Wake Up, Everybody, Sin Kills, but Righteousness Revives

Ezekiel 18:30-32

The New King James Version Chapter 18

30 “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways,” says the Lord GOD. “Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. 31 Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,” says the Lord GOD. “Therefore turn and live!”

There is a song that I would like you to hear a little portion of. It was sung by the great group Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes featuring Teddy Pendergrass.

Wake up everybody no more sleepin in bed No more backward thinkin time for thinkin ahead The world has changed so very much From what it used to be so There is so much hatred war an' poverty

Wake up all the teachers time to teach a new way Maybe then they'll listen to whatcha have to say Cause they're the ones who's coming up and the world is in their hands When you teach the children teach em the very best you can

The world won't get no better if we just let it be The world won't get no better we gotta change it yeah, just you and me

Wake up all the doctors make the ol' people well They're the ones who suffer an' who catch all the hell But they don't have so very long before the Judgement Day So won'tcha make them happy before they pass away

Wake up all the builders time to build a new land I know we can do it if we all lend a hand The only thing we have to do is put it in our mind Surely things will work out they do it every time

The world won't get no better if we just let it be The world won't get no better We gotta change it yeah, just you and me (yeah, yeah)

The song calls for everyone to take individual responsibility for building a better world. Conversely, we all bear the responsibility for the sad condition the world is in today. Someone once said that until we become a part of the solution, we are all a part of the problem. War, poverty, the idolization of things above people, greed, pride, lust for power and wealth as well as inordinate physical desire, oppression of the weak and defenseless, exploitation of the powerless, racism, classism, ageism, sexism, homophobia, Xenophobia, these are stains on the collective conscience of America and all of humankind, and God has an issue with those who practice such things.

Now in the text the Jews were complaining to God that they are being punished for what someone else did. Verse 2 describes their complaint in the form of a proverbial saying,”The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge” They were saying the same thing that has been said about the legacy of slavery and discrimination that still haunts this nation. They say, Why are you angry at us for what our forefather’s did? God turns it around on the people and says that everyone will stand or fall before God based on what each individual is doing. It is about the choices that we make. God says that all souls belong to God. He controls the ultimate fate of all. If you choose to look the other way and are actively benefiting from the sins of the fathers and doing nothing to change the evil perpetrated upon others, but cash in on it, you are guilty, Verse 4.

Starting in verse 5 the LORD gives us a three part scenario. He first describes a righteous person who does all that righteous folk are supposed to do. God has no problem with this person. BUT God goes on and asks what if this righteous person had a child that decided to go to the “dark side”, committing sins: lying,cheating, stealing from the poor, replacing the living God with dead, worthless idols. Does that person live? Here God explodes a myth: There are people who think that they can live any way they want and make it in on their saintly momma’s prayers. In that day, (and THAT day comes the moment you leave this world), neither granny’s or daddy’s or meemaw’s prayers will make a difference. Verse 13 says that they will die and take the full blame for their actions

Then God pivots and messes things up. God asks what about if this wicked, evil nasty person has a child, and this child makes a conscious decision to break from the evil that she has been exposed to and live a godly life like the grandparent before her. God says that she will not be punished for her parent’s sin. This explodes another pet idea. Many of us have heard of “generational curses” where a person is prone to misbehavior and sin because of what Daddy or Mommy or grandpa or grandma did. Now, there is a very real component of our make-up called environment. Environment has to do with the conditions and experiences that a person grows up with. A person who grows in a violent home is conditioned to resort to violence to solve problems. However, this comes because of a DECISION, not a pre-determined course laid out generations before. We need to catch this. If my sin problems are a result of flawed upbringing or a rough neighborhood, well then God would be unjustified to hold me accountable for the evil I’ve done. After all, “I was born this way” NO! I reject that strongly. We choose to go the wrong path of our own volition. We choose to ignore God’s rules and directions in our lives willingly. And don’t blame Adam, Eve, the serpent, or the apple! Before the LAW men and women recognized that there is a GOD and God has a plan for my life and they followed that plan. It is said of Enoch and Noah, that they “walked with God”

God says that the person who actively engages in a life of sin will die, but that person who turns away from sin will live. Then God asks a poignant question: “Do you think I enjoy seeing wicked folk die?” (verse 23) No! God wants everyone to save everyone and bring us all to relationship with God’s self. This is why in due time Christ came. HE died to set us free from the penalty, and power of sin. He came to make us right with God. Though Jesus’ death on the cross he paid the penalty for my sins, and for yours. Because of that death and because of the great love that God has for you God says in verses 30 and 31, “...Repent, and turn from your sins. Don’t let them destroy you! 31 Put all your rebellion behind you, and find yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O people of Israel?” God Says., “I don’t want you to die..turn back (to ME) and live”

Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Eze 18:30–31). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.