Sin is rebellion towards God. It comes in several forms:
disobedience, accusation, ignoring God. Sin has many
consequences. So often when people sin, they do not realize
how that sin impacts on them and on God. This paper is an
attempt to show, in detail, all of the effects of our sins.
** Firstly, sin has a most undesirable and even catastrophic
effect upon the sinner. Sometimes the person who is sinning
can feel the impact of his/her sin; sometimes this impact is not
felt. Understand this, however, whether this impact is felt or
not, IT STILL IS A REALITY.
A. MENTAL CONSEQUENCES
1. When we sin, we affect our conscience. This is what
is commonly known as guilt. We create feelings of
guilt. This can range anywhere from mild to
overwhelming. People have actually killed themselves
because they could not stand the guilt
that they felt for the wrongs that they have done.
a. This is not why God placed a conscience in each
one of us. He placed it there so that we could
and would recognize our problem and be driven to
do something constructive in dealing with that
problem. Without the remedy for Sin that God
has given us, however, this guilt can, and does, pile
up and overwhelm us. This guilt can produce all
kinds of side effects such as worry, fear, sadness,
a sense of loss, a sense of not being in control
of our own lives, despair, rejection, and much more.
** One of the consequences of sin, is GUILT!
B. PHYSICAL CONSEQUENCES
1. Sin will produce consequences. We are dealing with
physical consequences, here. Sin produces all
manner of diseases. Sexual sins produce sexually
transmitted diseases such as herpes, aids, hepatitis,
genital warts, and a long extended list. Other sins
cause the perpetrator to spend time in prison and/or jail.
Some sins can cause brain damage (alcohol abuse).
a. Sins can bring about some immediate physical
punishment....NOW! Smoking causes cancer.
Smokeless tobacco causes cancer of the mouth,
tongue, and throat. Some crimes can get you
killed or put in the hospital.
ALL SIN WILL PRODUCE BAD
PHYSICAL CONSEQUENCES
C. SPIRITUAL CONSEQUENCES
1. Certainly sin has spiritual consequences which affect the
person who is committing the sin(s). Sin will separate us
from our God. It deprives us from the eternal reward
that God has purchased for us.
** sin will bring spiritual death to any and all who refuse to change,
repent, and submit themselves in obedience to God and seek out the
remedy that God has given us.
1. Nobody will escape....God know how to punish the wicked,
and he knows how to reward the righteous.
a. II Peter 2:4-9 tells us that there are no exceptions to
this law of God.
II Peter 2:4-9 - 4For if God did not spare the angels who
sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into
chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; 5and did
not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight
people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood
on the world of the ungodly; 6and turning the cities of
Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to
destruction, making them an example to those who
afterward would live ungodly; 7and delivered righteous
Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked
8(for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented
his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing
their lawless deeds) 9then the Lord knows how to deliver
the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under
punishment for the day of judgment.
Heb. 2:2-3 - 2For if the word spoken through angels proved
steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience
received a just reward, 3how shall we escape if we neglect
so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken
by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard
Him.
Rev. 20:15 - 15And anyone not found written in the Book of
Life was cast into the lake of fire.
D. Through one man sin was brought about...through the blood of one
man (Christ, Jesus), we have been justified and set free from the
bondage of sin.
Rom. 5:12 - 12Therefore, just as through one man sin
entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death
spread to all men, because all sinned.
I Peter 3:21 - 21There is also an antitype which now saves
us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but
the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ,
E. Suffice it to say, YOUR SINS WILL AFFECT YOU IN
TERRIBLE WAYS! You will be affected physically...and more
importantly...you will be eternally condemned to a tormenting
place...a place that is designed for the devil and the fallen angels
who followed him.
1. God takes no pleasure in seeing His people punished in
hell.
Ezek. 33:11 - 11“Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God,
‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the
wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your
evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’
a. No...God takes no pleasure in seeing the wicked
punished, but understand this: ALL SINNERS WILL
BE PUNISHED! God’s word tells us quite
plainly that, “The wages of sin is death...” (Rom.
6:23).
II. The following information has a direct bearing on our third point....even
though it seems like I am completely off the subject....such is not the
case.....please bear with me.
A. I wish to discuss the being whom we know as Jesus Christ. Many
things have been taught about Him and some of what has been
taught is not correct. I wish to use the scriptures and the scriptures
only. We want to look at these scriptures in their proper context
(as we should consider ALL scripture).
