Sin is described in the Bible as the transgression of the law of God (1 John 3:4), and also rebellion against God (Deuteronomy 9:7; Joshua 1:18). The original translation of sin means to 'miss the mark' of God's holy standard of righteousness.
The Origin of Sin :
Sin has its origin from Satan (Original name: Lucifer (who was the most beautiful and powerful of the angels then in Heaven.). He was not content with his position, and desired to be higher than God, which caused his downfall (Isaiah 14: 12-15 ).
Satan then brought sin to the human race in the garden of Eden, he tempted Adam and Eve (with thesame enticement (that caused him to be driven away from Heaven); ''you shall be like God''), and they disobeyed God (Genesis 3; Romans 5:12). Since that time, sin has been passed down through all the generations of mankind.
Romans 5:12 tells us that through Adam, sin has entered the world, and so death was passed on to all men because ''the wages of sin is death'' (Romans 6:23).
We are sinners not because we sin; rather, we sin because we are sinners. This passed-on depravity is known as inherited sin (otherwise known as original sin).
We can from the sin of Adam and Eve root sin to three; and from it we can denote that there are three causes of all sinful actions, which are 'Lust of the Flesh', 'Lust of the Eyes', 'The Pride of Life'.
But before that ;
You might also be interested to know that Adam and Eve's sin was not just a transgression sin , but also a deliberate act of defiance, a renunciation of authority.
To the unelightened, the act of eating of the forbidden fruit might seem like no more than a transgression of a simple command, but it is not. It was an act of gross rebellion, a total rejection of God's rule over the whole human race, and it had awful consequences. (Romans 5:12), (1Cor 15: 45-49 ).
The tree symbolised God's right to complete authority over man's obligation to be righteous, faithful, obedient, true, and devoted to Him. By breaking the command not to eat the fruit, they thoroughly defied God as the root of their beings, disowning His lordship over their lives. The consequence for the human race have since then been horrendous.
As Adam died, so also we will die, but has Jesus rose from the dead and ascended to heaven, so we will do thesame. Adam as being under the power of sin and needing an act of redemption to restore its relationship with God.
Original sin (inherited sin) is the defination for this, meaning that all the sons of Adam are in a state of sinfulness, with a tendency to evil, as slaves to sin and bound to do its bidding (John 8:34), with a deadening effect on the soul (Ephesians 2:1) resulting in the eventual death of the body.
Now, to the three causes (root) of all sinful actions:
Genesis 3:6; ''So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate.''
Firstly, Eve saw that the tree was ''good for food''. This meant it was obviously tasty, in good shape, and would benefit her physical body if she ate of it. There was nothing wrong with the fruit itself, it had no worms! Satan succeeded in misleading her because he got her to focus on the fruit itself, rather than on God who had simply forbidden her to eat of it.
Pornography, drug-taking, financial corruption in business, and sexual immorality can all be very appetising and seem harmless as long no one else knows what you are doing. Its only when they lead to rape, indescent assault, AIDS, criminal prosecution, job losses, drug addiction, veneral diseases, divorce, and other unwanted consequences that the wrong doing becomes apparent for what it really is. All these come from desire for immediate physical gratification.
Secondly, Eve saw the food was ''a delight to the eyes''. God had said, ''do not touch it'', but Eve, disregarding the commandment again, judged the fruit purely by its appearance. It looked good. There was nothing obviously wrong with it. In fact, once you looked at it closely, it appeared to be an object of great beauty. Her sin did not consist in choosing to pick and eat an object which was inedible or poisonous, it was simply in defying the will of her creator who had commanded her not to eat it.
Once again, by disrespecting His will and asserting her own, she fell. (E.g. focusing on the beauty of something lawfully beyond ones reach, like another mans wife, a luxury car one cannot afford, an x-rated TV program one shouldn't watch - and falling for its beauty without recognising the identity of the devil persuading one to pursue it).
