The first step is important. People have a baby’s first step
recorded on their smart phone and email or text them to friends and family by
email and text message and even share them with complete strangers on social
media. Without that first step there can never be the second, third and
millions of steps which follow.
In the process of becoming a child of God there seems to be
a first step that has been emphasized and yet seldom considered in any depth to
understand how to get to the root. We are told that “…all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God ;”( Romans 3:23) but we never are shown
clearly what that means. Therefore we are left to our own devices to determine
what sin is. So instead of coming to an understanding of the nature of sin we
find examples and use them as a definition. In that case we are relegated to
the big 4; stealing what belongs to someone else, killing another human being, sexual
immorality however we end up defining that, and then lying is the fourth. Some
do go a little farther and include thinking about doing those things as sin.
So we are told in Sunday school (where they still have that)
that Jesus died to save us from our sins. And frightened children come home and
tell their parents that they must be baptized because they need to be saved
from their sins. But they have no idea what those sins are. They certainly
haven’t stolen, killed or been involved in immoral sexual behavior (people of
the opposite gender are icky). But they are sure they have sinned because the
teacher read to them from the Bible that “all have sinned.” I am sure there are
exceptions to this illustration, but generally speaking you will see the point
that I am making is valid, I hope.
So, what is this “sin” that we are all guilty of that has
caused us to fall short of the glory of God? And how can understanding the
answer to this first question help me to stop falling short of God’s glory?
The word Genesis means beginning, so since we are
considering this to be a first step the beginning would be a good place to
start. In the first chapter we can read how God created the whole universe with
his words. God spoke all of the physical
that we can see and more into reality.
That’s a whole other topic. Then in chapter 2 we can read beginning in
verse 8 how God planted a garden in “Eden”. Here again we find that the Bible
translators didn’t translate. The Hebrew word for Eden is pronounced “Eden” the
translation is “pleasure”. Of the 19 or so translations that I look at, only
the Douay-Reims Translation agrees with several commentators and says, “And the Lord God had
planted a paradise of pleasure from the beginning: wherein he placed man whom
he had formed.”
God provided all that man needed for his pleasure in this
garden. Just take a moment or several to think about that.
I really like caramel and my wife likes dark chocolate. I
enjoy seafood but my wife prefers chicken. What does this have to do with sin? Not
a lot, but it does have to do with pleasure. One of the pleasures that God
placed in the garden was a freedom to choose. When we choose the course that is
right we have great pleasure but when we choose the course that is wrong we
quickly come to sorrow. This is simple to illustrate in several life
situations. In this “paradise of pleasure” all of the choices but one were within
God’s will. Everything was a delight to behold, unimaginably wonderful foods
were everywhere, and physical pleasure had no boundaries. Included in the
pleasures was the pleasure of choosing to do God’s will. The pleasure of
allowing God to decide what is best for me and what I should avoid. The only
way that it could be possible to choose one way over another is for you to have
at least two options. In this case there were thousands of options and only one
had been labeled as “the wrong option”. And yet with a little help from a
clever salesman that is what they chose.
That option was not a pear, a plum, an apple or a pomegranate.
The option was the option to choose to decide between what is good and what is
evil. The option was and is to place my will above and before God’s will. Here
is the root of all sin. God’s will or my will; we are presented with the
same choice as Adam and Eve.
Every day all day long we are presented with choices.
Unfortunately because of that first choice, to choose other than God’s will, we
often have several wrong options and only one or a few right options that are
in agreement with God’s will. How do we possibly learn to choose properly?
This is what following Jesus is really all about. Jesus was
tempted in every way the same as we are tempted and yet he did not sin (Hebrews
4:15). God’s Word promises that, “there is no temptation that comes to you or
me except what is common to all men and God is faithful and will not permit us
to be tempted beyond what we are able to bear ( 1 Corinthians 10:13). Does this
mean that I will never sin again? I don’t think so. But it does mean that there
is always a way open to me where I can learn to choose to do God’s will and not
my own.
God’s will certainly involves healing the sick and possibly
doing other miracles but it is not likely that we will get to be a part of that
while we are still becoming angry with our brother or sister because they didn’t
pick up their dirty clothes. I must learn to be faithful to do God’s will where
it is clear to me. Then I can learn to be involved where my will is so easily
confused with God’s.
As I choose God’s will in more and more situations of life I
gain power over sin. As a born again follower of Jesus I always have the power
to choose and God will always show me the right choice and give me the power to choose His will in the moment if I will
cry out to him in my time of need (Hebrews 4:16).
Let us each one continue to faithfulness
2 Corinthians 3:10
