August 19

The Deadliness of Sin

One more time Ezekiel shouts out the message of the deadliness of sin. The prophet charts the history of their rebellion in chapter 20. He warns the people of Jerusalem about the imminent judgment they are facing because of their sins in chapter 21. And what is their response to all of these warnings?

Ezekiel 20:49 Ah... he is just telling parables!!

Chapter 21 dealt with the specifics ... Ezekiel actually enumerates them... bloodshed, idolatry, misuse of power, lack of respect for parents, oppression of the alien and the poor, mistreatment of the orphans and widows, not setting one day aside for the Lord, sexual impurity, adultery, lust, injustice, priests not teaching about good and evil, and finally forgetting God. That is a pretty long list.

What I found so fascinating today was the response, “He is just telling parables.” There was no sense of the deadliness of sin. Sin is not cosmic treason against a holy God, it is just an error in judgment, a mistake, a mess up that is really is no big deal. That is why they called it a parable.

There is a great similarity between 590 BC and today. The problem with sin today is that it is no longer deadly. We now view sin from our perspective not from how God views it. Sin is not being true to ourselves, it is not reaching our full potential. The standard by which we now view sin is through the eyes of Jerry Springer, Stamford’s most famous citizen.

But we know that sin is deadly because of two facts.

1. Jesus had to come to this planet and give his life for us to be forgiven. That is a huge price to pay, if sin is just a psychological issue.

2. Hell is in the future of everyone who does not buy into the way of escape created by the cross of Jesus. The existence of hell doesn’t match with the modern view of sin.

In the end it takes more than moral or psychological therapy to deal with sin. It takes the blood of Jesus to atone for it. The drift in the culture in 2009 is just as dangerous as it was in Ezekiel’s day. Sin is not just a parable it is a cosmic treason against God.