SIN'S CONSEQUENCES

 

SIN’S CONSEQUENCES

Ex. 34:5-7 Then the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud and called out his own name, “the LORD,” as Moses stood there in his presence. He passed in front of Moses and said, “I am the LORD, I am the LORD, the merciful and gracious God. I am slow to anger and rich in unfailing love and faithfulness. I show this unfailing love to many thousands by forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion. Even so, I do not leave sin unpunished, but I punish the children for the sins of their parents to the third and fourth generations.” NLT

God identified Himself as the Lord. Moses knew exactly what God meant. God is the ruler over all life. He is the one who determines the longevity of life. He determines the order of life. He determines the events of life and nature. He is in control and all life depends on Him. God is Lord; there is no one else. He stands alone in power, knowledge, holiness, and majesty.

The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, rich in unfailing love, and faithfulness. It is who He is. He forgives every kind of sin and every kind of rebellion. Yet, sin is sin and He does not ignore it. God treats us better than we deserve. He goes out of His way to embrace us and help us. He honors those who come to Him with repentant hearts. He helps those who sincerely strive to not sin against Him. But, God cannot let us get by with sin. Even though He forgives sin, there often are many consequences of sin we have to live with. We see it in the world, and we see it in our personal lives.

The Lord does not remove the consequences of sin from us. We have to live with the scars of sin and the damage that has been done because of our sin. There are broken relationships that remain broken. There are people injured for life because of things they do. There are people driven from faith because of sin. There are health issues that do not go away. There are financial obligations that must be dealt with because of sin. There are ministries and marriages destroyed because of sin. Sometimes the consequences of sin are long-lasting. They linger not only in our lifetime, but they affect generations to come.

Sin is nothing to play around with. God forgives the humbled and broken heart, but He allows the consequences of sin to linger. We must take sin seriously. We must do all we can do to leave behind us a legacy of righteousness. There is no greater gift that you can pass on to the next generation than that of a life lived rightly before God.