Life In 6 WordsExemplo

OUR sins separate us from God. 

Let’s be honest, sin is not a popular topic these days.  No one likes to talk about it, but despite our discomfort, there’s no getting away from this ugly reality.  It only takes a glance at the daily headlines to see that something has “blackened the human heart.” Bullying, gossip, theft, rage, rape, murder, war.  Our world is steeped in the reality of evil.   

In its typically bold, blunt way, the Bible describes how evil got its foothold in the world.  Way back in the beginning, God invited Adam and Eve to freely love Him.  But rather than loving and trusting God and what He told them about right and wrong, they exercised their God-given freewill and disobeyed Him.  They turned away from Him.  They chose their own path.  They sinned.  When Adam and Eve sinned, everything changed, for all of us.   

Ever since, people have been wrestling with right and wrong- often choosing evil. Hurting themselves and others in small and big ways- from broken promises to mass murder.  Some people question why God gave Adam and Eve this freedom to choose between good and evil.  It was an incredible, yet terrifying gift, but it was the gift that made love possible.  Without the ability to freely choose, humans would be no more than mindless pawns, rather than unique and dynamic individuals able to participate in a relationship with the living God.  

So sin, through Adam and Eve's choice, entered the world and fractured it. But it’s not just their sin that messed things up, it’s OUR sin too.  OUR sin has created a separation in our relationship with a perfect and holy God.   

When we take an honest look inside ourselves, we see it’s true. Selfishness, jealousy, cheating, lust, and greed have taken up residence in our hearts.  There’s just no denying that we’re all part of the problem.  We’ve all missed the mark.