Sin and Its Consequences
Day 11
by Gini Crawford, MSW
When sin entered the world
God told Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. There were many edible trees in the garden for them to eat from, but it's obvious they had to eat from the one that God warned them about. Eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil bought evil and death into our world that only had good in it. Evil/bad hit our world immediately. Evil is the opposite of good and is explained by words such as wicked, immoral, hurtful, painful, unhappy, inferior, adversity, confusion, and fearful. Have you ever thought about how the world would be with only good in it?
Now the serpent...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. 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." The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you...I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." Genesis 3:1-15 ESV®
Genesis chapter three very clearly shows God's love. I believe it was God the Son, Jesus in the garden with Adam and Eve when the consequences of the first sin grabbed a hold of them. They were pretty pathetic with figs leaves hanging off of them. They were also blaming God for their rebellion against Him. As you know, God could have destroyed them in His anger, but instead He showed them His unconditional love, mercy and patience. Jesus also out of love gives them the first promise of salvation in Genesis 3:15. (Salvation means deliverance and being saved from.) It is the promise of Jesus' willingness to step out of eternity to become a descendant (seed) of theirs and deliver them and us from the consequences of sin.
What are your feelings about Jesus from Genesis three?
Sin brings punishment
Sin in a general sense is like disobeying any human law - there is a consequence. You steal something, your punishment will probably be some jail time. Sin brings punishment too because you are disobeying God's laws.
The punishment for sin is death and eternal punishment. Romans 6:23a says, "For the wages of sin is death… " The meaning of death in this verse is both physical death and spiritual death. We all know what physical death is, but the idea of spiritual death is confusing. This is because it is something we can't see in a concrete sense, but God surely can. After death we will face eternal punishment in hell. Do you know that God did not create hell for us? In Matthew 25:41 Jesus states that hell was prepared for the Devil and his angels. God never wanted us to die (Ezekiel 18:32) and go to hell but to be with Him. Paul (who wrote many of the books in the New Testament) explains eternal punishment in 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9,
...inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might. 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 ESV®
What are your thoughts on sin bringing punishment?
God being holy means He is completely separated from sin and evil; He is absolutely pure. He is the standard of holiness and without Him we can’t be holy. God’s holiness can’t tolerate sin, so He can do no less than punish it. (Leviticus 10:1-3; 1 Samuel 2:2; Psalm 5:4). Holiness and sin are exact opposites. So, it makes sad sense that our sin separates us from God, which is spiritual death. (Isaiah 59:1–2).
God's holiness and our sin present an awful problem because God loves us and wants to be with us. He does not want you to be dead to Him. God also doesn't want to punish you. How will God solve the problem of His holiness that seems to conflict with His love?
Jesus Christ is God's answer! Jesus Who is perfectly holy and hates sin with His whole being, willingly out of love took our sins upon Himself when He died on the cross, hence taking our punishment upon Himself. This allows all who believe in Jesus – the Holy One - to be set free from the power and punishment of sin, and as a result we are made holy and reconciled to God. We can only be holy through Jesus Christ, but never on our own because of sin. (Mark 1:24; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 1:3-4; Colossians 1:20-22; 2 Timothy 1:9; Revelation 1:5b).
What does God being holy mean to you?
Life Application
Who do you listen to - yourself or God
To ponder: Adam's and Eve's perfect relationship with God, who created and loved them, was shattered because they listened to their own reasoning. The fruit that looked so good and delightful, and seemed such a wise thing to eat, turned out to be the opposite of what they were hoping for. They thought that God was keeping something good from them, to be mean I guess, but they realized quickly God was really loving them through His one command. Can you relate? I can.
We can all be misled by our own reasoning. The chocolate donut or fried chicken you had to eat even though your doctor said no. The expensive dress or house you couldn't afford, but thought you deserved it. The friendship you think is fine, but it has only brought you down. The unforgiving or bitter attitude that you think you have every right to have, even though it hurts relationships. The interesting but hurtful gossip or slander you passed around even through it felt wrong. The lie you believed that negatively affected your marriage, job, and relationships. I think you understand my point, if we only listen to our own reasonings, the desirable thing or attitude we choose, can end up being the fruit of rottenness in our lives. If we listen to God through His Word, we will get exactly what we yearn for - life abundant (John 10:7-11).
Do you listen to God and His Word? Read Psalm 1 and 23. Looking at thest two passages, what verse encourages you the most?
Reflect on Ephesians 2:1-5.