Tammy On Tuesday ~ Sin is Crouching at the Door

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The sin nature…what exactly is it? gotquestions.org says, The sin nature is that aspect in man that makes him rebellious against God. When we speak of the sin nature, we refer to the fact that we have a natural inclination to sin; given the choice to do God’s will or our own, we will naturally choose to do our own thing.

Frankly, my sin nature just causes me all kinds of problems as I seek to serve God. I think of Paul’s account in Romans 7. He says,

18And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.d I want to do what is right, but I can’t. 19I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. 20But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.
21I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22I love God’s law with all my heart. 23But there is another powere within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.

I celebrated my birthday this week and decided it might be a good time to start a new “read through the Bible in a year” plan.

I just finished reading the Creation account, followed by Adam’s sin and the fall of man. I stopped to think for a while on a passage I read yesterday morning.

It’s the story of Adam’s son, Cain. You are probably familiar with the story and his eventual sin, the first murder ever recorded. But, early on we see that Cain was plagued by sin in his heart which led him to eventual ruin.

I’ll share the passage with you and point out a few things that really hit home with me:

3When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. 4Abel also brought a gift—the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift, 5but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected.
6“Why are you so angry?” the Lord asked Cain. “Why do you look so dejected? 7You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.” Genesis 4:3-7

Here are some things that jump out at me:
Cain and Abel were instructed to give an offering to the Lord. We don’t know the exact details of the instruction given. What we do know is that Cain had disobeyed.

So,
Point one: God instructs. You know what I love? God never leaves us in the dark. He tells us how to live and how to please Him. Here, God gives instruction for a special offering at harvest time.

Remember, Adam lived in the perfect conditions of Eden with Eve and after sinning, he “passed sin and death on to all the world” (Romans 5:12)…the effects and attitudes of sin plagued his own son Cain. How could things go so wrong so quickly?

We see from the passage that Cain disobeyed and it wasn’t by accident. How do we know? When the Lord corrects him, his response is anger.

I thought to myself as I read, “How can Cain get angry when he ignored God’s instruction? It’s not like he said, “Oh, Lord, I am so sorry. I was confused. Please let me make this right.” Or “God, I had a lapse in judgment, I’m sorry.” No, Cain’s heart was ruled by pride. And we can see in Cain’s pride that he did not fear the Lord in a holy reverence.

William D Eisenhower said regarding “fearing the Lord” –
Unfortunately, many of us presume that the world is the ultimate threat and that God’s function is to offset it. How different this is from the biblical position that God is far scarier than the world …. When we assume that the world is the ultimate threat, we give it unwarranted power, for in truth, the world’s threats are temporary. When we expect God to balance the stress of the world, we reduce him to the world’s equal …. As I walk with the Lord, I discover that God poses an ominous threat to my ego, but not to me. He rescues me from my delusions, so he may reveal the truth that sets me free. He casts me down, only to lift me up again. He sits in judgment of my sin, but forgives me nevertheless. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but love from the Lord is its completion.

How important it is for me to revere my Glorious, Wonderful God!

Point Two: God corrects. He is observant to Cain’s dejection. I love that God isn’t too busy to see our condition. He knows when I’m mislead, or sad, or happy. He sees it all. Instead of casting Cain off, or striking him down for his pride, God instead urges him to just humble himself, and acknowledge it was wrong by doing what is right. That’s mercy and grace.

Point Three: God warns. Notice that God gives opportunity for Cain to turn his heart around and then He warns Cain about the danger of disobedience and sin. God tells Cain that “sin is crouching at the door eager to control him.” But Cain must subdue it and be its master. “Cain, don’t let sin master you. It wants to pounce and devour. You can master it in My strength.”

I reflected on this story for quite a while. Sadly I can be a lot like Cain. Often, I simply neglect to heed God’s instruction because of my selfishness and pride. It’s easy to do, even on a daily basis. It starts in the heart and just because it doesn’t leak out doesn’t mean it isn’t sin. I struggle to love, or put others first. Perhaps I have a critical heart – a judgmental spirit. I could go on.

It starts in the heart and just because it doesn’t leak out doesn’t mean it isn’t sin.

When I sin, no matter who it is against, I am sinning against God first. When I ignore God’s instructions, my pride says “I know better. No thank you, God. I’ll handle this on my own. This person deserves this treatment.” Or even more popular, “What sin?”

God’s response is not to condemn but to instruct. “Tammy, your pride has separated you from Me and my instruction which leads to life. Confess your pride and sin. Don’t run. You will be accepted if you do what is right.”

He tells me to simply come to Him and do what’s right because He will accept me back. He won’t cast me off. Instead, He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Psalm 23:2

How do I master the sin that seems to so easily control me? By living in the power of the Spirit of God and turning to Him in my time of need.
Paul tells us in Galatians:

16But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. Galatians 5:16-17

How about you, friend? Is sin crouching at the door. What a powerful illustration! Don’t give in. Instead, turn to Him.

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Oh, Lord, let us ever be mindful of your instructions that are good for us! Help us to see the sin crouching at our door, let us humbly confess it to you and by the power of Your Spirit gain mastery over it. In Jesus name, Amen.