Sermon Tone Analysis

The Origin of Sin

While Genesis 3 informs us as to how the fall happens, it seems to center more on the nature of the serpent’s temptation than it does sin.

What we do know, especially when coupled with Romans 5, is that all of mankind, and creation as a whole was plunged into a broken existence from this point forward.

Now, there ARE a couple of questions I want you to consider this morning:

At least at this point, did Satan win?

After all, the sum of creation with the man being made in God’s image is that it is “very good.”

Did Satan thwart God’s good world and plan?

My answer to that question is, “No.”

Mt.25:34

Rev.13:8; 17:8

John 17:24

Eph.1:4

1 Pet.1:19-20

If it was indeed God’s plan for Jesus to die, even before the earth was formed, then…why?

I think part of that answer lies in Paul’s discussion of grace in Ephesians, particularly Eph.2:7.

God’s grace is extended and magnified (and it’s questionable whether we would even know it or not) through Jesus Christ, and it’s been His plan to put this grace on display…to “display the immeasurable riches of His grace through His kindness to us in Christ Jesus” through our salvation from before the foundation of the world.

It’s not plan B…it’s been His purpose all along.

The Essence of Sin

First, it includes external acts and internal attitudes:

Second, there are sins of omission and commission:

Third, motivation matters:

Finally, sin is a state in which we live, slaves to sin our master:

Lastly, consider the three most prominent terms for sin in Scripture, all of which are listed in Ex.34:6-7 “The Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed: The Lord—the Lord is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth, maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin.

But he will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation.”

Interestingly enough, though my Hebrew is quite shaky, none of these terms appear in the record of the Fall.

However, the idea is clearly there.

Sin.

The Hebrew word is chata and the Greek word is hamartia.

The idea is to miss the mark.

Both the Hebrew and the Greek word carry this sense.

There are at least two reasons we miss the mark:

Sometimes we miss the mark even when we try because of the power of sin and the weakness of our flesh.

(Mt.26:41,

Rom.7:17-18)

However, we typically miss because we simply are not aiming at the mark, rejecting God’s will and purpose and choosing our own desire.

The basic problem with a lost person is not that they want to obey God’s law and can’t; it’s that they cannot obey His law because they do not want to (Rom.3:9-12; 8:7).

The MARK is obedience to the command to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and Adam and Eve miss the mark.

Iniquity.

The Hebrew word is avon or aval and the Greek word is adikia, meaning “act and consequence.”

The Hebrew words are essentially two form of the same word and refer to something that is twisted or disfigured, deviating from what is straight and true.

The Greek word is taken from the courtroom and is the opposite of righteousness, lacking justice.

So, how do these two terms relate?

The communicate the idea of twisting and deviating from God’s standard and subsequently becoming guilty.

Certainly Satan’s twists the command of God, causing Eve to doubt (“Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?”

Gen.3:1).

Further, Eve seems to miss God’s standard — Gen.3:2, “You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.”

She misses God’s freedom — Gen.2:16, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden...” and doubts the seriousness of the consequence for breaking God’s command — God says they will “certainly die” while Eve only mentions “you will die.”)

Transgression.

The Hebrew word is pasha and the Greek is parabasis, carrying the idea of crossing a forbidden line.

Some scholars believe this to actually be the strongest OT word for sin, expressing the idea not just of crossing a line, but of betrayal and rebellion by breaking a pact.

It is therefore the idea of breaking trust and relationship.

“God is described as a covenant-keeping God, whose ‘steadfast love’ (chesed) endures forever, but we are a covenant-breaking people.”

Adding further weight here, to commit transgression is to act contrary to God and His character.

Though the word is not there, the idea is certainly there when Adam and Eve cross the forbidden line and break God’s command concerning eating of the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Gen.2:17).

Sin is failure to live according to God’s will and purpose.

It is failing to rightly bear His image in the world, and to prefer lesser gods to the One True God.

So, the most comprehensive idea of sin might just be idolatry, allowing anything other than God to reign in our lives.

The mark we miss is the mark of God’s will, a reflection of who He is.

The crookedness we see as iniquity is crooked because it misses God’s perfect plumb line, which is straight and true.

And finally, the pact we break is our relationship with YHWH God.

Every instance of sin traces back to God and our failure to submit to God as LORD of our lives.

Even acts of righteousness, if not done from a motivation to honor God, is sin.

If we do what is right, even without pride or selfishness, but in the process it supplants God’s place in our life, it is sin.

Doing what is right because it is right, and not because we love God, is to actually serve the law of God rather than the Giver of the Law.

The Result of Sin

First, there is separation from God.

For the first time, man’s fellowship with God is broken, and in shame and fear, they hide.

Later, in Gen.3:23-24 “So the Lord God sent him away from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.

He drove the man out and stationed the cherubim and the flaming, whirling sword east of the garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life,” this exile from the presence of God is further underscored when they are driven from the garden and east.

It’s not uncommon for the idea of being driven east to be synonymous with being driven from God’s blessing.

Second, judgment comes.

Note the following verses in Gen.3:16-19

This last part of verse 19 is reiterated a different way by Paul in Rom.6:23a “For the wages of sin is death...”

You might at this point be thinking, “Not a very joyful and hopeful beginning to advent.”

And, you’d be right.

By the backdrop of darkness is necessary if we are going to truly marvel at first the single shard of hope shining through the halls of eternity.

It lies in Gen.3:15, a verse you’ve heard me mention before, and it’s foreshadowed in Gen.3:20-21 “The man named his wife Eve because she was the mother of all the living.

The Lord God made clothing from skins for the man and his wife, and he clothed them.”

The last result of sin is that man isn’t left with a hopeless existence because God promises to do something about.

If you find yourself entangled in the impossible-to-overcome throes of sin this morning, here’s is the glorious news we will flesh out during the holiday season: a rescuer is promised, and our promise-keeping God stays true to His word.

The Son of the woman has indeed come to provide a covering for our sin, and through faith in Him, we joyfully proclaim the latter part of Rom.6:23b “...but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”