The death of Jesus Christ is the most important thing.
By attending few funerals, I noticed that in the brochure, constantly, you will see a biography of the deceased. An interesting fact is that, they talk about the person's life, the person attended this school or that .. and finaly the person died of a heart attack. So usually you will realize that the life of the person is far more important than his or her death. However, in christianity, it is the opposite. For us christian, the death of Jesus Christ is the most important thing. Why is the death of Jesus more important than great men such as Socrates, Aristotle, etc... ?
The quality of a soap is determined by the thoughness of the stain that it can wash. The quality of an airfreshner is determined by the kind of smell that it can remove. And in the same way, the quality or the importance of the death of Jesus is determined by the seriousness of the problem of sin. Because Sin is so bad, it is the number one problem in the world, the death of Jesus Christ is the most important thing in the world. Why is Sin so bad ? Because it has four major effects.
The four major effects of sin:
#1. Pollution
It is Sin alone that defiles a man. In Mark 7:20-23, Jesus said :
What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.
That means no matter how bad you may smell, no matter the corners you may have been to, you can not be defiled in the eyes of God until you are in Sin. Sin is the only thing that contaminates us, the only thing that pollutes man before God. Those whose sin have not been forgiven are still polluted by it.
#2. The partition of Sin.
Because Sin pollutes and contaminates human beings, it does not allow us to draw close to God, to have fellowship with God.
Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short That it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear. But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear. Isaiah 59:1-2
Which means that whosoever is in sin, whosoever's sins have not been forgiven is seperated from God ! It is almost like removing a plant from the soil, the plant will definately die. Why ? Because it has been seperated from the source of life. So whoever is in sin is seperated from God already.
#3. The power of Sin.
Sin has power over the one who sins and that is why the person who sins will continue to sin.
John 8:34. Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.
Sin has an addictive power which means as you sin you will continue to sin. That is why every year people come to church, make new year resolutions but two months later they find themselves in the same sin. Why ? Because of the power of sin.
#4. The penalty of Sin.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23.
God is angry at Sin. It is the number one thing that angers God. God is a rightheous God, He MUST punish Sin. All those whose Sins have not been forgiven will receive Judgement from God! Whether our parents, collegues, friends, if their are still in their sins, if they have not received Jesus as their Lord and personal Saviour, then they are polluted (no matter how good we think they are), seperated from God ( which means they can not have daily communication with God). And these people, no matter how good they are, they will continually Sin, and ultimately, they will receive Judgement from God. That is why this is the season for us to bring them the remedy for sin so their sins be forgiven.
Someone reading this might say: «I know people who are very good, and so, Pastor Francis, what you are saying does not apply to those people. They are better than a lot of christians...». We only say that because we compare them to other people. Now when a thief compares himself to a murder, He says he is not a sin and when the Liar compares himself to a Rappist, He says he is better. However in the sight of God, all of them are under sin. So what is important is how people look in the sight of God, not in the sight of men. That is why we must do everything in our power to make sure that our relatives, friends are saved from the power of sin. I can see some of us leading them out of sin in the name of Jesus!
Related Topics : Sin, Francis Agyinasare,
