Hamartiology: Sin Pastor Alex Kennedy Genesis 1:31 ends with “God finished creating and everything was very good!” Unfortunately; soon after, sin entered the world through Satan, where it existed before the disobedience of Adam and Eve (Ezekiel 28:15-17). Sin then entered humanity through their decisions. Sin is any failure to conform to the moral law of God in action, attitude, or nature. In the Old Testament, the primary word used for sin is “Chata” which is an archery term that means “missing the mark”. The same meaning is used in the New Testament with the word “Harmatia”. So when Adam and Eve ate from the tree (Gen 3:6), they directly contradicted God’s command. Neither God nor Satan forced them to eat from the tree; they did so willingly, and so willingly sinned against God. As a result, Adam’s nature became sinful. Sin became something Adam naturally did. Adam’s sin also caused us to inherit a sinful nature, one that is naturally opposed to God and His moral laws, which we call Original Sin (Psalm 51). We received not only Adam’s sinful nature, but also his sin-produced guilt. Adam’s action resulted not only in his own guilt, but also in the guilt of every other human (Romans 5:12-19). How Does Sin Affect Us? Sin breaks shalom with God – While sin does not affect our status or standing with God, it does affect our fellowship with God because it grieves Him when we sin. God is eternally good in His character and all that He is conforms perfectly to His moral law. So, anything contrary to His moral law is contrary to His character, which means God Himself. God hates sin because it directly contradicts everything He is. Sin affects our relationships with others – Sinful words or actions can result in a broken relationship, even between Christians. Even though all Christians still sin, they should not participate in a long-term pattern of greater and greater disobedience to God’s moral law, for “no one born of God makes a practice of sinning.” (1 John 3:9) Sin destroys shalom in ourselves – “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom 3:23) “If we say we have no sin, we decieve ourselves, and the truth in not in us”. (1 John 1:8) Paul also tells us that we have earned death because of our sin – “The wages of sin is death”. (Rom 6:23) We sin because it feels good…for a season. (Hebrews 11:24-25) (James 1:13-15) We deceive ourselves and believe that there will not be consequences, but we will ALWAYS taste the consequences of our sin. “We are more sinful and flawed than we ever dared believe, yet at the same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.” -Tim Keller We must fully understand the darkness of our sin before we can fully understand the beautiful gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. The level of understanding of our sin is directly proportionate to the level of joy we can understand of God’s forgiveness through the sacrifice of Jesus. Questions to Consider: The word “sin” is almost non-existent in our American vocabulary. How does this affect the way we live and deal with our choices? What words do people use to “excuse” their sin today? What harm does it do when Christians sin against one another? Do you believe in the immensity of your sin and the immensity of Jesus’ forgive because He loves you? How does your thought process/lifestyle show that?