“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities.”—Isaiah 53:5
One of our favorite pastimes these days is complaining about the high cost of gasoline. Oh, remember the good old days when you could buy several gallons for a buck. “Buying several gallons for a buck” is a new phrase I heard yesterday. The cost of gas may be going up, or down this week, but the cost of sin has always been high and doesn’t look to come down anytime soon.
God told Adam as He placed him in the Garden of Eden to eat freely of any fruit but avoid one tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God further said, “When you eat of it you will surely die” (Gen. 2:17). Most of us know the story. Adam and Eve disobeyed God, ate the fruit, and life on earth changed drastically. Although Adam and Eve did not instantly die physically, their innocence died, and death entered the world. Had it not been for God’s grace, their and our relationship with God would be dead forever as well.
Adam and Eve did what all human beings try to do; they attempted to cover their nakedness and sin on their own. They made coverings from fig leaves and hid themselves from God (Gen. 3:7-8). We see grace and forgiveness at work as God sought out Adam and Eve and made garments of skin for them (vs. 22). Some see this as the first animal sacrifice.
Sin costs. Sin causes death. I am currently reading through the book of Leviticus. Leviticus describes in detail the sacrificial system for the Jewish people. Chapter 4 graphically describes how to make a Sin Offering. The person was to select a young, perfect animal without defect, bring it to the priest, lay their hand on its head, and slaughter it before the Lord (Lev. 4:4). I have lived on a farm. I have had a butcher come to the farm, slaughter cows, and haul them away. But I have never with my bare hands laid my hand on the cow when its life was taken from it.
The graphic nature of the sacrifice was to remind the sinner that sin has consequences. Sin costs a life. The book Hebrews tells us, “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22). Adam’s sin affected everything and everyone one around him. Eve and every mother to ever live would experience pain in childbirth. The earth would be overrun with thorns and weeds. Adam and every person to come would have to work to bring food from the earth.
Most of us never know the entire cost of sin. Sin affects our relationship with God. It hinders the effectiveness of our prayers. Sin affects our family and friends. Sin even affects the unbeliever who watches the actions and motivations of those who call themselves Christians. More importantly, sin caused the suffering and death of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Remember the movie, “The Passion of the Christ,” produced by Mel Gibson a few years ago. It so graphically portrayed the suffering of Jesus that it was rated “R,” and many church goers refused to watch it.
