A few weeks ago, I wrote an article titled Light Shining Out of Darkness. That’s the first part of today’s article. You should start from that article before you dive into today’s article. The concept of sin is quite interesting, and today, we’ll examine sin as a pattern to follow.
After the creation of light in Genesis 1, God created Adam and Eve. Consequently, He placed them in Eden with a set of instructions to Adam. We see the exact instruction provided to Adam in Genesis 2:16-17:
[16] And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; [17] but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Not long after, we see the serpent tempt Eve with his cunning twist of God’s instruction.
Let’s see Genesis 3:1 NKJV:
[1] Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
And Genesis 3:4-5 NKJV:
[4] Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. [5] For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Man’s deviation from God
Unsurprisingly, both Adam and Eve ate the fruit. Only afterwards did they realize their “nakedness” and try to cover up from God. You can think of it like a child whose parents ask them not to watch TV while they’re out. Unfortunately, the child ends up watching TV and is trying to hide from his parents.
The irony is that even when Adam and Eve were hiding, God still sought them out. He knew they’d eaten the fruit of the tree. We find that in Genesis 3:9 – 13.
When Adam and Eve deviated from God’s instruction, they created a pattern to follow called sin.
Is sin genetically passed down?
For such a long time, I believed that sin was passed down through generations genetically. As per, it was coded into our DNA, lol.
As we see, the interesting thing about sin, is that it wasn’t automatically passed down.
Why do I say that? Within later chapters in Genesis, we see in the family history of Adam, Enoch. Genesis 5:24 NKJV says, “And Enoch walked with God.” Hebrews 11: 5 records Enoch as a “man of faith who pleased God.”
You also find the example of a man called Noah. The Bible records in Hebrews 11:7 NKJV: By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
Enoch and Noah are 2 men who chose to walk with God even when they had a pattern of sin to follow.
But all have sinned and come short of God’s glory
While studying Romans at Bible study in Church, I came to understand this aspect of sin.
In Romans, Apostle Paul emphasises to the Jewish Christians that the law of works can not produce the righteousness of God. See Romans 3:20;The law is only supposed to provide us with the knowledge of sin and redirect us to Jesus.
We also learn from Galatians 2:16 NKJV that knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.
Further down in Romans 3, we see vs. 22 – 23, which says: “All have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.” Previously, I read it in isolation, not considering the context. Let’s consider the context together.
As seen in Romans 3: 21 – 22, righteousness is by faith in Jesus to all who believe. Indeed, the Law and the Prophets confirm this. Contextually, to fall short of God’s glory is to try to attain God’s righteousness through any other means but faith in Jesus Christ.
To be in right standing with God, no other way is considered, just faith in Christ.
The consequence of Adam & Eve’s sin
Romans 5:12 NKJV says, “just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—
When Adam and Eve transgressed by eating the fruit, death spread to all men who had the pattern of sin to follow. Even though the other men didn’t commit sin the same way Adam did, death spread to them.
Ultimately, as we see in Romans 5:18-19, through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation. Even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. [19] For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.
The way Adam committing sin created a pattern to be followed. In like manner, Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross paved the way for life by justification by faith.
Although ironic, it’s one or the other. Either you choose the way of sin or righteousness by faith in Christ Jesus.
Thank you for reading – Funmi
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