The Mystery of Sin
The Mystery of Sin
The story is told of two men who were trying to escape from an erupting volcano. As the fiery molten rock gushed out of its gaping crater, they fled in the only direction open to them. All went well until they came to a stream of hot, smoking lava about thirty feet across. Sizing up their situation, they realized that their only hope was to get over that wide barrier. One of the men was old; the other was healthy and young. With a running start, they each tried to leap to safety. The first man went only a few feet through the air before falling into the bubbling mass. The younger, with his greater strength and skill, catapulted himself much farther. Though he almost made it, he still missed the mark. It did not matter that he out-distanced his companion, for he, too, perished in the burning lava.
Sin is falling short of a standard, the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). Though some may fall short of the standard by far more than others, all fall short nevertheless.1244
Man calls it an accident;
God calls it an abomination.
Man calls it a blunder;
God calls it blindness.
Man calls it a defect;
God calls it a disease.
Man calls it a chance;
God calls it a choice.
Man calls it an error;
God calls it an enmity.
Man calls it a fascination;
God calls it a fatality.
Man calls it an infirmity;
God calls it an iniquity.
Man calls it a luxury;
God calls it leprosy.
Man calls it a liberty;
God calls it lawlessness.
Man calls it a trifle;
God calls it tragedy.
Man calls it a mistake;
God calls it madness.
Man calls it a weakness;
God calls it willfulness.
Israelite theologians shared with their 1st-millennium Hittite and Mesopotamian contemporaries several fundamental assumptions about sin. Of first importance: sin was a universal moral flaw, pandemic in the human race.
The origin of sin is a mystery, and must for ever remain such to us. It is plain that for some reason God has permitted sin to enter this world, and that is all we know. His permitting it, however, in no way makes God the author of sin.
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made.
He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
If the priestly literature in the Hebrew Bible depicted sin in terms of injury to God’s holiness and violation of cosmic order, with deleterious consequences for the community (contamination and contagion), Israel’s prophets and historiographers more characteristically spoke of sin in terms of disobedience, rebellion, covenant disloyalty, and religious apostasy.
Jesus says little of the origin of sin, except to trace it to the human heart and will (Mt 6:22, 23; 7:17–19; 18:7; Mk 7:20–23; Lk 13:34), but he significantly redefines sin’s scope. Where the Law could assess only men’s acts, Jesus shows that anger, contempt, lust, hardness of heart, and deceitfulness are also sinful, even if their expression is frustrated. He emphasizes sins of neglect, good left undone, the barren tree, the unused talent, the priest ignoring the injured, and the love never shown (Mt 25:41–46). He especially condemns sins against love—unbrotherliness, implacable hostility, selfishness, insensitivity (Lk 12:16–21; 16:19–31); self-righteousness, and spiritual blindness (Mt 23:16–26; Mk 3:22–30); and sins against truth—hypocrisy, ostentatious piety (Mt 6:1–6; 23:2). He condemns, too, sin against the love of God, that will not trust his goodness, revere his name, or love him wholly (Mt 5:33–35; 6:9, 10, 25–33; 22:35–38
I. THE ENTRANCE OF SIN—Genesis 3:1–10
A. Satan—vv. 1–2. Satan came in the form of a serpent. He comes to different people in different ways. Satan is real and active today in the world.
B. Sin—vv. 3–4.
1.) Doubt—v. 3. Satan placed doubt in the mind of Eve.
2.) Desire—v. 4 By eating, man would become intelligent.
C. Sorrow—vv. 5–6. Eve caused Adam to sin. Your life does have an influence upon others. If you sin, you cause others to sin.
D. Shame—vv. 7–10. Sin caused them to hide. Sin always brings guilt, and guilt causes people to be ashamed.
II. THE ENTANGLEMENT OF SIN
A. Association—2 Corinthians 6:17. Be different from sinners. Don’t get entangled with the sinners of this world.
B. Affection—1 John 2:15–17. Don’t love the world.
C. Attitude—2 Corinthians 7:1. Cleanse yourself from the sins of the flesh. Don’t pray for holiness—practice holiness!
D. Acceptance—2 Corinthians 6:17b–18. We will be God’s children and He will be our God, if we live a life of separation.
III. THE ENSLAVEMENT OF SIN
A. Sin enslaves the mind—Romans 1:21. The Living Bible says, “… And after a while they began to think up silly ideas of what God was like and what He wanted them to do. The result was that their foolish minds became dark and confused.”
B. Sin enslaves the will—Romans 7:15–17. Here Paul explains that he wanted to do good things, but he found himself doing the things he didn’t want to do. Sin controls the will.
C. Sin enslaves the actions—Romans 3:14–18. Here it tells of the actions of sinners. Sin does affect the actions.
D. Sin enslaves the conversation—Romans 3:13. Man uses dirty language because Satan controls the tongue.
IV. THE ESCAPE FROM SIN
“What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus!”
A. The shed blood—Hebrews 13:12; 1 John 1:7.
B. The Savior’s blood—Revelation 1:5. Sin cleansed by His blood.
C. The saving blood—Matthew 26:28. Forgiveness through His blood
D. The significant blood—1 Peter 1:18–19. The precious blood.
