With the recent debates about what is and isn't sin, I'd like offer up an explanation, citation and a good story. Sin can be very confusing, especially when we take it out of context. Explanations about sin often cite Levitcal laws or the Ten Commandments. While these certainly are a guide helping us understand what sin practically looks like, I often feel we miss something valuable by just looking at 'the rules'. In order to get a better understanding of sin, we need to go back to the first time sin is mentioned: to the first time sin takes place.
What's interesting about our first account of sin, sin, as in the word, is not used. Ironic how sin isn't one of our vocabulary words when it first takes place. To follow along with the story, I'm using Genesis 2:8-9,15-17; 3:1-24. Or if that's confusing just read Genesis chapter 2 & 3.
Allow me to set the stage. God has made a garden and he has put man in the garden. This garden is full of trees that are pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden are two trees: the tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. As God puts man in the garden he tells him, "you are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." God makes a sweet garden with tons of awesome looking trees and tasty fruit. God tells the man he is free to eat from any tree in the garden, but that the man must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because it will kill him. Let me further emphasize that the man is FREE to eat from ANY tree in the garden, but he MUST NOT EAT from ONE of the trees because it will KILL HIM.
Personally, I wonder what was not so appealing about the tree of life. I mean seriously, its right there. But hey, living forever, apparently not important at this point in the story.
So there's this serpent, who's pretty darn crafty, but no one is afraid of snakes. Why? Because everything God created was still good at this point. The serpent asks a pretty straight forward question to the woman in the garden (apparently a talking animal was not big concern...), "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden?' " He's asking if the woman can eat anything she wants, by asking if she can eat anything at all. Clever. The woman responds with the truth, "we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden," and then adds, "but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' " At this point I give an exasperated sigh. Why didn't the man tell the woman which tree not to eat from? There are TWO trees in the middle of the garden, and NONE of the fruit from the trees will kill you if you touch it. Somebody failed to accurately communicate what God said, but no, that's not the first sin.
The serpent replies to the woman, "You will not surely die," he's actually telling the truth at this point, touching the fruit won't kill you, but eating it will. "God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." Hmmm. Is he lying? No. He's just repeated the name of the tree they aren't supposed to eat from. Did I mention he was clever? However, he's put a twist on his words, that this fruit is the key to being like God. True, but not true. Why? because the way the serpent describes to become more like God is not to do what God said. Confusing, but when you don't know what God said in the first place, anything is up for grabs.
The woman looks at the fruit. She sees three things: its good for eating, its pleasing to the eye and desirable for gaining wisdom. Two of the things she sees are what she's supposed to see, the third thing is what the serpent has told her she should see. Her perspective about the tree has changed. As has a word. Wisdom. There's an experience to be gained by eating the fruit, not just a head knowledge about facts. It's the desire for wisdom, an experience, that motivates her. She wants to know what it is like to be like God.
She takes some of the fruit and eats it. She also gives some to her husband, who HAS BEEN STANDING THERE THE WHOLE TIME!!! Also not sin (the standing around doing nothing part), but really he could have spoken up and said something. Maybe clarified what God actually said?
And then it happens "then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked." Innocence lost. Sin has taken place and the lives of the man and woman have been forever changed. They have used the freedom God gave them to eat from any fruit of the garden, but that fruit wasn't meant for them to eat, even though like everything else God made, it looked good. And now they see each other in a new light, "so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves."
This story doesn't declare "eating fruit was the sin!" Eating fruit isn't sinful. This story is full of details about what God said not to do and then the consequences of not doing what God said. The point is not what they did, its that they didn't do what God said. Sin is actively doing what God said not to do, even though we have the freedom to do anything.
Since we have identified sin, we might want to go home, but there are two more parts to this story; these are the most important parts that we so often miss whenever we talk about sin. "Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day," God is taking a late afternoon stroll, which we know isn't unusual for God, because the man and his wife know what God sounds like when he walks. Instead of running up and saying, "Hey, we know what it's like to be like you." they do the opposite "and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden." The man and his wife ran from God. The effect of sin in our lives is that we run from God.
Here's the first important point, "But the LORD God called to the man, 'Where are you?' " God doesn't let humanity stay hidden; he calls out to the man. God goes looking for humanity, individual people, even when we want to run away from God. And he finds them.
The man answers, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid." Sin makes us afraid of being seen by God.
God starts asking questions, even though he already knows the answers (the man is in a tree after all and God made the fruit and knows what it does), "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" The man gives a wonderful response. He blames the woman. And he kind of blames God for giving him the woman, even though the man's first poetry is written about how awesome the woman is. Lest we blame the man, lets look at the woman's response. She blames the serpent. What a perfect couple! Sin makes us believe its someone else's fault.
God curses them all. Snakes become creepy, childbirth becomes hard and farming becomes difficult. Then God does something we shouldn't miss. "The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them." This is the second important point, God made a sacrifice to cover humanity's sin and shame. It was not humanity that made a sacrifice for their sin, it was God who made a sacrifice for humanity. This is recorded in the 3rd chapter of Genesis. God made a way and a covering for his creation. He didn't leave us in our sin. He didn't let us stay the way we were with our man-made inadequate coverings, he gave us something better, even though we couldn't stay in the garden.
The end of this story, and the first account of sin, is of Adam and Eve being banished from the garden and driven out by God. No more free tasty fruit. No more late afternoon strolls with the creator. No more talking animals. At the entrance to the garden, God places a cherubim with a flaming sword, who guards the way to the tree of life.
Here are the important parts I see about sin:
Its a choice of freedom God gives us.
Its about actively not doing what God says and reaping the consequences.
Here's the bad stuff sin causes:
We become afraid of being seen by God.
We try to cover ourselves with things that don't really cover us.
We blame someone else for our choices.
We run and hide from God.
We miss out on the world as it should be.
Here's the good news:
God comes looking for us.
God already knows what we've done.
He sacrifices on our behalf to cover us.
Note that Adam and Eve accepted the clothing God gave them. They had the freedom to reject it. Much like we do. We don't have to accept anything from God. Adam and Eve could have chosen their leaves, but the clothes of God were much better for them then the coverings they made for themselves.
There's more to the story of God's relationship with humanity, and we will see the same good news played out, but this is the sad story about sin.
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