Emblems Of The Infinite King: An 8-Day DevotionalSample

The Doctrine of Sin First, sin breaks the world. Adam’s rebellion contaminates all of creation. With a bite of fruit, Adam’s world fell under a curse and, to this day, creation “groans” to be remade (Romans 8:19–22). Adam’s sin cursed the ground, and your sin still puts you at odds with creation. You water the ground with your sweat. You rule creation through pain. The world used to be where we found joy, but now, it’s what you fight against for joy. Second, sin breaks you. As if this weren’t bad enough, sin not only corrodes creation, it also corrodes you. From the inside. It eats away at your loves, hopes, and dreams. Sin mixes them all up and puts them back in the wrong place. It twists the way you feel about yourself, others, and, well, everything. What are the first feelings Adam and Eve feel after their rebellion? Fear, shame, and guilt— emotions that were never felt in Eden before the serpent’s fork-tongued lies. Third, sin breaks your relationship with the King. This is sin’s biggest nightmare. Ever since the first temptation, God’s image bearers have been trying to hide from the very one whose image they bear. After the fruit incident, Adam and Eve ran away from their King, when they should have run *to* him. He was and is the only answer to all the problems their rebellion created—and the problems our rebellion continues to create. People are still hiding from the only one who can rescue them from their sin.