December 4, 2002
Reading: Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-9

 

“In the day that you eat of it you shall surely die" (17)

 

“If you do not come straight home from school you will spend the rest of the evening in your room without dinner!” When my mother said these words to me when I was a child, I knew she meant them. One of my schoolmates was drowned in a pond the day before and I was forbidden to ever go there again. If I disobeyed, I knew the consequences. So did Adam, “You can eat of every other tree in the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Should you disobey, you will die.” A severe punishment indeed, but he knew the consequence. When he disobeyed, God fulfilled His word.

What is the consequence when we, as those who love the Lord, sin? The first thing that comes to mind is that we are under a different circumstance than Adam. “If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” 1 John 2:1. Adam had no advocate. He had to face God with nothing between his sin and God’s judgment. There is one reason, and only one, why we do not face the displeasure of God when we sin, and His name is Jesus. Not only did He die with our sin and face the wrath of His Father, but “He always lives to make intercession for them (us)” Heb 7:25. There was a time when God would not accept the petitions of an intercessor. When He spoke through Jeremiah regarding His coming judgment on Israel, He said, “Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them, nor make intercession to Me; for I will not hear you” Jer 7:16. Will He turn a deaf ear to the intercession of His Beloved Son? I think not. “Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us” Rom 8:34.

The consequence of our sin is not condemnation, neither is it separation from God – these things have already happened to Christ on our behalf. He is the One who suffered the wrath of God so that we might be forgiven of our sin. But why does He intercede for us? Did He not do enough when He became man and died on the cross? There can only be one answer – love! “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us” 1 John 3:16. It was His love that caused Him to die for us, and it is His love that keeps Him at His Father’s side interceding for us. He is protecting us and preparing us to be His Bride – a Bride without sin (Eph 5:25-27). When the time comes that Jesus takes His Bride to Himself she will be pure, spotless, without sin, “And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints” Rev 19:8. This is made possible because Jesus continually intercedes for us.

Does this give us liberty to sin because we know Jesus is there to stand between His Father and us? At the marriage of Jesus to His Bride it is said that, “His wife has made herself ready” Rev 19:7. This means we have worked to keep ourselves free from sin. But God, knowing this is impossible, has made a way whereby we can be cleansed – it is called confession. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” 1 John 1:9. This is confession to Jesus, our Great High Priest, not to any human who has elevated himself in the eyes of man and presumes to do the work of Christ. It is God who hears our confession, and it is He who cleanses us upon that confession, because it is Jesus who is our Advocate and Intercessor. The command for obedience remains, but the consequence for disobedience is different because of Jesus.