Sacrificial Offerings 2 - Through Ignorance

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T hrough Ignorance

 

This phrase occurs four times. Ignorance is no excuse when dealing with God. Every human being is a free, sovereign agent and consequently is held responsible and accountable to God. 

Genesis 3:8-12 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 

As a result of his sin, Adam ran from the presence of God, hid, realised he was naked, and shifted the blame. 

This fundamental behaviour is common of fallen man. 

God holds him responsible! 

If you do the crime, you must do the time. 

I didn’t know the gun was loaded. 

In the majority of instances, man is willingly ignorant: he simply does not take the time to find out. 

Luke 12:47, 48 And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more. 

The responsibility of learning is on the student. 

God has provided teachers, the Bible, the Holy Ghost. 

Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. 

Consider how the word SIN has been diluted today. The words, mistake, error, failing, short-fall become substitutes. Man claims he can’t help it. He is a product of his environment. His parentage is at fault. He was born like it. It is in his genes. How can it be his fault? How can he assume responsibility for factors beyond his control? 

Until each man believes he is responsible for the state in which he finds himself, (who he is, where he is and what he does), he will never seek change. 

Isaiah 58:1 Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. 

Isaiah 59:1, 2 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. 

This offering deals with the nature of sin. The trespass offering deals with the acts of sin. 

What then, does a person have to do in order to be a sinner? Nothing! He is born one. 

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 

The Greek word for sin is hamartia, which means, to fall short, to miss the mark. 

This offering affects every member of society. There is no respect of persons! Sin separates man from God. 

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.