In having discussed sin (and our recognition of it) to some degree, I want to move on to discuss what our response ought to be if we wish to engage relationship with God. But I feel compelled to take another stab at sin first–from an entirely separate angle. (1)If sin is literally “missing the mark” of God’s holiness and perfection, (2) if it came into the world via deception by the enemy, a snake in the grass (Gen 3:1-5), and (3) became inherent to all humankind through Eve’s blunder and Adam’s willful disobedience, what are we to think? What are we to say?
Should our response simply be, “Oh well! Nobody is perfect” and “sucks to be us”? God promised Adam that disobedience to His command to not partake of the knowledge of good and evil would bring death. Now, through Adam, the lifespan of all humankind is limited and ends in death. This reality is simply and effectively reasserted in the New Testament writings when the Apostle Paul recounts “the wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23). Once again, is our response: “Well…what can be done? Sucks to be us!”?
I think that before we move on to other aspects of the salvation process, we need to look at this other angle of the sin problem to which I’ve referred. We’ve established that sin came into the world through the one Man, Adam, (Rom 5:12) [thanks, dude] and that all of us now share in the results of that one man’s disobedience. We’ve established previously that we all fall short of perfection (Rom 3:23) and have from time to time enjoined evil, though we might inwardly despise it (Rom 7:18). And so we can understand the idea that we might want to approach our Maker, our God and just say, “I’m sorry! I really hoped to do better.” And we will. But before we can more fully embrace the “salvation” God has for us, we need to understand this other aspect of sin and the state we find ourselves in.
Who was it that deceived Adam’s wife Eve? It was God’s enemy, satan (I do not show him the courtesy of capitalizing his name; no typo here). I don’t know how the enemy feels about you and me personally, but I know he hates God Almighty. Now if the enemy couldn’t take God directly on (he tried and got himself and his followers booted out of God’s presence) what would a bully like satan do? Go after something God dearly loved and was, in of itself, defenseless. So the enemy went after creation. Indeed he brought about the spoiling of all creation (Rom 8:19-20), but specifically he went after those beings which were created in God’s likeness–God’s own precious children–man and woman.
It’s like something you would expect in a gangster movie. Some crime lord can’t take out the biggest dude on the block, so he goes after someone precious to the big dude–like his daughter. And what the enemy does to the children of God–created in the Maker’s own image for the purpose of eternally delighting in one another–amounts to nothing less than a complete molestation, rape, and homicide. Every evil that mankind suffers emanates from the moment of this great fall.
An aside note: you might be tempted to say, at this point, “Then what fault is it of Adam, Eve and the rest of us? Why are we all held accountable for sin if it is a result of a full-out attack by the evil one?” The short answer today is this: because Eve did not run to her father, God, and get help. That ended up with her being deceived. Adam, who watched this whole thing transpire is the one really held to accountability because he was not deceived, but chose to directly disobey God and go along with the evil one and his wife.
But I want to stay focused on today’s point. Regardless of what Adam and Eve did with the situation, which brought them and all humanity great suffering and harm, what I am pointing to today is the intent of the evil one himself. He wanted to hurt what the Father, what God Almighty, loves so very much. And he succeeded. Not only did this event bring about death, but it brought about every sort of human suffering. It was a complete and utter raping of humanity.
And so we can understand God’s desire to undo the harm, the wrong, and restore all the goodness which He has desired for His children from the beginning. But what all needs to take place for complete restoration? (1) The enemy and his works need to be completely and utterly destroyed. (2) Humanity must return to relationship with the Father, with God, and once again completely rely upon Him. (3) In order for the restoration of humanity’s relationship with God to take place, first humanity’s part of the fall must be dealt with. It was not only an attack by the enemy. The Fall included woman and man choosing to disregard their Father, their God, and act in defiance towards Him. In other words, humanity must share the blame.
But this is a price, a debt, far too great for anyone, for any collective of humanity, to cover. And that is why God, who is all righteous and also all loving, steps in and says, “I love you all so very much that I Myself will cover the debt.” Perhaps you’ve had a parent or an honorable adult step in and cover your butt when you made a youthful and costly mistake by not following directions, or because you decided that you knew better than those older and wiser than you. I know I have experienced such–on more than one occasion. In the case of Humanity, there is more than just owning up to the sin at stake! What about all the fallout, the sickness, disease and death? What about the crushed and wounded hearts and minds? What about all the evil begetting evil? A Great Healing must take place!
And so now, only now, are we able to discuss God’s answer to the dilemma; this answer called Salvation! You see, it isn’t simply a matter of seeing the error of our way and saying “I’m sorry.” Great harm has been wrought upon all of us and we are badly in need of healing. And healing us all is something God tells us is an absolute passion for Him.
“For God so loved the whole world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him ought to receive Salvation” (Jn 3:16).
