Christians begin with a basic understanding about all of human life, namely that "All
of us have sinned and fallen short of God's glory."
Romans 3:23 CEV
"Sin" describes the choices that we make that separate us from the life-giving
relationship with God, the only relationship that gives us life in this world.
When we are separated from God we are separated from the creations that God has
intended us to be, and when we are separated from that "created-intent" we are
separated from our truest possible self. Each of us has an image of God living
within us, an image that is just waiting for a chance to grow into a life-time
of earthly fulfillment and abundant joy. When we sin, we make a choice against
that image. In short, our sin does not just break off our ties with some great
cosmic being. Our sin breaks off our relationship with the have of a life after
death that offers a joy beyond our wildest imaginations. It is not possible for
God to be in a relationship with those who deliberately reject God’s plan and
God’s will time and time again. God is not some sort of "divine Santa" who
gives us anything we want just because we ask. God is our Creator and the LORD
of all the universe, including you and me. We cannot go against that Creator,
cannot go against God’s plans for us and for this world. God allows us the
freedom to choose, but God can only be in a life-giving relationship with us
when we choose to be God’s and to live as God’s; when we choose to be with God
and to grow with God; when we choose to walk with God and to accept God’s
ultimate vision for our living. As long as we are in a rebellious relationship
with God, we can never be fully satisfied in this life. We will always, always
be want more and we will look for that "more" in all the wrong
places—addictions, worldly riches, affairs of the body and the heart,
meaningless relationships, etc—until, that is, we go looking for God. That is
when we discover that God has been looking for us all along.
We like to fool ourselves into believing that God loves us because our sins are
not "all that bad" comparatively speaking. In some ways, that is true. God does
love us. God loves everybody, but sin has consequences in this life and it
bears a punishment in some future life. Sin is not judged according to degrees
and size. All sin causes pain. Some of the pain we experience first hand, and
some of the pain we cause others and might never, ever see first hand. For
example, if I tell a lie I hurt my own self and I hurt the person I lie to or
the person I lie about, and I hurt God. I see, first hand, the consequences of
that sin. However, I also sin when I consume more of this world’s resources
than are "just" for one person to consume and when I want to buy the cheapest
possible pair of running shoes. Those choices do not hurt me one bit, but
recently I went on a work-trip to Honduras and saw, first hand the suffering
and poverty my sinful choices brings to others. In God’s eyes, whether I
experience the consequences of my sin first hand or not, sin is sin and sin
separates me from God.
But remember: God does love us, even in spite of our sin. Because of God’s great
love for us, God will help us to live beyond those consequences and to defeat
the punishment of their death. God’s "help" comes by God’s choosing to send
God’s own Son, Jesus Christ to suffer the consequences of all our
sins—rejection, pain, betrayal, loss, abandonment and grief---and to defeat the
ultimate punishment of our sins—earthly death. By his own example when he
walked upon this earth and when he suffered upon the cross, Jesus shows us what
it means to really be alive. His death paid the price of our sin’s ultimate
punishment of death. I can never restore that relationship on my own. I need
someone who is human like me, yet who is not sinful like me, someone to build
that bridge between where God is and where my sin has left me. Jesus built that
bridge with his cross. When I choose to have faith in him--to claim his power
to forgive my sin, to desire nothing more than to follow him and to live my
life as close to him as I possibly—then I can cross the bridge that his cross
built and I can run right into God’s loving arms of power, of care and of joy.
The really spectacular thing about it all is this: all I have to do to get
started across that bridge is to believe in the power Jesus’ death on the cross
gives me over the consequences of my sin and the ability that cross gives me to
make better choices next time around.
Continue to Part 3 "How Does Believing
in Jesus Work?"
Back to Part 1 "What Does "Being a
Christian" Mean?"
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