Thoughts for you to consider:
What are the consequences of sin? You might be thinking, “So what? Everyone sins. God even knows this.” That is correct; God does know that everyone sins. However, you might never have considered the consequence of sinning against God. The reality is that sin has caused a separation between God and man. The Prophet Isaiah tells us in Isaiah 59:2, “But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.”
God is holy; we are not. We cannot live up to what God wants. Further, we cannot live our lives without understanding there might be consequences for making our own decision regarding this fact.
Paul in the New Testament writes of these consequences in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death….”.
Therefore, many of us are unhappy with our lives. We lack peace in our souls, and that lack of peace is a result of our broken relationship with God.
The Hebrew word for peace is shalom. You might think this word means “Hello.” However, the true meaning of “shalom” is “repairing that which was broken; to make complete.” The bad news is that sin has caused our relationship with God to be broken. The good news is that He has provided a way to bring us back into relationship with Him.
Questions to consider:
- As you view the problem of evil, human suffering, and experience an overall lack of peace, what are some alternatives to the Biblical view?
- What is your view regarding the resolution of sin?
- Has your view kept you from personal pain and broken relationships?
- Do you think you have hurt God by your sin?
- Has anyone hurt you? How has that impacted you?
Final thoughts for you to consider:
In this lesson, we have looked at the concept of sin and how God forgives. Whether you think yourself a sinner or not, we have seen from the Scriptures that all have sinned and fallen short of God’s standard. Therefore, every human being needs God’s forgiveness. His forgiveness is not based on our good deeds, or our prayers, even though these are admirable. However, isn’t it significant that on the Day of Atonement we find forgiveness through the death of a goat that carried all of our sin? This was done for a purpose. You might find what Yeshua said to the Jewish leadership quite insightful, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me” (John 5:39).