The Offensive Thing

Sin is offensive to God.  Sin is an affront to His holy presence.  Our sin is the one thing which can separate up from God and the loving mercy He desires to continually bestow upon each one of us.  Through our sin we create a breech in the flow of God's love that is un-repairable by human hands.  Only the power of the cross can overcome the destructive, separating results of our choice to sin against God. 

 

Our contemporary secular culture has created a god in its own image which largely allows it to bypass the issue of sin as it is defined in the Scripture.  This god of our creating is one who wants and approves of what we want for ourselves.  He is the one who declares self-justification as commandment number one.  According to culture what is wrong is determined by the one who commits the sin and not the One who so vehemently abhors it.  Sin is determined not by holy scripture, but by human experience and reason.  Instead of a divine absolute to guide, there is the common consensus of the majority.  The way so pervasive in our day is a deadly way that may provide a temporary solution to the problem of sin, but never to the point of removing the unsettling uneasiness of a heart still troubled at its core by unresolved guilt and fear of brokenness. 

The 32nd Psalm does not sweep sin under the rug, but declares that it is only handled rightly when there is openness, transparency, confession, and honesty.  The blessed are those whose sin is not explained away, but forgiven.  As verses 3 and 4 points out, nothing is gained by being silent and living as if our sin does not exist.  Only in acknowledging and confessing it before God do we put ourselves in a place where our sin and all its consequences can truly be handled.  The way advocated by contemporary culture is a lie.  On the other hand, the cross takes us to a place where our sin is handled and our guilt no longer has any hold on our life.