In the last episode, I showed that biblical death is separation from God. Therefore, biblical death is a spiritual experience. There is no physical death because the physical body isn’t spiritual. The body doesn’t die; it stops working for one reason or another. Did you ever stop to think that your body (organs, bones, muscles, and blood) is made up of cells that are micromachines? These cells are miniature power plants that operate by chemical reactions. Cells may appear as life, but they’re not alive. Cells interact with one another to produce our bodies according to our DNA blueprints.
God created Adam from the dust of the ground. Not alive. Then, he breathed life into man and became a living being. The breath of God is spiritual. Your life is spiritual, not physical. If we die, we die spiritually, not physically. If we live, we live spiritually, not physically. When I say, “life is spiritual,” I don’t mean ethereal and formless; I mean “animated and empowered.” I’ll explain this more in the future when I talk about the resurrection.
So, what causes someone to die spiritually? We die spiritually when we’re separated from God. What causes us to be separated from God? Disobedience to God and, therefore, sin. What causes us to sin? To know what causes us to sin, we must first know what sin is. Everyone has a different definition of [sin], even people who read and study scripture, and the same is true about what causes sin.
In 1 John 3:4, the Apostle John says sin is lawlessness. Lawlessness means to be a lawbreaker. It doesn’t matter what the law is; if you break it, you’re lawless. Adam and Eve were given one rule. One law: Don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That was it.
Was God testing Adam and Eve? Did God cause their temptation? No, that’s impossible for God to do, according to James 1: 12-15.
This is exactly what we saw with Adam and Eve. God gave them one rule: Don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil. Evil was in the name. Did God tempt them? No, they were beguiled by the allure of the tree. It was good for food, delightful to look at, and desirable for obtaining wisdom. These things were what tempted Adam and Eve. Their longing for what they were told they couldn’t have invaded their hearts and minds and captured or obsessed them. Once that happens, when the seeds of desire are planted, the fruit of their act is a compulsion to break the law. Then, when lawlessness was complete, their communion with God was shattered, and they became separated from God and outcasts from life into death.
So how do we overcome this process of sin resulting in being separated from God and consigned to death? We don’t, not on our own, we don’t. Adam and Eve couldn’t overcome their lawless decision that resulted in their separation. Look at every person in the Bible and find one who didn’t sin. You won’t find one (Ecclesiastes 7:20 & Isaiah 53:6).
God punished Jesus for our sins. The “one and only” person who had no sin at all was made sin on our behalf to rescue us from our separation from God (1 Corinthians 15:55-57).
Scriptures plainly say that sin separates us from God. But is sin a trigger for our spiritual death, or is it the result of something else? What triggers sin in us? What motivated Eve to disobey God in the Garden?
Paul gives Timothy advice about what triggers sin in 2 Timothy 3:1-5. As we just read in James 1:12, those who can withstand temptation are those who love him. But Paul just tells Timothy here that people are lovers of self and lovers of money. Adam and Eve were lovers of wisdom and lovers of beauty and pleasure. The trigger for disobedience and sin is loving something else more than God. In other words, the gateway for sin is idolatry.
The concept of idolatry is highlighted in the Bible as a significant factor in separation from God. This idea is rooted in the First Commandment given to the Israelites, which emphasizes the exclusive worship of the one true God (Exodus 20:3-6).
This was the very first commandment God gave to Israel. God warns them against worshipping anything in heaven, in the earth, under the earth, in the water, simply stating, don’t put any created thing before the creator of those things.
In this command, we see the emphasis on wholehearted devotion to the Creator by acknowledging His sovereignty and not attributing divine qualities to anything created.
There are Six Signs of Separation Through Idolatry;
- Where are you seeking guidance? Seeking guidance from someone or something other than God.
- Are you creating your own gods? Creating your own gods (don’t make an idol for yourself) What are you giving the power over you? Money? Possessions? Politics?
- Who are you serving and worshipping? We serve what we worship (don’t bow down and serve an idol. Idols require specific practices). Pleasure? Power?
- How will your idolatry influence your children? Our idolatry will be followed by our children (to the third and fourth generation). Cain & Abel.
- Can you love God and an idol? Idolatry is hatred toward God (those who practice idolatry show their hatred toward God)—choosing something over God.
- Are you denying God’s love to you and your children? We restrict ourselves and our children from God’s love (showing love to a thousand generations).
Idolatry, in a broader sense, involves placing anything above God in one’s affections, allegiance, or priorities. It can manifest in material possessions, wealth, power, relationships, or any other created thing taking precedence over the worship and obedience owed to God.
Idolatry is a significant factor that leads to human sinfulness and rebellion. The connection between idolatry and disobedience to God is evident in scripture, showing humanity turning away from the creator to worship and follow those things created. (Deuteronomy 7:25-26, Joshua 24:20, Jeremiah 2:13)
In 1 Corinthians 10:7-14 Paul shows that idolatry is the gateway to all other sins.
Paul draws from Israel’s history to warn the Corinthians about idolatry. Paul connects idolatry to other sins, referencing Israel’s failure. He highlights that other sinful behaviors often accompanied their idolatry because idols required these behaviors.
By saying “flee from idolatry” in verse 14, Paul emphasizes the urgency of avoiding idolatrous practices because they lead to a chain reaction of other sins. The call to flee idolatry is a practical admonition to distance oneself from false worship or devotion that could compromise one’s commitment to God and lead to moral and spiritual pitfalls. By saying this, Paul is presenting idolatry as a starting point that can lead to a downward spiral into other sinful behavior. Paul explicitly emphasizes the urgency of fleeing from idolatrous practices. His focus on idolatry shows it’s a gateway to sin and eternal separation from God.
Conclusion: One thing that’s important for us to see here is while the idolatry of humanity separates us from God, it also separates God from humanity. This is a key point for us to understand when we look at the purpose of God in the world and the purpose of God in the church, the body of Christ. God created the heavens and the earth, and it was good. God created man and woman, and it was good. Then, it went bad, and God and his creation were separated. The story we see in the Bible is God making his creation good again and being reconciled with his creation, man.
