Do you work hard for what is yours?
Do you want to get all that you deserve out of life?
Do you believe that you are have accomplished more because you work harder?
I used to believe that I worked harder than most people around me and that my results were well deserved. If I worked hard at work, and got a promotion then that was what I deserved. If I worked hard on a project, then the completion of that project was what I deserved.
“All I want out of life is what I deserve.” Is that your motto? Be careful….
The Bible tells us that what we deserve is death. What we deserve for all of our efforts in life is death. That nothing short of death is just punishment for the sins we all commit against God. If we get everything from life that we deserve, then we would get immediate death and destruction. Last week we discussed in more detail that the nature of all sin is against God first (see Romans 3:23-24). These sins are part of our nature, and God tells that they need to be punished.
In Genesis 2:17 God tells Adam,
“…but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
In the day that you eat of it. This shows us the severity of sin. Imagine, what God was saying here is that sin is so egregious that the very same day you disobey me you deserve to die. The human race would have been incredibly short-lived if God did not have grace on Adam and Eve.
But God, in his infinite grace, passed over our sins so that He might provide a solution and that all might come to repentance. This creates a problem, and one that is noticed by many believers and non-believers alike. How can a just God allow sin to continue in this world? Pastor John Piper explains the problem this way:
God allowed for mankind to continue to live physically after sin, but instituted a lifespan for all of man. So we live in our sin with a final death sentence but continue to feel the effects of a future death.
Romans 3:25-26 tells us that God passed over former sins that He might provide the justification for our sins through Jesus Christ.
“…whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
This passing over of sins is an example of God’s grace. We all deserve to die – immediately. But God allows sin to be passed over so that he might provide salvation and redemption through His Son. If God acted immediately upon the sin of Adam and Eve, then he would have blotted out mankind back in the garden. God allows sin to continue to allow all people a chance to come to know Him. II Peter 3:9 tells us that God is holding off judgment for us to come to repentance. For you to come to repentance.
“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”
But verse 10 goes on to tell us that God will come back and judge sin, and this will be a ferocious judgment.
“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.”
So God will judge sin but He has, in his grace, waited to judge sin so that all might come to repentance. Romans 6:23 tells us that sin deserves death, but God has provided for us a gift through Jesus Christ.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
So the wages of our sin is death, but God provided for us a gift – Jesus – that offers us eternal life. Jesus died for our sins and offers His justification for us as a free gift. This is what is meant when we say that Jesus paid the price for our sins – or more accurately – Jesus was paid the wages for our sins.
When you receive a gift, it is free – no strings attached. Jesus’s gift to you is forgiveness of sins. He can wash away the stains of sin on your life, and provide you with eternal life. John 17:3 tells us that to know God is to have eternal life. We cannot know God as sinners. God can have no part of sin. Jesus provided way for us to be freed from the punishment of our sin and to come to God – to know God.
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
This gift is offered for everybody. No sin is too large for Jesus’s provision of forgiveness. All sins are covered through His death. Won’t you come to Him, and accept His free gift of forgiveness, and eternal life with God?
You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open the files below. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer please click on the link below for the free download.
English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS