Our reaction when we sin
When I do wrong, my natural instinct is to try cover up, down play the sin, assume it away or just run away hoping the sin will disappear.
There was a similar reaction when Adam and Eve sinned against God.
Gen 3:8-13
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Our natural state is to first defend ourselves before we actually say yes we did wrong and take up responsibility for the sin. In fact in verse 12 Adam is hinting to God that he was okay and sinless until God did the mistake of bringing the woman sinner.
Eve blamed the devil in verse 13.
Why then do we hide when we sin?
Sin has consequences, we are afraid of the consequences
Rom 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in[b] Christ Jesus our Lord.
In Gen 3:10 Adam tells God that he hid because he was naked and afraid.
Adam acknowledges he was not in a state to face God. The reality of his sin was weighing on him.
Rom 7:15, 21
15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.
Paul expresses the frustration of trying to do good and ending up doing wrong. We probably feel so disappointed at ourselves and we feel we have disappointed both man and God so we want to get out of the puzzle and hope everyone's life will be better without us.
Matt 23:3-5
3 When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. 4 “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”
“What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.”
5 So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.
Judas found himself in such a situation and in his frustration with himself he killed himself.
Is there hope then for us? YES
1. Paul asks this question too and the answer is God delivers us through Christ.
Rom 7:24-25
24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature[d] a slave to the law of sin.
2. God has given us a new identity in Christ when we sin we can confidently run to the father through Jesus.
2 Cor 5:17
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here!
3. God assures us that He will definitely discipline us but for a very good reason: He loves us and cares for us as His children
Heb 12:5-6
5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”[a]
Resourceful reading
Raising Christ-Like Children
The Secret Power of Speaking God's Word
The Path Made Clear: Discovering Your Life's Direction and Purpose
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