A Discussion with Sin
For anyone that reads this blog, you have probably seen a pattern because I like patterns! I think this was one of the first things the Lord showed me – Watch the patterns.. they have something to say. Well, there is an obvious pattern developed whenever I have discussions with sin.
It is called the Wizard of Oz game. “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.” It’s the dodge-n-wave/hide-n-seek game. Recently, I had a discussion when a person asked if a situation was wrong (he was stealing). I said yes, it is a sin to steal. Then, they played the game. When we do wrong, we love to hide our sin.. just ask Adam and Eve, the first playa’s of the game –
As the Lord commanded –
Genesis 2:16-17 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
God commanded something, simple enough. Don’t eat of it. In the day you do eat of it, you shall surely die. Can God lie? No, He cannot. He is Truth.
God, like a father, guided Adam. Just like any other father teaching their children, “Don’t touch that candle, it’s hot. In the day you touch this, you will surely get burned.” And we know what happened next, they ate. What happens immediately after they ate of the tree is amazing because we can see the very same thing happening in mankind today. There is an obvious pattern… watch for it. It’s obvious and a person doesn’t have to look very far to find it.. (just look in the mirror).
We’ve heard the story.. they were tempted by the serpent and they ate. Watch closely –
Genesis 3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
They knew they were naked, and covered themselves. Then watch.. God comes strolling in. What did they do next? They hid further! –
Genesis 3:8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
It seems pretty evident to me that the first attempt with the fig leaves was a masking over of the exposure. The Lord God (Truth) comes strolling in and they now physically hide themselves from God’s presence. That’s attempt #2. In God’s presence, they are dealing with God’s revealed knowledge – They sinned. Fig leaves (or whatever covering we may use) will hide things from other humans, but God will not be mocked by mere cover-ups. The Truth remains regardless of the games we play – Sin is revealed in the presence of God, regardless of the covers. He knows..
What happens next? God calls out to Adam, “Where are you?” Watch this.. –
Genesis 3:10-11 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
So Adam, who has already tried to hide twice is now in the presence of God – His hiding attempts did not work. As God does, He asks questions to get us to open up, which I believe is our opportunity to confess and agree with the truth. Adam does speak honestly with God. He opens up and answers His question. Adam is very direct, to the point and honest. “I was afraid because I was naked so I hid myself.” But watch this now… God speaks and reminds Adam about His commandment to not eat via a question.
Then bam! Now Adam has to talk about his sin. Why? Not only because he’s in the presence of our all knowing God.. but because Adam, through his actions and his very own words, has revealed the sin that he has tried to keep hidden. Sin is exposed by the light/truth. Now, Adam has to face the facts of his own words/actions, which are evidence of the sin. So God calls him on it, basically asking, “Did you sin?”
So what does a prideful man do? Continue to hide – Make excuses and blame others. Pride, the armor of darkness.. Protecting the sin..
Genesis 3:12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
Adam literally blames God and blames the woman for his own choice. God had discussions with him, and said to not eat, and he did. Sin against God. But now, after God reminds Adam that He commanded him not to.. I”m sure Adam’s memory was jogged, “..in that day, you shall surely die.” Rut Roh Astro! I imagine self-talk going something like this, “I’m gonna die! I’m revealed! Well, this is the last ditch effort!” – So he spews out, “The woman that you gave me God.. She gave me.. and yes, I acted on it.” Excuses, justifying, trying to belittle his sin, hide it, etc. The redirection tactic. “Don’t look here! Lemme toss some distractions out there to get that spotlight off of me! Look at the woman! Blame her! Why did you give her to me!?”
So we know the rest of the story.. God asks the woman and she blames the serpent. “The serpent deceived me and I ate.” True, but the root of the matter? Self-responsibility – “I knew it was wrong, but I did it anyways.” That’s a truthful response – to place FULL responsibility onto oneself as the one that did it. But as we know, God is not fooled and cannot be deceived with distraction tactics. He holds true to His word and man now returns to dust.
So, what does this all have to do with Discussions with sin? Wow, it took me a lot of typing to get to this. hahaha. Anyways, that is the pattern. It has happened in the beginning, it happens today, and I have even done it. If I speak about someone’s sin, what I speak is God’s word pertaining to it (truth, that the action is sinful). God’s truth hits them, “Stealing is wrong.” What happens next is amazing, “Well, Samsung is the one at fault for not paying closer attention and not billing me!” Hider. “They make more $ than I do and rip people off all the time. They make billions!” Hider. “You’re just one of those religious freaks aren’t you?” Hider. “Who are you to judge?” Hider. The truth behind all of the fig leaves, hiding, and distraction tactics remains – Stealing is wrong and the person stole, which means they sinned against God’s moral governance. The truth stands regardless of the window dressings and games..
This goes so much further than stealing. It has to do with all incorrect behaviors that are contrary to God’s moral governance (sin). We blame others for making us angry, sad, hurt, mad, depressed, etc. I have done it.. many times. When the truth was revealed to me that I was the one in the wrong, He showed me that I was just playing a game and blaming people and circumstances. I did not want to be considered weak. This is why Jesus said, “..in your weakness, I am made strong.” When we can confess and be straight up with one another, that’s when God moves. It’s called confession (agreement with God’s moral governance). As long as we keep hiding and playing the game.. well, we will die an eternal death because we are already spiritually dead. We would much rather swim in our ego/pride than be exposed. The problem is that we are already exposed in the presence of the truth, which is evident by how we react with anger, distractions, lies upon lies, excuses, etc.
The truth is always the truth. It will remain and can not be moved. When sin is discussed, the truth is always exposing it as sin. Does it feel good to be revealed? Nope, it takes humility to agree with God. I have to become weak (weak in self, strong in truth) in order to do such.. assuming I invite the truth into my life (Jesus).
I really went off on some tangents.. If you made it this far, congrats. I had fun typing, I pray this blesses you in one fashion or another. :)
