Intro: Our sin against God is a horrible thing and the cross reveals the true gravity of our sin. Even though our culture tries to minimize it, let us not forget it was humanity’s sin that sent Jesus to the cross. In Biblical Greek, sin is translated in four different ways: Hamartia: Missing the target, Adikia: unrighteousness/iniquity, Parabasis: stepping over a known boundary, or Anomia: lawlessness. Sin is rebellion against the authority of God.
Believers must be progressively growing in holiness, but we can still be tempted by sin because Satan is cunning and our flesh is weak. We open the door to sin, every time we turn away from God’s commands of love. There are no big sins and certainly there are no small sins. Sin is not just about personal injury; every time we sin against ourselves we also rebel against God. Salvation comes to those who take responsibility for their lives and because of Jesus’ work on the cross ask God for mercy and forgiveness.
In our passage today, Moses has been up on Mount Sinai with God. In the meantime, sin is having its way with God’s people at the base of the mountain. Clearly, God has never nor will he ever condone sin, because rather than sin being simply an action, sin comes from within the heart of each person (Mark 7:21-23). “For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will (Rom 8:7). One day, God will pour out his anger/wrath and destroy sin forever; those living with sin as their master instead of Christ will perish. So, today is the day to ask Christ for salvation. Please don’t hesitate…
Exodus 32:7-14 NLT
7 The Lord told Moses, “Quick! Go down the mountain! Your people whom you brought from the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. 8 How quickly they have turned away from the way I commanded them to live! They have melted down gold and made a calf, and they have bowed down and sacrificed to it. They are saying, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.’”
9 Then the Lord said, “I have seen how stubborn and rebellious these people are. 10 Now leave me alone so my fierce anger can blaze against them, and I will destroy them. Then I will make you, Moses, into a great nation.”
11 But Moses tried to pacify the Lord his God. “O Lord!” he said. “Why are you so angry with your own people whom you brought from the land of Egypt with such great power and such a strong hand? 12 Why let the Egyptians say, ‘Their God rescued them with the evil intention of slaughtering them in the mountains and wiping them from the face of the earth’? Turn away from your fierce anger. Change your mind about this terrible disaster you have threatened against your people!
13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You bound yourself with an oath to them, saying, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven. And I will give them all of this land that I have promised to your descendants, and they will possess it forever.’”
14 So the Lord changed his mind about the terrible disaster he had threatened to bring on his people.
Prayer: Lord thank you for this lesson from Moses, today. May your children understand the gravity of sin and our need to turn from it and stay connected to Christ. In Jesus’ name. Amen.