WHEN SIN BECOMES YOUR FRIEND - PART 2

Recently, discussing a grievous situation with a close friend, I was reminded of the oft repeated saying, “Sin always takes you further than you ever thought you would go and you end up in places you never thought you would be.”  My friend went on to comment, “I think they have fallen in love with sin and I've seen people do that and when they do, they have no conscience whatsoever.”  The next morning, in a semi-conscious state, I heard these words spoken to my spirit, “When sin becomes your friend.”  The words continued to trouble me during devotions and throughout the day as I began to ponder, “How does the friendship begin?”  “What affect does it have?”  “What are the outward manifestations of such a friendship?”  “Where does the friendship take you and how does it end?”

Genesis 2:16-17 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; ¹⁷ 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.”

James 1:1-15 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. ¹⁵ Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

Searching the Word of God, we find that the end of sin is death but what happens between the First Embrace and the Final Kiss?

SIN SEPARATES.  Although Adam and Eve were not immediately struck dead because of their disobedience, they experienced immediate separation.  The Bible tells us the first thing they realized is that “they were naked.”  Up to this point they were in constant fellowship and clothed in the Glory of God.  Sin immediately separated them from the Glory and Holiness of God.  No longer would they enjoy the familiar daily fellowship with the Creator; no longer would they stroll through the beautiful garden, tending and enjoying its bounty.  Sin had destroyed the innocence and purity and they were cast out of their home and separated from the intimacy of God’s presence.  Like his parents, Cain also did not immediately die for his transgressions but he, too, faced the consequence of separation.  Genesis 4 tells us that Cain “went out from the presence of the Lord.  He became a fugitive and a vagabond.”  Sin is a jealous friend and demands your full attention. When Sin becomes your friend, it will separate you from close fellowship with God and it will separate you from those who love God and love you.

SIN IS A BETRAYER.  It may begin as a mild flirtation; you pick up the sin, stroke it a few times, then lay it down and move on until you answer its next call.  Soon, however, sin will make its demands and you will become more entangled until you will betray those you love so that sin’s demands can be fulfilled.  King David didn’t set out to sin; it was just a mild flirtation of the eyes; he lingered a little too long and “desire was conceived.”  It was a sin to bring Bathsheba to his bed, knowing that she was another man’s wife.  But the demand of sin was not satisfied with adultery.  When Bathsheba became pregnant, it was a sin to try to cover it up and pass it off as another man’s child.  But the demand of sin was not satisfied with lying.  Sin became a betrayer.  David betrayed a trusted man of valor in his Army, first by lying with his wife, impregnating her and finally having him murdered.  Sin’s final demand was death.  When Sin becomes your friend, it may not demand that you become a murderer, but make no mistake, sin will demand betrayal.  It will cause you to betray those things that are pure and lovely, it may demand a cover-up and it will cause you to betray those who love you the most. Sin will hold your hand as you give the “Kiss of Betrayal” because Sin is a Betrayer.

SIN WILL CHANGE YOU.  Proverbs 6:27 Can a man take fire to his bosom and his clothes not be burned?  Do not fool yourself into believing that you will not be affected by sin. You are not strong enough to take the “fire of sin” into your life and not be burned.   Sin will change you; it will change your behavior, your way of thinking, and even change your way of speaking.  We find Peter, warming himself by the fire, when he is accused of being a follower of Jesus.  This is the same Peter who had walked, talked and dined with Jesus.  He had witnessed the miracles, walked on the water and even followed Him into the garden to pray.  It is the Peter that vowed he would never betray his Lord. Yet, when faced with a trial, a beating and death because of an association, sin changed him into a person he thought he would never become.  After being pointed out as a friend of Jesus, three times, Peter decided to settle the situation once and for all; he changed his speech.  Mark 14:71 Then he began to curse and swear, “I do not know this Man of whom you speak!” Friendship with sin will take you places you never thought you would go and they won’t seem so bad.  Your speech will turn from things that are pure and lovely to those things which are base and gutter-like.   When sin becomes your friend, evil will seem good and good will seem evil because Sin will change you!!

When Sin becomes your friend, the end result is death but the good news is the friendship can be broken.  It does not have to become a “lifelong” partnership.     Romans 5:19  For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.  God already had a plan in place before the first sin.    The plan was JESUS.  He was the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”  Death does NOT have to be the final sentence; through Jesus Christ we can have eternal life.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. You can become a “Friend of God.”

WHEN SIN BECOMES YOUR FRIEND - PART 1

Part 1 of this blog was birthed through many tears and from words God spoke to my spirit early one morning between slumber and awaking.  I have had to pause and weep many times as I write, for the many dear ones who have locked hands with sin and cannot see the ever-tightening chains that surround them.  Part 2 is in the process of being written and will be posted in the next few days.

Genesis 3:8 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.

Every child who has sat in Sunday School knows the story of Adam, Eve and the “apple.”  They can tell you that God said they were not supposed to eat of the tree, the serpent told Eve it was ok, she wouldn’t really die, Eve ate the fruit, gave it to Adam, he ate and they realized they were naked. But is that really what happened?  Did Eve accidently pass the tree one day, listened to a snake and thought, “Why not?”  I believe there is much more to the “first sin” scenario then most of us think.  Look at your own life.  Have you ever just accidently or impulsively sinned?  Or did it involve a process, over time?  Was sin allowed to become your friend?

