sin's remedy

Sin is universal, and sin has consequences. We are all sinners and have separated ourselves from a holy God.

To drive these points home,  try this practical illustration:  

            Place a one-liter container of “Sterile

            Water” and three sterile specimen

            cups on a table. Fill each cup with sterile

            water.

            FACT #1: Because the cups are sterile,

            the water inside them remains sterile.

            Now pour the water inside each of the

            cups back into the container.

            FACT #2: Because the cups are sterile,

            you can pour water back and forth

            between cup and container and the

            "Sterile Water" label still be true.

            Now sprinkle one-fourth teaspoon of

            field dirt into one of the cups, a full

            teaspoon into the second cup, and a

            tablespoon into the third. Then fill all

            three again with sterile water from 

            the container.

            FACT #3: No longer can you pour the

            water back without changing the nature

            of the container. The contamination

            within the cups has ended unlimited

            access. The water's filth has separated

            it from its source.

Do you now see why sin is such big problem? God, the Pure and Holy One, created us and poured Himself into us. His purpose for us is communion with Him, a wonderful relationship of unity in which He flows into us and we into Him. But we have polluted our lives with sin, changing everything. We have become filthy vessels living contaminated lives. As a result, we have separated ourselves from our very Source. God's holy nature cannot and will not change, so we must once again become pure if communion with Him is to be restored. Our filthy nature must be dealt with.

What, then, can we do to end our self-imposed estrangement? A bucket-load of good deeds will never rid us of sin, nor is ritualistic fervor the answer. Good deeds and piety can only dilute our filthiness; still, the pollution remains. Comparing our sins with others won’t help either. Those three specimen cups were unequally contaminated but shared a similar plight. The mere presence of filth, not its relative volume, made the water in them unsterile. Similarly, all of us are unfit for communion with a holy God, no matter the weight of our sins. The problem is not how contaminated we are, but that we are contaminated.

It seems, then, that we are in a hopeless situation. We are created to commune with God yet separated from Him by our sins. Our benevolent deeds, religious faithfulness, and moral comparisons cannot help restore that fellowship. Sin, it appears, is the victor and we the loser. A miracle would be needed to turn the tide. For us to be made right, God would have to somehow intervene on our behalf.

Is our relationship with God of such importance that He would provide a path of restoration for us? We Christians, of course, answer in the affirmative. We believe that Jesus, through his death and resurrection, makes us clean again and restores communion and fellowship with God. He is truly the Door and the Way back to God. The only remedy for sin is Jesus.

-If God Is "I AM", then Who Am I" (Day 21)