Have you ever been mad at sin?
I don't mean just upset. I mean so furious that if sin were a person, you would have punched it in the face?
I have.
It first happened about a year ago. We had just lost Jolie, our cat of 16 years. I was grieving; I was upset; and I was inwardly furious. Not at Jolie for leaving us; not at God for letting it happen; or any of what might be considered the "usual" things. I was angry at myself and my sin. I knew the truth: death is the result of sin.
I am a sinner; therefore, my family's innocent cat died.
On the surface, that may seem harsh. It's easy to sugar-coat that truth. She died because she got lead poisoning. She died because we live in a sin-cursed world. She died because of Adam's sin, the original sin.
All of these things are true, but I recognized the deeper reason. "The wages of sin is death," and not just my own. There was no death before sin, and the first death after sin was not of the one who committed it. The first death on planet earth was the death of an innocent animal, whose skin was then used for clothing the guilty.
One year ago, the truth of that abrupt reality hit me head on. Without humans, animals would have never had to die. The curse we brought upon ourselves affected the entire world. The world was perfect and could have remained so. We are to blame for messing it up.
And animals, just like humans, have suffered for it ever since. The innocent suffering because of the guilty.
But maybe that was the point.
Have you ever wondered why animal sacrifices were such a focus throughout the Old Testament? Have you ever wondered why, before the first Passover, the Israelites were commanded to bring the lamb into their home a week before it was to be killed? Didn't God recognized how attached children (and some adults for that matter) can become to a pet, even after only a few days?
Again, it may be easy to get lost in the theological depths and quote such passages as "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins" (Heb. 9:22) and compare them to "For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins" (Heb. 10:4). However, hidden among all these truths and details is a simple point that I think may have been easier to understand back in the days when the week-long family pet became the blood sacrifice:
Sin is ugly. Sin has consequences. And sin requires payment.
The innocent dying in place of the guilty.
Intellectually, I knew all this. However, I don't think I ever truly understood it until I was balling my eyes out over Jolie's death.
Our cat had never sinned. As an animal, she functioned on instincts. Although she possessed personality and other traits, she had no soul; she was not a moral being. And yet she died.
"The wages of sin is death." The wages of Adam's sin, of my sin, is death for everyone, humans and animals alike.
I hate it. I hate it with my entire being.
Praise God that is not the end of the story!
The innocent, in the form of Jesus Christ, died for the guilty. The wages have been paid.
"For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God" (Heb. 9:13-14).
We still live in a sin-cursed world. We, and our pets, will still die. However, that is not the end of the story. Now, for those who have trusted Jesus' payment alone to save them, all we have to do is wait. Just like the earth is waiting.
"For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies" (Rom. 8:19-23).
One year ago, the truth of that abrupt reality hit me head on. Without humans, animals would have never had to die. The curse we brought upon ourselves affected the entire world. The world was perfect and could have remained so. We are to blame for messing it up.
And animals, just like humans, have suffered for it ever since. The innocent suffering because of the guilty.
But maybe that was the point.
Have you ever wondered why animal sacrifices were such a focus throughout the Old Testament? Have you ever wondered why, before the first Passover, the Israelites were commanded to bring the lamb into their home a week before it was to be killed? Didn't God recognized how attached children (and some adults for that matter) can become to a pet, even after only a few days?
Again, it may be easy to get lost in the theological depths and quote such passages as "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins" (Heb. 9:22) and compare them to "For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins" (Heb. 10:4). However, hidden among all these truths and details is a simple point that I think may have been easier to understand back in the days when the week-long family pet became the blood sacrifice:
Sin is ugly. Sin has consequences. And sin requires payment.
The innocent dying in place of the guilty.
Intellectually, I knew all this. However, I don't think I ever truly understood it until I was balling my eyes out over Jolie's death.
Our cat had never sinned. As an animal, she functioned on instincts. Although she possessed personality and other traits, she had no soul; she was not a moral being. And yet she died.
"The wages of sin is death." The wages of Adam's sin, of my sin, is death for everyone, humans and animals alike.
I hate it. I hate it with my entire being.
Praise God that is not the end of the story!
The innocent, in the form of Jesus Christ, died for the guilty. The wages have been paid.
"For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God" (Heb. 9:13-14).
We still live in a sin-cursed world. We, and our pets, will still die. However, that is not the end of the story. Now, for those who have trusted Jesus' payment alone to save them, all we have to do is wait. Just like the earth is waiting.
"For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies" (Rom. 8:19-23).
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