James 1:1-15 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. ¹⁵ Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

In my mind, the first “sin” scenario went something like this.  Every day, Eve would stroll through the garden, tending to it and admiring God’s handiwork.  When she came to the tree in the middle of the garden, Eve would linger, admiring its perfectly formed leaves, its luscious hanging fruit, and inhaling its enticing aroma. After lingering day after day, the aroma prompted her mind to imagine how sweet just one bite would taste and her body began to desire fulfillment.  You will notice, she hadn’t touched the forbidden yet, because when the serpent tried to twist God’s command, Eve told him, “God said we should not even touch the tree.”  Over months of lingering, desire was conceived,  sin was birthed and Eve reached out her hand.  Sin had become her friend.

Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.

 Once Adam and Eve “opened the door,” sin entered the world and has affected every person since that time.  For the first family it didn’t take long for friendship with sin to manifest itself in their children.  Genesis 4 speaks of a time when Cain brought a sacrifice to the Lord but instead of the “blood” sacrifice required by the Lord, Cain brought the fruit of his own labors; crops he had tended.  We aren’t given much information as to why Cain refused to bring a blood sacrifice, maybe he didn’t want to deal with the messiness involved in sacrificing a lamb, perhaps the crops he had tended grew especially well and with pride he presented what “he had accomplished” to God or maybe he just didn’t believe it really mattered as long as he gave God something.  We do know, however, that God did not accept this offering from Cain and Cain allowed anger to consume him.  God tells Cain to not be angry but just do the “right” thing.  Then God says something very interesting in Genesis 4:7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” God told him, “Sin desires to be your friend, but if you refuse its friendship, rule over it and offer the sacrifice I desire, I will accept you.” The sad end to this part of the story is that Cain could not see past the "door" and Sin became Cain’s friend.

I was reminded by a dear friend of the old saying, “Sin always takes you further than you ever thought you would go and you end up in places you never thought you would be.”  Sin does not become just a “casual” friend, content to share a cup of coffee every few years, just to “catch up.”  No, Sin will not be satisfied until it is your ONLY friend, consuming your time, your desires and your will.  Sin puts on a beautiful façade, luring and enticing until you embrace and take hold of its hand.  Before long you notice that Sin never leaves your side as you stroll down its wide smooth path.  It continues to surround you, until you become entangled and inseparable; its thoughts become your thoughts, its desires, your desires, its will, your will; Sin has become your friend!

THAT'S NOT THE GOD I WANTED!

In the midst of his sermon, one Sunday, the preacher made the statement, “They hate us because they hate God!”  As I pondered that statement, I realized that people don’t really hate God, they hate the holiness of God that reveals sin, they hate their responsibility to God, they hate the absoluteness of the truth of God, but they love the idea of God. We love the idea that there is someone out there more powerful than we are, someone we can call on when times are tough, and someone to blame when things don’t go our way, but to many God must also be someone that can be controlled with their hand holding the remote.

Throughout history mankind has resisted accepting a God that is so far beyond what we can imagine and requires absolute faithfulness and obedience from His followers. Thomas Jefferson believed in the ethical teachings of Jesus but he did not believe in miracles or the deity of Jesus, so he created the Jeffersonian Bible.  Jefferson cut the passages he liked out of the Bible and pasted them into a book which included the early years and ministry, teachings and parables, the betrayal, crucifixion, death and burial.  There is no mention of course of a virgin birth or the resurrection since they fall into the miracle category and give Jesus, God-status.  This is the sad ending to Jefferson’s Bible; “There laid they Jesus, and rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed."  Thomas Jefferson missed the entire message of the Bible. A message about fallen man with no power to redeem himself from the clutches of sin and a holy, righteous and just God who so loved the world that He would robe himself in flesh and die that fallen man could be saved. It is a message about a God who has promised to prepare a place for those who will accept Him as their God, where they can live for eternity with Him.  It is a message about the Resurrected Christ who reigns supreme in the lives of those who trust in Him.

Lord of the Rings’ star, Ian McKellen, admits to tearing out the page containing Leviticus 18:22 from every hotel bible he finds.  You see, Leviticus 18:22 does not fit with his chosen lifestyle.  In an interview he states, “I'm not proudly defacing the book but it's a choice between removing that page and throwing away the whole Bible."  Mr. McKellen and Thomas Jefferson are not so very different than most of us who through disobedience tear or cut the parts out that we don’t like. Our lives proclaim, I want a God who is just a prayer away, but only when I need Him.  “Don’t call me, God, I’ll call you.”  I want a God who would give His all and die for me, but don’t ask me to sacrifice a few hours every week to go to His house and visit.  I want a God that owns the “cattle on a thousand hills” and can supply my every need, but I think 10 percent is a little much to ask me to give from my paycheck.  I want a God that will heal my body and that of my loved ones but I also want a God to be angry with when it doesn’t happen the way I had it planned.  I want a God who can redeem me and save me from sin but I want to be the one who determines the definition of sin and which ones I want to be saved from.  I want to make God into the image of my choosing, however, THE GOD I CREATE CAN BE NO GREATER THAN ME!!!

Genesis 1:26 describes the beginning of mankind, “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” No matter what position you ascend to in life, how much money you may accumulate, how many educational degrees you may earn, you cannot make God into your image.  We can, as the Apostle Paul stated, “become vain in our imaginations and change the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, birds, four footed beasts or other creeping things”, but it will not change who God is.  The bible tells us in Hebrews 6:13 that “When God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no greater, He swore by himself.”  There is none greater than God and He will always be God no matter what we do or think.  The god that you create will be no greater than you but the God that created me is all powerful.  He can supply my every need, heal every disease and sickness, comfort every sorrow and save me from every sin.  Jesus Christ is my God and beside Him there is no other.