Sin

From Where We Have Fallen
I believe that in order to live in victory over our sin we first need to know how we have fallen short of God’s high standards. We start in the Garden of Eden.

Genesis 2:15-17

“15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”

Then in Genesis Chapter 3 we see the fall of man.

Genesis 3: 1-6

“1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”

No longer did Adam and Eve experience fellowship with God as freely as they once did before sin entered the picture. Ever since that fateful day in the Garden of Eden men and women have been battling sin. In Ephesians 2: 1 – 5, we see sin’s work against us.

Ephesians 2: 1-5

“1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)”

Because of sin, we are dead. “For the wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23). Death means separation. Just as in the the physical sense death means our soul is separated from our body, in the spiritual sense, we are separated from God (Isa 59:2). We are not sick in need of a doctor; we are dead in need of a Savior who can resurrect us.

Sin also causes us to be disobedient to God. There are three basic forces that cause us to be disobedient – the world, the devil, and the flesh. The world and its views put pressure on each person to conform to its ways, tolerances and practices. The devil and his demonic associates have control over this world and its influences on people. The devil’s main objective is to turn our attention away from Christ and onto him. He seeks to make us “children of disobedience” (Eph 2:2). One of the devil’s main tools to keep us disobedient is with lies as we have seen in Genesis 3: 4-5. The flesh refers to the fallen nature in which we are all born with due to the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

Sin makes us depraved (Eph 2:3b). The sinner is incapable of “doing anything to merit salvation or meet the high standards of God’s holiness” Wiersbe, Be Rich! By nature we are doomed creatures. We are dead, totally depraved, and disobedient.

Without Christ, we have no victory. Without Christ, we have no hope to live a victorious life. So what must one do to experience this victorious life and have victory over sin? We must first acknowledge that we have a sin problem. We then repent of our sins. Repent means turning away. We turn away from sin and if we turn away from sin we must turn towards Christ. He is our only hope. Through Christ we can experience victory over our sin.

Dear Jesus,  Thank you for providing a way to live a victorious life. Thank you for being my Savior and resurrecting me. I acknowledge that through you I can live in triumph over sin. I have the victory because I have You!