“Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4 ESV).
God spoke to the prophet Ezekiel, rebuking the people of Israel for accusing Him of injustice and reminding them that He was both owner and judge of their souls. God further warned them to stop blaming their sins on their parents. For God judges each soul according to its own sinful or righteous state.
We are not simply to attribute our existence to our parents, but to recognize God as Father and the One who created us in His own image, and who gave and still gives us the spirit of life. Our souls ultimately belong to Him. As both Creator and Sustainer of our souls, He is also the righteous judge over our souls. And He has declared from the beginning that the “soul who sins shall die.”
This is a real problem for all humanity. For the Word also says that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). What can be done about our sin problem? Who can rescue us from our destiny with death?
Only One can save us. As the Word says in another place, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). Repenting of our sins and trusting in Christ for salvation, we are considered righteous before God. As the apostle Paul proclaimed of Christ, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21). Jesus took our death, that we might receive His eternal life. He took our sin, that we might receive His righteousness. Jesus is the only solution to our sin and death problem.
PRAYER: Dear Father, thank You for providing a solution for our sin and death problem. What we could not do for ourselves, You have done. Thank You for Jesus who gave His life for us. Now, we surrender our lives afresh to Him as His followers. Empower us by Your Spirit to walk by faith today. In Jesus’ name, amen.