1. We will try to determine, from the Bible...exactly who Jesus
Christ really was (and is).
John 1:1-3, 14 - 1In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in
the beginning with God. 3All things were made through
Him, and WITHOUT HIM...NOTHING WAS MADE
THAT WAS MADE. 14And the Word became flesh and
dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of
the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Col. 1:13-18 - 13He has delivered us from the power of
darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of
His love, 14in whom we have redemption through His
blood, the forgiveness of sins. 15He is the image of the
invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For by
Him all things were created that are in heaven and that
are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or
dominions or principalities or powers. All things were
created through Him and for Him. 17And He is before all
things, and in Him all things consist. 18And He is the head
of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead, that in all things He may have the
preeminence.
Heb. 1:1-2 - 1God, who at various times and in various ways
spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2has in
these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has
appointed heir of all things, through whom also HE MADE
THE WORLDS.
Eph. 3:9 - 9and to make all see what is the fellowship of the
mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been
hidden in GOD, WHO CREATED ALL THINGS
THROUGH JESUS CHRIST.
Gen. 1:26 - 26Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our
image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion
over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over
the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing
that creeps on the earth.”
B. Jesus Christ is the Son of God and is God. John 1:1 and
John 1:14 prove beyond any reasonable shadow of doubt that what
I have just pointed out is fact. Some would have Jesus Christ less
than God, but their arguments break down in the light of, in depth,
biblical study. Greek scholars agree that John 1:1 makes Jesus
Christ God...in all ways...to every degree...GOD.
1. Some may be willing to accept Jesus Christ as God, but they
are a little confused when it comes to placing Jesus Christ in
an equal position with God, the Father.
a. Perhaps some common, earthly things would help to
understand the concept a little better:
1.) We could think of the concept of God with the
idea of “species”. We are homo-
sapiens...they are GOD.....God...Son,
God...Father,God...Holy Spirit.
2.) Another way to help us understand the concept
is to regard the word, “God”, as their last name:
Father God, Son God, Holy Ghost God.
3.) Lastly...If I were to hold up a whole clove of
garlic and ask what I had in my hand, you would
say, “garlic”. If I were to hold up
a piece or wedge of garlic and ask what I held
in my hand, you would probably still say,
“garlic”. Whether a part or the whole...it is still
garlic.
C. There are three distinctly different parts to the Godhead.
These three distinctly different members of the Godhead have
three distinctly different roles to perform. We do not know
everything that there is to know about their roles, but we do
know this:
1. The Father has, to the best of our understanding,
NEVER COME OUT OF HEAVEN.
a. It seems to be He that directs the heavenly host.
2. The son seems to be the only member of the Godhead
that has ever BECOME A MAN.
a. Both the Son and the Holy Spirit have come to the
earth.
1.) The Son has come to preach, teach,
and to be the sacrifice for all humankind.
3. The holy Spirit has come at the request of the Son.
HE HAS COME TO COMFORT US; TO EMPOWER US;
AND TO BRING RIGHTEOUS THINGS TO OUR
MEMORY.
** Furthermore, we have already noted several passages which prove,
beyond the shadow of any honest doubt, that JESUS CHRIST
CREATED EVERYTHING!
1. The passages which were cited earlier show that even though the
Father and the Holy Spirit had input and agreement in all that was
created, it was the Son who actually implemented the plan. It was
the voice of the Son, therefore, that said, “Let there be light”. It was
the Son who actually did the act of “Creation”.
If this is the case, and it certainly is, Jesus Christ made the men
who were going to crucify Him. He made the tree that was to be
His cross. He made the ground in which the hole was dug to
receive the base of the cross. He made the iron ore which would be
turned into nails which were run through His wrists and ankles.
1. When the wicked people who stood beneath the cross and
tormented Christ said, "If you are the Son of God, come
down from the cross" (Matt. 27:40), they were actually
challenging the creator of the universe to come down from
the cross. I PRAISE THE GOD ABOVE THAT JESUS
WAS MEEK ENOUGH TO STAY ON THE CROSS!!
III. Now we will deal with the fourth and most important consequence of sin.
Sins have cost God, dearly. Our sins have demanded the death of
Jesus Christ on the cross. Christ did not do this because He was forced
to...but because He loved us so very much and only wanted good for us.
