Livin Lively

By Peggy Lively

            When I was new to Facebook, I received a message from a good friend of mine that had a video attached to it. The message said, “Is that really you in this video? Wow! That’s interesting.” So my curiosity was peaked, and I tried to download the video to see what was on it. (Some of you already know where this is going.) Well, I didn’t download a video; I downloaded a computer virus. And the really frustrating part was that when I downloaded it, the “video” was then sent out to my friends on Facebook as a message from me. So the virus just got passed on and on…to and from friends, people you knew and trusted.

            As computer viruses do, it didn’t affect just my Facebook account. It affected every part of my computer. It literally shut down the whole thing. And I got messages from friends saying the same thing happened to them.

            Our sin is a lot like a computer virus, and it entered the world in a similar way. In the Garden of Eden, Satan asked Eve a question that peaked her curiosity, prompted her to act, and then unfortunately passed sin on. His question started like this: “Did God really say…?”

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say, you must not eat from any tree in the garden?’ The woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, you must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’   

‘You will not surely die,’ the serpent said to the woman. ‘For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.” (Genesis 3:1-6)

          When Adam and Eve ate the fruit, it didn’t just affect them and the Garden of Eden. It affected all of creation and humanity. I have heard people say that it isn’t fair that we inherited this sinful nature, but a virus (computer or otherwise) is not fair. Its nature is to infect and destroy. That sounds like another verse in the Bible: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” (John 10:10) So no, sin isn’t fair, just like a virus or a thief isn’t “fair.” It is just the nature of the beast. (literally)

          The Good News though is that there is a remedy for this virus! It is called God’s grace and forgiveness through His son, Jesus Christ: “Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses e and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.” (Romans 5:16-19)

          So even though we are infected and tempted by sin, we don’t have to be controlled or destroyed by it, because we have a Savior. His remedy for us is grace…grace that is greater than all our sin.

“In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”  Romans 6:11