Jesus came into the world to deal with sin
A. The reason Jesus came into this world to die for us.
1. Essentially, and primarily, Jesus came to deal with 2 great problems: Sin and death. Rom 8:1-2.
2. They are interlinked. Sin led to death.
3. But the main problem is sin.
4. See Matt 1:25
B. WHAT IS SIN?
1. Sin is any deviation from God’s perfect standards of righteousness.
2. It includes actions, words, and thoughts.
C. THE REALITY IS: WE ALL HAVE SINNED
1. Everybody is a sinner as a result of the sin of Adam.
2. Nobody is righteous or good in God’s eyes.
3. When it comes to the topic of sin, some people try to justify themselves by saying, “at least I’ve never killed anyone or cheated on my spouse.”
4. But Jesus does not accept these excuses.
5. In the Sermon on the Mount, he teaches that anger is just as bad as murder and lust is just as bad as adultery.
6. Sin is sin...and has harsh consequences.
D. IT IS IMPORTANT FOR US TO RECOGNIZE THAT WE HAVE SINNED AGAINST GOD.
1. In recognizing this we can then seek and receive His forgiveness.
2. One of the main arguments of Paul in the letter to the Romans was to show that all men are sinners, in order that he might emphasize the truth of Christ’s mission as the universal Saviour.
3. Listen to his conclusion: “We have before proved that both Jews and Gentiles are all under sin” (Rom. 3:9). “There is no difference: for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (vss. 22-23).
E. WE SIN ALL THE TIME
1. James says: If you know to do good and do it not, it is sin (4:7).
2. Many who claim to have no sin need to examine themselves in the light of God’s word.
a. Do I love God with all my heart?
b. Do I love my neighbour as I love myself?
3. Sin is breaking God’s laws by doing things contrary to his laws (sins of commission).
a. Sin is breaking God’s laws by failing to do what he requires (sins of omission).
b. Sin is also mistreating others.
c. Numbers5: 5-6 says: The Lord said to Moses, “say to the Israelites: ‘any man or woman who wrongs another in any way … is unfaithful to the lord (and) is guilty (before Me).
4. All these are sins that offend God. Gossip...slander...anger...stealing...lying...betrayal...thinking evil thoughts towards others...judging people without first judging yourself...not helping others when you have the capacity to.
5. Sin goes contrary to God’s nature. God is:
a. Holy
b. Love
F. WHAT ARE THE GREATEST SINS?
1. Before coming to Christ, the greatest sin is rejecting or ignoring Christ
2. After being saved some of the greatest sins are probably:
a. Spiritual apathy...lukewarmness…compromise. Rom 12:1
b. Sexual sin. Paul says it’s the only sin against your own body, and your body has become the temple of the Holy Spirit.
G. SIN HAS DIRE CONSEQUENCES. And in looking at these we will discover why God hates sin:
1. SIN DESTROYS
A. It destroyed harmony and union with God
1. Man became separated from a God because of sin.
2. Man became spiritually dead. Eph 2:1-3.
3. The Spiritual Life God wanted them to have was ripped away because of sin
4. The physical life God wanted for man was destroyed
5. Rom 6:23 says “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23, NIV)
B. It destroyed the well-being of mankind.
1. In Genesis we see that sin caused the fall of man
2. It caused the first fight between brothers, and resulted in the death
3. It caused the Flood
4. It resulted in Sodom and Gomorrah being destroyed by God
5. Sodom and Gomorrah’s destruction and the Flood took place before the law.
6. A loving God destroyed the earth. Because of sin. Particularly sexual perversion and violence.
7. Don’t let anyone tell you that now that you’re a Christian sin doesn’t matter because of grace
8. Don’t let them deceive you by saying that God does not mind your sin.
9. Remember Ananias and Sapphira we saved and under grace, and God still struck them down because of their sin. Acts 5:1-11.
10. Paul says that even though we are set free from the law, we must not use our freedom to indulge in sin. Gal 5:13; 1 Pet 2:16.
C. The Bible warns us about sin – even in the New Testament!
1. Hebrews 2:1-2 says: We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. 2 For since the message spoken through angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, 3 how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation?
2. Hebrews 3:10-12 says: That is why I was angry with that generation; I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.’ So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ 12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.
3. Hebrews 4:11 says: Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.
4. Hebrews 6:1-12
5. Hebrews 10:26-29 says: If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?
6. Hebrews 12:1 …let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles...
7. Hebrews 12:14-16 says: Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. 16 See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau…
8. Hebrews 13:4-5 says: Marriage should be honoured by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money…
9. Paul’s view of sin
a. Rom.1:18-20; 2:21, 26-32; Gal.5:19-21; Col.3:5-6; 1 Tim.1:9-10; Eph. 5:3-7, 18; 2 Cor. 12:20
b. Rom 11:22
10. Jesus’ view of sin
a. Matt 5:22, 28, 29, 32; 25:45-49
b. John 8:11; 5:14.
