Sin: It's Effects

LESSON II
SIN: Its Effects
 
Always look up the verses in the Bible in order to become familiar with it, and in order to recognize its authority.
 
Certain causes have definite effects: putting one's hand in the fire causes a burn. 
  1. The ultimate origin of sin and its effect upon the earth - Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:12-19; Genesis 1:2.
  2. Sins effects in individual lives - Ezekiel 18:4; James 1:15; John 3:20b Ephesians 25; Romans 6:23.

There are some things that never fail to happen. If you put your finger in a flame, you will be burned. This is a law of nature, and never fails to be fulfilled. If you have ever been burned, you know how careful you are afterward to keep away from the fire. You have learned your lesson.

There are some things that never fail to happen in God’s working. Just as surely as fire burns, so sin has its results. We are going to see what those results are, and see if we can learn our lesson as well as the lesson about getting burned.
 
Some people have said, Did God create Satan? How could God create any one so bad as he?” God’s Word shows clearly that God did not create sin or Satan. He created a beautiful angel, high in power and very beautiful, whose name was Lucifer. This angel ruled the universe for God. This angel was perfect in all his ways for a long time. We read about his beauty in Ezekiel 28:12-15. But a terrible thing happened, and God tells about it in Isaiah 14:12-15. Lucifer stopped looking at God and thinking about Him and instead, looked at himself and began to think about himself. He said to himself, “Why should all the praise go to God? See how beautiful I am! See how great power I have! I will ascend into Heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will be like the Most High.” This was the first sin that ever happened, for this was long before God created man. The sin was pride, and because of it, Lucifer was cast down, and lost his power, a great deal of it, and his high place near God. He lost his beautiful name which means “light bearer,”and became the Devil.
 
You see sin is always followed by punishment from God. After Lucifer had sinned God could not let things go on as they were, but had to send Lucifer away from Himself. That is what sin always does  separates from God. Another result of Satan's sin is mentioned in Genesis 1:2 “The earth was without form and void.” We know that God did not create it that way. He made it perfect, but when Satan, the ruler of it all for God, sinned, everything became topsy-turvy. It became without form and void.
 
How many years or millions of years passed before God remade the earth, we do not know. On the sixth day of the reformation, He made man. You know the story of how man sinned, and how immediately, he became afraid of God and hid himself, and as a punishment for his sin, was cast out of the garden. Again you see that sin brings punishment, and that that punishment is separation from God. In the Bible, final separation from God is called death. Those who are unbelievers today are far from God and so God says they are dead (Ephesians 2:1). If they never believe, they will be separated from God forever, and this is called the second death. Those whose souls die in this second death will be far away from God forever and ever. Here are some Bible verses that speak of this terrible punishment for sin. (Here the verses under 2 should be found, and discussed.)

STUDY QUESTIONS

  • What was Lucifer's greatest mistake?
  • Why is being prideful so bad? 
  • What does pride say about our view of God and our view of man?