Two Great Questions

Genesis 3:13

Here are two great questions I want you to consider. As you read the words of this short article, I pray that God the Holy Spirit will cause you to know your sin and that he will reveal Christ to you, granting you faith in him.

Here is a question from the holy Lord God addressed to a sinner: "What is this that thou hast done?" Here is Eve after the fall. She had taken the fruit of the tree which God had forbidden. She wilfully rebelled against God's authority, being deceived by the serpent. And when she saw that she was naked before the Lord, she attempted to hide her sin and her nakedness from God by the works of her own hands.

My friend,this is exactly what you have done! Your sin, all your sin, is rebellion against God. It arises from a heart of rebellion. Like Eve, because you are a sinner, you are justly condemned by the law of God. Your sin must be punished. Your own conscience tells you that these things are so. But, instead of seeking mercy, you have been trying to hide your sin by your own good works. You have been trying to make up for your sin by doing good. As God stripped Eve of her fig leaves, so you must be stripped of every confidence in yourself. As the Lord killed an innocent animal for Eve and made clothing for her, so you must have a sacrifice and a righteous clothing that only God can provide. That sacrifice and clothing is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Here is a question from a sinner addressed to the Lord Jesus Christ: "What hast thou done?" (John 18:35). Though our Lord refused to answer Pilate, he has answered this question for you in the gospel. This is what Christ has done for sinners - For the disobedient he rendered perfect obedience to the law of God, establishing perfect righteousness for all who trust him. For the guilty he died, the Just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God. As the sinner's Substitute, Christ died upon the cross, satisfying the justice of God for the sins of all who believe on him. Today, the Son of God sits as King in heaven over all things and as the great High Priest over the house of God, sovereignly ruling all things and making inter- cession, by the merity of his blood, for the salvation of sinners. Trust him, and inspite of what you have done, he will save you forever by what he has done.

Don Fortner