, repent from them, and then turn to faith in Christ. That faith is demonstrated by one’s level of obedience to the Father, obedience which is also a measure of one’s love for Him. God’s compassion for us and His desire to give us a chance to rid sin from our lives is shown throughout the Scriptures, and the limit of how much sin He will tolerate before taking punitive action is also made clear. Look at the early efforts made in dealing with the sin of murder in early Jewish society for instance. DT 19: 11-13 describes the establishment and rules for cites of refuge. “Divide the territory into three parts, each with a city that can be easily reached. Then a man who kills someone will be able to escape to one of them for protection. If a man accidentally kills someone who is not his enemy, he may escape to any of these cities and be safe. But suppose a man deliberately murders his enemy in cold blood and then escapes to one of those cities for protection. In that case, the leaders of his own town are to send for him and hand him over to the relative responsible for taking revenge for the murder, so that he may be put to death. DT 19: 18, “Show him no mercy. Rid Israel of this murderer, so that all will go well with you.” Early on, God made clear the difference between premeditated murder and that by accidental means. That is hardly the action of one without mercy.
Obviously, there is more to say on this topic. So hang in there with me, and I’ll have more on it tomorrow. In the meanwhile, join me in this prayer:
PRAYER: O Lord, even though we were born in a state of sin and were Your enemies, You loved us enough to have mercy on us. By studying Your Word, you reveal to us Your will that we should be given a way through Christ’s death on the cross to be forgiven. You know the content of our hearts. We approach You in humility to confess our sins and repent of them. Thank You most sincerely for making Your forgiveness available to us. In Christ’s name, amen.
Peter and I hope you are feeling the warmth of God’s loving presence in your lives today. We send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn