Sin
is essentially rebellion and disobedience towards The LORD The God of Heaven.
It
is very important to note that we are personally responsible for the sins we
commit; we cannot blame anybody else, including the devil (satan) for our sins.
This is because we have the freewill to choose which path and choices to make.
We
have the freewill to choose whom to serve; whether God (through Righteousness
and Holiness) or satan (sinful lifestyle).
Mankind
started a lifestyle of sin at the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve committed
sin by eating the forbidden fruit. This is well expounded in the book of Genesis
3:1-19 which states as follows: ‘“Now the serpent was more
crafty than any of the wild animals The LORD God had made. He said to the
woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,
but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of
the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” “You will not
certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat
from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to
the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She
also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes
of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed
fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his
wife heard the sound of The LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the
cool of the day, and they hid from The LORD God among the trees of the garden.
But The LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you
in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” And he said,
“Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I
commanded you not to eat from?” The man said, “The woman you put here with
me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Then The LORD God said
to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent
deceived me, and I ate.” So The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have
done this, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will
crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will
put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he
will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” To the woman he said, “I
will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will
give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule
over you.” To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit
from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed
is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all
the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you
will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your
food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you
are and to dust you will return.”’
Therefore,
this brings us to the definition of the word: Sin. Sin as we have just read in
Genesis 3:1-19 is an act of disobedience to God’s commandment (s) and direction:
The ways and the requirements of The LORD. So, any action, thinking or plan
that goes against the commandments and direction of The LORD God Almighty, The
LORD Jesus Christ and The Holy Spirit is: Sin.
1-Everybody
is singularly responsible for the sins they commit, no one can blame
their neighbour, colleagues or the devil (satan) for the sins they commit.
This
is because The LORD God Almighty has given mankind choices to make and through
this, He has also given us which direction to take and the commandments to
follow. Therefore, no one can turn and start saying: “You know what, the woman
(neighbour) you put here with me, she gave me some fruit (sin) from the tree
and I ate it (committed the sin)” OR no one can turn around and start saying: “The
serpent (the devil/satan) deceived me and I ate (sinned)”.
The
LORD did not thus tell the man and the woman that: “It's alright, I have now
realized that you are not responsible for this sin that you committed, I will
look for someone else to hold liable for this sin you committed!!!”. On the
contrary, The LORD rebuked everyone who had sinned and held each one
individually responsible for the sins they committed.
2-Committing
sin has got consequences. Anybody who commits sin is cast away from the
presence of The LORD and is thrown out, to be punished in pain, suffering and
darkness.
The
glory of The LORD covers those who are pure in heart and are walking in
Righteousness, Holiness, Truth, Wisdom and Complete Surrender to The LORD Jesus
Christ. But those who go astray and defile themselves by sinning can now no
longer be covered by the glory of The LORD; they are thus left exposed and
naked. This is well expounded in the book of Genesis 3:10-11 ‘“He
answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so
I hid.” And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the
tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”’
Punishment,
pain and darkness is a consequence of committing sin and this is also well
expounded in the book of Genesis 3:14-19 which we had read earlier, where the
man, the woman and the serpent (satan) had to bear the consequence of
committing sin.
King
David knew that the consequence of sin means being cast away from the presence
of The LORD, that’s why after he sinned with Uriah’s wife by committing
adultery with her, he went before The LORD in mourning and wailing, once the
prophet of The LORD Nathan had rebuked him for the sin he had committed. David
cried, mourned and wailed before The LORD saying: “Do not cast me
from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of
your salvation and grant me a willing Spirit, to sustain me.” (Psalm
51:11-12).
3-Committing
sin leads to one’s name being blotted (removed) out of the Book of life;
and so not allowed entry into God’s Kingdom in Heaven.
This
is well expounded in the book of Exodus 32:31-34 ‘“So
Moses went back to The LORD and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have
committed! They have made themselves gods of gold. But now, please forgive
their sin—but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written.” The LORD
replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book.
Now go, lead the people to the place I spoke of, and my angel will go before
you. However, when the time comes for me to punish, I will punish them for
their sin.”’
4-Committing
sin brings about a curse on someone’s life.
This
curse goes even from one generation to another. This is well expounded in the
book of Exodus 34:5-7 ‘“Then The LORD came down in the
cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, The LORD. And he passed
in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, The LORD, the compassionate and
gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining
love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not
leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for
the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”’
5-Those
who are committing sin are slaves of and to sin.
Sin
is their Master and they are held in bondage by being enslaved by sin, whose
patron is satan (the devil). That’s why The LORD warned Cain in the book
of Genesis 4:6-7 ‘“Then The LORD said to Cain, “Why are
you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be
accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it
desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”’
6-Committing
sin leads to destruction and perishing.
Anybody
who is in sin is on a path to destruction and perish, because The LORD God
Almighty is a Holy God and He hates sin and destroys all that is evil. That’s
why The LORD states it as follows in the book of Genesis 6:11-13 which
states as follows: ‘“Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and
was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the
people on earth had corrupted their ways. So God said to Noah, “I am going to
put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of
them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.”’
It
is very important to note that, as a result of sin, Sodom and Gomorrah were
destroyed, as expounded in the book of Genesis 19:24-25 which
states as follows: ‘“Then The LORD rained down burning sulfur on
Sodom and Gomorrah—from The LORD out of the heavens. Thus he overthrew those
cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities—and also
the vegetation in the land.”’
In
the same note, all that is evil and unclean will not enter the kingdom of The
LORD God Almighty in Heaven, they will in turn will not have their names
written in the book of life OR their names will be blotted out, and so they
will be cast out into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth forever and ever in Hell and the Lake of Fire forever and
ever. This is well expounded in the book of Revelation 20:14-15 which
states as follows: ‘“Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake
of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found
written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.”’
7-It
is very important to note that ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of
The LORD God Almighty, and thus require to be redeemed and restored back to The
LORD God Almighty.
Because
sin must be punished by death (for the wages of sin is death), The LORD God
Almighty sent His only begotten Son The LORD Jesus Christ to pay the ultimate
price for the sins of mankind, by dying on the cross, so that mankind can now be
redeemed and restored when they accept the sin offering given by The LORD God
Almighty: The holy, spotless and blameless Lamb of God Almighty; The LORD Jesus
Christ The Messiah/The Saviour.
Since
The LORD Jesus Christ was sent to the earth by The LORD God Almighty as a sacrifice
to atone for the sins of mankind, Isaiah foresaw this and described it very
eloquently under the inspiration of The Holy Spirit in the Book of Isaiah
53:2-12 which states as follows: ‘“He grew up before him
like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or
majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire
him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar
with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we
held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet
we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was
pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the
punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and
The LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and
afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the
slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his
mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation
protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the
transgression of my people he was punished. He was assigned a grave with the
wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was
any deceit in his mouth. Yet it was The LORD’s will to crush him and cause him
to suffer, and though The LORD makes his life an offering for sin, he will see
his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of The LORD will prosper in
his hand. After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be
satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will
bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and
he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto
death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.”’
So,
all those that want (desire) to be redeemed and restored back to The LORD God
Almighty must accept the sin offering of The LORD God Almighty: The LORD Jesus
Christ The Messiah/The Saviour.
Redemption
and Restoration through Repentance for the forgiveness of sins through the
Blood of The LORD Jesus Christ, and thereby taking to the path of Righteousness,
Holiness and Wisdom before The LORD The God of Heaven.
This
is well summarized in the book of John 3:16-21 which states as
follows: ‘“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only
Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For
God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the
world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does
not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name
of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world,
but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for
fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes
into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has
been done in the sight of God.”’
SHALOM!!!
REPENTANCE PRAYER:
Precious
Jesus,
I
acknowledge today that you are LORD and Savior of all mankind,
and
today I have recognized my shortfall,
I
Repent and turn away from all Sin
Please
cover me with your Precious Blood,
and
establish your Word in my life,
that
I may be found in Righteousness and Holiness
and
write my name in your Book of Life
and
Baptize me with the Power of The Holy Spirit
in
The Mighty Name of Jesus Christ
AMEN.
Your
Brother in Christ Jesus, and a Shepherd of The LORD,
Kevin Mirasi