"Sin awareness"

In 1 Corinthians 2.8, the apostle Paul references the rulers of this world who were responsible for crucifying the Christ and says, … If they had known it, (i.e. understood what they were doing) they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

Oh, my! What questions this raises in our minds!

Could they have known it? What kept them from knowing it? God? Satan? Their own natures? Ignorance? And if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Christ and we have no savior! We have no substitute for our sins and therefore, we are doomed to spend eternity in hell!

These are interesting questions that could result in many hours of study, discussion, and migraines! But I think the clear teaching here is the enormously heinous nature of the act of crucifying our Lord! They didn’t know what they were doing!

It is analogous to the issue of abortion. If abortionists knew (read “really understood”) that they were killing beings, created in the image of a perfect, holy, just, gracious, omnipotent, etc God, they would not do what they do!

And is this not true of us? When we willfully sin, doesn’t it in some way represent that we don’t know what evil we are bringing on ourselves and on the character of our God?

Sometimes I can imagine God looking down on me while I willfully sin and I can see in His eyes, “He doesn’t realize what he is doing!”

So He keeps loving me and tenderly working with me and completing the work He began in me.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. If God were to show us the enormity of our sin, and the enormity of His goodness we would die! Our minds and hearts simply could not take it.

Ask God to show you. It’s ok. He is wise enough and powerful enough to show you just the right amount at the right time. But you need to be willing to see and be willing to ask. For some magnificent and unexplainable reason, He wants our cooperation in His work in us.