For all have sinned
and come short of the God's glory"
Romans 3:23
"The wages of
sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our
Lord." Romans 6: 23
After the Fall, the
earthly paradise that God created for Adam and Eve was no more. Instead of fruit falling off the vine, Adam was cursed to scratch his food from a
hard and unforgiving wilderness, full of thorns, thistles, and hardships.
Instead of an idyllic love affair between man and woman, the first couple was
cursed with marital strife. Adam lorded
over Eve, while she endured unrequited desire.
Their lives were a
mess.
Sin does that to
us. Our own failings cause us to fall
into lives that are less than what God has planned. We struggle against nature, against each other, and against God
himself.
The situation after
the Fall reminds me of a kids' game of stickball in a lot in the neighborhood
sandlot. One kid hits a long fly ball
right out of the sandlot, right into one of his neighbor's picture window. The ball breaks through the glass and lands
on an expensive glass-topped table, standing in the middle of a living room on white carpet. On the table
is a large bottle of ink. The glass breaks, the table breaks, and the ink
spills on the white carpet. Anyone who
observes this disaster will immediately make two conclusions.
The first is this--somebody has to clean this up. The longer the
ink flows out, the worse the mess gets.
The second is this--somebody has to pay.
In order to get the room
back to what it was, it will cost a pretty penny. Whoever hit that ball will have to cough up some serious money!
The same two
conclusions become immediately apparent when we read the story of the
Fall. First, something had to be done to
keep sin from ruining the whole of creation.
God took immediate action. He removed Adam and Eve from Eden, so they
would not eat of the Tree of Life and live forever in such a messed-up
condition. Then He removed the serpent
from Adam and Eve from him with a wall of hostility. He gave them families, civilizations, laws
and religion to keep sin from completely wrecking everything. But no matter how we tried, we cannot keep
sin from spreading. We can only slow the effects of sin, we cannot remove them.
Second, someone had
to pay, so God paid for sin Himself. If ever the world were to return to its
original intended state, payment had to be made, and reconstruction began. So God introduced a plan the would eventually
lead to the reversal of sin's effects.
God created a nation
from a man named Abraham (Genesis 12).
He revealed Himself to them f
through mighty acts of power. This
nation was given a special relationship with God, but even they failed to keep
God's commandment. But one day in God
Himself appeared in their midst in the form of a baby, growing to manhood and
sacrificing Himself for all the people. He paid for our mistakes with His
blood, so the power of sin could be reversed. Jesus Christ paid the price for sin once and for all, so the effects of
sin could be reversed.
Sin had a price,
fortunately for us God has already paid it.
"Thank you
Jesus, for your immeasurable gift. Help me to remember this day that there is
nothing I need to do to find peace with God, except to trust in the payment You
have already made. Amen"
