Sin is not just a matter of breaking the laws of God. Sin cannot be simply measured in terms of particular acts. Our problem is not just confined to specific deeds. Our dilemma is that sin is a condition we suffer from.
The apostle Paul wrote that sin is a condition suffered by all human beings who are by nature dead in trespasses and sins and are the children of wrath (Ephesians 2:1). In other words, sin is like an incurable terminal illness that we all suffer from. Or we can also say that we have the death sentence, for the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).
On our own we are helpless. We cannot heal or save ourselves. The thoughtful and honest prophet asked the rhetorical question with the obviously depressing answer, “Can the leopard change his spots?” (Jeremiah 13:23).
The history of the world demonstrates that this question is as relevant today as it was 2,600 years ago. Both our public newspaper headlines as well as our private diary entries are proof that the fundamental problem of the human race is its sinfulness, and its inability to cure itself of this condition. Good governance, education, and science have failed to eradicate sin from our hearts.
The same can be said of the reality of death in our lives. At some point in our life journeys, each of us discovers the painful truth that we will die. The death of those close to us and those from our own generation makes this all the more real. No amount of sanitising death can remove from it the awfulness and tragedy of death in our world. Everyone dies.
The good news is that God did not turn His face away from the human race after the Eden tragedy (Genesis 3). God sent His Son Jesus to help us in our helplessness and to deal decisively with the curse of sin and death in the human race. The Gospel of Christ in fact deals essentially with these two problems. All other matters are secondary.
The cross of Christ and His empty tomb are the powerful and effective ways in which God has dealt with sin and death.
On the cross Jesus bore our sins and died for us. The entire weight of human sin was placed on Him and it crushed him. He shed His blood so that we can be cleansed of our sins. He died a lonely death so that we can enjoy the presence of God. He was humiliated so that our shame can be removed.
The story of Jesus does not end at the cross. The empty tomb is a demonstration of Christ’s victory over death. The cross and the empty tomb stand together logically and theologically.
In dealing decisively with human sin, Christ has also dealt decisively with the problem of death. In conquering sin, He has also conquered its consequence — death. One is the evidence for the other. Hence Paul’s argument: “And if Christ has not been raised… you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17).
The sting of death has been removed. It has now become, in Martin Luther’s words, a fangless serpent coiled impotently around us.
In one short lifetime, Jesus did what no one else could. He took care of our guilt with regard to sin and our anxiety with regard to death. If we believe, we can then experience the deep relief that Jesus brings to us through His cross and empty tomb.
Consider this:
If there was no cross, then we are lost. If the tomb was not empty and Christ had not been resurrected, then our hopes of the future, in this world and the next, are in vain (1 Corinthians 15:14). How is your life today different because of the cross and the empty tomb?
Excerpted and adapted from A Feast for the Soul by Robert Solomon. © 2005 by Robert Solomon. Used by permission of Armour Publishing. All rights reserved.
