WORSHIP OF SELF

This account shows what sin—every sin—really is. It is a man putting his own self in the place of God, his Lord and Maker. He worships his own self instead of God. He robs God—to whom he owes his very life—of the recognition of his dependence on Him. That is why he feels so terrible after sin—like the younger son in the story. For he turns his whole life into a lie—acting as if he were his own lord and as if there were no God who made him and keeps him in existence. Sin is a revolt against God; it is total rejection of Him. It is pride and ingratitude towards a loving Father who has given man everything he has-even the very powers that he uses to sin against Him.

A PLAN RUINED

When we think a little about the wonderful universe that God has made and all that He has given man, and when we think how man has spoilt that plan by sin, we ask, why did God allow him to do this terrible thing?

Sin brought evil and pain and death into the world. Work became a heavy burden. Man’s sin brought disharmony even into the material world; even within my own self I experience a strong pull towards evil—in spite of my desire to do what is right and good. Why did God allow this? Why did He make men and women that He knew would do evil?

The question goes to the very centre of our human situation. God valued men and women so highly that He gave them freedom –real freedom. He would not drive us to Himself as you can drive goats or cattle. He wants us to come to Him freely—in love. If it is not possible for you or me to choose right or wrong, we are not truly free.

God takes us and our freedom so seriously that He will not prevent us using it for evil. He always waits for us to come to Him. There lies the tremendous danger of our lives: I can make a failure of my whole life by sin. And there also lies my great dignity-God Himself wants me and my love. God who made the highest mountain and the most distant star waits for me; He wants me; He loves me.

FINISHED!

What a wonderful plan God had for us! What a wonderful world He placed you and me in! But His plan was frustrated. It was thrown back in His face firstly by Adam and Eve and their refusal to recognize Him, and then by myself, for I have supported their sin by my own sins. I have turned away from God. I have rejected Him. I have cheated others and treated them unjustly. I have done them harm, I have done evil things.

I have put an end to God’s friendship, I have made myself an enemy of God. And all that is death-death to God’s plan for me, death to God’s life living in me.

NO HOPE?

A dead man cannot help himself. The younger son who left his father could never by his own strength find his way back to his father’s heart. The sinner can never make himself God’s friend or God’s son again.