Dealing Radically with Sin - II Kings 10-12 and John 1:29-51
No one can say that the Bible sugar coats the truth. In fact, many times we might wonder why the Lord made it so graphic. There is so much blood and death in parts of the Bible that it is even gory. Why did God do that? I believe if we look behind the bloody parts of the Bible we will find a connection to sin. God is dealing with sin in a radical way. We might think He was over reacting, but He wasn't. God knows sin, and He knows that the only way to deal with it is in a radical way to remove it once and for all. That is what Jehu did to Ahab's sinful family, Ahaziah's sinful family, and the prophets of Baal. That is what happened to Athaliah, too. We need to understand from these accounts that God hates sin, and the wages of sin is death. We need to hate sin, too, and be willing to take whatever radical steps are necessary to eliminate it from our lives. It is nothing to be taken lightly, no matter how small or slight it might seem. Sin only grows to bring more and more destruction if it is left alone.
Think about the account of Jesus in John 1. John, the Baptist, announces to everyone that God has shown him that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Does that make you think of a cute little lamb, or does it make you think of a bloody sacrifice? It should make us see the death of Christ on a terrible, bloody Cross. It should make us think of how God had to deal radically with sin, once and for all, by the death of His Son. What a tragedy! That is the nature of sin and the cure for sin. We must come to grips with this picture of the seriousness of sin. We must see how far Jesus went to deal with our sin, so we will be willing to take radical steps to eliminate it from our lives. We are not saved to sin. We are saved from sin. Jesus died to free us from sin, not to allow us to live in it longer.
Tomorrow, I intend to read II Kings 13-14 and John 2.
Think about the account of Jesus in John 1. John, the Baptist, announces to everyone that God has shown him that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Does that make you think of a cute little lamb, or does it make you think of a bloody sacrifice? It should make us see the death of Christ on a terrible, bloody Cross. It should make us think of how God had to deal radically with sin, once and for all, by the death of His Son. What a tragedy! That is the nature of sin and the cure for sin. We must come to grips with this picture of the seriousness of sin. We must see how far Jesus went to deal with our sin, so we will be willing to take radical steps to eliminate it from our lives. We are not saved to sin. We are saved from sin. Jesus died to free us from sin, not to allow us to live in it longer.
Tomorrow, I intend to read II Kings 13-14 and John 2.