Sermon Discussion Questions:
1. What stood out to you the most?
2. How would you explain the scope of the impact of sin?
3. Do you think that you have an appropriate sense of the terror of sin?
4. What is the point of the story of the sinful woman in Luke 7:36-50?
I want to speak with you about what’s wrong with the world. And we all sense, we all know that there is something terribly wrong with the world. Ironically, the one thing all people in America today can agree on: things are not the way they should be. Something is wrong. But, what is it? The Bible has a picture for the way things should be: “universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight.”[1]
What would that look like? It would look like our church never having to run a background check for anyone volunteering in our children’s ministry. It would look like you never needing to lock your doors at night and every nation repurposing its missile silos as training tanks for scuba diving[2] and bombing shelters being turned into pantries and libraries. Rocket scientists would be using their skill to explore the farthest reaches of space, not creating the next grade of ICBM’s. No mother would be grieving over her infertility, no father would ever have to pick out a child-sized coffin, and no child would have to say goodbye to their parents. No, it would look like parents laughing with their children over popcorn-movie nights, and friends not losing touch with each other, and husbands and wives enjoying, not resenting, how different they are from one another. No degradation and abuse of our environment, but happy stewardship and cultivation of it so that it became more fruitful. It would look like tech-gurus and mining companies, and poets and software developers, and presidents and coaches and engineers and elementary school teachers using all their skill, all their craft, all their gifts and innovations to enrich the human experience, to develop beauty, to steward and cultivate the earth, and to be more concerned with other people, the world, and God than themselves. No porn, no child trafficking, no war, no fentanyl addictions, no misery.
It would look like no one ever doubting or wondering or hating or mistaking who God is. All of life would be lived before His face. Lions lying down with lambs, nation at peace with nation, man made right with God.
But the world isn’t like that. Churches must run background checks, and we lock our doors at night, and we get into petty arguments with our spouses. Trauma counselors and divorce lawyers are gainfully employed, friendships become estranged, and toxic chemicals are dumped into water supplies. Soldiers die, non-combatants die, children die. What’s wrong with the world?
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all people, because all sinned. (Rom 5:12, CSB)
Five points about sin: Rebellion, Corruption, Deceitful, Terrifying, Forgivable
Sin is Rebellion
Let’s consider the original entrance of sin into the world to make sense of this. God creates the world, creates man, and creates the garden of Eden. “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die,” (Gen 2:16-17).
The Bible teaches that we are made in God’s image. As Aaron explained last week, this is something that we are and something we do. An image images. This means in all of our life someone should be able to look at us and see how we use our minds, our hearts, our bodies, our talents, our time, and the resources at our disposal and see the character and nature of God in what we do. A violin is made for creating music, and we made for glorifying God. So God creates Adam and Eve and places them in a beautiful garden with a liberal scope of freedom: you can eat from every tree, but one. What one is that? The tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Why is it called that? Because it was a test. God, being omniscient, knows what is good and what is evil, without being complicit in evil. The only way for mankind to know evil is by participating in evil, by experience. So God is giving mankind a choice: will you trust God’s standards of good and evil, or will you attempt to define good and evil for yourself? And when Adam and Eve take the fruit they say: we can’t trust you God, you aren’t concerned about our good, so we must take matters into our own hands.
That is the essence of sin: doubting God’s care, and trusting my own definition of good and evil. So, when we lie to our spouses about how much money we spent or use intimidation and threats to flatten our children into silence or delete our search history and think that will take care of the matter, we haven’t just done a shameful act. We haven’t just let ourselves down. We haven’t even just broken a divine commandment. At the heart of all of our sin is fundamentally a rebellion against God: I don’t trust you, I trust me. All sin flows from a heart of skepticism towards God.
Sin is Corruption
If mankind is designed to reflect God, then what happens when we don’t? If a violin is designed to make delicate music, what happens when you try to use it like a hammer? God warned Adam that the day he ate of the fruit he would “surely die.” And while Adam and Eve do eventually physically die, the fact that they don’t drop over dead immediately demonstrates that what God meant by “death” was more holistic than just a heart no longer beating. What happened?
Picture a large grandfather clock with a complex series of cogs intermeshing together. And imagine one cog being dissatisfied with his current location and wanting to be up higher. So, it pops off its sprocket, only to fall into the bottom of the clock. Pretty soon, there is a grinding and crunching sound, and smoke begins to drift up, and pretty soon, the entire clock is now behaving erratically. That’s a good picture of the consequence of the rebellion of sin—we are the cog, and the clock is all of creation. Or, just to give another picture, imagine a nuclear plant that decides to dump its radioactive waste water into a nearby river. At first, the fish all begin to die. Then all of the vegetation along the riverbank. Then, the farms notice their crops dying. Pretty soon, all of the people nearby begin to get sick. The Bible compares sin with yeast. Put a little yeast on a lump of dough and, lo and behold, it spreads.
