Monday, January 4, 2010

January 4, 2010

"I heard you in the garden," the man answered. "I was afraid. I was naked, so I hid." Genesis 3:10
One of the devastating effects of sin is how it separates man from God - creation from Creator.
This morning I want to deal with another tragic effect of sin that turned Paradise into pain central. Not only does sin separate but sin alienates.
We see this in verse 10 where we find Adam hiding from God. The man who was created to walk and talk intimately with God was found hiding from God. Sin alienated Adam from his God.
In verse 10 there are several aspects of this alienation that are mentioned. The first is self-consciousness. When they awoke that morning, Adam and Eve were conscious only of their God. He was their north star, the focal point and center of their universe. While they were mindful of each other, their relationship with each other was bound up in their interactionn with God. Adam and Eve weren't just a couple, they were a one in Him. It was in God that they lived and moved and had their being.
But, when God came to meet them He did not find them and knew something had changed. They had become conscious of their sinfulness. Self-awareness had degenerated into a negative self-consciousness. The self-consciousness brought with it another consequence - shame. Shame is a terrible and debilitating condition. It is an unfortunate result of being separated and alienated from the Creator. We were designed to have our identity in Him. Sin changed that! That brought shame.
Shame is the emotional response to our self-consciousness. Adam and Eve, who were designed for perfection and who had known perfection were suddenly painfully aware of their imperfections.
The alienation of sin resulted in self-consciousness which caused shame which led to strife. When Adam and Eve were alienated from God they were put at odds with each other. Rather than working as one, it was now everyone for themselves. Where they once completed each other they now competed with one another.
Separation and alienation wrecked Paradise. We are still cleaning up the mess!
Sin is bad news. Once you understand that you can fully appreciate what Jesus, the Second Adam, came to accomplish.
"Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, when 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! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation." Romans 5:9-11
"Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—" Colossians 1:21-22
This morning, thanks to Jesus, you do not have to remain in your alienation and shame! You can be reconciled to God and regenerated and redeemed from your sin! If you choose to remain in your sin - shame on you!