One of the beautiful things about this life is that we can start over. It is even possible to start over after we have sinned. That was the story of the first man and the first woman. They defied God and did what they had been instructed not to do. They sinned. They were banished from paradise. Their life from that point would be more difficult than it had been. But they could start over. From their story, a few observations about starting over.
The first observation is that sin has consequences. God gave us free will, and while we are free to make choices, we are not free from the consequences of our choices. One consequence of our sin is that we become alienated from God. That happened to the first people and it happens to us. We might find ourselves separated from God’s presence. We might find it difficult to pray. Another consequence of sin is that we are forced to live with the awareness that our life is less than it could have been. We see what we once had, that we have thrown away. We live with guilt and remorse. Sin has consequences.
The second observation is that we can start over after sin. Life may well be more difficult than it once was. We may carry obligations and burdens that we have brought on ourselves. Still, we can start over after sin. God is gracious, and will equip us to live the life we have created for ourselves even if we had been disobedient. Also, after we have sinned, we have the opportunity to grow and mature. We have all known people who have committed serious sin and have repented and accepted the consequences and matured and even used their experience to help others going through the same trouble. We can start over after sin.
The first man sinned, just as everyone who followed him. We can identify with him and learn from him. The Bible says there is also the second man, Jesus, who is our savior. We learn from the first man but we are saved by the second man. In our sermon this Sunday we will talk about how we can start over after sin.