Can God Look on Sin?

Sometime back, I discovered that a statement I have used and taught to others was leading me to an incorrect understanding of biblical truth. So many times I’ve heard taught and repeated the statement “God cannot look on sin.”  The teaching this came from was the concept that God hates sin and Jesus stands as a filter between us and God blocking our sin from his view. What it infers is that somehow God has a weakness. He is flawed. You see I would get this mental picture of sin being kinda like God’s kryptonite. Just like superman having one flaw, God’s was sin.

This lead me to believe I was still sinful by my nature so God couldn’t look at me.  Jesus by my salvation stood in front of me, sort of like a screen. That way God only saw Jesus not me. It’s a nice analogy but it left me with no understanding of my current state before God.  My thought pattern left me thinking that nothing had really changed about me, I was still really unacceptable. Unacceptable to God and unacceptable to man.

It left me with a warped perception of who I became after salvation and what my worth to God really was.  With my old perception of low value of myself still intact, I was still not good enough. My core thinking of not being good enough, not being of any value, was still how I thought of myself.  God might be able to accept me now because Jesus had stepped in front of me as a buffer but the true nature of my self worth hadn’t changed. God just didn’t see me the same as everyone else because He was looking at Jesus not me.

Here’s the truth that changed everything for me. God CAN look on sin. God is not flawed in any way. He has no weakness and sin isn’t his kryptonite. There is no screen between God and us. Satan goes before God and he is full of sin. (a subject for another day) He went before God and asked to sift Peter like wheat in Luke 22:31-32 and he discussed Job with God in Job chapter one. Yes, Satan is a spiritual being and not human like us but he is also the greatest representative of sin both spiritually or human. And in the bible we see him directly approaching the throne of God.

Here’s the thing, it’s not that God can’t look on sin, it’s that if man goes in the presence of God with sin on him he dies. Humanity has been cursed by sin and pays the penalty of death when entering into the presence of God with sin on himself.  God could show himself to us but the penalty for our sins would come into play and we would drop dead. Hence the seperation from God. Since we now have a sin nature and cannot keep from sinning, we must be separated from God.

With sin comes death. In order to cleanse our sin off of us, the penalty must be paid, blood must be shed, death must come. In the old testament, the Hebrew people would make blood sacrifices to atone for their sin. Once a year the high priest would go into the holy of holys in the presence of God. Before he would do this, he would make sacrifices daily for a week prior. There would be extra sacrifices made to make sure all the sin was atoned for so he wouldn’t die once he was in the presence of God.

When Jesus came and died as a sinless man, the ultimate price was paid. The final and lasting penalty was paid. At the cross he proclaimed “It is finished” and it was. The penalty was paid for all mankind forever. The penalty of death was removed. Yes, we are still left with a sinful nature that wants to sin.  But with our acceptance of Jesus Christ, we are covered by His blood sacrifice, therefore, we are blameless before God.

With the acceptance of Jesus as our Savior and Lord comes a new life. We are “born again” “a new creation”(2 Corinthians 5:17). The old nature no longer has to hold us and we are made righteous and good enough not just before God but before man. The old person is gone and the new is now living. We are not that old person with the same self worth. We are different, new, worth much.

What freedom this brought me. I hope if you are stuck in a wrong perception of who you are in Jesus Christ, this will help you to know are more than enough. You are highly valued my friend.