LOVE AND SIN

Love, High Point, NC

When we read in Genesis that human beings were created in God’s image, it doesn’t mean that we look like our Creator but that we are able to relate like our Creator. Our God is a relational God. I believe it also implies that since one of the greatest attributes of God is love, we were endowed with the free will or freedom to either share in that relationship or to turn our backs on God. It’s been said that God can do everything except compel us to love him—by design. Paul writes in the love chapter of First Corinthians that “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails”. We now vaguely understand our relationship with our creator, as if seeing through a dark glass or a blurry reflection in an ancient mirrored surface, but we will see more clearly when we’re restored to our original perfection.

We cannot enter into a relationship with God without the freedom of choice. We Americans living in the land of the brave and home of the free have learned that freedom is not free. Freedom carries with it certain responsibilities, dedication and sacrifices. And human history continues to move toward freedom because it is written on the human heart. However, nations of men have lived under severe persecution and denial of basic unalienable rights endowed by their Creator. Individuals have become wrapped in the chains of severe addictions that have robbed them of their ability to freely live life. Sin is not just a violation of a moral code, but it’s also a consequence of not developing a relationship with our Creator. Instead, we immerse ourselves in self-idolatry and deny our reliance on others. When we set out to be our own God and not to seek the grace and will of God, the destructive consequences known as sin easily corrupt the peace, hope and security of our existence.

Physics teaches us that nature abhors a vacuum. So when the human heart does not nurture love, rent free space is available for sin to move in and fill the void. Thankfully we have a forgiving Creator, since no human being is without sin.