Thirdly, Eve perceived that the food was ''to be desired to make one wise''. She believed satan when he suggested that by taking it, she would become ''like God. Knowing good and evil'' (Genesis 3:5). She was fooled into thinking she would advance her status and become like the diety Himself, not recognising the perfidy of the one who spoke to her. Instead she fell and became like the devil, knowing the power and the presence of evil.
This can be termed as Pride, which comes before a fall. You can testify to the ultimate end of all power-mad rulers who pursue their arrogant ambitions and seek to become their own gods over the people they control.
1 John 2:16 explains this threefold sin ; ''For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the father but of the world.''
The ''lust of the flesh'' made Eve see that the tree was good for food, the ''lust of the eye'' that it was attractive to the sight, and the ''pride of life'' that it was desired to make one wise. Built into one temptation were evil characteristics that she formerly never known or even thought possible - greed, covetousness, pride, arrogance, selfishness, shame, and dishonour - and in the centuries to come these were to grow to enormous proportions in the billions of her offspring who would choose to listen to the devil rather than the God of the universe. One awful, comprehensive temptation fully absorbing all three of the desires John mentions, brought about the downfall of human race.
The Curse And The Promise:
After Adam and Eve sinned against God, God cursed them; Adam, Eve, the Serpent. But, even after the curse, God made a promise in Genesis 3:15; ''I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed, he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel''. God promised that one of her offspring, just one, would rise in an age to come who would not be affected by their fall, who would not be like the devil but would in fact be his sworn and mortal enemy. He would be on God's side and, though bruised in the conflict, would conquer satan and eventually destroy him.
The man was Jesus and satan recognised Him. For the first thirty years, He grew up and lived an ordinary life as a carpenter's son in Nazareth, a humble village. His neighbours during this time, saw nothing unusual about Him (Mark 6:2-3). Satan however, marked Him - especially what he noticed and that He was the first and only man to live on earth without sin , and in complete obedience to God (1 Peter 2: 22-23 ).
The threefold Sin/Temptation, but now it has grown to the fullest extremes:
Jesus was led to the wilderness where He fasted for forty days and forty nights. Satan must have wondered at His purpose, despite not being able to identify it, did perceive that, at the end of the forty days, Jesus was about as weak as a human being could be (Hunger strikers usually die after about sixty-five days, and after forty days are almost at the point of no return). Satan knew his best chance of catching Jesus in a moment of complete physical weakness, when He had no natural strength to resist him, was right now.
I bet you would not be suprised to know that its this same threefold temptations that the devil tried on Jesus. But still, Jesus resisted temptation to sin at its fullest intensity, and conquered the power of sin.
First temptation is found in Luke 4:3; '' If you are the Son Of God, command this stone to become bread''. Imagine, Eve was in a beautiful garden, and Jesus in a barren desert. She had ample access to all the food she could possibly desire, Jesus had none, and even had not eaten for the past forty days. He was emaciated with hunger.
It was as if Satan was mocking Him. ''You are supposed to be the Son of God, yet You perish here with hunger. Look how your Father treats You. He has made You the hungriest and weakest man on all the earth. Now, if you will just listen to me. I'll show you how to save yourself. Turn these stones into loaves of bread.''
The fruit Eve ate was a delicacy, good for food and delight to the eyes. Jesus desperately needed just a piece of staple diet, a loaf of bread, to survive. Satan offered Jesus the Midas touch, as if it were, yet Jesus resisted him, saying; ''Man shall not live by bread alone'' (Luke 4:4). He stood by His commitment to live by every word of God, no matter where it might lead him.
Wow! Imagine, Eve had no need to eat but she did, Jesus desperately needed food, but He declined to use His power against His Father's will to satisfy Himself. At His weakest, He resisted temptation to indulge in the ''lust of the flesh'' at its fullest extent and intensity.
So satan tried his second temptations, showing Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and saying; ''To you I will give all this authority and their glory; for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will, if you, then, will worship me, it shall be yours'' (Luke 4:6-7).
