Sin
Probably the most important question and answer people would love to know is “what is life all about?” We all can see the universe and all life on this planet, and we can certainly tell how “different” humans are from all other life. And we can tell how “different” Earth is from all the other planets, since we have yet to find another planet that can even sustain life as we know it here.
The first big question is where did everything come from and how did it get here? And we have two major, diametrically opposed points of view: It was either all created by a Universe Designer named God, or it all occurred randomly on its own.
The point of this article is not to debate this issue other than to say it takes a lot more “faith” to believe something came from “nothing” than something came from “Something.”
So, as we observe the incredible design of the universe and all life, we cannot help but see a Designer God. So what does He want? God, knowing in advance that Adam and Eve would sin and bring sin into the world, He knew He would end up not being visible to us because of our sin nature, which separates us from God.
Our sin nature means every single human being is born eternally lost with no way on our own to reach God and spend eternity with Him. God is perfect, Holy and without sin and expects every sentient being He creates to be the same way. Since we have a sin nature, we have sin and we have NO WAY to get rid of it. However, God’s plan all along is to create special beings – humans – in His image and to spend eternity with them on Planet Earth.
So He had men write down His words in a book called the Bible that tells us everything we need to know about how to live life on Earth in terms of “everything,” and especially how to have a relationship with Himself now and forever “without sin.” The Bible says the wages of sin is death, BUT God does allow for the atonement of sins to be paid for by the shedding of innocent “sinless” blood. God allowed this because it is the ONLY way we can be rid of our sin in order to have a personal relationship with God, now and forever.
God is a Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God sent His Son, Jesus, to Earth to sacrifice His life on a cross in order to “pay the price” for our sins. And once we know that, many do as the Bible says – we repent and invite Jesus into our life to be our Lord and Savior. However, we are creatures of emotions and feelings, and most will say that when they invited the Lord into their life, they didn’t feel a thing – at least not initially.
When we receive the Holy Spirit, we do receive God’s joy, peace and contentment, which “does” have a certain amount of “feelings” to it that the world cannot begin to understand.
So let’s do something different. Let’s convert our inviting the Lord into our life into a physical reality that we can relate to.
Since we are all born with a sin nature, and most would still like to get to God, let’s assume the only way to get to God on our own is by crossing a thin fishing-line bridge from here to God. Should we fall off that fishing line, the chasm is thousands of miles deep and certain death for all eternity, and no person can or will make it across that fishing-line bridge. We spend all of our lives nervous as heck, whether we realize it or not, on that fishing-line bridge. And most people are constantly searching for a joy, peace and comfort that is impossible to get while on that fishing-line bridge.
However, because Jesus paid the price for our sins, many will repent and invite Him into their lives. And “immediately” when they do so, even though they don’t feel it at the moment, that fishing-line bridge is replaced with a 1,000-mile-wide bridge that has guard rails 1,000 miles high; and all we need do is stay on it until we reach God.
Let’s now put this into a “feelings” perspective.
Close your eyes and imagine balancing yourself on that fishing-line bridge; and then imagine it is suddenly replaced with a 1,000-mile-wide bridge, and you are standing on it vs the fishing line. How would that make you feel? Would you now have joy, peace, and contentment? That is a rhetorical question. Of course you would.
Well, this little “physical reality” example is exactly what happens when we come into a personal relationship with Jesus. And this 1,000-mile-wide bridge is what everyone yearns for, whether they know it or not. At the moment of death, those with sin fall off the fishing line into eternal oblivion without God; and those without sin through Christ enter into eternal pleasure with God.
Hope this example helps you to visualize the incredible reality that occurs when you first invite the Lord into your life. With Jesus we can stand “firm” with “eternal” joy, peace and contentment, knowing our eternity with Him is secure.
Maranatha, Lord Jesus,
David Cogburn