Sin and Its Effects and Cure (2)

And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. Genesis 3.8

What’s wrong with the world?
Take a poll sometime with the people around you. Ask them simply, “What’s wrong with the world?” and see what kind of answers you get.

In my experience, people will say “too much government” or “too little government,” or “not enough educational or economic opportunity,” or “too little freedom,” or “too much violence,” or just plain “selfishness.” These are all variations of the same basic answer: We humans are what’s wrong with the world. But these answers don’t go far enough. Even among Christians, when I have asked the question about what’s wrong with the world, very seldom has anyone replied, “sin.”

Yet sin is thegreat problem of the world, because the presence of sin – this affliction and rebellion of lawlessness and unbelief – is present throughout the world, attaching to, corrupting, and destroying, like an out of control blight, all that is beautiful, good, and true.

From the beginning of sin’s entrance into the world we can see its far-ranging and destructive effects.

A Pandora’s Box
Genesis 3 records the rebellion of Adam and Eve and the entrance of sin as affliction to the world. It is the true record of sin’s entrance to the world, as Paul affirmed (Rom. 5). To treat this account as anything other than historical is already to give way to sin.

Adam and Eve preferred to act as a law unto themselves rather than abide by God’s Word, and to trust in their own ideas and desires rather than the good and perfect will of their Creator. By their rebellion and lack of faith, they opened a Pandora’s Box of affliction that immediately spread throughout creation.

We can see from their experience, first, that sin clouded their understanding of who they were. Suddenly the man and the woman no longer accepted themselves as the image-bearers of God, complete and good in Him. They didn’t like what they’d become and were ashamed to be present before one another as God made them (v. 7). 

Sin also corrupted their relationship. Immediately upon their rebelling against God, Adam and Eve began to be at odds with one another. Blame-laying, jealousy, resentment, mistrust – all these and more rushed to set up shop in the hearts of our first parents, and have been passed on to all their progeny, down to this day (vv. 12, 16; Rom. 5.12).

Sin corrupted their spiritual lives as well, as we see Adam and Eve trying to avoid the Lord by hiding among the trees of the garden (v. 8). As sinners we prefer not to have the light of God’s holiness shining on us, reminding us that we’re not perfect, even though we prefer to think we’re at least OK. We would rather God just go away and leave us alone; we’ll figure out how to make the best of things without Him. We might not say it that bluntly, but this is how many of us, including many Christians, live each day.

Sin introduced pain and striving into the experience and aspirations of human beings. Pain in childbirth, striving with one another, knocking ourselves out and begrudging our having to work to make a living – all this is the consequence of sin’s entrance into the world (vv. 16-19).

The corrupting power of sin reached even to the creation. The ground reluctantly bears its fruit; creatures fear human beings; plagues and famines and disasters of various kinds threaten human wellbeing; and each is, at the end of the day, an expression of sin’s impact on the world. The whole creation, Paul writes, groans and travails under the burden of sin foisted on it by our first parents and us, their offspring (Rom. 8.20, 21).

Further, sin corrupts culture, making it a tool for maximizing self-indulgence, vaunting human prowess, oppressing the weak, and mocking God (Gen. 4.17-24). Sin makes society a dog-eat-dog enterprise of all against all, nation against nation, every man for himself (Gen. 6.1-3).

We recognize the presence of all these problems in the world today. They’re not the fault of government or culture or poor education or poverty or climate change. They are the consequence of sin, unrecognized and unadmitted, and continuing to ravage the souls of people and the world they inhabit. 

Silence is not golden
Contrary to the old cliché, there is nothing golden in maintaining silence about sin. Refusing to talk about sin, to face up to its true nature and effects, and to resist it and eradicate it wherever it makes itself known will only ensure that the destructive power of sin will continue unchecked. Church leaders who do not take sin seriously betray their calling and their Lord, as well as the people they serve and the communities in which they exist. 

Can we imagine the prophets of the Old Testament keeping silent about the sins of Israel and the nations? Or Jesus, refusing to confront the sinners of His day with the truth of God? Or Paul turning a blind eye to the sins that threatened the churches he loved so dearly? How can we presume to be heirs of the prophets and apostles and followers of Jesus, while we remain silent about sin? It’s the height of folly and self-deception.

We must not keep silent about sin. Sin is a deadly spiritual blight infecting and corrupting everything. Ignored and unchecked, it transforms everything to rubbish. The longer we remain silent about it, the more certain will be the damage it inflicts. And facing-up to sin must begin with us (1 Pet. 4.17).

Sin is the problem, and the problem is everywhere. Wherever we encounter the effects of sin, we must be prepared to act against it. Failure or refusal to do so is simply adding to the greatest problem facing the world today.

For reflection
1.  What does it mean for you to face-up to the sin in your own life? How should you do that?

2.  What means or mechanisms exist in your church for helping people face-up to and be done with sin? Would you say that your church is like the prophets, apostles, and Jesus when it comes to speaking out against and dealing with sin? Explain.

3.  How should Christians help one another to recognize, resist, and overcome the sin in our lives?

Next steps – Conversation: Talk to some of your fellow Christians. Ask: How should we as believers deal with the sin in our lives? In our church? In our community? 

T. M. Moore

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.