Original Goodness and Original Sin

Genesis 1:26–31 ESV

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Genesis 2:15–17 ESV

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Romans 5:12–21 ESV

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Scripture: Genesis 1:26-31, 2:15-17, Romans 5:12-21

Sermon Title: Original Goodness and Original Sin

           Last time we were together looking at the Catechism we worked through Romans 3 where Paul really lays into how deep our sinful nature as humans goes. I used the analogy of God’s grace being a medicine for believers.  It provides the greatest of benefits in curing the disease of sin, but we have to handle the bitter taste of recognizing our separation from God before we can truly experience those benefits. All of us come up short, and we know that by way of God’s law. In seeing that we come up short, we realize that we need help from Someone outside of ourselves—we heard the words of Reformed theologian, Jerome De Jong, who writes, “The law is the necessary beginning on the road to the cross.” This afternoon we return to our treatment of sin, but we go back a little bit further in history, let’s hear from Genesis 1 and 2. 

Brothers and sisters in Christ, one of the words that I feel like I abuse is the word, “perfect.” We can be out to eat at a favorite restaurant and the waitress comes by to ask how my meal is, “Perfect” has often been my reply. It is short; it gets her to keep moving on so that I can have a nice meal with my wife or whoever I am with. When I say that, the food is generally really good—but is it truly perfect? Is how the meat and vegetables were prepared without flaw? Is the arrangement on the plate so precise or the portion the exact amount that I should be eating to be most healthy?   

Maybe you are thinking, “Is Pastor Dan really making that big of a deal about that; it is just a nice compliment or remark.” Maybe I am making too big of a deal about using the word, but the reason why I feel that way is because I wonder if we have forgotten or lessened what true perfection is. We apply it to food, to an athlete’s performance, to a singer’s ability to sing well, to things working out the best we think they possibly can. I have to wonder when we look at the world and see all of its imperfections, are we left wanting tangible perfections? Do we use the word “perfect” because we crave it so much that we attribute perfection to whatever feels close, even though we know it actually is not?

Part of this criticism comes from sincerely believing that at one time, things here on earth were actually perfect. When God created this world and created human beings, it was all good and together very good! Man and woman were called to work, to reproduce and fill the earth, to eat, to live together and over all the other living things. Work was perfect, sex was perfect, and how they lived in harmony with all creatures around them was perfect. 

Maybe it is because in good Calvinist Reformed tradition we are taught about total depravity, that we do not often think about what I would call “original goodness.” Truly, depraved is our human condition when left to ourselves, but originally things were good, even perfect. The creation of man and woman by a completely perfect God enabled them to live the way God intended and with the right motivations. That is a wonderful thing to consider, and maybe we do not do so quite enough. We ought to consider that original goodness that God gave this world, because that is what he is bringing about when he comes again.   Paul tells us in Romans 5, “How much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life…so also through the obedience of [Jesus] the many will be made righteous.” We get this sense that in Christ’s return, there is restoration, maybe even a return to the garden.

Answer 6 of our Catechism testifies to this original goodness, “God created man good and in his own image, that is, in true righteousness and holiness, so that he might truly know his creator, love him with all his heart, and live with him in eternal happiness for his praise and glory.” In true righteousness and holiness, in the image of God. The original goodness that Adam and Eve had is imaged from our Creator. We have a perfect God—one who is without sin and without flaw, whose planning and execution of his will is never wrong. The way the mind of God works and the compassion of God shown is wholly just and merciful. The holiness, the set apartness that we find human beings called to in the Word of God—the separation from sin and putting it to death comes because our God is a perfect God. He has not been corrupted by our sin; while he knows its grip, its clutches on each and every one of us—he provides grace for us to be renewed. Our original goodness and the never-ending goodness of the only true God must not be forgotten.       

