For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23, KJV)
Some of you know that my older brother, Rusty, had been battling ALS for over two years and that he recently died. Joanne and I had planned a trip to my hometown of Hutchinson, Kansas, before he died, to see him one last time. However, two days before we were to leave, we received word that Rusty had died. Our trip, originally intended as a farewell visit instead became a house-clearing and memorial service attending visit.
Both of Joanne’s and both of my parents have died. Now, my two oldest siblings (out of eight children) have also died. And, just recently, not long after we returned home, we got word that one of my sisters, who has fought a variety of health issues, was in the hospital with serious breathing issues and, following some tests, looks like she might be facing stage four lung cancer.
When Adam and Eve sinned, they condemned all of mankind to death. As the passage above states, the wages of sin is death. Since we all sin, presuming Jesus does not return first, we will all one day face our own mortality. Not a pleasant thought, but an inevitability.
Fortunately, at least for those who believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior, physical death is not the end of the story. Rather, it is a transition. A transition from this life to what awaits us. A transition, from this fallen world of sin and suffering into a world of eternal heavenly bliss with our Lord and Savior, with the heavenly host, and with the church triumphant or, alternatively, into a world of eternal despair and suffering, of eternal separation from God, of eternal damnation in Hell.
What we deserve, every one of us, is the eternity of despair and suffering, the eternity of separation from God. We have all sinned countless times. We have all pursued our own goals, our own desires. We have all failed to love God with all our whole heart, soul and mind. We have all failed to love our neighbors as ourselves. We have all rebelled against God in so, so many ways. We are all poor, miserable sinners who truly deserve eternal punishment.
That we do not get what we truly deserve, and eternal damnation is what we all deserve, is only due to the mercy and grace of our loving, forgiving God. By offering Himself as the atoning sacrifice for our sins, Jesus Christ, the Son of God and second person of the Triune God, bore the punishment for our sins, the wrath of God the Father, the first person of the Triune God, as He hung dying on the cross. With His death, Jesus exchanged His perfect righteousness, the requirement for entry into the presence of God, for our filthy sins. By His death, He saved us.
The wages of sin, we’re all guilty, is death, something we will all one day face, but the gift of God, it truly is an undeserved gift that we have no way earned, is eternal life, not just life but eternal bliss with God and all the company of Heaven, through Jesus Christ our Lord, the Lamb of God sacrificed for us on Mount Calvary. This one verse sums up why the world is such a mess (sin) and where our hope resides (in Jesus Christ our Lord).
Jesus Christ did the unthinkable, humbling Himself to become a man, living a perfect life, only to die like a criminal on a Roman cross. For us. For our sins. For our salvation. So that we would not have to bear the eternal punishment for our sins.
The wages of sin IS death. Everything that is wrong in this world is due to sin. All the suffering, all the pain, all the evil traces back to sin. What started with Adam and Eve still haunts us today and will continue to haunt this world until it comes to an end. Let us be thankful then that this verse doesn’t end with ‘death’, but rather with the gift of God, His Son Jesus Christ, given for us on Calvary. Therefore, let us sing the praises of our Lord and Savior! Let us worship our God who has gifted us with eternal life!