Hebrews 3:4-6
For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God. And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.
“I understand where you’re coming from, Caleb. We talked about that last evening, remember? Sin is doing things we know we should not do, like when we disobey our parents, or they tell us to do something, but we do it without much effort, like we don’t even care, and do a poor job. That’s about the same as not doing it in the first place. Or, as Counselor Leanne told us last night, sin is not only doing things we know we should not do, it’s also NOT doing things we know we should do, like cleaning up our room, without being told twenty times to do it. Basically, sin is who we are, not what we do or don’t do. Well, I was up late last night thinking about it all. I couldn’t sleep. I thought about how much God has done for us, rescuing us from Egypt where we were slaves, pulling back the waters of the Red Sea, so we could escape from Pharaoh and his army, providing food for us in the wilderness. One miracle after another. And yet, despite all of that, what did we do? A party with a golden statue. A golden cow. Falling down and worshiping a statue? Oh God, I prayed, I feel like a failure. I blame myself. I know in my heart I’m a sinner too. I realize there’s no way I can show these kids how much you love them—not really; there’s no way I can show them the awful life-wrecking consequences of sin.
And as I prayed, it was as if God showed me something that was so real to me, it was like it had already happened. And I want to share it with you. The good news. Great news in fact. God has a way to show you and me His great love for us AND the very awful consequences of our sin.
When I reread the story about Adam and Eve, right there it was. Maybe I missed it before. God made a promise to Adam & Eve, to reassure them that He would provide a solution to the sin problem. In fact, the solution is older than the problem. God Himself is the solution. It was as if God said to me, “Moses, you can’t do it. I’ll do it.” What did He mean by that, I thought to myself. And then it all became clear, and as I said, so clear it was like it had already happened.
The God of the universe became a man, one of us, in the man Jesus Christ. The same one who created it all. The same God who used to walk in the garden before Adam & Eve walked away. But He didn’t let go. God became a man, like you and me, but without sin, to die a horrible death for all of us. Upon a cross. He somehow took upon Himself our sinful rebellion, even though He was innocent. In that way He showed us both His love and the awful consequences of our sin. All at the same time.
This holy, loving, kind and good God wants to be your God, throughout your whole life’s journey!
