FEATURES
FEATURES
SiN | 2333 image-bearers do not love , reverence , worship , and obey the one true God as they ought .
SIN SHOWS ITS MANY COLORS
From Gen 3 until Rev 21 , the story of God ’ s people is , at least in part , the story of sin . But while sin is universal , the biblical language for sin is not univocal . In the Pentateuch sin is breaking the covenant . It is a breach of the legal stipulations given to Moses and to which Israel professed allegiance . But sin is also everyone doing as they see fit ( Judg 21:25 ). Sin is the stupidity of forsaking God and being satisfied with broken cisterns ( Jer 2:13 ). Sin is the breakdown of shalom and the sad triumph of evil over good . Wisdom literature often describes sin as foolishness and vanity . In Kings and Chronicles , sin is forgetting God and refusing to humble oneself before him . In the Prophets , sin is often hypocrisy . Elsewhere in the OT , sin manifests itself as strident injustice or perfunctory obedience ( e . g ., rending your garments instead of your heart ). And on other occasions it represents a failure to love God with all your heart and to love your neighbors as yourself . Sin is the villain with a thousand faces .
And all of those faces oppose God . We must never forget that sin frequently has a horizontal dimension . But just as important , we must remember that sin always has a vertical dimension . There are no innocent transgressions . There are no victimless crimes . Every sin , no matter how private or quiet , is an affront to the holiness and benevolence of God . David , in his adultery and murder , may have sinned against Bathsheba , Uriah , Joab , his army , his family , and the whole nation of Israel , but in the deepest sense it was still right for him to say to God , “ Against you , you only , have I sinned ” ( Ps 51:4 ). No matter how heinous our infractions against others , God still remains the most offended party whenever we sin .
SIN GETS CONFRONTED
Thankfully , the story of sin in the Bible is not the story of unchecked evil and wickedness . Though he may prowl around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour ( 1 Pet 5:8 ), the devil , as a created being , has always been subservient to the Creator . Satan cannot operate apart from God ’ s permission ( Job 1:12 ) and plan ( 1 Sam 16:14 – 16 ). And the divine plan has always been for the downfall of sin and the devil ( Gen 3:15 ). Satan ’ s rage we can endure , for lo , his doom is sure . One little word — the Word of the gospel — shall fell him .
More precisely ( to speak with the story line of Scripture ), we might say the Word made flesh shall fell him . The incarnation was a frontal assault on the devil . Not only does Jesus begin his mission as the second Adam by resisting Satan ’ s temptation where the first Adam failed ( Luke 4:1 – 13 ), he also actively makes the exorcism of demons a touchstone of his ministry ( Mark 1:39 ). Even when the crowds and the disciples do not recognize Jesus ’ true identity , the demons know who he is and cower in fear ( Mark 1:24 ; 3:11 ; 5:7 ; Jas 2:19 ). They know that Satan is about to fall like lightning ( Luke 10:18 ) and the ruler of the world is about to be decisively judged ( John 16:11 ).
Of course , Jesus ’ confrontation with Satan was also a confrontation with sin . Even before he was born , it was understood that Jesus would save his people from their sins ( Matt 1:21 ). Jesus ’ miracles impressed the crowds , but what absolutely shocked them was his daring presumption to forgive sins ( Mark 2:7 ). Jesus addressed numerous problems in his ministry — hunger , disability , poverty , fear , demon possession , even death — but the one problem underlying them all , the one that had bedeviled God ’ s people throughout their whole sordid history , was the problem of sin . This is the problem Jesus came to confront . And in the end , it is the one he triumphantly conquered .
SIN GETS CONQUERED
Sin cannot be without consequences . Whether this means plagues on Egypt , captivity in Bab ylon , fire and sulfur on Sodom , a flood on the earth , or expulsion from the garden , God is a God of justice , and in the end every trespass and every trespasser must face consequences . This principle holds true after death as well as in life .
One way God conquers sin is to throw death and the devil into the lake of fire ( Rev 20:10 ), along with all those whose names are not written in the book of life ( Rev 20:15 ). The eternal punishment of the wicked in hell not only vindicates God ’ s honor and upholds divine justice , it also exposes the utter sinfulness of sin . God would be less than God and sin would be something less than sin if the Lord allowed our treacherous disobedience to go unnoticed and unchecked . If there is any axiom the Bible assumes from start to finish — from the Garden of Eden to the heavenly city , from before Adam to after death , from the OT to the NT — it is that sin must be paid for .
But of course , hell is not the only way sin , death , and the devil can be finally and decisively judged . Hell is but a minor theme next to the soaring melody of the cross . On top of Golgotha we see most clearly the reversal of the curse as the reviled Son of God becomes the curse for us ( Gal 3:13 ). Here Jesus drinks the cup of God ’ s wrath ( Mark 14:36 ). Here Christ lays down his life as a ransom for many ( Mark 10:45 ). Here at the cross we see not the abandonment of justice but the complete fulfillment of it . Jesus overcomes sin by becoming sin for us . Jesus conquers the Goddefiant wretchedness of sin by divine satisfaction through divine self-substitution .
28 theologically rich articles by authors such as Tim Keller and Kevin DeYoung
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