Part Two: The Glory of God not Honored

Adam and Eve, the first humans created, committed the first sin at the beginning of time. God had given them a perfect garden in a perfect world, with no sin. He gave them only one rule: not to eat of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil which He placed in the center of the garden. The Devil, Lucifer, an angel fallen from heaven, came to Eve as a serpent, and tempted her to eat the fruit of that tree. Eve yielded to him and furthermore Adam did the same.

That was the first sin.

You may think that if it was you in that situation, you wouldn’t do it. Don’t think that. We are all born with a sin nature. We are pressured with temptation every day. Whether we fall into it or not determines if we sin. 

From the beginning it was God’s design for us to live with Him in perfect union. We were to reflect and represent God throughout the whole earth and therefore spread His glory throughout the world. God would walk and talk with us. We would be His people and He would be our God. He would delight in us and we would love and worship Him. Instead we have turned aside to sin. We do not live for God’s glory. We hate Him in our love for ourselves, and instead of worshiping Him we worship self and our sin.

What is the law of God? God has outlined for us what is sin and what is right. Sin is the breaking of God’s law, coming short of God’s glorious standard. Lying, disobeying your parents, murder, theft, coveting something that doesn’t belong to you, having an idol, something [someone] that is more important to you than God, are some examples of sin. In love, God has given us these guidelines to follow in the Book He has given us, His Holy Word. God has given us a conscience, a knowledge of what is right and wrong. No one is without excuse when it comes to knowledge about our sin.

John Piper states a startling picture of sin;

“The glory of God not honored, the holiness of God not reverenced, the greatness of God not admired, the power of God not praised, the truth of God not sought, the wisdom of God not esteemed, the beauty of God not treasured, the goodness of God not savoured, the faithfulness of God not trusted, the commandments of God not obeyed, the justice of God not respected, the wrath of God not feared, the grace of God not cherished, the presence of God not prized, the person of God not loved.” -John Piper

Because of sin, God is distant, He cannot call us His people, for we do not reflect Him. God who is holy, cannot tolerate or come near to unholy people. His nature, like we talked about last week is righteous and holy (separate). So God must be separate from anything unrighteous.

Because of sin, God does not delight in us - He abhors us. How can a loving God hate sinners? God loves children, so He must hate those who abuse them. God loves and is so good and right that He must hate what is evil and wicked.

Because of sin, instead of lavishing His bountiful mercies on us, He must punish us. Isn’t God merciful? Why does He have to punish us? Yes, He is merciful, but He is also a just judge. God cannot let wickedness run rampant throughout the world. He will reward those according to their works.

For sinners that means punishment, because we have offended an infinitely high God we have an infinite punishment to pay.

What can we do?

The short answer? Nothing. Nothing at all.

“There is none righteous, no not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God.” (Romans 3:10 & 11)

“...All our righteousnesses are like filthy rags…” (Isaiah 64:6b)

There’s nothing we can do to cleanse our soul. Our best works are like filthy rags to God! Worthless!

What if from this day forward we chose to live for God and try to do our best?

Sin’s not that bad, right? What if we pray and ask God for forgiveness? Wouldn’t He take pity on us?

Sin needs to be punished, and God will punish us, not sparing even one sin.

Is there any hope?

Yes... And He has a name...

Love to all,

Berea and Brooke