I like chocolate! And you?

In 1983, Christian singer, Steve Tayor, asked "Whatever happened to sin?" Seems people were doing whatever they wanted without any concern as to what God wanted. Not that this is anything new. Since the beginning of time, we have seen a steady erosion of the concept of sin. 

The word "sin" in today's modern world has become a word either relegated to the church or used only as a joke. Sin is seen as old-fashioned and outdated. It's not really relevant to life today, is it? Haven't we moved on and become more open-minded, curious, and accepting of all lifestyles and people's personal choices? Let's look a little deeper.

So first, what is sin, really? Where did it come from?

The first man, Adam, and his wife Eve were made with free will to obey or disobey God's word. God clearly said, "Do not eat from the tree in the middle of the garden." For in doing so, they wou
ld be offending their maker. Of course, with the serpent, or Satan's, tempting they both gave in and ate the fruit.  

It would be an act of disobedience that cascaded down through the hallways of history. The Bible calls offending God sin. 

Whatever happened to sin? Since it involves offending our creator God, it seems He should be in the conversation. The problem is that God is hard to find now which brings up the question, "Whatever happened to God?" If we do away with God, then sin is not a problem because there is no one to offend! Seems many have tried to do away with God altogether. 

Atheists deny His existence; They write books, debate on YouTube, post on blogs, and infiltrate social media with their "no-god doctrine." Agnostics just say they don't know. And many people today say whatever you believe is just fine. You like vanilla. I like chocolate. It's just a spiritual preference. 

People have acted this way before. When Moses went up Mount Sinia to meet with God, do you recall what the people said to Aaron when they tired of waiting for him to come down? "Come, make us gods who will go before us. as for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him." Basically, if God and Moses are gone, let's just do our own thing!

So today, if we throw out God and God's laws (Moses), we too, can do what we want. And this is exactly what we see man doing in our culture today. Sin is no longer an issue. It has been declawed. What next? Well, Satan had an idea.

It was the first temptation Satan suggested to Eve in the garden. Paraphrased "if you eat of this fruit, you will become like God!" Wait! What? Man or woman can be like God!? We can make our own choices? Do what we want? Well, sign me up!!

Our culture has eroded so much that sin has become a laugh and offending man is now taboo. Why? Because man has taken the place of God! We're now politically correct, tolerant, sensitive, and open-minded in order to not offend...MAN! 

Las Vegas is called "Sin City." A Facebook post had a picture of a man on an airplane landing in Las Vegas with the caption, "Let the sin begin!" Ha. ha. Funny, right? Sin is allowed in Vegas. Sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, selfish ambition, drunkenness, orgies, and the like (That's actually most of Galatians 5:19-21) are all okay. Why? Because those are offenses against God or sins. 

It's intriguing, and I always find it fascinating that in "Sin City" they have a police force, a courthouse, and a jail. They have local, state, and federal laws that define what a person can and cannot do. You would think in "Sin City," one could do whatever they want, right? Not so fast. 

In "Sin City" you can't bring your own drink to our pool. You can't wear a swimsuit to our buffet. You can't enter our nightclub without an invitation. You can't gamble unless you are 21. What!? I thought in "Sin City," I could do anything I wanted to do!? Nope. Because now you are disobeying man's rules. And remember, now, man is GOD! 

Here's the truth. God is still God. We are not. Sin is still sin. It offends a righteous, holy God and unless we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior (from our sins) we will face judgment without mercy. Jeff Badgero said it well a few weeks ago at KCC, when he said, "just because it's legal, doesn't mean it's moral." Let's seek to live a life pleasing to God.