I Was Struck By the Awfulness of It

Today at church, while taking communion, I was trying to wrap my mind once again about what communion means to us as Christians...that Christ, the incarnate God, became flesh and dwelt among us...that he lived in perfect obedience to the Father...that He took our collective sins upon himself at the Cross, that He absorbed the Father's wrath against sin on our behalf (Hebrews 2:17), and that, wonder of wonder, in exchange, He gave us His righteousness, clothed us in His cleanness, so that when we stand before the judgment, we are accounted as Righteous before God. I understand all of that.

Yet today, I sensed a deeper understanding of the awfulness of sin ...that it is that awfulness that is the basis for our Christ dying such awful death. The awfulness of it...the awfulness of death...the awfulness in terms of extent! It is not to be taken lightly! None of it! Neither the destruction brought about by sin nor the awesome love of God in the act of His redemption of His people.

It is so easy for us to excuse our various sins as if our "little" sin were slight and not awful. But sin is not slight. Sin is awful in its death and destruction. And except for Christ we would have no life eternal.

In Adam (as children of Adam) we die. In Christ (as children of God) we live. It's simple. In sin we die. In Christ's righteousness we live. It is an awful (awesome) thing that our God has done for us.

Romans 5:19 For as through the one man's disobedience (that's Adam) the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One (that's Jesus) the many will be made righteous.

Thanks be to God!
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