It is original but no longer, and most if not all of us know how the story goes, how history unfolded. God gave man this command, after he made it clear to him, “You are free to eat from any tree [except for that one], the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” It was a tree that would bring death to him. It is hard to know what that would have been like for Adam and Eve. They certainly recognized the consequence; they understood that their Maker had created something they were not to touch. Especially when we are children, there is often a sense when our mothers and fathers tell us we cannot do something that our attention and our craving is made greater to do, to touch, to enter into what we have been commanded against. It likely did not tug so constantly on them to just try it, but it was present in their midst. But at some point, after they had received that command, the crafty serpent, the craftiest of all the wild animals got to them. Adam and Eve sinned, creation was corrupted, pains and toil were increased, and a sentence of future death was instituted. Genesis 3:22, The Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil.”

It was because of that rebellion by one man that our nature has been so poisoned that we are born sinners—corrupt from conception on. As Paul writes, “Sin entered the world through one man, and…death came to all men, because all sinned…Many died by the trespass of the one man...judgment followed one sin…and the result was condemnation for all men…The many were made sinners.” This is what is meant in the doctrine of original sin. From this, we believe that we are not born innocent until we intentionally choose to sin or sin by imitating another person. 

Many people have been quick to say this does not seem fair—why should I have to suffer the consequence for what someone else did? Adam and Eve may have messed up the relationship God had desired with them, but does that really mean I cannot go through life without sinning against him. Indeed this is the case. We are not able to live a perfect life. As David confessed in Psalm 51:5, “I was sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” When we become a person, sin already exists in us—it is not only what we choose to do or to not do. It was “in reckless disobedience, [man] robbed himself and his descendants of the gifts [that come in following the law].” 

While can be hard for us to comprehend the fairness of this, God is just because we were created with the opportunity and the ability to follow his commands. That original goodness, the perfection that existed in the Garden—our first parents simply had to follow God’s commands, to obey him, and they did not. But still we might wonder why don’t we have a shot at this? The reason is because once there is a tear in a sheet, or once a stain has been made—while that is still present, all who come to exist will always see the imperfection. As long as the relationship between God and humanity is blemished, no one will be able to see it in the purity God intended for. The reality is that the effect is not just on the surface, but the effect is condemnation and even death. What is born of the flesh cannot escape that ending on its own. Many of us were reminded of our mortality brought about by sin this past Ash Wednesday. It is out of the fall of our parents that God spoke to Adam, “For dust you are and to dust you will return.”    

As we went through a couple weeks back, this corruption leads us to actively sin. Our natural tendency and motivation is not to please God any longer, but in fact to hate him and to hate our neighbor. Original sin causes us to be selfish and self-seeking. We affirmed that again this afternoon in question 8, “We are so corrupt that we are totally unable to do any good and are inclined toward all evil.” Not only is sin in our lives, but there is misery—misery is the result of sin—we know what we should not do, we know what is wrong, and we feel that guilt and shame because of doing such things. Sin and the devil corrupt us so much that even though we know it damages us and our relationships—we struggle to leave that life behind. We would rather keep on the easy path of sin. That will always be the case for us unless we are born again by the Spirit of God. 

We are not left without hope. The good God who created all things does not leave his creation behind. The perfect Father who hates sin and is offended by our sin and who has every right to bring that condemnation to us—he delivers a gift of grace. The first Adam brought death, but the second Adam—Jesus, accomplished what he had not been able to. Jesus came and lived a perfect life here on earth. The devil came and tempted him, gave him the opportunity to choose comforts if he would give in, but the Son of God relied on God and his word for strength. He was obedient through every trial he faced unto death, even death on a cross. That condemnation that humanity deserves is forgiven. That righteous life that he lived, fulfilling the law, justifies all who will turn to him despite their not having lived up to the law. Life returns to the table—not that each of us does not face physical death in this lifetime, but that we have the assurance that we will have “eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

What an amazing hope this is for us who believe and that we are called to share with others! If we are born again, if this one truth of salvation through Jesus will be received, the Spirit will cause us to have new life. That original sin and the death that it leads to no longer dictates our destiny. We need not worry if it has been washed away completely, because that is what Jesus came to do. He does not wash it off partially, he does not clean some and then let it build back up—no, it is an abundant provision. While we will not in this life have that goodness that God created Adam and Eve with, let us seek to be transformed by the Spirit that the new self we are given would image his righteousness and his holiness. Amen.