Again Jesus resisted the temptation saying to satan; ''You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him alone shall you serve'' (Luke 4:8). This time, satan attempted to make Jesus fall through the 'lust of the eye', dazzling His vision with a display of all the kingdoms of the earth.
Once again, it was as if he was mocking Jesus saying ''Your Father has also made you the poorest man on earth in this wilderness. You have nothing you can call your own. But if you will listen to me, I will make you the richest man on earth. I'll show you how to use your powers to possess everything on earth for yourself. Just listen to me, and like Eve, ignore the will of your Father''.
Eve fell for a piece of fruit, but Jesus resisted an offer to obtain the whole world. When Eve ate the fruit sin , and human sinfulness, had only just begun to affect mankind. It had only just been conceived. In the fullness of time, however, when Jesus appeared on earth, it had reached its pitch. The bible shows how sin grow into maturity in these words; ''Then desire when it is conceived gives birth to sin; and sin when it is full-grown brings forth death.'' (James 1:15).
By Jesus' time, the emperors or Rome, such as Julius or Augustus Caesar, were seeking to gain the whole world for themselves. Others like Alexander the Great had only attempted this before them. ''They are only man, you are the Son of God. Use your divine powers to fulfil your own desires and you can do it,'' satan was saying to Jesus.
Once again Sin and temptation had come a long way, from one extreme to the other. Jesus resited the temptation to indulge in the lust of His eyes to its fullest possible extent.
So satan tried his third and last temptation: '' If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ''He will give His angels charge over you to guard you,'' and ''On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'' (Luke 4: 9-11 ). For the third time, Jesus resisted saying; ''It is said, You shall not tempt the Lord your God'' (Luke 4:12). This was the temptation to ''the pride of life''.
This time, satan was saying to Him; ''On top of it all, your father has made you the loneliest man on earth. No one knows where you are, no one cares. If you died, who will be concerned? You are the hungriest, poorest, and lonliest man on earth, a travesty of humanity. Now, if you will only listen to me, I will show you how to become the greatest and most popular man who ever lived. I will give you the obedience of all nations.''
Eve fell for the temptation just to become wiser, Jesus resisted a temptation to become the greatest man on all the earth. Once again, sin has been taken to its fullest extremes, and Jesus resisted it at its greatest extent. Roman rulers, not content to possess everything on earth, were also endeavouring to force their subjects to honour them as divine rulers. Sin had indeed become full-grown.
The devil gave Him a vision of monotheistic believers from all over the earth gathered to worship God's holy house and tempted Him to win their allegiance by a public display of His divine authority. That such a temptation could come from satan is indicative of the corrupt allegiance of the Jewish nation to God of Isreal at the time. Very significantly, when Jesus did finally come to the Temple, He did the opposite of what satan had suggested and drove all the moneychangers and pigeon-sellers out of the Temple, making Himself most unpopular in the process (John 2: 15-20 ).
Eve faced only one temptation which embedded all three desires. Jesus faced three seperate temptations, stretched to their fullest possible range and magnitude, and effectively resisted them all. In all three cases, Satan tempted Him as he had baited Adam and Eve - to assert Himself independently of His Father's will. And this is also the root of any sin we commit till date .
The good news:
Jesus returned to His people, and having conquered the power of sin, prepared Himself to conquer its guilt at the cross and so complete the work of redemption. He had bruised the head of satan. He had ''condemned sin in the flesh'' (Romans 8:3), He had triumph over it and in its chosen lair, the human body, the source of all sin and wrongdoing. He had discerned the implication of satan's command ''Throw yourself down'' (Luke 4:9). He knew this was all men would ever do by heeding his suggestions. Jesus dealt with sin once for all in the wilderness and at the cross. He now releases the power to all His followers to overcome its force and effects as well. ''For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death'' (Romans 8:3).
Jesus Christ, paid the penalty for sin by dying on the cross. Imputing our sin to Jesus, God treated Him as if He were a sinner, though He was not, and had Him die for the sins of the entire world ( 1 John 2:2). It is important to understand that sin was imputed to Him, but He did not inherit it from Adam. He bore the penalty for sin, but He never became a sinner. His pure and perfect nature was untouched by sin.
