Hidden
Costs of Sin
Genesis 1:17 “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.”
Exodus 20:1-17 briefly outlines the Ten Commandments of
which the first four relate to out regards to honoring the Lord God; the last
six in regards to our fellow man.
I like
to approach these commandments in a somewhat different light than traditional
thinking. Traditional thinking is a strict code of COMMANDMENTS of thou shalt and
thou shalt not’s [do’s and don’ts] however, neither of these passages reveal
the hidden costs of violating the sins listed. In fact it almost appears to be
more of a “double dare” scenario—“I double dare you to do run across the
highway backwards, blindfolded and against traffic”. That type of mentality almost always produced
negative results as kids would inevitably rise to meet the challenge to prove
themselves brave or “one of the guys”.
Instead
of a staunch commandment, why not approach them as warnings [though
admittedly it may seem to water down the Word, and yet I don’t think it does].
We tell our kids “don’t sit on the hot stove” and add “or you’ll burn your
bleep”. Here both the warning and the negative consequence are spelled out.
“Don’t play in the street”—“or you’ll get run over.” But still God gives the
command without the seemingly impending negative consequences. With the
exception: partaking of the tree of
knowledge of good and evil had the effect of death. However the text is not immediately clear as to exactly what
death meant in terms of physical,
moral, fellowship with God etc.
So,
let’s look at a few of the hidden costs
of sin.
·
Murder or killing: takes the life of another,
but also deprives children of a parent; a spouse of a companion; many years of
happiness are lost, as well as future generations being denied a heritage.
1. Did
Eve have the slightest idea of what the hidden
costs were in terms of God’s directive to man as overseer of all His
creation Gen.1:28? I think not. Yes, man
is stilled charged with maintaining God’s creation, however with clouded
glasses. Before the fall, man used the clear spectacles of divine origin,
afterward, his vision tainted with sin, man often makes horrific decisions
which in turn produce numerous other decisions to correct the ill fated ones.
2. Did
Cain know the hidden costs of murdering his
brother Abel? He soon found out.
·
Stealing, burglary, robbery: creates a
tsunami of emotional experiences; that of being violated, loss, fear, unusual
wariness and caution, paranoia (in some cases) and many times involve other
crimes such as murder, rape and so on.
·
Sexual sins of incest, adultery, fornication;
same sex relations, beastality, rape: likewise causes the same and perhaps more
devastating emotional trauma, humiliation, feelings of guilt, death and murder
(in the case of David and Bathsheba), divorce, child support and alimony
payments, legal and court fees. Sexual diseases of HIV, Aids, herpes, genital
warts, child deformities and mental illnesses and so on are also the result of
sinful activities of the sexual nature.
·
Lack of honoring parents: though Eph.6:2
states that honoring one’s parents carries the promise of a long life; and yet
millions of those who dishonor their parents live long and productive lives.
But the text does not state the negative costs of such behavior, it implies an
early demise. Negative consequences such
as raising irresponsible and rebellious children, drunkards, dope heads, school
dropouts, as well as early death. Not to mention the perpetual damage to one’s
reputation. I can’t imagine leaving a legacy of a murderer, or adulterer,
rapist, womanizer or bank robber or liar. It must be difficult for one’s
offspring to bear; for one’s reputation not only follows a person, but it has the
uncanny audacity to be awaiting you wherever you go; no matter what category of
sin.
·
Sins against the Lord God [remember the first
four of the ten commandments are against the Lord God, while the other six are
against our fellow man] have the hidden
costs of a severed relationship with Him, guilt, anger, resentment,
disease, emotional tsunamis, moral decay, physical death, and eternal death or
eternal separation from Him without even the slightest hope of reprieve.
·
A simple letter from father to son warning of
disinheritance if he refuses to divorce his wife will not only affect the
immediate persons involved, but also those decedents into whose hands the
letter happens to land will also be affected in a very negative sense.
All sin, regardless of
category, carries perpetual hidden costs along
with the attached emotional tsunamis.
Just simply the emotional
toll sin takes on those directly involved as well as those indirectly involved,
is cause for alarm, for example: law enforcement, judges, juries, the media,
neighbors, relatives and a host of others. No one is exempt from the hidden costs of sin.
So each sin carries with it
a far greater cost than the surface presents; the hidden costs of sin. And the list of costs above by falls short
by a long ways. I wonder if Adam and Eve would have had such a list of negative
costs—would they still have disobeyed God? Probably so, not to mention the fact
that such a list would no doubt take more volumes than the contents of the
Library of Congress.
Hidden
costs or not, Why do we sin?
James 1:12-15 “Blessed is the man that
endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life,
which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Let no man say when he is
tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither
tempteth He any man. But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own
lust and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and
sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”
One could easily exhaust
themselves beyond measure seeking for the answer to the answer of why we sin. However,
Scripture is very clear and simple on the subject. It all goes back to the
Garden of Eden when the woman ate of the forbidden fruit. “The serpent came to
her and said…” then she became interested, pondered and considered and then
decided to eat of the forbidden fruit. She was first drawn aside on her own
desires/lusts; next she was enticed/tempted [sure looked good, not at all
nasty] last of all she ate. Then she died.
Every sin, by necessity and
design, begins with a thought. Our bodies are not designed to function normally
in any other fashion. We first have a thought to ponder, then to either accept
or reject the thought, whether it is an evil or good thought. As brother James
puts it—temptation [the variety of temptation to sin] does not come from God. It
is totally against the very nature and persona of God to tempt man with evil.
As with the woman, Eve, Satan is the tempter and the enticer. As you recall in
a recent study it is his nature and vocation both to tempt and to entice. And
he does it with the lure of a thought…having captured your attention he then
moves to entice you…that is showing how “good and succulent” the activity would
be. Notice in the garden how he enticed the woman by causing her to think and ponder how good it would be to
have knowledge of good and evil…I’ll be like God!
