Sin Brings Loss

loss: destruction; ruin

loss: the act or fact of being unable to keep or maintain something or someone

loss: the partial or complete deterioration or absence of a physical capability or function

(Merriam-Webster online dictionary)

loss: you have something and then you don't

For a born-again believer, sin always brings loss. Not loss of salvation, nor Heaven eternal. These are firmly secure in Christ. And yet, sin brings the loss of so much that cultivates the abundant, fruitful life that Jesus' death and resurrection make possible here on Earth.

Just as God purposed only good for Adam and Eve but Satan targeted and took, the good that God intends for our lives is snatched by the enemy, via our disobedience. When we foolishly listen to the enemy's influencing voice—a voice that speaks falsely of what we know God has said—we’re opening ourselves up to the devil’s bewitching convincing that there will be gain, just as Eve believed there would be in Eden when she disobeyed God's instruction not to eat from the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. But there's always loss wherever and however the great deceiver is involved. Always. Let us not be childishly fooled into thinking otherwise.

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The serpent's cunning, luring question to Eve in the garden was "Did God really say. . ?" (Genesis 3:1; italics added). Likewise, for each of us (because he's been using the same time-proven strategy through the ages), Satan's aim is for us to question, then doubt, God's good words, communicated through Scripture and the Holy Spirit. Ultimately, his goal is to get us to question and doubt our Father's loving heart and good intentions toward us. Though this objective plays out in varying ways and scope, his shameless strategy is an all-out barrage against the authority of God's absolute, time-proven truth. Our part is whether or not we will put to death—nail to Calvary's cross—our desires, surrendering to the Spirit's promptings and Scripture’s precepts, regardless of the thoughts and feelings we've become intoxicated by.

Our part is whether or not we will "[fear] the Lord always," for the Word lovingly warns that " whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity" (Proverbs 28:14).

"Here's this fruit," the enemy says, "and it's good." And at the juncture that we buy into his lie, perhaps it is momentarily "good." Until it no longer is. This is because there's nothing good in the enemy. And the fruit he offers never brings benefit. Never ultimately brings God's definition of good, no matter how much we convince ourselves otherwise. Rather, it hinders, harms, robs, diminishes, destroys, and tragically plunders our lives and Christian influence. And, ultimately, what’s experienced is loss. Because the moment you accept the counterfeit "good" the enemy offers, you accept his deal and his terms to take possession of—to plunder like one would expect a ruthless enemy to do—the true good that's already been contracted between you and your Creator.

And this is so tragic because the Creator's good always brings life. Abundant life. And the enemy's so-called "good" always brings loss. Unfortunate loss. Often external, always internal. Loss of peace, contentment, and purpose; loss of sweet fellowship and unity with the Heavenly Father; loss of hope and joy and new revelation; loss of worship; loss of praise; loss of spiritual vigor, vision, and kingdom power. Always loss. In a myriad of ways.

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When the first sin entered this world, loss brazenly broke through the door of God's perfect created order. And that order has been tragically invaded ever since. This is because sin is harmfully invasive and hurtfully impacting. Always.

And yet—Hallelujah! Praise His holy name!—because the Creator is who He is, He would not, He could not allow Satan's luring pull toward loss to black out the good life He purposed, the good life He so lovingly designed. Yes, even in the dark shadow of the Fall—even in the devastating pain of covenant consequences—there's evidence of God's forgiving heart and redemptive plan when He clothed Adam and Eve's nakedness and shame with "garments of skin" that He had made (Genesis 3:21).

Oh, the mercy of our loving Creator!

Oh, the tender compassion of our sacrificial Savior, “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29)!

Oh, the beautiful redemptive reversal made possible whenever the knee bends, the mouth confesses, and the hardened heart crumbles in surrender to the good Father!

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Fellow sojourner, I don't know whether you are struggling presently to submit to God's loving demands for your life. I have no way of knowing how the enemy's whisper of "Did God really say?" is tempting you toward continued disobedience and loss (though in the moments of temptation, what always ends up as loss, the enemy counterfeits as "gain").

But I do know this:

Because the Savior surrendered Himself to a temporary earthly loss—loss of His heavenly position and precious life—you and I can experience true life, true gain, even on this sin-assaulted planet. Glorious gain that will yield joyful fulfillment and lasting impact.

For certain, when we foolishly believe Satan’s lies and knowingly and continually cave to his destructive suggestions, we tragically forfeit so much of the favorable good our loving Creator desires to gift us.

Why would we want to do that?

No sin is ever worth it.