These two questions have been asked by many people for thousands of years. Sin happens when a person’s heart turns away from God. If we live according to the Word of God and follow His Word, then He, God, is in our heart. But if we begin to want other things and do other things that are against His Word, then our heart turns away from God. A person who desires to find God, will be lead to His Kingdom where the forgiveness of sins is preached in the name and blood of Jesus.
The Bible tells a lot about sin. It tells us that sin is the breaking of the law of God. (1 John 3:4) and that all people have sinned (Romans 3:23) and that sin leads to death (Romans 6:23). If we would die in our sins, we would be eternally separated from God. God is love, God is light and we want to live and walk in His love and light both on Earth and for all eternity.
Isaiah 59:2 tells us that sin hides the face of God from us. What does this mean? We remember the words of the Lord’s Benediction:
The Lord bless us and keep us. The Lord make His face to shine upon us, and be gracious unto us. The Lord lift up His countenance upon us, and give us peace. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The two parts in the prayer above tell how we pray that God would let his face shine on us and he would always turn His face to us (countenance means face).
Original Sin Makes Us All Sinners
The Bible tells us about original sin, how during the Fall in Paradise, the corrupted nature of man and woman became apparent and tempted by the enemy of souls, they chose to disobey God and in this way they turned away from God. This created original or inherited sin in all of us.
This means that no matter what we do or where we are, we carry this original sin within us and we are sinners every day. But when we believe that our sins have been paid for by Jesus, on the cross, then we are wrapped in His light and perfection. And when God looks at us, he does not see us with our sinfulness, instead He sees His beloved Son within us and we are acceptable to Him.
The Bible also tells us that the world’s sin is unbelief in Him (John 16:9-11). There are people who do not yet know our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. They do not believe in Him thus they live in unbelief. Unbelief is the largest of all sins. If a person is in unbelief, he or she needs grace and repentance.
The Message of Forgiveness Is Proclaimed from the Kingdom of God
When sin upsets us and hurts our conscience, we have the grace privilege of confession and we can confess our sins to a brother or sister in faith. We are reminded once again that our sins are forgiven in the name and atoning blood of Jesus and following this we feel light and free.
Repentance is the work of God. When God calls man to Him, the person becomes aware of his or her sins, the conscience awakens and the person can feel sorrow and terror over one’s sins (Ps 51:4, 2 Cor 7:10). The awakened person begins to search for God and God’s Kingdom so that he or she could find peace. The peace of God is a different kind of peace than the peace that the world can offer.
How can peace be found after realizing that sin separates a person from God? God will lead a searching heart to the Kingdom of God and there, one can hear the forgiveness of sins in Jesus’ name and blood (Matthew 6:33, Matthew 4:17, Matthew 16:19). It is through the name of Jesus and through His sacrificial blood that our sins are wiped away. (1 John 1:7-9, Revelation 1:5).
The gospel is abundant and the sea of grace is bottomless. We know this because when Peter went to Jesus and asked how many times should he forgive his brother, Jesus answered and said, not seven times but seventy-seven times.
The threshold to the Kingdom of God is so low that any person can gain entrance. God’s love for us was so great that He sent his beloved Son to die on the cross on behalf of the sins of all people in the world (John 3:16).
Author: J. S.