Admit it or not or like it
or not, we all have a “dark side”. It is the “dark side” of us that Satan
approaches. It is the least fortified…the weakest link within us. In a court of
law, defense attorneys often attempt to plead guilty or not guilty by reason of
insanity. Which, in reality means, that one for the sake of simplicity, is not
functioning with a sound and rational mind, thereby causing them to act
irrationally; there is a malfunction of the mental faculties. Which most often
require a mental evaluation by trained mental health experts to determine the
state of their mental capacity.
But there is another side,
of which is rarely heard of. Suppose a person is deemed to be of sane mind and
therefore acted with “normal” rationale? What then? Given that we are all given
the mental capacity to accept or reject certain thoughts wouldn’t it seem
prudent that we simply have failed within ourselves to control that which we
ponder? The term “ponder” is in reality considered to be “malice aforethought”,
or “premeditated”. Therefore, when we act, as Eve did, she had time to “ponder”,
then we are guilty not of insanity, but of not controlling ourselves in the
thought process. In essence our thoughts are allowed to run wild, without
constraint, to accomplish the evil temptation. That is precisely why God gave
the gifts of the Spirit…of which one of those is temperance/self-control. The
Spirit of God, dwelling within each of us, provides the temperance of
self-control to reject to temptation and live in victory. Again, those without
the indwelling Spirit are powerless against the temptations of Satan. Remember,
Satan always attacks our dark side or weakest link.
2Corinthians 10:4-6 (For the weapons of our
warfare are not carnal [of the flesh], but mighty through God to the pulling
down of strongholds;) casting down imaginations, and every high thing that
exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every
thought to the obedience of Christ; and having in a readiness to revenge all
disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.”
This
passage explicitly states that when we submit our illicit thoughts to the
obedience of Christ, then we can reject, through God, all those vain
[worthless] imaginations and thoughts. We, as Christians, have the capacity to
reject evil temptations and submit our minds to the authority of Christ. then
and then only we will live in victory.
Contemporary
Rebellion
Currently there are several
on-going rebellions. The most recent I’ve read about is the worldwide Topless
Feministic movement which is combined with the gay movement in some cases. Of
course the gay movement itself has been around for at least 20 years and has
progressed to demanding rights and benefits for those in same sex relationships
or marriages. To be sure deep pocket monies from celebrities fund such
rebellions as more and more of them “come out of the closet”. Mark my words: on
the near horizon men will launch a total nudity campaign, to compare with the
feminist movement; and then there will be a worldwide movement for total nudity
of both sexes. I know it’s unpopular to predict such nastiness, but it is
coming, sooner than you think. While it
is true that we are coming closer to the second coming of our Lord, it is also
true that the last days are perilous times 1Tim.4:1-4; 2Tim.3:1-8; 2Pet.3:3-4.
As I pondered the rational
of these protestors I realized that they are fulfilling Romans 1:16-32 in that,
first of all, they are rebelling against the very God that created them, [they
are taking a stand against “religion” not simply Christianity, for most all
religions have a moral code by which they stand]; second they are like Eve who
chose the illusion of knowledge of good
and evil over obedience to God; and not as Moses who in Heb.11:24-27 who
chose to obey God and suffer with his kinsmen than to be called the son of
Pharaoh’s daughter, thus sacrificing the riches of Egypt. Those who stage such
protests demonstrate that they have forsaken their Creator God to give
themselves over to the lusts/desires of their flesh.
Many
times the full cost of sin is not realized until sometime down the road, when
the cause is irreversible. Most certainly, the ultimate cost of sin is eternal
separation from a loving Creator God. But many are not willing to forsake their
ungodly lifestyle to obey the God of heaven and earth. They want “to have their
cake and eat it too”. As a result they create their own “religion” and god to
placate themselves, thus “searing their consciences with a hot iron” 1Tim.4:2.
Such attempts are necessary to quiet the conscience, which is a constant
reminder of God.
So
why are they rebelling against religion?
In
reality they are rebelling against religion, in general, because of the moral
codes upheld by religion. The moral code is an affront to the desires and lusts
of their flesh and pricks their
conscience. Thus anything that challenges their conscience, challenges their
choice of “freewill” to do as they please, not regarding God’s law. They are
workers of iniquity [lawlessness]. Our conscience is our early warning system
which sounds off whenever we are doing or about to do something wrong. That’s
when we need to really decide whether or not the action we are considering is
worth the effort.
From a
natural point of view, for one to be called a son of the daughter of a wealthy
and prominent politician might seem to be the greatest thing since apple pie.
However, Heb.11:23-27 Moses chose not to be called the son of Pharaoh’s
daughter because he deemed it better to suffer with God’s children; because “he
saw him who is invisible”. Moses saw opportunities from a divine viewpoint;
that’s what we need to do.
Knowing
God
A brief [not complete, add
to the list] synopsis of the persona of God:
·
Love: abounds in His reaching out to mankind
to restore and nurture
·
Gracious
·
Merciful
·
Righteous; He punishes evil doers as required
by His character, but metes out love to those who are obedient
·
Longsuffering: even in our sinfulness He does
not forsake us, but continues to call us back to Him
·
Gentle
·
Faithful
·
Compassionate
·
Forgiving
·
Friend
·
God’s anger
·
God’s jealousy
·
Restoration
The ultimate goal of Bible study is to know
God and not to merely memorize Bible trivia. As you study, identify the
attributes of God. For instance: make a note when you read of God extending His
forgiveness or compassion, and remember how He has done the same for you.
