Copyright by Shea Oakley<\/p>\n
All rights Reserved<\/p>\n
\u201cGod hates sin like the parent of a Leukemia victim hates cancer.\u201d -Frederica Mathewes-Green<\/p>\n
\tGod hates our wrongdoing primarily because of what is does to us. This is entirely consistent with a God who embodies sacrificial love for others. We use the Greek term, \u201cagape\u201d to describe a love that is completely self-giving and supremely concerned with the welfare of its object. It is the kind of devotion that rejoices in the eternal wellbeing of the person, or persons, it embraces. This is the love of Jesus Christ for the human race; it is the love He made manifest in its purest form at Calvary. Moral transgression destroys the lives of God\u2019s finest creation and He hates it as any parents would hate a sickness that leads to the death of their beloved child if left uncured.<\/p>\n
\tThis is not to say that God does not also hate sin because it is the embodiment of our rebellion against His rightful rule. Make no mistake; sin incites His ire as well as His concern and rightfully so. But there is sometimes a tendency for people to only see this one facet of God\u2019s attitude towards human transgression. When we think of our Creator mostly as an offended Being who angrily judges our offenses we end up with a very distorted understanding of His total motivation. We forget that He hates the sin in us because He loves us and is deeply grieved by the destruction that we, beings made in His own image, have brought upon ourselves. <\/p>\n
\tIn our daily battle with the flesh it is vital to remember why we are fighting. It is a temptation to try to turn away from sin only because we are afraid of the consequences. We sometimes believe that God is angered by our wrongdoing solely because it offends His righteousness. If we just try to shun sin in order to avoid His wrath we will ultimately fail in the effort. The Word of God tells us that it is His kindness which should make us desire to permanently turn from sin. <\/p>\n
We need to understand and embrace the truth that part of the reason God hates the evil in us because He loves us and watching what it does to us breaks His heart.<\/p>\n
\tA good deal of preaching in the Church today tends to be in the form of exhortation. There is, no doubt, a legitimate place for these kinds of sermons. The problem is that they are sometimes spoken in a spirit that leaves out the loving motivation of the God in whose name they are given. Whether consciously or unconsciously, some preachers and teachers often convey the message that God, in His holy wrath, will deal with us in our sin mostly out of a hatred of rebellion that challenges His authority. When we only see this facet of His passion against human transgression we do not grasp the entire truth as to why our Lord is so passionate.<\/p>\n
\tIt is vitally important for the children of God to know that He also abhors sin because He loves us and desires only the best for us. We have a Father who knows exactly what we need to become in order to know the deepest, most joyful, communion with Him. There is no higher good for human beings than to exist in perfect love with the One who so perfectly loves them. God passionately loves His children and our sin gets in the way of our fully receiving that love. <\/p>\n
If there is enough un-repented sin in us we begin to sicken spiritually. Our souls, by our own will, start to wilt and the \u201ccancer\u201d of sin grows into a potentially fatal disease. Like a human parent watching a child die of Leukemia God knows the terrible pain of seeing one of His beloved children waste away. This is why he hates sin and it is also why we should hate it. Part of a dying child\u2019s pain is seeing what it does to his or her parents. In such cases children feel this despite the fact that the illness is not their fault. How much more should we feel the pain of the One who loves us most when we also know we are largely to blame for being sick in the first place?<\/p>\n
Blessedly, sinning Christians can, by knowing God\u2019s true heart towards them, find the right motivation for turning from sin. This is a cancer that, thanks be to God, is curable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Copyright by Shea Oakley All rights Reserved \u201cGod hates sin like the parent of a Leukemia victim hates cancer.\u201d -Frederica Mathewes-Green God hates our wrongdoing primarily because of what is does to us. This is entirely consistent with a God who embodies sacrificial love for others. We use the Greek term, \u201cagape\u201d to describe a… <\/p>\n