Can I Ask That? – Part Seven – What Is Sin and How Did It Enter the Human Race?
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%205%3A12-21&version=NIV
Let me give the invitation to you. What am I trying to do in this sermon? I am trying to convince you that you have a spiritual enemy called Satan. And Satan uses sin to trap us in his snares, to keep us from moving forward toward God the abundant life God has for us. But Jesus sets us free from sin, so that we can run full and free on the path God sets before us. I want to persuade you to allow Jesus to set you free. And, if you do not have a home church, I want to ask you to consider being baptized and joining our church.
Head/Mind – Helpful Information – Bull’s Eye
In the New Testament, the most common word used for sin has nothing to do with morality. The word is hamartia/ἁμαρτία and it is an archery term that means to miss the mark or target. The idea here is that God has an aim or goal for humanity. His goal, from the very beginning, was for humankind to be his vice regents, sharing in God’s reign over the world.
Our lives were meant to be lived in such a way that the rest of creation would get an idea of what God is like by looking at us. Our stewardship over the world was meant to guide the world toward the goals God has for it. That was God’s aim, his goal, or the mark toward which he intended humanity to move. We were meant to be God’s representatives in the world. That was bull’s eye.
But that goal has not been met. The target has been missed. How is that possible?
Well, unlike a physical arrow, which is an inanimate object, human beings get a say in the trajectory our lives take. We get to decide the direction. And early in the history of the human race, two of our first parents chose to take a different path than the one God had chosen for us. The story of Adam and Eve in the Garden is about more than them breaking a rule over an apple. It is about them opting out of the kind of life God wanted for them.
This brought catastrophic consequences upon the world and the human race. Instead of being a force for good, humanity unleashed chaos, sin, and death into our world. And, instead of reflecting God’s good character into the world, by means of love, order, justice, and mercy, we projected hatred, disorder, and wickedness into the world, dishonoring God instead of honoring him.
By doing so, we not only damaged and continue to damage God’s good world; we also damaged ourselves and each other. The same forces of iniquity that have been set free in our world, are now at work within each of us, coursing through our very being like venom. Sin has left the human race and the world we live in broken, what the Puritans called sin sick.
Heart – The Personal Connection – Chains
Let me just talk about what the experience of sin is like. Sin is like being chained to a chair. When we sin, we feel a sense of failure and shame. And that weighs us down, keeping us from rising up and praising God with our lives.
Yet, when Jesus sets us free, it is like having those heavy chains removed, so that we can stand and praise him
1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our trespasses and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Sin is also like those dreams were you run but don’t move. It is like glue has stuck your feet to the floor. Or, like running in socks on a slick floor, your feet are moving, but your not going anywhere fast. Satan uses sin to trap us and to keep our lives from moving forward. But Jesus sets us free to run after him and the plans he has for us.
Sin distorts our way of looking at ourselves. I watched a video about the experience of young people trying to navigate the dating world in the 21st century. One young lady was asked what she wanted in a man, or didn’t want. She said that whenever a man treated her with kindness or respect, she saw it a sign of weakness. The person interviewing her asked, “So, do you want or expect men to treat you badly?” She said, “I guess so.” I was sad for her and wondered what experiences she had in her past that made it seem normal, acceptable, even desirable for a man to treat her badly. How had she come to view herself in this way?
1 John 3:1 says, “Behold what manner of love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God! And that is what we are!”
Romans 8 says, “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.”
Hand – The Practical Application
But can the problem of sin really be solved.
Many secular people think that what we call sin is really just the animal passions built into us by evolution. These primal urges can no more be cured than any other part of our nature. Sigmund Freud called this The Pleasure Principle and described it as a deeply embedded tendency for each of us to be selfish. But he believed that this was just the way humans are and that there is nothing to b done about it. But this is where Christianity differs from Freud.
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-the-pleasure-principle-2795472
The Christian faith says that the inward trait of sin is a disease not a part of our design. God is capable and willing to renew anyone who places themselves into the care of the Great Physician.
But let me address Sigmund Freud on the idea of the please principal, because the Bible speaks directly to an idea like this one.
Biblical Idea #2 – Human Nature #humannature
The ancient rabbis taught that there are two sides to human nature. The Hebrew word “Yetzer,” means will or impulse, and the rabbis believed that we were created with two impulses within our yetzer. One is the “yetzer-ha-tov,” which is the moral conscience, or inner voice that reminds us of God’s Torah before we commit an immoral act.
The “Yetzer-ha-ra” is more difficult to define, because there are many ways to think about it. It is not a desire to do evil in the way we normally think of it. Rather, it is usually conceived as the selfish nature, the thirst to satisfy personal needs (food, shelter, sex, etc.) without regard for the moral consequences of fulfilling those desires. In fact, it says in Bereishit Rabbah 9 that yetzer-ha-ra is part of what makes the world “very good,” instead of just “good,” because “without yetzer-ha-ra, no one would build a house, or take a spouse, or have children.”
The problem is that because of the impact of sin on humanity, this impulse is now in the drivers seat, where it is not meant to be. It is meant to be the engine, not the steering wheel. This helps us to understand Paul’s language about living according to the Spirit, as opposed to living according to the flesh. Though he is using language that will be more familiar to his Greek/Gentile audience, he is still using the Biblical idea that the human person is out of sorts because of sin, not that the body is bad and the human soul good.
Galatians 5:13-24
13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh – “yetzer-ha-ra” [a]; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[b] 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh – “yetzer-ha-ra.” 17 For the flesh – “yetzer-ha-ra” desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh – “yetzer-ha-ra.” They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever[c] you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 The acts of the flesh – “yetzer-ha-ra” are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh -“yetzer-ha-ra” with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
The Holy Spirit is given, in part, to help put the human person back in alignment. Now, with these two ideas in place, we are ready for our story.
But it is even more than this. When the Holy Spirit comes into our lives, he begins transforming us from the inside out.
2 Corinthians 5:17 says “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation is come. The old is gone, the new is here!”
Jesus has the ability to make us into new people. We cannot do that to or for ourselves, but the one who created us can make all things new.
The work of Jesus is about setting us free from sin, so that we can become the people we were meant to be.
Jesus says, “Those whom the Son has set free, are free indeed.”
Let me give the invitation to you again. What was I trying to do in this sermon? I am trying to convince you that you have a spiritual enemy called Satan. And Satan uses sin to trap us in his snares, to keep us from moving forward toward God the abundant life God has for us. But Jesus sets us free from sin, so that we can run full and free on the path God sets before us. I want to persuade you to allow Jesus to set you free. And, if you do not have a home church, I want to ask you to consider being baptized and joining our church.
Benediction: Fr. Pedro Arrupe once said: “Nothing is more practical than finding God, than falling in love in a quite absolute and final way. What are you in love with? What seizes your imagination will affect everything.
It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, whom you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love. Stay in love with God and it will decide everything.
Some Great Resources About Sin
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https://www.stmaryorthodoxchurch.org/orthodoxy/articles/ancestral_versus_original_sin
https://youtu.be/pYrJNAEFr5A?si=tJ7aETw4cjKHpUJ_
https://youtu.be/aNOZ7ocLD74?si=06CQMBjeNDFxqCAX
https://seedbed.com/john-wesleys-view-of-the-image-of-god/
https://maxiedunnam.com/john-wesley-going-on-to-salvation/