Tag: Sin

Easter 101

On By JCIn Miscellaneous, Wounded Butterflies BlogLeave a comment

Why do we have a day called Easter? There is one constant in all of humanity across time: past, present or the future. People will lie, cheat, steal, cause pain, be greedy, and not show love. This is the state of every single person who has ever lived and ever will live, we are all born into sin. We are all sinners (Romans 3:23).

Our state of being born as a sinner started with Adam and Eve when they made the decision to disobey God. As a sinner, we are all going to hell when we die because we fail to meet the standard to go to heaven. The standard is perfection. No human being, no matter how perfect they may think they are or you may think they are, is good enough to avoid hell. We are all imperfect. Mark 9:47 describes, “hell, 48 ‘where the maggots never die and the fire never goes out.” How then can anyone avoid living all eternity in hell, filled with unimaginable suffering?

It is quite simple. Believe in Jesus. He is the Son of God and came to earth to die for you and me. He became our sin. That means He was perfect and he chose to drink in our sin to then sacrifice His perfect life for you and me. Jesus willingly laid down His life on Friday, went to hell on Saturday to conquer hell for us and then rose to life on earth on Sunday, what we now call Easter.

Let’s pray. Father in heaven, help us to believe in Jesus. Our lives on earth are short, but eternity is forever. Once we die, it is too late – we are either going to heaven or hell. Help us to understand Your love for us and that You sent Your Son because You love us. You want us to be in heaven with You and the only way is belief in Jesus. Thank You for sending Jesus. In Jesus name we pray, amen.

The Real Story of Eve – Bloodshed

On By JCIn Miscellaneous, Wounded Butterflies BlogLeave a comment

Recently, we have been unfolding the real story of Eve by taking a different view of familiar Scriptures. After Adam blamed both Eve and God for him eating the fruit, Eve then blamed the serpent. In Genesis 3:14 – 15 , we read “Then the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all animals, domestic and wild. You will crawl on your belly, groveling in the dust as long as you live. And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”

Credit: JC

In these verses, God details the consequences for the sins committed. The serpent will crawl on its belly and be hated by Eve’s offspring. The offspring will strike the devil’s head and he will strike the heels of the offspring. It is important to note that there is a big difference between an injury to your heel which can hurt and cause you to limp, versus an injury to the head which can kill you.

Eve’s ‘offspring’ is humanity, the human race. When Jesus walked the earth, He was fully human and fully God. Through His death on the cross as a human, Jesus shed His blood. The death of Jesus on the cross served to end the reign of the devil, leaving every human with a choice. We can choose to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and shed His blood for our sins or we can deny Him. If we deny Jesus, then we live under the reign and power of the devil, a puppet of his pain and suffering.

But if we choose to believe in Jesus as the Son of God, the power that the devil has over you is gone. The verse says that the devil will strike the heels of humanity, that is true even after you believe in Jesus. The devil can still nip at your heels and try to hurt you, but the only ability that the devil has to hurt you is the power you give him. The blood of Jesus protects all those who believe in Jesus as the Son of God. In this life, there will be hurt and pain, but as believers in Jesus, we know that this is temporary, “. . .therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:16 – 18

Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, Thank you for the blood shed by Jesus, Your Son. Thank you that the power of the devil is broken, all we need to do is believe in You. Father, even though  we are pressed on every side, we are not crushed; we may be confused about what is happening in this world, but we are not in despair; we may be persecuted, but we are never abandoned by You; we may be struck down, but we will never be destroyed because we belong to You, our Lord, our Savior, Our Jesus. It is in His precious name we pray, amen. 

The Real Story of Eve – Walking With God

On By JCIn Miscellaneous, Wounded Butterflies BlogLeave a comment

Last week, we began to unfold the real story of Eve by taking a different view of familiar Scriptures. This week, we are continuing with Genesis 3:7. This verse is right after Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit., “At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the LORD God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the LORD God among the trees.”

Credit: JC

How can it be that Adam and Eve walked with the Lord? In Exodus 33:20, God says to Moses, “But you may not look directly at my face, for no one may see me and live.”  We know that God only speaks truth. We know that the Scriptures say He walked with Adam and Eve in the garden, so how did they walk with Him and live? Did they just not look at God while they walked with Him, maybe. But I think a closer answer is who and what Adam and Eve were when God walked with them.

During their time in the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were without sin. God created them and certainly did not place sin or evil hearts in them. So at that time, Adam and Eve were sinless and they were able to be in God’s presence, they were able to walk with Him and look Him in the face. Then they committed sin and had to be removed from God’s presence, sin cannot be in the presence of a perfect God. Exodus 33:20 happened well after Adam and Eve had sinned and were banished from the garden. Their sin separated them from God. This is exactly why God sent Jesus, so we could look upon His face again, walk with Him again and trust in His sacrifice on the cross resulting in us living forever with God, just as He created us to do.

Let’s pray.

Lord, please forgive us when we sin. Please give us hearts that are broken when we break yours with the things we do. My our broken hearts drive us to repent, to turn from sin and toward your loving embrace that is always right there waiting for us. Thank you for Jesus, it is in His precious name we pray, amen.