You know of "Original Sin" as a reference to the sin nature all of us are born with. The term is also used to refer to the first sin, the sin of Adam and Eve. But ... just what was that?
Ask most people and they'll tell you it was when Adam and Eve ate the apple. Not quite. No apple listed. "Okay, it was when they ate the fruit." So, eating fruit is a sin. No, of course not. What was the sin? On the face of it, Adam and Eve sinned by violating a direct command from God. Still, there is something more to it -- something deeper. What was that original sin?
We find a more robust understanding by looking at the event. The serpent, "more crafty than any other beast" (Gen 3:1), asked Eve the leading question, "Did God actually say ...?" (Gen 3:1) At stake, then, was the integrity of God. The serpent, Satan, confirmed this questioning of God's integrity when he responded, "You will not surely die." (Gen 3:4) This is no longer a question; it is an outright claim that God cannot be trusted. Satan didn't leave it there. "God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God." (Gen 3:5) At issue, then, was the goodness of God. "You can't trust God. You can't trust what He says because He's holding out on you." The original sin, then, was to fail to obey God because they failed to trust His goodness. Rather than trust God and His goodness, they wanted to "be like God."
Imagine that. God told them, "I've made all this -- all of creation -- for you to enjoy." (Gen 2:16) "Have at it. It's all for your pleasure. Oh, just one thing ... just one. I've made one tree -- only one -- that I don't want you to eat from. Here's why: It will kill you." (Gen 2:17) "Enjoy the rest." Satan comes along and questions God's words and God's goodness. "He's lying; He's holding out on you." And they ... eat and die.
Think of that teenager. "Dad, can I borrow the car?" "Sure." "Dad, can I borrow the car?" "Sure." "Dad, can I borrow the car?" "Sure." "Dad, can I borrow the car?" "Not tonight; your mother needs it." "Oh, you never let me do anything!"
This thinking is at the heart of every sin. We want to be "like God" because God cannot be trusted to give us what is good. God's Word is under constant attack from unbelievers and self-styled Christians alike because God cannot be trusted to give us what is good. A large portion of people, Christian and not, believe that we have to work hard to get to heaven because God cannot be trusted to give us what is good. An entire alternative group of people believe we are "free from the law" because ... God cannot be trusted to give us what is good. That is, having saved us, He rescinded the requirements of the law because those were bad. In every case, we tend naturally toward, "God cannot be trusted in what He says because God cannot be trusted in what He does." Eve exchanged the truth of God for the lie and so do we.
Even believers do. We think "Obedience is too onerous." We think "God loves us; rules aren't necessary." We beg off the question with "How much do I really have to do in order to please God?" We do all this because we think "Rules are not our friend and God is not kind to give them to us," failing to notice that the reason He gave His creation instructions on living was for our benefit. So we daily shake our fists in His face and say by our deeds, "I will be like the Most High; I will find a better way to happiness than the one You provided." And, of course, we're wrong every time.
To us sophisticated moderns, Eve seems naive. How did she fall for that? And, yet, we do it daily ... instead of embracing all that God gives -- "every tree" as well as every warning -- as for our good from a loving God. What was the Original Sin? Just watch your attitudes and actions for a day and you'll see it for yourself in yourself. "God cannot be trusted to give me what is good. What He has given me is not good enough. I'll do it myself."
3 comments:
i have no problem with your point, we are not satisfied with what God has already provided.
observation: eve was not dissatisfied until Satan brought up the subject and deceived her.
but two questions always pop up in my head.
1. why was Lucifer thrown down to earth, instead of some other place?
2. why was the forbidden fruit placed in the garden?
when reading of the fall of Adam and Eve its like coming into the theater in the middle of the movie. this is because there are events that occurred before the fall. those events are not mentioned in the genesis story. there is in fact two parties that fell. the first tempts the second. Eve was not dissatisfied or envious; until the lie was placed in her mind. In her mind she was acting on information that she thought was true. the fruit of the tree at this point becomes mute, but rather the true poison fruit is the lie implanted in her mind.
A good one. Thanks
Why was Satan thrown to earth and not some other place? Lacking a direct, "Thus saith the Lord, 'I did it because ...'", I will go with other Scripture. Paul makes the disturbing claim in Romans 9:22 that God willed to "show His wrath and to make known His power", so I would guess that the presence of Satan and the tree in the garden was by God's will to most fully demonstrate His character. Without sin, there is no way to show wrath, judgment, grace, mercy, or even love. But, of course, that explanation only works if you start with "God is most important", because a "we are most important" view would call it nonsense.
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