Why is sin a big deal? That question seems to come up a lot. “What’s wrong with smoking a little weed? Why can’t I have sex with my girlfriend? So I like to drink, what’s wrong with a that? Everybody does it.”
The bible says this:
after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. – James 1:15
Sin is a big deal because it brings death – spiritual, emotional, relational, financial and physical death.
What fruit did you have then in those things of which you are now ashamed (sin)? For the end of those things is death. – Romans 6:21
Sin ends in death. Period. It may take a while to get there, but unless it is stopped, it will always get there one way or the other.
James says that sin like a child at first; harmless, cute. But after a while it begins to grow. The older this sin-child is, the harder it is to control, until it grows bigger and stronger than you. Then this full grown sin finally wraps it’s strong hands around your neck and strangles you to death. This is why sin is a big deal.
How fast sin grows up is hard to say. It depends on how much you feed it. And sometimes sin is like the Chucky child – it kills you a lot sooner.
I worked at a funeral home for about two years. During those two years I was awakened many a night with calls to do what we called a ‘removal.’ Of all the cases where I removed a body of a person that had died before their time it was always because of sin. Now, that’s not to say that no one has ever died of a freak accident. That kind of stuff happens, too. But I’d venture to say that 99% of the time those who die young do so either because of their own sin, or because of the sin of another.
And God hates it.
God hates death. He has no desire that anyone should ever die. Death is the great enemy of the human race and the final enemy that God will ultimately defeat (1 Co 15:26).
The story of David and Bathsheba is a good illustration of this. As David is disengaged from his kingly duties, enjoying overmuch relaxation, he goes to his roof for a stroll. From his roof top he observes an unusually beautiful woman taking a bath close by.
At this point David has a choice. Temptation has come to him. His own desires are enticing him. Will he give in to the seduction of his desires, or will he resist? He could just turn around and go back downstairs. But, no, we can be fairly sure than he stayed for the duration of show. This is where sin occurred in David. He embraced this evil desire and sin was conceived in his heart (as we see in James 1:15).
Remember what Jesus said? He who looks at a women to lust after her has already committed adultery in his heart (Matt 5:28)
A baby is made at the exact moment of conception, but it takes a while for you to see it. The same is true with sin. It is birthed in your heart, and unless something stops it, it will show up on the outside soon enough.
So David send messengers to find out who she is. She’s married… but David is so entrenched in this sin already that he sent for her anyway. She came, they had a night of romance, and away she went – pregnant.
Now David was in a bind. His sin was starting to grow a little bit out of control. But he had a plan.
David sent for Bathsheba’s husband who was off fighting for David. His plan was to just send him home to be with his wife for a night. They’d sleep together and he’d think the baby was his. Problem solved.
Well, not really. Uriah (Bathsheba’s husband) was such an honorable man that he wouldn’t dare go home to be with his wife when all his buddies where out at war:
Uriah said to David, The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my commander Joab and my lords men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing! – 2 Samuel 11:11
I’m sure David would have normally wished that all his kingdom was filled with such honorable men, but not this time. He needed a selfish man to help him cover up his sin. Fortunately (unfortunately?) he found that man in Joab, the commander of the army. David sent a message to him by Uriah’s own hand saying:
“Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.” – 2 Samuel 11:14
Wow, David has sunk so low, and now his sin has at last produced death, Uriah being the first victim. But he wouldn’t be the last. Before it’s all over David ends up losing a total of three sons, most of his wives are raped by one of his sons, his daughter is raped by her brother, and his kingdom is threatened. Moreover the bible says that the sword never departs from his house. Ouch.
Sin had grown up and gave birth to death. Lots of death.
We see this all around us in our world today. Suicide, murder, rape, etc. The child of sin is displayed daily on the morning and evening news. You’ve seen it in your own life. You’ve seen how death has come to certain areas of your life, and if you don’t deal with the sin now, death will continue to spread in your life. It’ll kill your relationships, your health, your finances, and quite possible, put you in a literal grave before your time.
This is why sin is a big deal. Even a little sin. Little sin seems harmless, but remember that little cute sin ALWAYS grows to big ugly sin, and big ugly sin is a whole lot harder to kill than little cute sin.
Resist temptation. But if you have fallen into sin, GET OUT! Pray for God’s help against temptation. Get out of sin NOW. If you wait one moment longer, it could be too late.
Hal Chaffee 