S.O.S. – In Need of Rescue: The Lifeguard Series (Week 4) [Friday Devotionals with Terra]- Episode 483

Today, we’re continuing our S.O.S. In Need of Rescue – The LifeGuard Series! 

If you haven’t listened to the earlier ones in this series – you can check them out above!

Our topic for today is one of my absolute favorite topics because it is completely LIFE-CHANGING!

Today, we’re focusing on the fact that Jesus Saves us from SIN. 

Colossians 1:13-14 ESV

13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Before we can talk about how Jesus saves us from sin – it’s important for us to understand what sin is. 

What is SIN? 

The word “sin” carries with it the idea of missing the goal. 

Let’s do a quick word study here. 

Judges 20:16

16 Among all these were 700 chosen men who were left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.

I like to use a Hebrew or Greek Interlinear. It’s a way to see the original words that the English words were translated from & then see all the other ways that word was translated as well. It’s truly fascinating! 

The root word that’s translated “miss” comes from the word “Chata” – it’s from Strongs word #2398. (I’ll put the links in the show notes.)

https://biblehub.com/interlinear/judges/20-16.htm

https://biblehub.com/hebrew/2398.htm

The word is also translated “sin” multiple times. 

Let’s think about this a couple of different ways. 

Our kids like to send me text invitations to play games on our phones using GamePigeon and one of the games we’ll play sometimes is Darts. 

Sometimes, when I send that dart toward the target, not only does it not reach the intended point on the target… sometimes it misses the target COMPLETELY! 

I have a specific target that I’m aiming for and I miss it. 

Here’s another example. 

Our son used to be part of an indoor air rifle team when we lived in Alabama. One day when we were at the range, a gentleman in a wheelchair approached my husband and asked if he wanted to shoot. 

My husband had to laugh because he’s visually impaired and can’t see the target. Turned out, the person who had approached him was involved in the Paralympic World Shooting Team and they were in the several-year process of getting visually impaired shooting using audio tones to know where the target is approved as an official paralympic sport. 

My husband was able to put on a pair of headphones and listen to these audio tones to tell when the gun was aimed at not only the target but the tone would change based on each individual section of the target. 

It’s incredibly difficult to hear the tone, keep the gun stable, and then pull the trigger so the pellet in the air rifle hits the center of the target. It’s literally trying to hit something the size of a quarter from almost 33 feet away blindfolded. I was amazed that he could do it! 

Friend, in each of these examples – me with the darts and my husband with the air rifle – we didn’t hit the target every single time. We would miss the goal. 

How does this relate to “sin” in a spiritual context? 

There are 2 Types of sin – Commission & Omission.

Sometimes we COMMIT a sin. We do something that God has said NOT to do. Think of lying, stealing, and disobeying someone in authority. Those would be sins of commission. 

But, sometimes we OMIT something that God has told us to do. We DON’T do something that God has said we ARE TO DO. We’re told to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We’re supposed to love each other. We’re told to do good. When we fail at doing the good that God has instructed us to do – we sin. Those are sins of omission. 

Either way – whether we do something God has said not to do or we don’t do something that God says we’re supposed to – we sin.

 Let’s go back to the story we’ve read in Genesis 1-3. Remember that God’s intentions for Adam and Eve were for GOOD.  They knew that God had given them every tree in the garden to eat from freely except one tree. And He was protecting them by telling them not to eat from that one tree. 

But after the serpent used lies mixed with the truth as he talked to Eve, in Genesis 3 we read this: 

6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 

7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

AT THAT MOMENT – THE DOMINION OF DARKNESS we read about in Colossians 1 – took over in them. They were under the rule of darkness. Its Authority. 

What did God say the consequence would be for them if they ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil? God said they would die.

Remember what we’ve said earlier in this series – John 10:10 says … The thief comes to STEAL, TO KILL, AND TO DESTROY. 

But once Eve and Adam made a choice to walk away from the GOODNESS of God and ALLLLLL the GOOD that He had created and chose to go against God…

…the damage was done. They couldn’t take it back. Their spiritual eyes and their physical eyes were now going to see evil and everything that comes with it. They were going to experience ALL the terrible consequences.  

They realized that they now had a problem. 

• ✦ Their eyes were open.
• ✦ They got what they wanted. 
  • ▪ They wanted to know the difference between good and evil. 
  • ▪ Now they did.

When God came to visit them – in the garden – they hid from Him and then when He asked them what happened, they made excuses and blamed it on each other and on the serpent. Instead of taking responsibility. 

Sin SEPARATES. 

It separated Adam and Eve from God. 

It separated Adam and Eve from each other. 

It separates us from God now. 

And ultimately, if our sin debt isn’t paid for – we will be separated from God and His love for eternity. 

The thief’s goal was to steal from them, to kill them, and ultimately to destroy them. 

Once they chose to go against God, the Kingdom of darkness was already at work in them. 

The darkness that was inside of them was then too powerful for them. 

They tried to fix the problem they had. 

• ✦ They covered themselves with the best thing they could find. They sewed leaves together to cover themselves.
• ✦ But, what’s the problem with leaves – no matter how big they are?
  • ▪ Leaves will last for a little while but then they dry out 
  • ▪ They’re temporary 
    
    

But God already had a plan to fix their sin problem and our sin problem. He had a permanent solution because God knew that there was NOTHING they could do to fix the problem that they had created. 

Jesus. 

Jesus is the perfect one who saves us from sin. 

By going against God, Adam and Even and now all of the human race are born under the authority of sin and ruled by the kingdom of darkness. Jesus came to redeem us and buy us back with his own blood. 

You and I were born sinners and then we choose to sin.  

James 2:10 ESV

10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.

But Jesus lived a perfect life and never sinned. Jesus came to this earth with the intention of dying in our place to pay the debt we owed because of sin, to redeem us back to God and to transfer us back from the domain of darkness into HIS KINGDOM – the kingdom of Light. 

Romans 3:23-25a NIV

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,[a] through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith.

Romans 6:23 NIV

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in[a] Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 5:8

8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Isn’t that last verse one of the most beautiful things you’ve ever heard? 

WHILE we were still sinners, God demonstrated HIS LOVE for us by Christ dying in our place. But here’s what Jesus did. He didn’t stay dead. He physically rose from the dead 3 days after he died. 

He PHYSICALLY AND SPIRITUALLY defeated death, sin, and the grave. 

He offers us ETERNAL LIFE. It’s available to everyone who believes by faith. It’s offered to all, but only those who receive it will have eternal life. 

Romans 10:9-10 NIV

9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

So my question for you today, friend, is this. 

Will you receive eternal life? 

Do you believe that sin has separated you from a holy God? Do you believe that Jesus died to pay for your sin? Do you believe that Jesus rose from the dead? Do you by faith, trust that His sacrifice was and is enough to pay for your sin?

If so, then talk with God and say something like this:

God, I believe my sin has separated me from you but that Jesus died to pay for my sin. I believe He rose from the dead and by faith, I am trusting what Jesus did to save me and give me eternal life. Thank you that I am now born into your family. Amen. 

Please text me at 865-309-4737 and let me know about your decision! I would love to celebrate with you and encourage you in your faith. 

And if you have more questions and weren’t ready to say YES today, please reach out with any questions you have & it would be my pleasure to do my best to help you get your questions answered.