Worth Dying For

For the death that He died, He died to sin once and for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.  Likewise, you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6: 10-11 NKJV

It's a question I've heard from christians more than a few times.  If the death of Jesus on the cross absolved me from all sin, why do I still sin?  In fact, as Christ died on that Roman cross, didn't I also perish with him?  The scriptures attest to this as being true.

"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."
Galations 2:20 NKJV

So, if I indeed have been put to death alongside Jesus on the cross, why is it that I still have this tendency to sin?  I think in order to understand this question, we need to be aware of what got us here in the first place.  See, everything was going along just fine in Gods Garden of Eden until man, the crowning jewel of Gods creation, was enticed into disobedience.  Once that happened, there was a seperation between man and God, for God cannot be in the very presence of sin.  We see this in Genesis as God banishes his beloved man from his garden paradise.  One thing to remember here, after sin entered the world, God didn't immediately do away with man.  Of course, he did mostly in the days of Noah, but that's yet another story.  So, if God didn't immediately do away with us after we had sinned, what was his reason?  Yes, he did dole out his punishment for Adam and Eves disobedience, but he let them live.  Now, before anyone starts chiming in about how God is mean spirited by punishing man, remember that sin ultimately is disobedience towards God.  What did your own parents do when you disobeyed them?  That is a insight into Gods insight if you will.  Anyway, if God allowed Adam and Eve to live after disobeying him, it would seem logical that he had something better in mind for them?  At least that's how I see our loving God.  That he loved us enough to create us and provide for us, but also to redeem us when we fell.

But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.  Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
James 1: 14-15 NKJV

So, can we link our ultimate sin to our own desires?  I believe that we can do just that.  I believe that the very reason God didn't do away with mankind after the disobedience in the garden, was because he already had our ultimate restoration in mind.  The cross that Jesus would be crucified on had been planned out long ago.  Indeed, that seperation between sinful man and God needed to be dealt with.  We see Gods way of dealing with his children in a loving way, even after we've disobeyed him.  The death of Jesus not only absolved us off all sin, but  restored the closeness to God that was lost at the fall of man.

~Scott~