D. God has always hated sin.
1. In Lev 10.....When Nadab and Abihu Aaron’s sons offered strange fire…
2. Prov. 8:13 To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behaviour and perverse speech.
3. Psalm 34:16 The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to blot out their name from the earth.
4. Rev 21:8
E. Some people object.
1. Some say that all these things God did was harsh – Sodom, the Flood, Ananias etc.
2. But they only say that because they don’t realise how evil sin is. And how holy God is.
3. Sin is rebellion against the character of a God.
4. Sin is an offence to the holiness of God.
5. Sin is in opposition to love.
6. Sin always hurts others in some way or other.
F. God is a consuming fire.
1. See Deut 4:24 (and Heb 12:29): God is a consuming fire. He is a jealous God.
2. God is loving and kind, but he’s also a consuming fire
3. He wants a Holy people...He wants a consecrated people...He wants a people devoted to him
4. And a people not devoted to Him are devoted to sin...that’s the alternative
5. And being a servant to sin means that the enemy has access to your life and God does not want that for you.
6. He created you.
7. He shed His blood for you.
8. He is the only one who deserves access and Lordship over your life.
9. Sin destroys the innocent
10. Sin destroys your innocence, and ruins your life
G. Your sin is being recorded.
1. The Bible says our sins are being recorded.
2. And recorded before a perfect, holy God who sees all things, hears all things and knows even the secrets of your heart.
3. We used to sing that song: You cannot hide it from God...you may cover your sins that the world may not see, but you cannot hide it from God. It’s true.
4. There is a record being made as we go about our daily lives.
5. Even in church. How we give. What we give. How we worship. What we say.
6. Psalm 56:8 says that God even records our tears.
7. Mal 3:16 speaks about The Book of Records....The Book of Remembrance...
8. Moses talks about this book in Ex 32:32
9. Jesus made reference to this book in Matthew 6:20: Store up treasures in heaven.
10. Whatever is done on earth is forever recorded in heaven.
H. We will all give an account to God.
1. 2 Cor 5:9-10: So, we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
2. Dan 7:10: A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened.
3. Rev 20:15 and the books were opened, and anyone whose name was not recorded in the Lambs book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
2. Sin not only destroys, SIN ENSLAVES. This is another reason why God hates sin.
A. Once you indulge in a particular sin
1. The desire for that sin usually increases
2. And often gets to a point where you cannot break free. It becomes a habit
4. Just think about how people become addicted to things like: pornography, masturbation, dishonesty, gossip etc. It starts off as a casual pastime.
B. If we are wise
1. We will not watch some things that are on TV
2. We will refrain from reading certain magazines
3. We will resist watching certain movies
4. We will not frequent certain places
5. We will avoid certain company
6. And be careful with the internet
C. Jesus said in John 8:34: Whoever sins is a slave to sin.
See also: Rom 6:6, 16-22; Gal 3:22.
D. Then we start making excuses for our sin
1. We start justifying it
2. We even find scriptures to support it. For example, the person addicted to alcohol says: Jesus turned water into wine.
3. In so doing the person twists the Scriptures to satisfy their carnal lusts.
4. And they thus heap a greater sin upon their lives, and are in danger of a more severe judgement upon their lives.
5. The apostle Jude 3-7 warns us about this:
Dear friends … I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. 4 For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality...
5 … I want to remind you that the Lord at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.
3. Sin destroys, sin enslaves and thirdly, SIN SPREADS.
This is yet another reason why God hates sin.
A. Through one man sin came into this world, and death by sin. Death has now come to all men.
B. Genesis is partly an account of how evil spread into the world.
1. Adam to Cain. Disobedience to defiance to death.
2. The circumstances surrounding the flood. Genesis chapter 6 gives four reasons why God sent the Flood:
a. 'The wickedness of man was great in the earth' (v. 5).
b. 'Every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually' (v. 5).
c. 'The earth was filled with violence' (v. 11).
d. 'The earth...was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth' (v. 12).
3. We see something similar with Sodom and Gomorrah. There was great perversion there. God destroyed these places with fire.
4. The story of Joseph is a beautiful story, particularly the help he provides and the reconciliation with his brothers. But the brothers treat Joseph is pure evil. Here the sin of jealousy takes center stage.
5. It’s the same reason, incidentally, that Cain killed Able and the Pharisees killed Jesus.
C. Take a look at Jesus words in Mark 8:15
1. “Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.”
2. Yeast spreads throughout the dough. It’s affects the whole batch.
3. Sin spreads.
4. Jesus is warning us against the expansion of evil.
5. Sin grows. It enlarges its sphere of influence.
6. Jesus was teaching us about discernment and the possibility of being misled.
D. The Pharisees
1. Their sin was that of hypocrisy (Clarified in Luke 12:1)
2. They pretended to be something they were not
3. They boasted about how righteous they were because they adhered to outer man-made rules, yet inside they had no reality
4. They claimed to know God’s ways but were arrogant and proud
5. They said they cared about the people when all they cared about was themselves and their well-being.
E. Herod
1. His sin was also hypocrisy.
2. He was living in adultery, but he was supposed to be a leader setting an example of morality
3. His main sin was lust and sexual license.
4. In Mark 6:20 we read that he respected John the Baptist, even feared him. He believed John to be a Holy man. And he loved to listen to John.
