Sin’s A Big Deal

For Christians, it’s a very big deal. Sin is why Jesus died on the cross. Not His sin – He had none:

For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:21 KJV)

It was for our sins. So, what is this thing called “sin”?

Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. (Romans 3:20 KJV)

The primitive Hebrew root, חטא, is translated as sin and is defined as to miss – to bear the blame for non-achievement. Paul’s understanding of this lead him to write:

I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:14 KJV)

He did not want to miss that mark. He did not want to sin against God. That’s what sin is – missing what God has laid out for us to do. Back in Genesis, Joseph knew what Potiphar's wife wanted wasn’t a simple betrayal of her husband:

There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God? (Genesis 39:9 KJV)

David knew that becoming an adulterer and eventual murderer did not solely involve Bathsheba and Uriah. When confronted by Nathan, he knew against whom he had sinned:

And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. (2 Samuel 12:13 KJV)

The story of the woman taken in adultery illustrates that we all have sinned:

So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. (John 8:7-9 KJV)

Paul knew the truth:

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:23 KJV)

Fallen short, missed the mark – same thing. We have all – not some, not Non-Christians, not sinners – we have ALL missed the mark by failing to live within God’s commandments. Even the two in condensed version:

Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:36-40 KJV)

Thank God, He has provided for us.

Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:10 KJV)

Go ahead, look up that ‘propitiation’ word. It’s worth it to know that God has provided reconciliation to us for those big deals in our lives – and the little ones, too.