Sermon Tone Analysis

The Mystery of Sin

Today we will explore the concept of sin, as it is presented in the Old and New Testament.

In Michael Green’s 1500 Illustrations For Biblical Preaching, the following passages illustrate what sin is:

A small boy drew a picture of a car with a man in the driver’s seat and a man and a woman in the back.

When asked who was in the car, the boy replied, “That is God driving Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden.”

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.

What is sin?

Easton’s Bible Dictionary gives the following definition for sin:

Sin—is “any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God” (; ), in the inward state and habit of the soul, as well as in the outward conduct of the life, whether by omission or commission (; ).

It is “not a mere violation of the law of our constitution, nor of the system of things, but an offence against a personal lawgiver and moral governor who vindicates his law with penalties.

The soul that sins is always conscious that his sin is (1) intrinsically vile and polluting, and (2) that it justly deserves punishment, and calls down the righteous wrath of God.

Hence sin carries with it two inalienable characters, (1) ill-desert, guilt (reatus); and (2) pollution (macula).”,

Hodge’s Outlines.1

Why is there sin in the world?

Philosophers and theologians have speculated about the origin of sin since the beginnings of early civilization.

According to The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, 2

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 according to Easton’s Bible Dictionary is a mystery:3

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.

The Bible gives us an account of the “original sin” in :

The Bible gives us an account of the “original sin” in :

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.”

The Old Testament thought of sin as an injury to God’s holiness, as discussed in The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary:4

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.

In the New Testament, Jesus says little of sin.

What Jesus does say is discussed in the Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible in the following passage:5

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

So what does all this mean to each of us? 6

Sin entered the world when Satan came in the form of a serpent in the Garden of Eden.

Satan comes to different people in different ways.

Satan is real and active in the

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.