The Solution to the Problem of Sin

In our last meeting, we discussed the Problem of Sin. We saw the fall of Adam and Eve, when they disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden and we looked at the results of their sin. The Bible says it clear that we are all sinners and that sin brings our physical and spiritual death. However, God has a plan for the salvation of mankind, and we going to start to look at this plan today.

Opening Question: Have you ever had to pay a fine for returning a book late to the library or for violating a traffic rule or regulation?

When we do something wrong, whether it is something small or big, there are consequences that we pay.  At times the consequences extend only to our own lives, but sometimes these consequences can affect other people in our lives, our relatives, friends or even strangers.

We talked last time about the problem of sin.  Sin brought death into our lives - physical death and spiritual death, separation from God.  However, when God created man, He did not want him to live under the power of sin, under the threat of death and separation from God.  God wanted man to live in a close relationship with Him.  And He had a plan since the beginning for this to happen.

In Genesis 3:14-15, we read about the curse that God put on the serpent (the Devil) and the promise that one day an offspring of the woman (Eve) was going to crush the head of the serpent: So the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.  And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

God says He will put enmity or strife, warfare, between the serpent the Devil and the woman – between the serpent’s followers and her offspring.  Offspring is her family.  Jesus comes from her family and this is the first prophecy or foretelling of the future about Jesus.  Jesus is going to crush the head of the Devil, whereas the Devil is only going to bruise Jesus (that happens when Jesus goes to the cross to pay for our sins).

John 3:16 is perhaps the best known verse in the Bible.  It says: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

What does this verse tell us?

God loved the world.

God gave His one and only Son.

God wants whoever believes in Him not to perish.

God wants them to have eternal life.

In Romans 5, we read, beginning in verse 1, then verses 6-10: Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.... You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!  For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!

What does it mean to be justified?

To be justified means to be declared free of blame or of the penalty.   We have been declared free because of the blood of Jesus.

What does it mean to be reconciled?

Reconciled means to be accepted, to re-establish a lost relationship, to be settled, at peace.  We are at peace with God because of Jesus.

In 1 Peter 2:24, we read: “He [Jesus] himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”

If Jesus took all our sins, this means that we do not have sins anymore in our lives.  Remember that Adam and Eve were afraid of God and ashamed, because they had broken His laws and His commandments when they ate from the tree God told them not to eat from.  Now, we can approach God with confidence and without any fear because Jesus took the penalty and paid it for us.

But how do we receive this state of peace with God and of salvation from our sins and the promise of eternal life with God? 

We have all taken the first step, which is to learn about these promises and this salvation.  The Word of God is the only way to learn about these things.  If we read it, study it, and meditate upon it, we will learn about the things that we need to obtain peace with God and salvation.  We will learn the commandments of God and what in particular He wants from us to do to be saved.

Hebrews 9:14 tells us that the blood of Christ cleanses our conscience from our sins: How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

In 1 John 1:7, we read: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

The blood of Christ continually cleanses us of our sins.  No matter our sins, if we come back to God and walk according to His commandments, we can have the forgiveness of our sins.

In Matthew 7:7-8, we read: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened."

Conclusions 

God has a plan in place for resolving the problem of sin.  Jesus gave Himself so that our sins may be forgiven. Christians are justified and reconciled with God through the blood of Jesus Christ, our Savior. God has a plan of salvation for mankind and if we seek God diligently, we will definitely find Him. Finding God will give us peace on this earth and eternal life with God in heaven.

Look to our previous Blog entry here for more information on this plan of salvation.