In 1998, two construction workers died. It’s tragic, but not unheard of. Construction work can be dangerous. However, it was how these guys died that makes it notable. They fell to their death after cutting a circular hole in the floor while they were standing in the middle of the circle. It’s hard to decide whether to laugh or cry.
What’s so tragic about that story is that it is our story. At one time or another, all of us have flirted with sin or even dove right into it with the thought that, “it’s not going to hurt me” or “I’ll only do it this once,” or “who will ever know,” or “it’s just a little lie.” Pretty soon, we cut ourselves into a guilty circle and the floor was starting to give way.
Sin, even what we falsely consider “little sin,” is dangerous and damnable. All you have to do is look at the cross on Good Friday. If you want to see how much God hates sin and what “little sins” can do to a person, look at Jesus up there, screaming out in agony, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me,” as he endures the hell of punished guilt. That’s why the hymn writer declared, “You who think of sin but lightly, nor suppose the evil great, here (at the cross) may view its nature rightly, here its guilt may estimate.” The cross reveals the justice of a holy God toward all sin.
But it also reveals the love of a Savior who put himself there so that we wouldn’t have to.
