For my weekend readers I thought we'd go a little deeper and ask:
Where did man’s original sin come from?
To understand where original sin came from we have to understand where ANYTHING came from. The only reliable source of information on that subject is God’s Word as recorded in the Bible. God opens His Book to us with the undefined declaration: GE 1:1 In the beginning God. As He unfolds the story we learn more about him but never everything. His ultimate description of himself was given to Moses.
EX 3:13 Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, `The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, `What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?" EX 3:14 God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: `I AM has sent me to you.' "
Later God will go on to explain: DT 32:39 "See now that I myself am He! There is no god besides me.
Logically this statement makes sense to me because something has to exist in and of itself, outside of and beyond creation. Of necessity whatever the IT is, it must be all encompassing of any description or definition, perfect, limitless and eternal. Every other model develops everything out of NOTHING, which is beyond absurd! So what we know is that simply put, God IS, or God AM if you prefer. Before he created anything at all, he was all there was. Forget about time limitations here because there was NO time and nothing to mark its passing. Injecting time into timelessness is self contradictory but I don’t know how to say it other than at some point God began to create things that were NOT God but in everything he created there was a reflection of God. In time, God manifested himself in the person of Christ. Paul explained:
COL 1:15 He (Christ) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
The Bible simply declares that EVERYTHING, of any description is in Christ and created by him and held together by Him. Does this make Christ the author or originator of Sin? Scripture and logic both demonstrate the impossibility of that. God declares that he is both Love and Light. We know that the opposite, hate and darkness exist but how? They were not in God. But since they exist they must somehow be a part of creation. It is hard to physically picture the love / hate relationship so we will use the parallel Dark/ light. We Know for a fact that darkness does not exist in God. Logically it cannot since God is Light. If we miss the logic, the Bible flatly declares: 1JN 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. So where did darkness come from if it was not created and for that matter what is darkness? There is no formula for dark as there is for light. Without the light, we could not know or understand there is darkness. Darkness is simply the ABSENCE of light. Before creation there was NO darkness because ONLY God was and he is light.
Genesis tell us more:
GE 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. GE 1:3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning--the first day.
To understand where original sin came from we have to understand where ANYTHING came from. The only reliable source of information on that subject is God’s Word as recorded in the Bible. God opens His Book to us with the undefined declaration: GE 1:1 In the beginning God. As He unfolds the story we learn more about him but never everything. His ultimate description of himself was given to Moses.
EX 3:13 Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, `The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, `What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?" EX 3:14 God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: `I AM has sent me to you.' "
Later God will go on to explain: DT 32:39 "See now that I myself am He! There is no god besides me.
Logically this statement makes sense to me because something has to exist in and of itself, outside of and beyond creation. Of necessity whatever the IT is, it must be all encompassing of any description or definition, perfect, limitless and eternal. Every other model develops everything out of NOTHING, which is beyond absurd! So what we know is that simply put, God IS, or God AM if you prefer. Before he created anything at all, he was all there was. Forget about time limitations here because there was NO time and nothing to mark its passing. Injecting time into timelessness is self contradictory but I don’t know how to say it other than at some point God began to create things that were NOT God but in everything he created there was a reflection of God. In time, God manifested himself in the person of Christ. Paul explained:
COL 1:15 He (Christ) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
The Bible simply declares that EVERYTHING, of any description is in Christ and created by him and held together by Him. Does this make Christ the author or originator of Sin? Scripture and logic both demonstrate the impossibility of that. God declares that he is both Love and Light. We know that the opposite, hate and darkness exist but how? They were not in God. But since they exist they must somehow be a part of creation. It is hard to physically picture the love / hate relationship so we will use the parallel Dark/ light. We Know for a fact that darkness does not exist in God. Logically it cannot since God is Light. If we miss the logic, the Bible flatly declares: 1JN 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. So where did darkness come from if it was not created and for that matter what is darkness? There is no formula for dark as there is for light. Without the light, we could not know or understand there is darkness. Darkness is simply the ABSENCE of light. Before creation there was NO darkness because ONLY God was and he is light.
Genesis tell us more:
GE 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. GE 1:3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning--the first day.
In creation there is a difference between God/light and the created/dark. Creation only has the light God gives it. In and of itself it is dark. Dark can be only on the creation side, never the God side of the God/not God equation. We only have a sense of it by the CONTRAST with light. God did not create darkness anymore than he created hate because it is not in Him. Hate should be seen as darkness, the absence of God’s love.
God did not create sin but his creation revealed it as something that is not in or of God. Sin, darkness, hatred and the like are not the true reality. They do not even exist apart from there presence being revealed by the contrast with the Holiness, love and light of God. In God’s original creation it was all good and a true reflection of Him. Man’s exercise of his free will (which was also a reflection of God’s free will) brought into the light all the evil, destruction and darkness we call today sin. Before Adam’s free will exercise (see Why God allowed sin) sin had no meaning or power. AFTER his action he lost all the light of God with no possibility of regaining it on his own. All subsequent generations were NOT born in the image of God, but in the image of Adam, in darkness. GE 5:3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth.
Man was created in the image of God of holiness, light and love, but BORN in the image of Adam in darkness. Jesus, the second Adam, came and destroyed the bondage of darkness and all its relatives that befell man in his independence from God and made it possible for man to return to the purity of the Light and love of God. Darkness no longer has any hold over any child of God: The good news is that darkness in any form will never regain control again, NEVER! And that can begin now in your experience here like it will be then. God promises us: Romans 6:14 For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
Our future is totally secure:
Rev 21:23: The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26 The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.
Rev 22:5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
Rev 21:23: The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26 The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.
Rev 22:5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
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2 comments:
I love thinking this through and having it fall into place! Created in God's image before the fall - reflecting light. Choosing sin in the garden - absense of light or "darkness." All born after the garden reflect the image of man. Need to receive Christ to dispel the darkness - come full circle and walking with Christ!!!! Love it. Thank you for taking the complex down to understandable.
I enjoyed this one too (and am watching you build your wrath case :).
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