Romans 6
23 For the wages of sin is death; but the Gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
These words are extremely important. May it be inscribed in each heart. They apply to you directly. Our Almighty Creator says these words to us. We need to take heed.
The word death is just one small word but it’s reality is terrifying. Sin brings about death.
God spoke to Adam when paradise was on earth in Eden. God placed them in this beautiful garden and told them that they could eat from all the fruit but not from the tree from the middle of the garden lest they die. However, Eve listened to the serpent’s lie, ate of the fruit and also gave to Adam her husband. But not all woman are like Eve, for example Mary the mother of our Lord. When Pilate tried the Lord Jesus his wife sent him a warning to be careful what he did with Jesus. But he disregarded what she said and condemned Jesus still. That’s the problem with men that they listen to their wives when they should not and when they should listen they don’t.
We might say that Adam did not die the day he ate of the fruit but he died spiritually which is much worse and the physical death. We consist of body, soul and spirit with the soul and spirit of more importance than the body.
Sin blinded Adam to think he could hide from God. Adam had such a beautiful relationship with God but the day he sinned that all changed and he was afraid of God and hid from Him.
When God confronted Adam he blamed Eve and God, while Eve blamed the serpent. The serpent kept quiet and as such the dumb animal was more honest than both of them.
Adam lost fellowship with God. The glory of God was lost from his face. Adam died when he sinned. God is holy and cannot have fellowship with sin.
When a person dies spiritually it’s visible on his face and in his way of doing things. He becomes like an animal with no gratefulness to God for His gifts. He has no love for the things of God anymore, but he’s very much alive for the things of the world. Other things come in and take preference in stead of the things of God.
Illus: Someone was given a beautiful, cute puppy dog. But this dog got up to mischief and the owner would not correct it. It became apparent that this dog was disobedient. It would behave when someone was around but when no one saw it it would get up to all manner of mischief. After some time it became obvious that this puppy is growing up but continues to be naughty. At first the owner excused it for it was only a puppy, just like some parents excuse their little naughty child. One day, however, he saw for himself how naughty the dog was and all his excuses were gone. He lost all love for the dog and decided the dog must die. He decided to poison the dog. He got some poison and put it inside meat and threw it to the dog. The dog caught the meat still in the air and swallowed it. Sin brings death like swallowing the meat with the poison inside. Very quickly the dog became very ill and eventually it just lay down and died.
The Bible warns the drunkard not to look at the alcohol when it sparkles in the glass, for it strikes like a viper and kills you. Sin takes away all joy even in your youth. If you consume sin it will eventually consume you.
The devil, when he introduces sin to you, makes it so attractive as he did to Eve; but its end is death. Like the puppy, the tempting meat contains deadly poison.
Previously God had cared so wonderfully for them with all the fruit of the garden. After they had sinned they had to toil to get their own food and they also suffered physically when disease started to take its toll in their bodies.
People complain about life but don’t realise that life is so difficult because of sin. In Isaiah 50 God clearly shows how that we’ve brought all our sufferings upon ourselves because we refuse His remedy in Jesus Christ and try to solve our troubles alone. He made it possible for us to be delivered from this death.
Colossians 3
5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.
9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
Put these things to death or it will kill you. Even if you’ve experienced beautiful fellowship with God but if you again allow these sins to enter you will lose that fellowship and relationship with God.
10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.
If you’ve lost God’s life then all these things about racial identity and the things of the world become so important to you. Why? Because of sin that entered.
Your “terrible” neighbour cannot remove your relationship with God. Job lost everything, even his ten beautiful children and his wife advised him to curse God. But he answered her that she spoke as a foolish woman. He was a real man. His friends started talking and concluded that he must have sinned. But God eventually rebuked them and said that they won’t be forgiven unless they go to Job and ask for forgiveness. Job had made a covenant with his eyes that he won’t look at a virgin, and that kept him from sin.
But if you look at pornography and think yourself righteous then you’re deceiving yourself. You need to repent and then God will draw close to you again.
You might condemn a thief that’s hungry and steal, but you do the same thing when you enter where you should not and take what is not yours.
Unless you take God’s cure for death, our Lord Jesus Christ, sin’s wages is always death.