Read: Genesis 3 (key verses: Genesis 3:1-5—compare to Gen. 2:15-17)
Reflect: The
idea of Sin is a confusing and troubling concept for many people. If God
truly is love, does He really hold people’s sins against them—or does
he just forgive everyone all the time, no matter what they do? How does
God really view someone like Buddha or Mahatma Gandhi, who was known for
morally upright behavior, but never believed in Jesus as Savior? What
about someone like Kaing Guek Eav, guilty of torturing and executing
people during the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia, and now a professing
Christian? How does God really feel about him?
One reason sin can be an uncomfortable
topic is that sin tends to be defined in terms of behaviors. This is an
incomplete understanding of the nature of sin. A careful look at Genesis
3:1-3 shows us that sin actually starts with a wrong attitude towards
God. When Satan asks Eve, “did God really say…” and gives her a
distorted view of God’s words (compare to God’s actual commands in Gen.
2:16-17), we see that Eve can’t answer him correctly—suggesting she
hadn’t taken God’s words all that seriously in the first place. Satan
takes advantage of Eve’s attitude towards God and His commands, and
suggests that it is a good and reasonable thing to question God’s
authority over her. He tells her that choosing to disobey God will not
result in death (vs. 4). He further suggests God knows this and the real
reason for His command is to hold back something good from her (vs.
5a). Therefore, it would be a wise choice to reject God’s will and
replace it with her own (vs. 5b). Eve and Adam allow themselves to be
tempted by Satan’s reasoning, eat the fruit, and reap the consequences
of their decision. However, the consequences of their sin go beyond just
them—all humanity has become tainted by sin and will experience sin’s
consequences: broken fellowship with God, physical and emotional pain,
suffering, and ultimately death.
The essence of sin is choosing to
follow one’s own desires instead of God’s will. We rationalize these
choices by questioning the reality of God and His nature; trusting
ourselves to know better than Him what is best for us; and trying to
bring about what we want through our own self-will. Even when we do good
things, if they are the product of our own will and not God’s, we are
guilty of sin. The consequences of the original Fall—shame, blame,
suffering, pain, and death, remain with mankind today. We are powerless
to free ourselves from both the tendency to sin and the inevitable
consequences. God alone knows what is best for us. Since mankind has
rejected His authority, are we doomed to suffer the deadly consequences
of sin forever? Or will the God who created us choose to forgive us and
rescue us from our hopeless condition?
Taking it Further: John
tells us, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the
truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and
will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (I John
1:8-9)” How do these words about the nature of sin and God’s response
apply to you today?
