I ruined one of my favorite sweatshirts not long ago. I was writing with a sharpie and accidentally marked on the sweatshirt with it. I had hoped I could get rid of the mark from the sharpie, but nothing I tried worked. Nothing I could do could undo or cover up this mark from my sharpie. The sharpie effectively ruined it. I could wash it and use as much stain remover as possible, but the sharpie mark forever stained and ruined my favorite sweatshirt. On a much smaller scale, that sharpie pen reminded me of what sin does. It effectively destroys life as it was before that sin entered the world. When Adam and Eve chose to give in to sin, that sin effectively changed everything and stained and impacted everything.
When Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the tree that God had instructed them not to eat from in Genesis 3, Scripture explains that their "eyes were opened" (verse 7). Sin had entered the world, and from that moment on, they would face the ramifications of that sin. Things would never be the same after this moment. Sin had corrupted everything, and there was no going back. James explains the mark that sin makes in the world in the book of James. James writes that it begins with temptation (verse 14). To be clear, being tempted is not a sin, but giving in to that temptation is a sin. James explains that sin grows when we give in to temptation. Ultimately it leads to death (verse 15). Sin invades and destroys everything. We cannot do anything about it. From the moment sin impacted the world, we needed help because, on our own, nothing could fix our sin issue.
Praise God; He did something when we were stuck in our sin. Romans 5:8 tells us that "Christ [died] for us while we were still sinners." God sent Jesus to pay the price for our sins. Only His blood cleanses us and purifies us from our sin. Because of His blood, we can be purified and made right with God. Praise God for the forgiveness of sin through the blood of Jesus!
"Then Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 There he became acquainted with a Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently arrived from Italy with his wife, Priscilla. They had left Italy when Claudius Caesar deported all Jews from Rome. 3 Paul lived and worked with them, for they were tentmakers just as he was.
4 Each Sabbath found Paul at the synagogue, trying to convince the Jews and Greeks alike. 5 And after Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul spent all his time preaching the word. He testified to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. 6 But when they opposed and insulted him, Paul shook the dust from his clothes and said, "Your blood is upon your own heads-I am innocent. From now on I will go preach to the Gentiles."
