In the Hebrew language sin is pictured as “missing the mark.” That doesn’t sound so bad. Nobody’s perfect, right? But there are three major problems to consider.


First, God’s “mark” is moral and spiritual perfection. Nothing less will do. Because He is holy and just, God cannot excuse anything less without compromising His own moral integrity – which He would never do.


Second, we have missed the mark. I often take the bus to work; some days I leave the house late and miss the bus. It’s an inconvenience, but it’s not a dire problem since another bus will come in 15 minutes. Today’s verse shows us what our sin gets us – death. With God, for us to miss the mark of spiritual perfection is infinitely more than an inconvenience. But why is this so?


Because of the third problem: sin is rebellion against God. We see this portrayed for us in Psalm 2, where the kings of the earth unite and rail against God and His authority over them. Before Jesus changes us, we live with the same hostility towards Him. Yet He beckons us to Him!