He was treated as though He were guilty of all the sins ever committed by the human race, even though He committed none. In exchange, God imputed the righteousness of Christ to believers and credited our accounts with His righteousness, just as He had credited our sins to Christ's account (2 Corinthians 5:21).
However, believers have been freed from the eternal penalty of sin, hell, and spiritual death, and now we also have the power to resist sinning. Now we can choose whether or not to commit sins because we have the power to resist sin through the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, sanctifying and convicting us of our sins when we do commit them (Romans 8: 9-11 ).
Once we confess our sins to God and ask forgiveness for them, we are restored to perfect fellowship and communion with Him. ''If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9)''.
Four important resources that can be used to overcome sin and temptation:
¤ With the help of the Holy Ghost : We walk in the Spirit as we try not to quench the Spirit's promptings (1 Thessalonians 5:19), also seek instead to be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5: 18-21 ).
¤ The Word of God : God has given us His Word to equip us for every good work (2 Timothy 3: 16-17 ). It teaches us how to live and what to believe, it reveals to us when we have chosen wrong paths, it helps us get back on the right path, and it helps us to stay on that path (Hebrews 4:12).
Try to make it a habit not to leave the Word until you have written down something you have gained from it.
¤ Prayer : God has given us wonderful promises concerning prayer (Matthew 7: 7-11 ; Luke 18:1-8; John 6: 23-27 ; 1 John 5: 14-15 ). How important is prayer to overcoming sin in our lives? We have Christ's words to Peter in the Garden of Gethsemane, just before Peter's denial.
As Jesus prays, Peter is sleeping. Jesus wakes him and says; Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak (Matthew 26:41). We, like Peter, want to do what is right but are not finding the strength. We need to follow God's admonition to keep seeking, keep knocking, keep asking ''and He will give us the strength that we need'' (Matthew 7:7).
Prayer is not a magic formula. Prayer is simply acknowledging our own limitations and God's inexhaustible power and turning to Him for that strength to do what He wants us to do, not what we want to do (1 John 5: 14-15 ).
¤ The Church i.e. Fellowship of other believers: When Jesus sent His disciples out, He sent them out two-by-two (Matthew 10:1). The missionaries in Acts did not go out one at a time, but in groups of two or more.
Jesus commands us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together but to use that time for encouraging one another in love and good works (Hebrews 10:24). He tells us to confess our faults to one another (James 5:16).
In the wisdom literature of the Old Testament, we are told that as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another (Proverbs 27:17). There is strength in numbers (Ecclesiastes 4: 11-12 ). Many Christians find that having an accountability partner can be a huge benefit in overcoming stubborn sins. Having another person who can talk with you, pray with you, encourage you, and even rebuke you is of great value.
Temptation is common to us all (1 Corinthians 10:13). Having an accountability partner or an accountability group can give us the final dose of encouragement and motivation we need to overcome even the most stubborn of sins)
With these four resources, be sure and certain that you can overcome sin (did you also notice that these four resources are also among the tips for Enjoying Life In Christ. They sure must be important.).
The challenge:
Satan in one way must be sad that you read thus far, but then, I can still tell you that he is laughing and mocking you right now. Guess what he is saying? ''Am sure that you will not implement what you what you'v just learnt!''. If this is so it means the seed has fallen by wayside, and the devourer will soon come and devour it, or by the rock (and as soon as you got inspired, it withered away, because it lacked moisture, i.e zeal to implement.), the list is endless.
This is the challenge, why not disappoint the devil right now, today, and always. Just implement what you'v learnt into your life, and whatever it is you are passing through. (Still struggling with that sin? Sure you can overcome it by using and applying the four resources to overcome sin). And finally, dont get mad at Adam and Eve, that why should they sin against God, rather deal with the devil (the inventor of sin) a bit more by sharing this post with your friends .
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