How does one calculate the weight of sin? Hebrews 12:1 compares sin with weight. In Isaiah 43:24, God says that Israel had burdened him with the weight of their sins. So what does sin weigh?
Spiritually, each sin is the weight of the executioner's axe, poised above our necks. Emotionally, it can vary from a nearly unnoticeable burden, the feather's weight in our hair, to the weight of the world on our shoulders, leaving us like Atlas, struggling under it's weight, unable to accomplish anything else.
Physically though, how do we weigh sin? I am not aware of any recorded answer to this question. Consider this. If we were to assign sins a very minute weight, say the equivalent of one drop of water, what would the weight of the sins that Christ bore on the cross be equal to?
There are 15 drops in 1 milliliter of water. 1000 milliliters is equal to 1 liter. There are about 3.79 liters in a gallon of water. A gallon of water weighs 8.333 pounds. Using these facts, we can extrapolate the theoretical physical weight of sin that Christ bore on the cross.
There are currently nearly 7 Billion people living on earth. Since the dawn of man, estimates range from 10 Billion and up for the total number of people who have populated the earth. Not knowing when Christ will return, we can take this number as a starting point, and know that the burden will only increase for each additional person. For this calculation, let us use an extremely conservative number of 1000 sins per person. 1000 sins per person times 10 Billion equals 10 Trillion sins. If we divide that by 3.79 we come up with a volume of sins equal to 264 Billion, then we multiply that by our 8.33 pounds per gallon, we come up with 2.2 Trillion pounds!
That weight is physically impossible for any man to bear. The world record weight lifted by an individual in the clean and jerk is a measly 263 kilograms or 578.6 pounds. Men and women have snapped there tibias, broken their backs and died trying to lift such heavy weights. If sin had any physical weight, the burden on Christ was so overwhelming we cannot comprehend it.
If we have anything at all to be thankful for, it was that Christ was willing to take on the weight of the sins of you, I, and every person who has ever or will ever live. When you participate in the Lord's supper Sunday, remember this post, please.
Thank God our Father for his plan, and Jesus Christ for being willing to bear that burden and be our sacrifice. God is so good. Were He only just, we would all die for our sins. He is just, but He is also gracious, because he is willing to accept the blood of Jesus for our sins. Praise Jehovah! Praise Christ!
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