05/09/2020 -
Why is it that sin is so prevalent in man? How did one sin multiply to fill us so completely? Our obsessions begin with a single glance, and our sins in the same way; what starts out small, and seemingly innocent, grows into something monstrous. Don’t those little sins pick at us until we are covered with tiny sores that eventually join to become one large festering mess?
“Abstain from every form of evil.”
1 Thessalonians 5:22 ESV
It has long been known that if we tell one small lie it will breed many more as we struggle to conceal that first one. If we take a moment to research or google “quotes concerning lies“, we will be reading the results of that search all day and into the night... it seems that the first lie in the Bible, which was told to Eve by Satan, has found fertile ground in us, and since that day every author has written of it, every poet has given it breath, and every song writer has wrapped it in verse and melody. Listen to examples of these...
“No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar.” - Abraham Lincoln
“If you tell the truth, then you don’t have to remember anything.” - Mark Twain
then there are the poets...
Against Lying - By Isaac Watts
I ‘tis a lovely thing for youth
To early walk in wisdom’s way;
To fear a lie, to speak the truth,
That we may trust to all they say!
But liars we can never trust,
Even when they say what is true.
And he who does one fault at first
And lies to hide it, makes it two.
Have we not known, not heard, nor read
How God does hate deceit and wrong?
How Ananias was struck dead,
Caught with a lie upon his tongue?
So did his wife Sapphira die,
When she came in, and grew so bold
As to confirm that wicked lie,
Which just before her husband told.
The Lord delights in them that speak
The words of truth; but every liar
Must have his portion in the lake
That burns with brimstone and with fire.
And finally the melodies and lyrics of songwriters…
You can’t hide your Lyin’ eyes
And your smile is a thin disguise
I thought by now you’d realize
There ain’t no way to hide your lyin’ eyes
Eagles Song - “Lyin’ Eyes”.
So sin multiplies like yeast in bread, and intoxicates us like it does when it ferments fruit and grain to become wine and beer; then in the midst of our drunken stupor It takes away our wisdom, righteousness, and Leads us far from our faith. All sin has one common characteristic, and this is that it separates us from God...
“but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies; your tongue mutters wickedness.”
Isaiah 59:2-3 ESV
A little white lie leads to another, and another. A moment of anger boils over into fisticuffs, and then murder. A touch of jealousy leads to deceit, and theft. A single glance across the rooftops, and a momentary lustful thought, ends in adultery, and blood.
“A little leaven leavens the whole lump.”
Galatians 5:9 ESV
In this way, all tiny sins, even those that are yet just thoughts, begin as seeds, but end at the the same tree, and as bites from the same bitter fruit.
“But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.”
Genesis 3:4-6 ESV
So let’s answer our two original questions...
“Why is it that sin is so prevalent in man? How did one sin multiply to fill us so completely?“
The answer is obvious; sin is so prevalent in man because he took the lie of Satan, the leaven of sin and darkness, and ingested it as he disobeyed God’s commandment with that first fatal bite. Then Adam and Eve, with the virus of death replicating unchecked within them, sought to cover the evidence of their transgression, their nakedness and sin, by hiding, and with leaves... yes, the multiplication had begun. However, this is not the end of the story because God had a plan for bringing us back to health, and if we partake of that antidote, Jesus Christ, and we obtain from every form of evil, then Sin, and death, is no longer the victor over us.
““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
John 3:16-17 ESV
Prayer:
Father, we thank you for your Son Jesus Christ who is our inoculation against the sickness of sin and death, and who abides in us when we accept Him as your Son and our savior. We thank you Lord for loving us so much that you would not let us fall victim to sin, and the eternal death it brings. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God whose mercy and grace is your blossom, and whose son is the light of the world, and your perfect fruit of eternal life. We praise you day and night for your loving kindness, and goodness of heart. We worship you, and give you all the glory for every good thing. Hear our prayers Father, and dwell within us, even as you do Jesus... bringing us life by your grace, and separating us from sin forevermore.
“And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.”
Hebrews 10:10-14 ESV
Rich Forbes