A. You see, it was this same Christ who placed us in the Garden of
Eden, originally. It was He who supplied every need and all the
wants (except one) of Adam and Eve. With all of this going for
mankind, the first man and woman introduced sin into this paradise
and defied God. That is...they defied Jesus Christ. God still loved
us and was willing to pay the full cost for getting us back.
1. Know clearly...there was a cost...a consequence, if you will.
He (Jesus Christ...the Creator...God) redeemed (bought us
back) with His own blood. This was in consequence of our
sins.
a. Jesus Christ emptied Himself of His God nature
and came to earth through the womb of a
woman, named Mary.
Phil. 2:5-8 - 5Let this mind be in you which was also in
Christ Jesus, 6who, being in the form of God, did not
consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7but made
Himself of no reputation (In the Greek, this says that
Christ....literally....emptied Himself), taking the form of a
bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8And
being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself
and became obedient to the point of death, even the death
of the cross.
John 3:16 - 16“For God so loved the world that He gave His
only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should
not perish but have everlasting life.
Luke 1:30-33 - 30Then the angel said to her, “Do not be
afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31“And
behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a
Son, and shall call His name Jesus. 32“He will be great,
and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God
will give Him the throne of His father David. 33“And He
will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His
kingdom there will be no end.”
** Our sins caused God to sacrifice greatly. The Father sacrificed
His son. This is something that God didn’t even require of man.
1. In actual fact....GOD FOBADE ANY HUMAN SACRIFICE!
a. He did require His own Son to be a human sacrifice.
B. Our sins caused God, the Son to give up His throne in heaven
(for a season) and take on the form of His very creation.
Not only that, but our sins caused His death on a cruel cross.
1. It was our sins that caused Christ to be beaten, by the Temple
Guard. They beat Him with rods which were about two
inches in diameter and about six feet long. The men wielding
these rods hated Christ and really wanted to hurt him badly.
a. Our sins were responsible for this unmerciful
beating of Jesus Christ.
2. The soldiers spit on Christ. They did not simply spit in His
direction, as some form of disdain. They spit,
repeatedly...full in His face! Again, it was your sins and my
sins that were responsible for this disgusting and humiliating
punishment.
3. The cat-o-nine-tails was the name of the wicked whip
devised to punish and torture Roman prisoners.
a. The man who wielded this device was a member of the
Roman army (he was called a, “lictor”). He did
nothing but whip prisoners. This man had a cruel heart
and a crueler aim. The only restriction on him was that
he must not kill the prisoner. He could bring him to the
brink of death and back (and did, on a regular basis),
but he could not kill the prisoner.
b. A little description of the cat-o-nine-tails: This whip
has nine leather strips that are about six feet long
each. Each strip has sharp things imbedded in it.
Bits of glass, bone, metal, and whatever else is at
hand.
1.) Jesus is striped naked and tied in a
spread eagle fashion in a doorway. His
hands are tied to two rings at the top of the
door and his feet are tied to two rings at
the bottom of the doorway. A depression
has been carved in the stone threshold of
the door (somewhat similar to a bowl). In
this container has been placed salt water.
The whip is dipped in this saltwater. When
it cuts open the flesh, it will cause more
excruciating pain as the salt works into the
muscles.
2.) As a string would wrap around your finger,
so the whip wraps itself around the body of
Jesus Christ. When the whip is pulled
upon, it will unwrap from that body, but
in the process, the bits of glass, metal, and
bone will rip and tear large pieces of
flesh and muscle from the body of Christ
each time the whip is laid across His body.
This torture will happen times nine (for
there are nine strips of leather).
a.) You and I have caused this to happen
with our sins. THERE WAS
ABSOLUTELY NO OTHER
REASON FOR THIS TO HAPPEN
TO CHRIST...BUT FOR THE FACT
THAT WE SINNED AND THIS WAS
A CONSEQUENCE OF THOSE
SINS!
b. Now the soldiers place a scarlet robe on the back of
Christ and mock Him. They curse and laugh and
torment the Creator of the universe. They continue to
spit on Him and punch Him in the face...over and over
again.
1.) Someone brings in some thorns. These thorns
are approximately two inches long and are as
hard as any nail. They plait (weave) these
thorns into a “crown” of mockery and place this
on His head. Another soldier takes a stick and
beats it down on the head of the one who loves
us so.
c. After some time has gone by...and the blood has dried
on to the cloak they rip it off of Him! This has to
have opened every wound, afresh.
d. When His clothes were put back on, He stood
before Pontius Pilate again. In His time before
Pilate, the crowd chose a murderer over Jesus.
