As we move from the blessed Holy Week, I am more acutely aware that millions do not yet know the love of God and the grace of Jesus. Millions passed through this past week unaware of the precipice upon which their souls teeter. For me, the joy of Resurrection Sunday is tinged with sadness for these many whose eyes are blinded to the horror of sin and its effects.

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When I look at this image of Christ in the tomb being tended by angels, I am reminded of how upending the death of Jesus was in heaven. The angels mourned. The Father ripped his garment — the curtain of the temple — in His expression of mourning. And we mourn also.

But the mourning is not just for the suffering of Jesus. It is not just for His death, for we know He rose again and lives forever enthroned in heaven.

No, the angels, the Father, we — we mourn the terrible pain and evil of sin.

Should we ever be tempted to take lightly the effect of sin — our sin, the sin of the world — we need only to remember Jesus and His suffering to measure the price of sin.

Sin is not much spoken about in this world in which we live, for we would prefer to grant moral and spiritual license to ourselves and others. But our decision to ignore sin does not, in fact, cause it to evaporate. We can’t ignore sin out of existence; we can’t banish the idea of sin. Ultimately, we need to reckon with it.

And when we do reckon with sin, we find we are helpless in its grasp. We find there is nothing we can do that will wash away the guilt and the pain of sin.  Because sin leaves a mark.

It left holes in Jesus’ wrists, ankles, and side. And it scars us, too.

Sin, you see, is what separates us from God, and from each other.

In the beginning, God made this earth as a beautiful home for the people He loves. And for a time, man and woman lived in harmony, in deep friendship and fellowship with God, and with each other and the entire earth. In that time, man and woman knew only good.

But man and woman sinned through what seemed to them to be a small, insignificant thing: the desiring and the eating of the knowledge of good and evil. And by taking, man and woman suddenly introduced evil into a place of good.

God, who is entirely good, needed to separate Himself from man and woman, because His goodness could and would literally destroy these now-tainted humans.

And man and woman then knew separation from good — they knew evil.

And the whole earth has been contaminated with that evil, with sin.

Evil and sin separate us from God. Evil and sin separate us from each other. Evil and sin separate us from the good earth.

Take a look around. Look at what evil has done to the whole earth now. Even as we are separated from each other by so many earthly things, many are separated spiritually from our good God because of unforgiven sin.

What we are experiencing in the natural is true for too many in the spiritual.

Take another look around and imagine you are in a room, alone, without any of the comforts you have now. Without any loved ones. Without your internet or phone link to others. Without light. Instead, you hear the taunts of evil voices and see the darkness of evil intent. Instead, you have spiritual torment.

That is the effect of sin. Utter separation unlike any you have ever known.

Sin separates — totally, finally, without end.

But our good God found the way back from that separation, for those who will reach out to him — even as the penitent robber on the cross did. God sent Jesus — the Second Person of the Triune Godhead — to live a sin-free life, die a sinner’s death, and suffer the torments of utter separation. Jesus did this to atone for the sins of anyone and everyone choosing to receive that atonement.

And Jesus was raised from the dead by the power of the Third Person of the Holy Trinity: the Holy Spirit. This was a first offering and a proof of the power and truth of Jesus’ life and death. Man, woman, and child — you and I — we can all trust that Jesus is indeed the one who paid for sin — our sin.

Because He paid the horrible cost of separation from the Father, the Spirit, and all of humankind, we will not have to pay that price.

Instead, we can and we must accept Jesus’ atonement as the great gift that it is. We can and we must agree that our good God so loves the humans He created that He gave His only Son Jesus Christ. He did this so that those who believe in Him, confess Him as Lord and Savior, and turn from their sin will be united again into full fellowship and friendship with our good God. And we will live in the hope of living again in a world that no longer knows evil.

Let us pray:

Lord, we agree with You that sin is horrific; whether it is a sin we consider big or small, all sin, any sin, will lead to separation from You. Please forgive us of any sin we have failed to confess or even to acknowledge. Restore us to the original innocence of the first man and the first woman.

Let our lives bring tears of joy to Your eyes, and not tears of mourning. Help us to live for You, Lord God of heaven and earth.

Please convict the ones we love who don’t yet know You. Convict them of the horror of sin. Open their ears to hear the Savior’s song, to come into His grace. Help them to agree that they have sinned. Cause them to turn from that sin. Cover the sin by the blood Jesus shed on the cross.

Help them follow Jesus Christ as the disciples and the women did. May our loved ones proclaim as the centurion did: “Surely, this man is innocent. Surely, He is the Son of God.”

In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray.

Amen and amen.

Share your prayer for your loved ones below.

New York City–based Joyce Swingle is an intercessor and a contributing writer for IFA. With her husband, Rich, also a contributing writer for IFA, Joyce shares the gospel of Jesus Christ around the world through theater, speaking, writing, and film. Prior to going into full-time ministry, Joyce worked for about 20 major magazines and now works in pastoral ministry and Christian counseling. Photo Credit: The Dead Christ with Angels, by the French artist Édouard Manet, 1864. Used by permission from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, Open Access.