Romans 5:16: And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification.
Jesus tells us that there is no truth in Satan in John 8:44. One of his greatest untruths – or lies – that he has masterfully deceived all of us is his constant profession that sin isn’t that big a deal. ‘It’s no big deal’, ‘everyone does it’, or ‘nobody is going to know or care’ might be some of the things you may heard whisper in your ear when you are considering engaging in sin. Sin literally means, “falling short of the mark”, but we would like to offer an alternative definition. Sin is the rejection of the sufficiency of God’s provision. One of God’s names is Jehovah Jireh, which means, the Lord will provide. It doesn’t mean He might or could provide, it means he will provide. The name Jehovah Jireh is a promise from the Lord that He will provide you what you need.
Let’s take a trip back to the beginning of humanity and take a quick look at the story of Adam and Even in the book of Genesis. In chapter 2, God had told Adam he could he from any tree in the Garden of Eden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He promised Adam that if he ate of that tree, he would surely die. God cannot lie, so He is a perfect keeper of His promises. Jumping ahead to chapter 3, Satan is tempting Eve to eat from the tree God warned them. Eve relates God’s warning in her exchange with Satan, and Satan – true to his character – challenges the truth of God’s Word – lies to her and tells her in verse 4 that she will not surely die. Tragically, Eve and Adam choose to believe the liar as opposed to believe the One Who cannot lie, and eat the forbidden fruit ushering sin into human existence.
That one sin has filtered into every other human born since then – except One. This single exclusion is why the story of the Immaculate Conception of Jesus is a central point of the Gospel message. With Mary being conceived by the Holy Spirit, the seed that impregnated was holy – it was without sin. To be the complete and acceptable sacrifice for all humanity, Jesus had to have no sin in Him. Moreover, He lived a life without choosing to sin. He is our perfect gift of salvation, because He was perfect – He satisfied God the Father’s wrath against humanity for rejecting the sufficiency of God’s provision.
As today’s verse notes, this gift of salvation is also free to us but cost God everything. All the sin in the history of the human race and is ravaging humanity and Earth today can be traced back to Adam and Even rejecting the sufficiency of what God provided them. Jesus came to take all that sin that has transpired since then and will transpire until there is a new heaven and a new earth and be the atoning payment for the penalty for our sin. All the sin was put on one man – Christ Jesus, and one Man, satisfied all the wrath God has on our sin – Christ Jesus. All for One, and One for all.
To not believe what Jesus did is true results in condemnation. To believe in Who Jesus is and what He accomplished at the Cross results in justification with God – being declared “not guilty” of God’s wrath. Which results do you want?