Slicing Sin Out Of Your Life Series

Slicing Sin Out Of Your Life

Matthew 27:46

We live in a day of political correctness. Today, your house isn’t a mess, it’s just “passage restrictive”. You’re not late, you just have “rescheduled arrival time”. If you happen to be what they used to call tall, you are just “vertically enhanced”. Do you have a problem with shyness, you’re just “conversationally selective”. And if you do talk a lot, you are “verbally abundant”. And me, I’m not bald, I just have “rebellious follicle syndrome”.

We don’t like to talk about our shortcomings or acknowledge our problems. Instead, we just reframe them, dress them up to look a lot better than they really are.

We live in a time of moral relativism. Where what used to be called “sin”, is now an alternative lifestyle choice. A group of college students were asked their opinions on the media, specifically the R-rated kinds of situations being shown on TV and the movies. When they were asked why sex and violence were so prevalent, one student answered, “Because it’s no big deal.”

This morning, I wonder, “Whatever happened to sin?” We used to see it and hear about it, but today, it has blended in so nicely to our culture that we hardly notice it anymore.

The Bible says that Jesus died for our sins, so we can be forgiven. This morning, I want us to look back to the cross and listen to the fourth statement that Jesus made there. We are in a series on the Famous Last Words of Jesus. These final words are so important because they point back to the major themes of Jesus ministry. They remind us of why Jesus came.

And as we listen to the fourth statement from Jesus, we find

Matthew 27:45-46

From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. [46] About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"--which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

From noon to 3:00, the whole land went black. Darkness was a sign of judgment for sin. It was a visible sign of the judgment that was on the people and the abandonment of Jesus.

And if we listen, we hear Jesus crying out in a loud voice, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus is quoting Psalm 22:1.

Jesus had become sin. He had taken on the sins of the world so that He could take the punishment of your sin and of my sin.

Remember, Jesus had never sinned in His entire life. He was the only person who ever lived a perfect life. But God says in:

2 Cor. 5:21

Christ had no sin, but God made him become sin so that in Christ we could become right with God.

Remember, He walked in such a close fellowship with God the Father, but at that moment, God turned His face away and the land went dark.

This was all because of sin. God is holy and He has a holy allergic reaction to sin. And so when Jesus took on the sins of the world, God had to be separated from His only Son. That was the price of sin.

Whatever happened to sin? It’s still around. It happens every time I say to God, “No thanks, God, I’m gonna handle this one on my own. I know there is a way you would do this, but I’m gonna try it my way.” And I turn from God’s plan and I leave Him out the picture and live the way I want to live and do just what I want to do.

1 John 3:4 (NCV)

The person who sins breaks God’s law. Yes, sin is living against God’s law.

God has a plan. He has a perfect way, but the Bible says every one of us are guilty of breaking God’s law.

And when we break God’s law. Our relationship with God is broken in the process. We are cut off from God. When you get down to it, sin is just like a knife that severs our bond with God.

(At this point in the message, I picked up a large machete and held it through the remainder of the message.)

Isaiah 59:2

But there is a problem—your sins have cut you off from God. Because of your sin, he has turned away and will not listen anymore.

Sin causes our connection with God to be slashed. Our link to Him is chopped in two. And it hacks away at our life.

Have you ever heard about how an Eskimo hunter kills a wolf?

First, the Eskimo coats his knife blade with animal blood and allows it to freeze. He then adds layer after layer of blood until the blade is completely concealed by the frozen blood.