“For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened,” (Rom 1:21).
Sin corrupts and affects every part of the human experience, from our minds to our hearts, our desires, will, affection, relationships, thoughts, our very bodies, the whole of creation. Sin is not merely a spiritual reality.
“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind,” (Eph 2:1-3)
The faculties meant to be used in service to imaging God now are darkened and twisted and used perversely. How deep is the rot? Jesus explains that supernatural intervention is needed even to approach Him:
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him,” (John 6:44)
Sin is moral entropy, a chaotic energy that rips and shreds the fabric of the world, relationships, and your very soul.
Sin is Deceitful
Maybe all of this sounds melodramatic. Is it really all that bad?
“…sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it,” (Gen 4:7).
“…put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,” (Eph 4:22).
If something crouches, that means it makes itself look smaller than it really is. Like a lion, ready to pounce, or a serpent coiled to strike. Sin is inherently deceitful. The serpent lied to Adam and Eve. Sin crouches, it deceives. If you saw me turn a black barrel with a white skull and crossbones over and pour sludge into a mountain stream, you’d probably avoid drinking from it. Sometimes sin looks like that and we are alarmed at its heinousness. But most of the time, sin appears mundane and typical.
“…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Rom 3:23).
Pastors and police officers, popes and politicians, plumbers and pornographers. All have sinned. The Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year,” Nobel Prize Winners, Mother Teresa, Elon Musk, Martin Luther King Jr, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, every person in this room—all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Sin is not a liberal issue or a conservative one. Sin can vote democrat and sin can vote republican. Sin can sit in church on Sunday and sin can go to bars on Saturday. Sin has a thousand faces, and will manifest itself in whatever garb is most effective.
And this means that we can’t even see the depth of our sinfulness. It is like we are sick with an illness, but one of the side effects is that we feel healthy.
Sin is Terrifying
Restaurants sometimes use the word “sin” to describe indulgent desserts: this triple chocolate meltdown is sinfully delicious. Or “sin” hits the same register as “mistake” in our mind. Nobody is perfect, we comfort ourselves. We all mess up.
But listen to the seriousness with which Paul and Jesus address sin.
“For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live,” (Rom 8:13).
“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. 43 And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. 45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, 48 ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’ 49 For everyone will be salted with fire,” (Mark 9:42-49).
What is Jesus saying here with this alarming language? Sin is like a gangrene infection. If it is left, it will spread, and it will kill you—not only physically, but eternally in hell. Since sin is a rebellion against God, and God is good, that means God must judge. If God were to remain indifferent towards sin, that would compromise who God is. God is righteous and holy. So, for him to shrug his shoulders at rebellion would be tantamount to God lying or God stealing.
“Years ago, a man was hunting deer in the Tehama Wildlife Area of Northern California. As he climbed through a rocky gorge, he lifted his head to look over a ledge and saw something move next to his face. Before he knew it, a rattlesnake struck, just missing him. The strike was so close, however, that the snake’s fangs became snagged in the neck of his sweater. As the snake coiled around the man’s neck, he grabbed it just behind its head. A mixture of hissing and rattling filled his ear as he felt warm venom run down his neck. He tried to dislodge the fangs from his sweater but fell backward and slid down the embankment. Using his rifle, he untangled the fangs, freeing the snake to strike repeatedly at his face. The man later explained, “I had to choke him to death. It was the only way out.”[3]
Now, imagine that man, snake biting just millimeters from his throat, saying to himself: this isn’t that big of a deal, and choosing to keep the snake there. That would be insane. Yet, that is our state when we treat our sins like understandable pets, not rattlesnakes chomping at our neck.
Sin can be Forgiven
Consider a story from the life of Jesus:
“One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and reclined at table. 37 And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, 38 and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” 40 And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.”
41 “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” 44 Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48 And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49 Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” 50 And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” (Luke 7:36-50)
Here is the paradox of this story: the more aware you are of your sin, the more capacity you have for love. The depth of the woman’s sin amplifies her experience of God’s love. But for the Pharisee, he doesn’t see his need, so his love is little. In fact, she provides worship, service, and ministry to Jesus that the Pharisee doesn’t—she is a better minister than he is because she knows herself to be a wretched sinner in need of forgiveness.
For the non-Christian: run to Jesus now while there is still time. Don’t let your sins keep you from the one who will take them from you.
For the Christian: Receive this forgiveness, you are more sinful than you realize.
Fight sin, flee from it, do not give it any place in your life.
[1] Cornelius Plantinga Jr., Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin, p. 10
[2] I am indebted to Cornelius Plantinga’s summary of “shalom” for many of these vivid images.
[3] This story, first published in the Los Angeles Times, appears in Chuck Swindoll, The Quest for Character (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1993), 17–18.