1.) Our sins did that, you know. In a way, it is
a reflection of our acts of willful wickedness.
Did we not choose the things of self and the
devil over the Creator of the universe?
C. He was made to carry His cross to His execution. The
blood flowed down His face and down his body. The cross
probably was covered with His blood.
a. It was our sins which required all of this to happen. Nothing
was done haphazardly...God had required and planned out all
of this punishment.
1.) Christ was so weak that the Romans had to force
another man to finish carrying the cross the rest of the
way. This would certainly indicate just how much
blood loss and exhaustion there was in the body of
Jesus Christ, at this time.
b. Finally the Christ, the cross, and the crowd...made it to the
top of the hill called, “Golgatha” (which means the place of
the skull). Here Christ is stripped stark naked...HE WAS
STRIPPED NAKED AND PLACED IN PUBLIC
SHAME AS A DIRECT RESULT OF OUR SINS. He
was placed on his back on the cross and while soldiers held
Him down, massive spikes were driven through His wrists
and His feet. When He was finally fastened on the cross...the
soldiers raised it up and DROPPED IT INTO THE HOLE
THAT WAS PREPARED FOR IT.
1.) All of Christ’s weight was placed on those nails and
the agony must have been excruciating. But, you
see...it had to be thus. Our sins demanded this kind of
agony and torture.
D. The cross was an especially diabolical form of torture. It
worked in a cruel, but efficient way. A little step was
placed where the feet were. This was so that the person on
the cross could push himself up. The reason that he would
want to push himself up was because he would suffocate if
he didn’t push himself up.
1. You see, when a person is on the configuration of
the cross, he might want to sag down from pain and
exhaustion. If and when he did this, he would only be
able to breath in, but NOT be able to breath out. If
he stayed in this position for long, he would die.
2. When the Romans had their fun with the crucifixion,
they would break the condemned’s legs. This would
insure their immediate death. Sometimes they would
just let the condemned linger on the cross for days until total
exhaustion would insure that he would not be able to push
himself back up and would suffocate.
a. This was the form of torture that God deemed
necessary to deal with the consequences of our sins.
3. They did not break Christ’s legs, however, because He
died before it was necessary to. He died of a broken
heart, for you and me. He died because of our sins.
His side was pierced and His blood was shed for you and
me.
CONCLUSION:
You see, sin has consequences other than just disease, guilt,
physical and spiritual death.
A. Our sins have cost the life of our dearest friend. They have
caused God to take on the form of a human being and to be
put to a cruel death. He took upon Himself our guilt and
shame. By his stripes (beatings) we are healed. He was
despised and rejected of men. He tasted the hell that we
justly deserve; because of our sins.
Isaiah 53:3-7 - 3 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man
of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it
were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not
esteem Him.4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried
our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by
God, and afflicted.5 But He was wounded for our
transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The
chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His
stripes we are healed.6 All we like sheep have gone
astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the
Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.7 He was
oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His
mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a
sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His
mouth.
Phil. 2:5-8 - 5Let this mind be in you which was also in
Christ Jesus, 6who, being in the form of God, did not
consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7but made
Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant,
and coming in the likeness of men. 8And being found in
appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became
obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
Rom. 5:19 - 19For as by one man’s disobedience many were
made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will
be made righteous.
Heb. 5:8 - 8though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience
by the things which He suffered.
Heb. 2:16-18 - 16For indeed He does not give aid to angels,
but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. 17Therefore,
in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He
might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things
pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the
people. 18For in that He Himself has suffered, being
tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.
Heb. 9:27-28 - 27And as it is appointed for men to die once,
but after this the judgment, 28so Christ was offered once to
bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him
He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.
Sin may have physical consequences that will follow you to
the grave, but you can be free from the guilt of sin and of the
eternal and spiritual consequences of sin.
A. God has provided a remedy for sin.
1. This remedy is the blood of Jesus Christ.
a. Contacting this blood is necessary for the
forgiveness of your sins. ALL OF YOUR
SINS ARE WASHED AWAY WHEN YOU
CONTACT THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST.
There are many things that one must do before he/she
contacts that blood, but remember....your sins are all washed away at
the actual point in which you do contact the blood of Jesus Christ.
(some relevant passages - Rom. 6:16; Acts 22:16; Psalm 103:12;
Isaiah 1:18; John 3:5-6; Rom. 6:3-8)