5. Yet beheaded him!
6. He loved to hear the word and yet did not want to do the word.
7. Jesus warns his disciples against the yeast of Pharisees and Herod.
8. He warned them that they could be misled and become like them.
F. We are warned
1. Paul says in 1 Cor 10:12: He who thinks he stands must be careful lest he falls.
2. “Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God” (Romans 8:8, NIV).
H. SIN IS THE GREATEST PROBLEM WE HAVE ON PLANET EARTH.
1. It is sin that causes pain and suffering, wars and disease.
2. It is sin that causes death.
3. The consequence of sin is eternal separation from God in hell.
4. Sin must be dealt with, or it will separate us from God forever.
5. Whether we like it or not, humanity is in bondage to sin.
6. The first step in dealing with our sin problem is admitting
a. Our sin has separated us from God
b. We need the Savior to rescue and redeem us.
7. The Bible tells us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23, NKJV), but “the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23, NKJV).
I. THAT BRINGS US TO THE SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM.
1. The Cross
2. The only way we can be reconciled to God is through the cross, where Jesus shed His blood as a sacrifice for our sins.
3. When we repent of our sins, receive Christ and accept Him as our Savior, He forgives our sins and rescues us from death and hell.
4. Once we accept Him as our Savior and Lord, we are no longer slaves to our sinful nature.
5. We are spared from the punishment we deserve.
6. “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:1-2, NIV).
7. When we falter or fail, we can go to Him immediately in prayer to get forgiveness. 1 Jn 1:9.
J. The sacrificial offering in Leviticus was a type of Jesus.
1. Leviticus: they would lay their hands on the animal, and kill the animal
2. That act of laying their hands was:
a. An act of confession
1. Confession of their sin
2. Confession of their deserving of punishment. He acknowledged that he himself deserved death
3. Isa 53 The chastisement of our peace was upon him
4. Confession of their inadequacy to make atonement in and of themselves
b. Act of acceptance
1. Of God’s plan. That God is going to accept me because of the sacrifice another has made.
2. Of God’s Person. It is not the plan, but the person who saves.
3. A doctor attended to a patient once and wrote out a prescription. A week later he still was not well. The doctor asked: Have you taken my prescription. Yes, the patient said, I ate every bit of the paper you wrote on. But it’s not the written words. It’s what it points to. The Scriptures point us to Christ.
c. Act of transference
1. The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all
2. Who himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree
3. Christ was offered to bear the sins of many
4. They demonstrated their confidence in the sufficiency of the sacrifice
5. Some people believe in Christ and hope one day their sins will be forgiven
6. But you can be forgive today...you can be set free today
d. Act of identification
1. When the innocent creature was killed…the person was saying: I died....I paid for sin.
2. The offering was burnt as a sweet-smelling aroma. I am now a sweet-smelling aroma.
3. We are one accepted in the Beloved.
4. Who shall separate us from the love of God?
K. We have to lay our hands on Christ by faith
1. Christ alone is the mediator.
2. He who believes in him has everlasting life.
3. Jesus is the seed of Abraham.
Paul emphasizes that Jesus is the only true seed of Abraham. In Genesis 12:3, we see that all nations will be blessed through Abraham. That blessing that comes through Abraham only comes through Jesus. Abraham, we read in Romans 4:13, would be the heir of the world. The whole world will be blessed through Abraham. But that blessing of Abraham, we are told in Galatians, comes only through Christ, because Christ is the only true and genuine seed of Abraham. So, if one wants to escape the power of sin that we have looked at, one can only escape it by belonging to Jesus Christ. He is the true seed of Abraham.
L. God's mercy regarding the Flood is just as evident as His judgment
1. Seen in the fact that God provided a way of escape for those who were prepared to believe what He had said, heed the warning He gave, and avail themselves of the means of salvation which He provided by instructing Noah to build the Ark (Genesis 6:14-16).
2. Noah is described as 'a just man', 'perfect in his generations', who 'walked with God',7 and who 'found grace in the eyes of the Lord' (Genesis 6:8-9); he was also 'a preacher of righteousness' (2 Peter 2:5).
3. From this it is very reasonable to conclude that his messages, perhaps preached from the platform of the partially completed Ark, included warnings of the coming judgment and invitations to his listeners to avail themselves of the one means of escape, which he was constructing.
4. In the event, Noah and his family alone had regard to the wrath of God, and only eight people boarded the Ark in faith and were saved—Noah, his wife, his three sons, and their three wives.
5. Christ is that Ark, and He provides shelter from the wrath of God.
Today, you can find refuge from the wrath of God. That refuge is found in Christ.
