I spent the two weeks last October trying to correct the cooling system in my car. I had a few cases of overheating. After changing the radiator fan motor, twice, I thought that it should have resolved the issue. I discovered that the coolant was leaking so I took it to a mechanic and he sealed the water pump housing from where we noticed that the coolant was flowing.
When he brought back the car, he came out of the driver’s seat and I took his place. However, just as he was going to enter the car he paused and asked me to drive forward—he was smelling coolant.
By this time, I am deeply frustrated. However, we went back to the mechanic shop. We placed it on the stand for inspection and noticed the leak, he then took off the water housing–again. He looked at the place where the silicone, that was applied earlier, and still, couldn’t find the problem.
After about five different persons examined the housing, his apprentice came up and looked once on it and noticed the problem. What was it? A tiny hole on the side of the housing—all most the size of a pencil’s point. What?! Unbelievable. This was releasing the liquid when the heat built pressure in the water pump housing.
Little things can really create discomforts in life and make otherwise simple issues even more frustrating to deal with.
Sin is a similar nuance that we face. From the days of Adam and Eve’s failure, sin has been pretty much like the pea in the fairy tale of the “princess and the pea”. The source of our discomforts is as a result of Sins. According to Romans 5:12 “…sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned.” Ekkhardt Mueller states: “Although it is common to deny the reality of sin, it can be seen everywhere. It is manifested on a large scale in wars, “ethnic cleansing,” terrorism, oppression of and crimes against other nations, cultures, or people,…”[1]
We are often times subjected to persistent discomfort because of its negative consequences. Therefore, this should make us mindful that sin, though it started small, has led to big problems, when cherished, despite its ‘size’, it has dire consequences and there is only one remedy.
When God warned Adam and Eve in the garden “not [to] eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” Genesis 2:17 This was not an attempt to rob them of liberty but to create a protection from the deadly consequences of disregarding God’s protective boundaries—His laws. It was a simple, yet straightforward command, but according to the scriptures the features of the temptation posed a challenge that overwhelmed the beguiled woman and eventually the man. In the words of the Bible: “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.” Genesis 3:6 NIV
There is the problem, and a problem that we still struggle with today, sin is often packaged in a form that is very appealing. To the drunkard, it is the smell and sight of the wine; to the adulterer, it is the appearance of a woman or man; to the thief, it is the value of what is presented before him—put simply, every sin has a catch. For Eve it was the advancement of knowledge, the appeal to appetite and the pleasantness to the eyes.
God, in that crisis situation, unfolded to the first couple what would happen as a result of their failure. According to Genesis 3:16-18:
“Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire [shall be] to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed [is] the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat [of] it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field.”
That is a lot to assimilate you might say, however, in the simplest way, it was a promise of pain, inequality, excess of the burden of labour, in order to survive and great inconveniences in our interaction in the natural world—“thorns and thistles” will sometimes stick us on our journey.
Sin, from what we have looked at so far, is no small matter really. Both the Old and New Testament had a lot to say about it. The Apostle Paul and John wrote: “For the wages of sin is death” , and “We have all sinned”… “Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.” Romans 6:23; 3:23 & 1 John 2:4 NIV These are just a few of the four hundred (400) times that the word sin is used in the entire Bible.
There are two characteristics of sin that must be considered among these multiple references: (1) sin is slavery and (2) separation from God. The Apostles have something to say on the matter of sin’s slavery: According to John 8:34: “Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.” This is hereby suggesting th the man who has surrendered his life to a wrong-doing is a servant of it. Paul continues: “Do you not know that when you offer yourselves as obedient slaves, you are slaves to the one you obey, whether you are slaves to sin leading to death, or to obedience leading to righteousness?” Romans 6:16 and Peter add “They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves to corruption. For a man is a slave to whatever has overcome him.” 2 Peter 2:19
Not only does sin enslaves, it also creates a gap between us and God. Jesus, speaking of the true essence of sin and the need for the Holy Spirit to convict, puts forward the fact that it is a sin not to believe in Him; in John 16:9 he says: “Of sin, because they believe not on me”. (see also Genesis 3). One wise counsel from James is to: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.” James 4:7-8 As human beings, especially those between adolescent to adults, we like to brag about our independence and liberty. What is usually valued in this case is, the freedom to “do whatever I want to do.” To some extent that is true; we are at liberty to do and say whatever we want because, we have a the freedom of choice given to us by God (see Deuteronomy 30:19). However, all choices have consequences, so complete liberty must be measured by the power to make choices that are more beneficial to our overall wellbeing, as approved by God, and living life “more abundantly” (John 10:10). Liberty, therefore, is to be free from the dictates of sin or, more directly, bad habits. The chains of sin can stifle and imprison our potentials.
Sin not only become our master and brings about a human-divine separation, it also wreaks havoc in the natural world. The most obvious devastating impact is death. Romans 6:23 emphatically states that “…the wages of sin [is] death.” Paul, again, in Romans 5:12 says, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” The natural world has suffered as a result of man’s first blunder also. You see, when Adam and Eve sinned, not only did they started the process of dying, but the planet began to reel from the consequences of man’s failures. If you are paying attention to the environmental news, it would indicate that the “earth [is waxing] old like a garment” Isaiah 51:6 (See also Isa. 24:20; 51:6; Jer. 12:4; and Hosea 4:1-3). Earthquakes, famines, pestilence, earthquakes (see Matthew 24). Human beings and nature have all been impacted.
Indeed, while the whole world has been impacted by sin and has caused tremendous separation and there is really only one solution to the problem. The Bible, records a dramatic encounter at the River Jordan, when John the Baptist saw Jesus coming he declared: “Behold the Lamb of God “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” John 1:29 Indeed it was a powerful declaration, that summarized the ministry of Jesus Christ in the flesh (see John 1:1-2,14). This pronouncement was true, as it was confirmed by Jesus himself in the book of John 3:16,17: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” You see we cannot be redeemed by our means, obedience or by any other power on Earth, except “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12 In Christ we find our source of hope and according to Peter, we are redeemed with a priceless ransom: “It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.” 1 Peter 1:19 NLT Simon, a sorcerer, after seeing the evidence of the Apostles’ accomplishments and the power of the Holy Spirit wanted to purchase the “gift”, however, Peter rebuked him: “And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money,
(8:22) Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.” Acts 8:18, 22 There is only one way out of the sin condition and that is through the precious blood of Jesus Christ.
Who would tell that a small miscalculation of judgment, would have led to the chaotic worldwide situation that we are now living in and would have required such a remedy—the death of the “only-begotten of the Father” (John 1:14). Christ stripped Himself of the glory he had “before the foundations of the world” (John 17:5) and became a servant for us and died on Calvary’s cross to save us from sin (see Philippians 2:5-11).Sin has caused big problems and if we cling to it then we are doomed to be trapped by its influences and ultimate consequence—death. Unlike the little hole in the water housing of car’s engine, I am not sure what caused it, sin is our fault because our first parents messed up and we carry the costs. According to Paul, “We have all sinned” (Romans 3:23) It, therefore, behoves us to let go of any sin that we may cherish and claim the grace of Jesus Christ. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” 1 John 1:9
[1] Ekkhardt Muller, “Sin—An Outdated Concept?”, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventist Biblical Research Institute, https://adventistbiblicalresearch.org/sites/default/files/pdf/Sin%20an%20outdated%20concept_0.pdf (Accessed: May 28, 2017)
Preserved for A Purpose 